Adopt a street

Our church had street adoption this Christmas. Every family was encouraged to adopt a street and pray for them. They had packets with gift bags in them, enough for each home on the street. We picked up our old street (our pastor happened to live one house away from us on the same street) and although the kids were trying to grab as many streets as possible, I stuck to my guns at one. We wrote personal notes for each one, Kendall and I went and picked out a little gift for each bag and the kids and I assembled them and prayed over each of them. Praying for blessings and peace in their home this Holiday season. We were suppose to deliver them before Christmas Eve, we had invitations in there for our service that night. We planned to deliver them a few days before and we couldn't do it! The weather had been -wind chill and the snow and ice was horrible..Christmas eve morning was cold but it was the only shot we had. I got the kids snuggled up and we headed out. I stayed in the car and kept handing out the bags as the kids followed me up the street. They prayed for each house as they went and thought it was very cool! That night I even saw a few people from the street that came.

BLACK AFTERNOON!

I am currently living in a pile of plastic trash.. I can't see the floors in any room and there are tiny shoes and brushes everywhere. Bosley is not the chewing type of dog so he unfortunately won't even help to rid us of some of this. I am giving the kids all morning to keep playing and opening plastic tubs. Then the dreaded BLACK afternoon is happening. We will be filling up black trash bags and having the time of our lives!
Yesterday we had the best day. On Christmas Eve the kids wanted to know if 7:00 was OK to wake us. Agreed.. on Christmas morning Nate and I were surprised on how quiet they were. It was 7:30 and they were all sitting in the living room whispering. CJ noticed my head peeking at them and then we had all three of them on our bed. We found out that at 4:00am CJ noticed Kendall was missing from the room and CJ went looking for her and found her sitting in the dark surrounded by the presents just staring. CJ told her it was too early and escorted her back to bed. Cole had been awake since 6:00 and was waiting on the couch just staring and imagining what lay underneath all that thin Santa paper. It was a great Christmas morning...We took our time (especially Kendall, even when her brother kept hinting that she is really holding up the fun line) and we all had lots of fun. The kids went off to open and mess up everything and Nate and I made an Amish breakfast casserole and biscuits and then resumed our positions on the couch to untie plastic swirly black things from the backs of everything ever made. We headed off to the movies in the early afternoon. We've never gone to the movies on Christmas and I thought it was going to be EMPTY...well apparently everyone goes to the movies on Christmas! It was packed the heck out, I couldn't believe it. We watched Bedtime Stories and it was one that parents and kids could both hang at.. Good choice.
Nate and I made dinner together and I usually make the Turkey and do all that stuff but this year we decided to do something different. I made Cornish game hen's for each of us and Nate made ULTIMATE twice baked potatoes (please don't forget the ultimate part because he was very insistent on that) and everything was delicious. We spent a long time at dinner, with everyone telling stories and well they were mostly about me. Everyone laughing at how insane their Mom/Wife is. I do appreciate they can all laugh about it though..lol That's the only thing that makes me feel that I am not completely traumatizing them with my personality. The girls picked out a chocolate cake for dessert (they don't do pie) and the guys chose apple pie. I choose both, so all desserts work out in my favor. The whole day was good and wonderful and I am so thankful for my little family..

Now bring on the BLACK AFTERNOON!

We drove by our old house this morning to pick up Cole from a sleep over. One of his best friends lives one house away from our old house. The girls and I were quiet driving by the lake and onto our street..I said, I really miss our house. And CJ just shook her head in agreement and Kendall started to cry a little bit. We stopped in front of it and just looked and looked. OH MAN! We had such a great time living there and it's been a hard week not being there. Lots of room for baking and being and dancing around to my favorite Christmas music....This--- in the middle place does not feel festive! haha There is no room for dancing and no room for baking and no room for a big Christmas tree...It's weird feeling all these feelings...missing a place. I know this time, this in the middle time, waiting to move and staying together in this tiny place holds it's blessings too. We are very close in space and we've been very close in our time together. I am enjoying my kids so much. Sometimes the space thing makes me crazy with the mess. But we can't hide from each other. It's been very sweet and I know the Holiday even it's with Chinese food doesn't truly matter to any of us. We really truly enjoy one another!! I miss the place we came from and I am content in where we are and I am excited about what comes in this next year for us, whatever it is..... HAPPY HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

Well I am officially "on call" from 8:30 this morning until 8:30 tomorrow morning as a volunteer for MOCSA. My first official day...I have been re-reading all my paperwork and praying. I was up all night thinking about being called into the hospitals today. I am totally nervous...hoping I will know what to say and what to do and how to comfort. Truly only God can calm me and make this work in the event I get called in this shift. If not this shift, it will be another. The beginning is always the hardest. Here goes the beginning..

Hmmmm Breakfast...

