Friday, November 23, 2007

calling all scrapbookers

I am desperate, so i am going to throw this out there. i am a creative memorie consultant and i do it as a hobbyist, just to keep my own addiction fed and a few friends. I have to order every 3 months and i have an order due the end of this month. I am very short of a complete order. I do not want to take any of you away from your own consultants who do c.m. as a business, so if you have your own just disregard this. I sell my product at wholesale, that is 30% OFF whatever is in the catalog or on line. You get it for what i pay for it. If any one out there is interested, please let me know. I have heard horror stories about some c.m. consultants and i am not one of them. I love the product, but i am not apposed to using other stuff. If you have not looked at a catalog or on line recently, they have come along way and have really expanded there product line. Lotsa fun stuff. Spread the news, i appreciate it. tina

Thursday, November 22, 2007

My Blessings

Happy thanksgiving everyone. It has been a good day today. Great food, family and just a blessed day. I am most thankful for somthing my husband did for us about 11months ago. He took a chance and applyed for a job to get us out of the negetive situation we were in. God started opening doors almost instantly and my husband had the courage, strength and obediance to step out in faith and start a new career in something he knew absolutely nothing about. I am so proud of him and so greatful for his integrity and his wiilingness to start over at so many levels. This move has braught us closer to his brother and his family whom i love deeply, it has braught us to a small community that we can connect and be a part of missionally in a way we were not able to in the city. The Lord has just given us our dream house to buy in which we will be moving into the end of december. His new job has braught new struggles, but god has been faithful in giving me what i needed to get through it one day at a time. I have had to rely on him, and have experienced the power of prayer in a mighty way. i love you scott and i thankyou for what you did for our family, words cannot exspress how full my heart is for you and your sacrifice. you are the best. My husband is my hero. I am full of grattitude, joy and love. tina

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

ITS OVER.... YIPPE YIAAAYYYY

OVER TIME IS FINISHED!!!!!!! Scott came home this morning and did the happy dance for me. Yes his clothes were on. (: He has been working overtime for almost 3 months. One thing i am so grateful for is that his regular schedule will feel like vacation to us. He will work sun, mon, tue, wed. from 5pm to 7am and have thurs, fri, sat off. We are so happy for it to be over. It was like an endurance race for him. and was starting to feel like it to us too. thankyou Lord for bringing it to a close. I must go for now, i have many pies to make. and potatoes to peel.. Will be back though to talk about what i am thankfull for. tina

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

okay the results of khalobs vision testing was very positive. He does have to get glasses for school and homework. then he has a 2 hour testing phase in dec. to figure out some other problems. The doctor said that for sure that his reading/writing /spelling difficulties are related to the vision issues. Im glad for him that there is something concretely wrong, and now we can fix it. She was telling me that alot of learning problems are more related to the eyes and brain/eye connection then we are lead to believe in the school systems. Alot of kids are getting labeled as difficult, slow, and learning disabled when really it is a vision thing. When you really think about it there is so much to learn when we are first learning to read. many senses are used and i have learned so much more about the eye and what is happening and all the different things that must happen to succesfully learn to read and decode. It's interesting. She told me that in some european countries and in japan this testing is done to every child at 5 years old BEFORE they start school, so the educators and parents know if they need glasses and or therapy. In america unless a child is atleast 2 years behind they do not consider doing anything to find out what what is going on. Can you imagine how many kids could be spared stress, anxiety, emotional scarring, self-doubt, if educatores knew even a small tidbit of info about this kind of therapy. I might have found a band wagon to jump on. I think it is wrong that our teachers do not have any clue about this stuff. Any way, if you would like more info about any of this let me know and i will get it to you. I highly recommend that if you have any child that has been struggling for any length of time with learning that you consider this and do some research. My motherly, god given instinct told me two years ago all was not well, and i kept asking about tutoring, or testing or something. All i got was, not he is a boy he will catch up, they just learn slower. That is true, but he just kept gettin more and more behind and more and more frustrated. I am so thankful we found this. My personal opinion is that because he did not have any other issues like; behavioral, ADD, family problems that he wasn't seriously looked at as needing anything extra. Moms we have got to listen to our guts and instincts more. God has given that to us that gift and we really should listen to it. In all circumstances. I know things will get better and it is all going to work out. I have know all along that something was just not quite right with him. anyway.
One more day to shop, finalize a menu, and clean the house. I will be baking pies and crust tomorrow. I think i will even do the sweet potatoes ahead and peel all the potatoes for mashing. Anything that i can do early to help the actual day be more relaxing iam going to do. Please say a prayer for me, i am feeling like i am coming down with something. head, sore throat, a little achey. This happens to me alot, i get sick right before a holiday or during. Iam not quite sure why. i do not feel stressed. i am actually looking forward to it. I want to play and stay up late playing with everyone. Have a great day and more to come tomorrow about
THANKFULLNESS. Sleep tight , do not let the bed bugs bite. tina