This morning is the kids last day before winter break. They have a half day and then they're H-O-M-E. When my kids are together doing anything you can be sure there will be something happening. They will be laughing hysterically, crying, be violent(CJ) who knows. This morning I get every one's food to them. Then I come sit on the couch and open up the laptop. I can see the kids from the couch and hear every word they are saying. First they all decide to have a few rounds of who is the ultimate rock, paper, scissors champion for today. We play this quite often and play this to make decisions or settle disputes. I am like.. OKAY EAT PEOPLE, EAT!! Then I see Kendall putting stuffed animals on the empty seats at the table and putting peanut butter crunch cereal pieces in front of them to eat. UMMM HELLO, CHILDREN EAT! My kids are so social with each other.. they are NEVER silent and they can barely get through any meals unless they are completely alone and isolated. The next thing I hear and witness made my day...CJ is talking to the others about her future life. She is telling them about her house and plans, ect.. Kendall says...... Your house is going to be PINK and PURPLE!! CJ tries to stay calm but if you want to make CJ mad you say things, like that she likes pink and purple. CJ gruffs....KENDALL it will NOT be those colors!! Kendall= giggle giggle giggle.. YES IT WILL CJ, pink and purple!! giggle giggle... Well that was it.. I see CJ flying out of her chair and pushing Kendall's head down into her cereal bowl. I yell STOPPPPPPP!!!!!! She stops and luckily it didn't hit the bowl yet...Kendall was FURIOUS because she doesn't put milk in her cereal, she likes her milk only on the side, so she says... CJJJJJJJ!!! You almost knocked my MILK into my CEREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! She didn't care one bit about her face going into the bowl. CJ comes over to me and she is M-A-D! I just smile at this child straight from my DNA and say, what's up? CJ says.. KENDALL is trying to CONTROL MY LIFE!! I say, How is she doing that, how can Kendall control your life?? CJ- She is saying I am going to have to live in a pink and purple house!!!!!! Me- Are you?, CJ- No... Okay so then she cant control your life.. But you are in control of smashing her face into her bowl and spilling her milk into it...CJ- oh...okay.. Cole and Kendall are laughing at this point and I always make my kids tell each other they love each other and hug after something happens.. It's hard to stay mad when I keep saying.. one more hug, a kiss, say I LOVVEEEE you SISTER!! Then CJ told Kendall she was sorry and all was well... they continued to rock, paper, scissors through the rest of breakfast and I'm sure my stories these next three weeks will be full of CRAZY with these three.

The faces he makes...

I caught Kendall and Bosley taking a nap together on the couch..well Cole caught me taking pictures of them and he decided he wanted to get in on a few pics. He told me he was going to be pretending to be sleeping, as you can see he was doing nothing of the sort when I snapped the picture...THIS BOY makes me laugh hysterically every single day. His facial expressions kill me!! hahaha

My girls at their dance!

They had such a fun night dancing and with each other and their Dad!

Just a few more weeks..

December might just be the end of me...this month is straight outta control. I know other people are feeling this too. I seriously want to quit.

So, just a couple things from this week..
CJ and I went to the Cheetah Girls Concert and we got the best seats ever..a few rows back from the front and all the way to the side, so we were right at the stage and CJ was loving every minute of it. Our friend Chad's cousin is one of the cheetah's so he completely hooked it up for CJ to get into the meet 'n' greet before the concert and I think that about made her life so far complete! We've had some snow and the kids were out of school yesterday. I had about 4 loads of laundry to fold and the kids helped me. I was missing one little child with glasses and didn't notice until the mound of laundry was making a tiny squeaky giggle....buried alive.

Kendall is really crazy about her food choices. This morning it was too much stress to decide between peanut butter on her bagel and cream cheese, so she came up with a "half n half deal" per her request. If only the rest of her day could be as fun as that.. today I needed to get to Toys R Us to get Kendall some presents while they were on sale and I had to bring her with me. So I just told her we were shopping for CJ. Well when I kept putting things in the cart that she would love to have and her tiny face kept warping into deep sadness. She couldn't help but cry and then say.."well I hope that CJ has the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!" cry cry cry...then someone would stare at her and she would hide her face in her hands in embarrassment over crying. It was quite a joyous time shopping... Two more weeks of madness.

I love old people

For some reason I just have always loved old people..especially old men. Now when I say old, I'm not saying 50-60's..although I'm sure everyone in that age group is quite lovable too. Give me some oldies 70+ and it is a good time. Yesterday I was not a happy gal and I went to the gym to zone out and ride the exercise bike(which I have come to find out really does nothing cardio wise) and read a book. I sat down and started reading..I had my head buried and I had been pedaling a while. I heard someone say, " Hey, Hey!" I looked up and I saw a smiling face on an old gentleman. He sat next to me and I said, "Hey, Hey!" Immediately he started chatting me up and telling me stories about his youth..I was still holding my book and figured I wasn't going to need it anymore, threw it down and soaked the conversation in.. I can't get enough of stories.. I love to hear about people's pasts and their lives. Doesn't even matter if I know them or not. He told me about getting electricity in 6th grade and riding horses to his one room schoolhouse.. It was great. Then another old buddy of his came walking by and joined in the conversation. He was Canadian(apparent by his canadian hat and canadian shirt and canadian sweatsuit) and proceeded to bash Canada being very proud of his American status now, after marrying an American hottie a few years ago! I laughed so much and so hard at these two that I went the longest I've ever gone on the exercise bike..lol It was a good time and coming in grump face and meeting these two was the best! Today Mr. Canadian found me and introduced me to his hottie American wife and I talked to them for a while.. very sweet and very 80+ both of them. I don't know what it is about the age.. Respect for having walked through all that I have yet to...Meeting people who lived with less luxury than we have today and them still appreciating the "good ol' days"...Their attitudes about life and how they have a good time despite their physical growing tired. Their stories, their faces.. AHHHHHH!!! I can't get enough!!!!

There is this little old couple who comes to the gym and they are both very slow and every time I see them, I find myself almost crying right then and there... They walk with a little hunch and they have the cutest sweatsuits on that match.. The woman is much slower than her husband and when they take to walking around and around the little track, they hold hands and smile the entire time..like they know something..like they have a secret! I just watch them go by and by and I find myself smiling in their sweetness... I hope I make it there someday...can't say I'd get Nate to wear the matching sweat suits, but by then....one wouldn't seem to care~

Kindness in the small things...

It's been a pretty crazy last few days and I've been pretty out of it and really tired... I haven't been to the grocery store all week and there is nothing left in the house. The kids have been eating whatever fast food place Nate stops by on the way home. This morning I had no coffee, no coke, no tea..nothing but water..I knew if I was going to make it through today I needed to start pumping in the caffeine immediately...

On the way back from taking the kids to school this morning I dug through my purse and drove up to the coffee shop. I ordered a large black coffee( I was going to take it home and put it over ice and creamer) to go. When I got up to the window she handed me my coffee and said," the man in the car before you left extra money and said he wanted to pay for the next person's drink and he hopes they have a good day." I sat there staring at her smiling at me with my coffee in her hand. I didn't take it right away because I was in total shock at what she just said...I told her, " I want to give my money to the next person for their drink and wish them a good day too." She laughed and said,"OK!" and I handed her my $2.oo in change and drove out of the parking lot. I started crying immediately. This small gesture had made an impact on me and even though it may have seemed small to the man who left the money, it was a big deposit into me today. I started thanking God for this man's kindness and asking God to bless him over and over... He made a big impact in a small thing and it was a great way to start today.... I hope I am able to remember what this Man did and to start leaving my money for the next person and praying that they have a good day as well....

Busted up

Nate and I were woke up yesterday morning by Cole and CJ standing in our doorway. It was 7:30 on a Sunday morning(which means um no cause we sleep in) and there was one child with a messed up face and the other child with a wooden stick...looked like something interesting happened. CJ with a stick..can't be good. No one was screaming or yelling so it was a really strange event considering there was a messed up face and a stick. Come to find out, Cole was holding a pillow in front of his face and CJ was trying to hit his face with a stick. She evidently was successful and the game then ended. Kids are weird, or just my DNA. I remember doing lame things like this too. And so the tradition continues.

On the way to school this morning it was just Cole, Kendall and I. CJ stayed home sick. Kendall has been getting in trouble for talking..talking too much, too loud, too all the time crazy. Cole was trying to tell me something and to Kendall is doesn't matter who is talking she just starts talking and at very high levels. I hold up my hand to the backseat as if to say... shh it missy... Then I hear her talking again.. I look in the mirror with crazy eyes and I see her hands up... I'm ask, "what are you doing?" She says," I'm not talking, my hands are!" and I see that she had drawn faces on all her fingers before school. Little smiley faces on each finger. She then says," if I can't talk then my hands will" AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I hear Cole say very dryly..."well Queen Elizabeth shall speak for me" I am thinking what?? Where did that come from? Then I look at him looking at me with a goofy face holding up a coin with Queen Elizabeth's face on it..? I don't even know what country that was from, Canada? I laughed so hard!! Weird Weird Weird children!!!!!

Family Night

Now that it's cold and no sports weekdays and weekends will be so chill again. Five nights a week of practices and homework and 4 games on Saturday have taken their toll on my chillness and now it's time to get it back. We are a family that likes to snuggle, read,watch movies, eat popcorn, drink hot chocolate, eat candy and have brownies where we ALL fight to lick the bowl. Winter chillin is going to be a good time.

Last night I bought 10(then added two more) boxes/bags of candy for us. My kids like candy but no where near as much as Nate and I like it. They're all..cool..eat a little, then whatever. Nate and I are like..candy..EAT, EAT, EAT and EAT and then we still might order pizza. Rented and watched a few movies under down blankets and it was a good time! Cole asked if last night could be his stay up all night-night. It is one of his life's goals to accomplish before he gets old...so we agreed and told him he better not wake us up though! He prepared with buying some cokes at the grocery store last night and getting movies ready to go. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen..This child can be found on weekday nights staying up until 11 or 3:00 reading his novels..So, I knew it could be done. I retreated to my bedroom at 10:00 to read and Nate stayed with Cole until 11ish... Cole was fighting and fighting.. but when I woke up at 2:45 to the sound of my cell phone beeping that the battery was almost dead, I walked out and the TV was on and Cole was sitting straight up on the couch completely sacked out!! Poor guy...this morning he is talking about coffee and other plans to make sure he can do this next weekend. His eyes look a little beat down. Hope there is a nap in the plans today for all of us.. Because chillin out needs to make a serious comeback!

Blah Blah Blah

Wow, I am pretty tired of people today....today I want to move out of this country and take my family and live in a jungle. Well maybe more like a tree house in Swiss Family Robinson. I definitely want a tree house with a few levels though so the kids could live a few branches down. Although it's not them making me tired today, it's the voice and the spirit of arrogance. I think we need some humbling... all of us...we need to be taken down a few notches.

What an awesome weekend..

I had the best trip back to CA. I can't believe I was able to see so many people that I love and miss. Friday was the absolute best surprise ever...My flight to ONT wasn't going to happen. I got to the airport, Nate dropped me off and then I find out delayed, delayed until never...There happened to be a flight to Denver that night and I called Marie and she was down to get me and she got a hotel room for us by the airport and we stayed up ALL NIGHT and talked and laughed and ate and it was seriously the best ever!

Before Denver..back at the KC airport I found myself a nice cozy seat, popped my headphones in and looked down. The literal second I took them out of my ear I could hear someone talking to me. There as a man two seats away and he was already talking..I don't know if he was talking when I had them in or as soon as he saw my hand taking them out but it was going. He talked and talked and talked. We lined up for our flight to Denver and it was EMPTY. I'm saying there were about 20 people on a 200 person flight. That empty. Well I get on first and go to the back and sit by the window. There was no one around me.. NO ONE...Until I hear someone say, "do you mind?" and I look up and it's mister mister from the airport. What in the heck can you say? I tell him, sure. I figured he would be sitting at the end of the row. Like any normal human stranger... umm... no.. He sat DIRECTLY next to me..right next to me.. Hmmm... It was strange but then again not. He talked and talked and talked..I then realized if he had sat at the end of the row he might have feared my ears not able to hear him talking and I might have dozed off not giving full attention to his every word... OH MAN!!!!!!! LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! The beacon of over share light from complete strangers continues to reign supreme in my life...

Marie took me to the airport the next morning and found out that my flight to ONT was CANCELLED! I kept saying..cancelled? You mean..delayed? No, no.. they meant cancelled. So then another re-route needed. Flew into OC instead and pops picked me up and took me to Jen's house in Redlands. We right away head out to Thai food which was seriously so great! Go back to her house and chill, chill, chill... laugh and I drink up all her Diet cream sodas. We head to the beach that night for my bro's surprise party Meg set up. It was fun.. Mark seemed to have a great time and the food was..mmm..mmmm..

Sunday morning Jen and I went to Oasis to see some old homies! Walking up the steps to the church always brings me way back.. having spent 20 years of my life there, multiple times a week.. it was a familiar feeling..like going back home. It was fun catching up and seeing people. After we crashed Amber's bday party at her parents and I got to hang out with Rachel! It was awesome to see these ladies and I miss them very much.

Headed to the Baustista's pad and got to visit the best parents in the world! Jen's parents are so much fun and I miss them! Seeing their Mii's and chatting were good times..too short though.

Went to Jan's house after for Mark's surprise fam party... so good to see everyone and see what people have been up too. We had a good night and ate lots and enjoyed good company.

Went home to Mark and Meg's with Amaya and I had the best car ride with my baby niece. Amaya is so wonderful and I miss her so much. She is so full of personality and life and is such a sweet girl. I went into Amaya's room when we got there and played toys with her and then we snuggled each other in her bed while watching Barbie Nutcracker. I didn't want to move..I just wanted to keep her in my arms and give her endless kisses.. I was trying to soak up the moment being that they are sadly so infrequent.. : (

Headed out Monday, to the airport with Dad, Mark and Uncle Dave. My stop was in Phoenix and they were headed to Phoenix for a game. It was so cool to be on the same flight and we had a good time. Uncle Dave makes me laugh and I was sad they weren't all coming to KC with me!

This was a great trip...always, always the best seeing my friends and family. I feel sad today thinking about missing out on Amaya.. hoping that going back to CA I will get to share in her life more....

Mall madness

Today I had the funniest experience. I picked Kendall up from school and we went to the Mall and had some lunch together, visited a few shops and then she wanted to play in the play area. They have a spot in the middle of the mall with all this play stuff, it's very cool. So, I looked around and found 3 benches where absolutely no other person was sitting...There were lots of parents but I made sure to find myself a spot where there was no one else. I usually try to do this...at events, on the airplane.. and it never, ever works out. I am convinced I have some sort of feeler/sensor on me that alerts people to come near and to talk to me. And not just talk.. tell me every event that has ever existed or happened to them thus far, it's IINSANE! It happens so much that I should just sit in the middle of the crowds and then people would just think I was weird and ignore me probably. So today I sit on my bench...about 5 minutes later an Indian man probably in his 60's takes a seat at the bench next to me. I can feel him looking at me so I look back. He says hello and I say hello back. Well...I can't remember what happened after that but he was moving as close as he could get on his bench to me and telling me his ENTIRE life story and about all his wives, his pre-arranged marriages, his schools, his jobs, the kind of suits he wears.. oh yes.. He one time touched my arm while laughing and then quickly apologized and I told him next time I would slap him in the face.. He looked at me in shock and laughed so hard and then wanted to talk more and more. I didn't even notice a younger guy sitting next to me on the bench to my left...But when the older man asked me where in CA I was from I said Riverside area.. then all I heard was.. NO WAY!!!! RIVERSIDE, CA??? ME TOO!!! He was(i came to know later) 32, married with kids and moved to KC 3 years ago like us. Well he ended up telingl me that he made $20.00 an hour and his wife made $20.00 and hour too and it goes a long way here... and so on and so on.. it was a full on competition of talking at this point.. One would talk and I would turn to look at them, then the other would start and I'd turn to try to hear them. One would get up to help his child and the other would tell me that the other guy was trying to bother me and get in our conversation.. They both were trying to "save" me from the other one. Thinking that I would much rather sit and listen to their life stories...I was completely being USED!! haha They weren't at all creepy guys trying to hit on me! They genuinely just wanted to talk and I apparently had the big sign...TELL ME EVERY THING.. I MEAN EVERYTHING, on my forehead. I wanted to laugh so hard and I wished someone else could see this circus act that was happening. This went on for over an hour.. before I excused myself to leave. I thought the older man was going to buy me a car or give me money for giving him my time! He was trying to give me money for Kendall to play longer..haha... It was funny. I don't know why I ever try to hide out....I apparently am not the hiding out type...the over sharers are like a moth to a flame with me. And today I have to say, it was entertaining and pretty sweet...

My kids and the election!

My children...I have had so many laughs this past month as we've been winding down to Election Day! Nate and I are pretty neutral when it comes to politics.. I think we'd be sold on Independent if they really ever had money or a chance.. Or someone to run! So we don't talk politics with the kids virtually ever. Well our kids school took the opportunity to teach them and give them so much information and I thought it was great. Strange(being that I don't remember getting that much info but I don't remember much of last week either) but great. My kids have been talking and thinking about it for a few months. Their conversations with one another and their friends have been hilarious! I can't get enough of it... Having debates with friends...making signs...watching the news all on their own doing. We were at a pizza party last night and they had a TV on and my son paced back and forth nervous at every electoral vote added. My kids were sold on McCain/Palin. No Abortion was their button and they were solid in their stance. A few days ago.. I picked Kendall up from Kindergarten and this is the conversation:
Me: Hi baby how was your day?
Kendall: Grant wants to vote for Mabama!
Me: Noooo wayyy!!! What did you say to that?
Kendall: I told him that I was voting for McCain!
Me: And what did he say?
Kendall: He said Mabama would lower our taxes and I said.. uh uh.. McCain will lower our taxes!

I was of course dying and in complete shock that two 5/6 yr olds were having this conversation. Just about the best thing ever!! I will support my kids in their republicaness if that's what they choose. I'm just proud to see the beginnings of their independence...they didn't look to us to tell them what to think.. they were so proactive about finding out information...it made me excited to see who these little people will be!

Jammies and personal style

Last night after she had a shower I told Kendall to go and get her pajamas on....This is what came back upstairs....

The endless Green Goo

WAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! I hate being sick....I hate taking Nyquil(well who really hates that) waking up at 4:00am..cause then it was all over. As soon as my body knew I was awake it started rejecting the green goo in my throat causing me to hack away in the bathroom sink something vile. I had the kids in my room since Nate's gone and CJ woke up and is yelling.. MOM, MOM.. are you throwing up?? ARE YOU OK?? ARE YOU DYINNNNGGGGGGGGG???????? Luckily Cole and Kendall stay pretty dead to the world and I stepped over my son on the floor climbed back into bed knowing that I was AWAKE..boo..then my nose wasn't having that greeness in it either so it decided to just flow, flow, flowwww..you know that kind where you can't sniff back up? So I had to stuff tissue in both nostrils..I try to sleep..watch the clock...wait...wait... the last time I looked it was 6:00 then I must have fallen asleep because I was in a dream...My son was knocking at the door with his friend and his friends Dad. I answered it with the tissue in my nose.. The boys and the Dad were staring at me like what in the flip is wrong with her? Then I woke up to the alarm and to Kendall's face staring right at me. She looked pretty confused like she had been studying me for a while....She says," Mama what are those things in your NOSE???!!"

Today I had to take CJ to the dentist because her cheek has been bothering her and I didn't know if it was an infected tooth. It's happened before.. I had to take all the kids with me. I also had to take a statement from them that seemed really high and wrong and sort that out. That was some serious drama and we found the errors. The front desk lady then called our Dental carrier and was getting crazy on the phone with her! Then I could tell Delta Dental was getting crazy back on her! Each of them was saying it was the other's fault.. then front desk lady slammed down the phone on Delta..S-C-A-R-Y!! She said she would try to figure it out... Sooo... I get home and the phone rings and it's Delta Dental... telling me all about how they got so rudely hung up on and they would MAKE sure this is handled and if not I need to call them and they will DEAL...so.. I don't care about all that.. I just know that all that dental drama with the wrong procedures, wrong kids, wrongs dates of service that seemed like a nightmare will now get extra special attention from both ends and I will come out the WINNER!! WOOOOOO

Nathan left this morning for a conference for a couple days... That means I'll get to appreciate him even more as I'm driving the kids around the next few nights to all their practices and to Awana...he really really does so much. My to do thing is to be more appreciative...

This week has been really cold..I am sick with the fall/winter sickness I seem to get every year. Green lovliness stopped up in my throat and in my nose. Coughing and sounding like an alien. This morning I was trying to call the girls upstairs for breakfast and my voice sounded so weird that they didn't come up because they were laughing thinking I was just making funny sounds at them.
Their brother didn't appreciate that they were laughing and not coming up so he marched down there and gave them a What's up! They came up right away after that pretty confused..haha

I am off to do laundry and clean and finish the rest of the cinnamon rolls from breakfast.

I love this pic my Mom captured of Kendall last week. As soon as I saw it I just laughed. There has always been something about her little face and her expressions that just kill me. Sometimes I just find myself staring at her with the biggest smile on my face. That little round face with purple glasses always shifting up and down on her tiny nose is too much for me to handle and then she must be SQUEEZED!

Pawsitive Panthers!

So.... yesterday when Nate brought Kendall home from school she ran in to show me her award. She was named pawsitive( their school is about paws from panthers apparently) panther of the week in Kindergarten! They announced her name over the intercom and she was so excited to get her award...She then tells me that CJ was named the pawsitive panther for 3rd grade too! I thought that was so cool they both had it the same week... no Cole? Kendall says, no I did NOT hear my brother's name.... When I pick the other two up from school, CJ says...Kendall did YOU already tell MOM?? Kendall says nothing out of pure fear.... I tell CJ to cool it and yes she already told me because she was too excited and if she decides to get upset I will crack her in her head and rip that dang panther award up so fast!! Well CJ says.. Oh Ok then, never mind. All smiles... So Cole wants to tell his version of the story... Cole says.. yeah in class when the announcements start he hears Kendall's name and he then claps really loud in class and gives a little woo woo.. and everyone looks at him like he's a freak. Then CJ's name is called and he claps loudly again and woo woo's her up.. His class says, are those your sisters? Yes they are he says.. Then his teacher walks over and gives Cole high fives for a family shout out.. Then the kids want to know how many dang sisters does he have? Cole says well how many grades are there? hardy har...then everyone wants to know WHY his sisters are so dang PAWSITIVE and He is apparently not... Hmmm... No answer for that one.. Anyway this school is crazy, we had the principal call to say congrats last night and today I had the school counselor call to say congrats about the girls.. They do this every week and make all the calls. Seems wild..anyway, Cole told me to wait by the phone..surely he can learn to be pawsitive soon enough....

Rhode Island~~~

WOW! I have had the most amazing 6 days....Our vacation was more than I hoped for and more beautiful than I even imagined. We visited a few states while in Rhode Island and all of them were equally breathtaking... So full of trees and color. I thought moving to the Midwest we were the holder's of some pretty amazing fall seasons. While they are really beautiful they can't even touch the fall on the east coast. I have never in my life seen fall colors so bright and so out of this world. It looked like melted crayons that had been poured over spots everywhere. I was in complete awe and couldn't keep my head away from the car window glass or the airplane windows flying in. I kept telling God how much I appreciate this...all the imagination He has. And if He ever wanted me to live there to appreciate it some more, I of course would be honored! Nate and I had the best time, eating!!! We are quite the pair of hogs. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Desserts, Coffees, Snacks...everyday, endless....wine's, beer's...it was AWESOME! I feel a little bit fluffed up right now. Food is good.. We had the most authentic Italian foods. We did wine tasting at a winery and I found a white wine that I just loved, loved and brought home with me. We went to the Sam Adams brewery and got to sample beer. I loved this lemongrass heff but then found out that it was a secret batch they will never sell. Boo..I did find another beer that captured my heart.. SAM Adams cherry wheat.. Ohhhhhh I might stay fluffy for a while now. Boston was of my soul...I just imagined myself living in the old buildings and walking on the old streets, attending service at the old churches and sitting in the old gardens...I just LOVED it.. It was such a neat city, full of charm and character. We had a great time there. We went into Mystic, Conn and spent a day there. Of course eating Mystic pizza! It was very mystical and the seafood pizza was delish! We did so much and enjoyed every moment and enjoyed each other's company and it was the best...the best best best!!!

I am uploading pics and I will post some..

We are "officially" on vacation...hot diggety dang!! We are waiting at the New Jersey airport and Nate has stolen the IPOD and is reading a book at the same time. I could never ever do that. I would never be able to concentrate. We have about an hour left of our layover and then off to Providence. My free hour of Internet access is about to end now. PROVIDENCE, WOO WOO!

Last night CJ had a school performance and it was funny. All the third graders sang songs about the fall and Halloween, so she was dressed up as a waitress. Thankfully one of her friends Mom's called me and asked if I needed a costume for her..umm yes.. cause it was Sunday night and the performance was Monday and I still hadn't even thought about it. At school Cole showed me his pumpkin drawing displayed on one of the walls and the last picture is of Miss Kendall earlier in the day. She was having major, major sad face over the fact that she could NOT have cookie dough as a snack because she didn't finish her lunch that day.... motivated by junk food. Straight through the DNA.

My girls

Kendall has been sick for a few days and she really wasn't feeling good on Saturday morning. We gave her Motrin and I told her she should probably skip her game. She was REALLY not happy about that and said she would be SO FINE MAMA! So after talking to her Dad and then Dad talking to me about it, we decided since she was going to be out all day at the other kids games she might as well play. CJ was feeling bad for her and decided to sit by her and give her back massages when she came to take breaks. I thought it was very sweet and I was happy I took my camera..these kind of moments with the girls don't happen all that often!!

Fall my favorite

At Cole's football game on Saturday the girls were playing back here, collecting leaves and other pretty things that had fallen.. Just a couple weeks and the leaves will all be changed and falling...I love it...my most favorite time of year.

My new lovies

I LOVE MY NEW SHOES! The last time I bought running shoes or tennis shoes whatever they are officially called was honestly about 7-8 years ago at least! If I need them for something I would just steal a pair of my Mom's 7 1/2 size ones and squeeze my extra large foot into it until I could use them. Cole and I were at the shoe store and I fell in LOVE with them for some reason and tried them on and they were so comfortable I have been wearing them everyday for almost two weeks. Yes I can obsess and overkill everything. At the shoe store Cole was trying to find me shoes and he kept bringing me some that weren't my size and they were very ugly. This woman probably in her 60's was laughing at us go back and forth. She then says, " wow SHE is really adamant on finding you some great shoes!" Umm...did she just say, she??? I think she did and Colina and I had a good laugh about that..

I graduated~

This afternoon was my last session for my volunteer training course. I am officially a MOCSA volunteer and I am going to start doing hospital runs in November. Thought that would give me time to go on vacation and go over all the reading and notes I took so that I could feel more prepared. Although I don't know how prepared you can be for this until you go through it. I am a victim advocate and they signed me up to help in the education training too. To volunteer in doing sessions in schools with kids. Education sessions not counseling. So maybe I'll do that too. I am really happy to be done with training and to be on to the next part of this journey. May the Lord be at my side, in my heart, in my head and the one taking care of the victims I meet...phew

Still sick

Cole has been home the last two days sick. Booo...He has been in the bathroom about every half hour. I have been taking lots of pictures and trying to figure out all the settings, which is annoying me. Kendall is all about the pictures so I have lots of her. The rest of the family is suffering through the torture. Cole will make really ugly faces just as I click so I've had to be fast on that.

Sickness has taken over

These last two weeks everyone in our house has been sick. This week Nate got it so bad and is still trying to have it be done. Cole and CJ are almost over it and Kendall and I only had it a little bit. Even poor Bosley has been having more seizures. My old camera had been giving me trouble for a while so I decided to go get a new one. I have no idea about technology and anything that speaks in terms of optical zoom and SD cards and mega pixels...I went online and have been looking on epinions for a camera which was a good idea. I was going to buy another camera which was $250 more than the one I ended up buying. But epinions swayed me away to the cheaper one and so today I have been playing. The kids are already over the torture. Bosley is being a good model and Nate refuses to give in to my annoyingness...

Vacation, WOO!

Oh man I am so excited!! Nate and I are going to Rhode Island in two weeks.. We were going to go to Florida for a week this September for his work conference but since that was cancelled we decided just to shift that money and still try to go do something fun. Nate has never been to the east coast and last time I was there I was in Jr. High I think, so it'll be something totally new, since we usually just want to go to Hawaii. The first picture is of the Hotel we'll be staying at called the Dolce Villa and it's in what's called "little italy" in providence. Then there's the picture of the place you get to take 40 min gondola rides with wine and cheese that I will be forcing Nate to go on. Especially since he is taking me into Boston to partake of the Sam Adams beer tour. The other pics are of Places in Rhode Island that came up when I googled... Rhode Island. Woo, I am seriously looking forward to this.

Weekend wrap up...

This weekend was nutz but this is just normal life for people with quite a few children unable to drive themselves anywhere. Saturday we ran around from field to field and from soccer to football. This Saturday Kendall played her game and felt sick and so I was going to go to Walmart to get an umbrella(we were heading to Cole's football game and it was 83 which for late Sept was smokin hot!) when before we hit the doors Miss Kendall tells me she is going to puke and then there it was all over the parking lot. But I was so happy it wasn't in my car. This was a paper work weekend for me so I was trying to fit that in..Sat night I was puking out of the car on the freeway so elegantly... Today I worked from 10:00am until 8:00pm finishing paperwork. Nate was a champ taking the kids to church and to the movies so they could be AWAY. CJ went to her friends and they decided to play tackle football the whole time. Three girls with a football tackling each other hard for fun? Her feet have sores and blood on them. Nate cooked some brats and we finished off tonight eating those and watching DVR'd survivor with gooey brownies. I am going to bed early and getting ready to get some things accomplished this week that I put off the last few weeks for dumb Heroes..well it's not dumb actually it's magical and it comes on tomorrow night...WOOOO!

Kendall and a little John 3:16

Sorry it's sideways! I don't know how to fix that..other than turning my head crooked to see it. She was getting ready to go to Awana last night to say her verse and I heard her singing it and I had to get a little of it on video!

We are finally caught up with Heroes and I am so TIRED. I've been having dreams of me having superpowers it's quite ridiculous. I will be glad to sleep again.

And PS: for those of you who've known Kendall as being Kendal her entire life and you noticed I tacked another L on the name lately here's the explanation. When she was born I put on her birth certificate with two LL's and then I had it amended the next month to one L.. Her birth certificate still has two but she can use one. Anyway, when I registered her for school I had to use two LL's because I of course had lost the amendment and needed to order another. Kendall thought it was so cool she had two LL's on her papers because it makes her have more letters and more letters is cool. So she asked to switch and has been using it at school. So Kendall it is...

Obsessing

Ya'll it's bad.. Nate and I heard this show was good and so we decided to check it out and have been stuck in front of the TV for days and days...we finished season 1 tonight and are immediately starting season 2 tonight too!!! Season three started yesterday so we DVR'd that biznizz..it's so out of control and we have NO CONTROL!!! AHHHHHHHHHH

I'm Six~~

I can't believe she's 6 years old today...She has brought an immeasurable amount of joy into our lives. She is so full of life and love. She feels so much. My little baby, Kendall Jace brought into this world sick and weak and God chose to heal her for His glory and I pray that she will be a testimony to that her whole life. Just as He made a promise when I named her(JACE-means healing/healed/healer)without us even knowing what it meant. I pray that her life shows His promise. She spends her days singing almost every second of the day and makes up songs for God and they are so sweet and I can't help to think how much God enjoys them.... Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet..... brownie, cookie dough, frosting, chocolate, Cinnamon roll eating baby of my heart.

I am soooo tired!

Tonight's class was so technical...we had law enforcement come to class and a prosecutor and I didn't know that my brain could hurt like this from information. I went to one of the hospitals that I'll be volunteering for tonight. It was straight up downtown KC and the SANE(sexual assault nurse examiner) nurse was telling us to be prepared for everything and anything. They have a lot of prostitutes, drug users and alcohol related assaults at this one. Oh my gosh, ya'll... I have not been able to shut my brain off..It's taken over my dreams it's that BAD!! I need a vacation from this brain at the moment..

I choose Jesus

Unfortunately my camera wasn't having any love for the low lights on the stage for CJ's baptism. They all came out dark and yuck. Many of you will be surprised that I had a back up plan and brought the video camera.. Seriously, I KNOW!! Last night CJ and I were talking and reading and praying about today and she was so nervous. You have to give a statement of faith and she was wanting to practice what she would say. It was pretty cute and funny the things she was coming up with. Well she settled on something she felt comfortable with and she was going to say that she Loves God and she chooses Jesus because he loved her enough to die for her and take away her yucky sins... well this morning she woke up and said she could barely sleep all night nervous that she had to talk.. At church during the baptism there were also two other kids getting baptized. Pastor asked both of them for their statement of faith..when it got to CJ he asked her if she believed Jesus died for her and and she said yes! That was it, into the baptismal and down you go in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! After she was relieved and happy not to have to be nervous about what to say. Then she wanted to go to Chili's to get her some RIBS ...mmmmmmmmmm

Emotionally and Mentally BLOWING UP!

These training classes are takin' it to me...I can't imagine all the things coming the next week. So far we've covered...sexual assault on both gender's and children, human trafficking,suicide, Deaf culture, Lesbian-gay-bi-transgender victims, Victims with disabilities-mental and physical, non English speaking victims and Drug facilitated rape and I am totally sure I am even leaving out more. My brain is on OVERLOAD and emotionally I have been through a pretty amazing cleansing. This has been the most exciting week. I am so proud to be volunteering for this organization. They are 100% focused on victims and giving them all the needed resources to help them survive and to eventually thrive. I am so impressed... We had survivors come and share their stories a few nights ago and I was so honored to be able to hear them. They are so brave and so worthy of God's love and affection and special attention. Programs like these help victims to matter and to receive the tools to be empowered in their lives. I am so thankful to be able to share in all this and so totally nervous out of my mind that I will say the wrong things or do the wrong things. I am going to be a hospital advocate which means when someone comes into the hospital after being assaulted the hospital will call me(if I am on call that day/night) and I will be there with the victim to walk through the process with them. Doing whatever I can to help them feel safe. I need a Jesus heart like never before...

Baptism

Cole and CJ have both expressed that they want to be baptized. The weird thing is...Cole has wanted to be baptized for almost 2 years now. Whenever they talk about baptism at church they say to write on these cards stating you want to be baptized and they will call you and set you up for the next baptism. We have them about 2- 3 times a year... well we have never, not once been called and every time they announce it, I fill out a card for Cole and we never get called. Then we get to church not knowing it was a baptism day and Cole is so desperate he wants to go up in his regular clothes right away. We then sign the card again and no call... This has been going for Cole the last two years...very weird. We both usually have it slip our minds after we fill out the card, knowing the next baptism is 5-6 months away. It was announced that we have a baptism coming up the 14th of September, so I asked both Cole and CJ if they'd like to be baptized then. CJ is ready and will be baptized! Cole told me that he didn't want to... I said, why? He said that he wants to get baptized in the Indian Ocean on his 11th birthday...what better birthday present is there, he says?? He then said, maybe God kept having them lose the cards so he could have that moment to be baptized.... wow wow wow!!! What an experience that will be. We'll be praying and talking to CJ every night until her baptism....I am so excited for her.

Victory!!

The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places.

Ernest Hemingway 1899

I am overwhelmed by the strength and courage of people.

MOCSA

I started my training classes to be a volunteer last night for MOCSA which stands for, Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault. I'll be going the next two weeks downtown KC for the training. Last night I was there 4 hours and the information already is hard to hear. The statistics at which women, children and men are being assaulted are so outrageous. And these are the cases just being reported..We watched a video where they talked to/counseled a child who had been assaulted and I had to dig deep to not lose it. They don't hold back and the information we are receiving is the real deal!! It was good and it opened my eyes to a lot I hadn't thought of before. They asked if we thought we were living in a Rape culture... hmmm... And are comments like raising boys telling them they throw like girls if they throw bad.... Harmful? Some of the volunteers thought not...some thought it was harmful to women as a whole making us appear weak. It was such an interesting night hearing just 9 of us and all of our different opinions. I am excited to be going through this and so thankful there are places

like this... people helping people.

Sad morning at the Fischer's

We stopped by Petco on Saturday and well....we adopted a cat...I was seriously against this and told the husband and the children we were NOT getting a cat and we were just looking..Well, we went in and were looking at all the kitty's and everything was fine, until....I came across the back and saw the most BEAUTIFUL cat in the world!! He looked like a white tiger...light blue eyes with tiger stripes. He was perfect...as soon as I saw him it was all over, I was like a crazed person. Asking questions and asking to hold him and then I just looked at Nate and said..Umm we HAVE TO HAVE HIM!! Nate was very confused at what the heck was happening. This was very out of character for me. Well we took him home and after finding that Bosley and the cat were friends.. Cole spent a little time with him.....about 10 minutes later my son had huge red welts all over his face.. his eyes were watering and nose was red and watering..sneezing and more sneezing followed. Cole was allergic! We gave the cat a bath and tried again the next day..no luck. We had thought he had grown out of this allergy but we were wrong. Cole was saying we could keep the cat and he would just stay away and not play with him so the rest of the family could still enjoy him. The girls have been crying since yesterday and are trying to be brave. The girls are being nice to Cole and understand it's something he can't control....I was SAD too! haha This cat was so chill and loves Bosley and was so affectionate and looking like a Tiger! So, only dogs for us!

Tagged by Rachel M

The rules are:
1. link to the person who tagged you
2. mention the rules
3. tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. tag 6 bloggers
5. leave a comment for each



1. I am obsessed with popcorn...I try to eat it everyday and usually never in the same way. I put everything on my popcorn and that helps to ensure that no one else even tries to get a piece of it. I love melting chocolate chips in...cherry,white chocolate, butterscotch, every kind. I drench it in balsamic vinegar, I melt cheese in layers into it. I spray with butter and grind salt and fresh pepper into it. I mix herbs into it. I love it with MnM's and peanuts. Parmesan cheese with olive oil, ymmm..seriously there isn't anything I won't try on my popcorn. Plain popcorn is boring and I won't be havin it.

2. I can't remember anything..my memory is just about the worst thing I have seen of any one's memory. I can't remember any of my past already, so God has given me special friends with amazing memories to help remind me of things we did together and things about even my own children. I tried this year to help my memory by reading my one year bible and journaling it everyday so I can retain some of the bible into my memory..well that isn't working and my memory just is what it is..lame! Kendall has been a blessing because she has the best memory ever and never lets me forget things at the grocery store and for school. I'm sure she will have resentment and anger about this in her future and need some therapy..but it's workin for me.

3. I can't drink hot drinks. It totally annoys me..I keep my coffee pot in the fridge and hot chocolate or hot tea needs to be iced down if they want to travel down this throat.

4. I live in the land of Passion... Which means I'm either full to the top with love or full of rage..I don't seem to know how to manage the middle road very well. I married a very emotionally stable, middle kind of man which has helped me much. I'm not sure I've helped him much? I can be overwhelming with Love and then crazy like an insane raging psychopath...Sometimes within minutes of eachother too.


5. I think I know sign language when I am worshipping God alone...I don't actually know what I am signing and I am quite sure I'm not really signing anything but when it's just God and I, I can never sing and all I can do is move my hands and arms in weird wannabe signing moves and give that..yes..weird.

6.I am directionally challenged..east, west, north, south, mean zero to my brain. I can't even follow turn right on Ward st. half the time.. I have gotten onto toll freeways, wrong streets, different cities and driving on one way streets the wrong way, multiple-multiple times. My husband is in fear when I have to go anywhere alone I've never been. He has taken over the job of my Father, who would always tell me which mall was in the direction I was suppose to go to help.....

I am tagging:::: Meg, Debbie,Holly and Casey
http://meganbixler.blogspot.com/
http://eatingers.blogspot.com/
http://activerain.com/jhgalligan
http://oxygentothebrain.blogspot.com/
http://raeleshe.blogspot.com/

Here it is!

Here's how she's gonna roll this year....DANGER...This makes my husband the happiest man. He just keeps telling her you're name is AWESOME!!!!!!

This morning I witnessed something between my kids and I thought it was so cool. They are pretty good friends most of the time but they don't usually take the punishment for one another. Like if one is suppose to be punished they won't have a problem saying who it is that should rightfully be punished.. well this morning I made them all bagels and CJ was being a SNAIL! Talking and laughing and not eating. Usually I don't punish them for not eating, I just tell them it's their choice to starve and no snacks from my cabinet if they don't eat! Well I was feeling feisty today and irritated at her whole bagel sitting there still. I told her she had 10 minutes to finish or there would be a punishment and I told her to go ahead and get a wooden spoon out and put it next to her plate.. well I don't usually punish with spankings anymore at all and the wooden spoon thing, I'm not too into.. But TODAY I was feeling it!! She got the spoon and I came back to the table and saw she only had a few bites left of one.. Wow, that was so great CJ I tell her. I see Cole still has a whole half left. I get upset with him and say.. Cole, I'm sorry your the one who will have to get punished.. he says ok... then I see CJ look at him with sad eyes and I figure it out... I say, CJ did Cole take your other half? She says yes and he tells me.. I just didn't want her to have to get the beating... I just thought that was the coolest thing. CJ still got the spanking and I told Cole that it's not technically a BEATING and more like a spanking.. so he should probably not write a story about it at school or anything...well at least using the word beating that is..