Monday, November 19, 2007

thoughts of thanks

good mornin!! its been a while since i last blogged. Was kind in a funk last week and did not have alot to say. This week will be better. Yesterday Pastor Pat spoke on thankfullness and it really touched my heart. It just wasn't about the average stuff we are thankfull for; kids, spouse, house, ect. He talked about some other things that i want to share later in the week. I pray that we can all start reflecting on being thankful as the week goes by. I also realized i need to be teaching my children to be thankful, even in hard times. It does not come to us naturally, our humaness keeps us focused on what we want and need. Not on what we already have, or maybe even through the pain of difficulty. I want God to show me the things that maybe i have not recognized as blessing from him, little and big. It is easy for me to see the obvious things, but i want to see the the obscure, the challenges that he has given me and how it is has blessed me. I challenge us all to do the same.
I am off to Eugene for khalobs vision testing. I hope we find something concrete that will help us with his reading, writing, and spelling issues. Will go early and do a little shopping at trader joes, might even walk through the mall or something. I will let you know tonight how his appt. went. blessings to you all today. tina

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

my eating challenged son

I have a almost 10 (3weeks) year old boy. He is all boy and i love him to death. but he is driving me to drink (not literally). I fed him the same as a baby as i did his younger sister and she will eat anything and everthing. She will sit down and eat a whole avocado and broccoli and be in heaven. Her brother on the other hand does not like anything. He will eat a few raw carrots, that is if i make him. He loves apples and tangetines, bananans, grapes, pears. Thats about it for fruit. He does not like any meat, except bacon and pepperoni. Can you even consider those a meat product? ughh!! no eggs, no rice, no beans, nothing! This is what we cycle through every few days. Its peanutbutter and butter sandwiches for lunch, every day. Unless i send a pepperoni pizza pocket. For dinner, our choices are nachos, kraft mac/cheese, cheese pizza/ pepp. pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, quesidillas ... cheese ofcourse. He likes milk and vanilla yogurt. icecream ofcourse. waffles, pancakes, french toast, cereal. You can not mix any of these things. Oh ya he will eat hotdogs too! I could'nt be more thrilled. Is that meat? He will not eat any other kind of macaroni except what is in the craft box, if it is shaped diff. he will not eat it. i try and tell him that it alltastes the same, it is justed shaped diff. I AM GOING CRAZY! Not only do i get sick of fixing the same things over and over, i am so concerned about his health. All those carbs and not much protein. I do feed him good whole grain bread, and organic unsweetend p. butter. Milk is raw and organic. i can get a protein shake in him a few times a week and that helps me feel better. The point iam trying to make is i really worry about his health, we have tryed the go hungery thing, try a few bites of this every day, he gags, almost throws up pitches a fit. i am trying to educate them about puting good food in their bodies, and why it's necessary. We talk about exercise ( i model that by going to the gym4-5 days a week) He plays sports, we limit t.v time. I just feel like i am on him constantly and that maybe i am creating even more of a problem. I just know what goes in is so important and i also know that he would sleep better and not be so irritable if he ate better. I am concerned about long term issues with all the carbs and suger. and the lack of content in his belly, vegetables, protein. i know i am repeating myself, i am sorry. i just do not know how to be mellow about it. Does anyone else deal with this and how do you?
Well we gave notice to our landlord today. Its official, we are moving the last week in december. So guess what i will be doing for the next month, YEP packing. Feels like i just did that hmmmm....... oh i did!! Neither of us are excited about it, but we want to be in our house.
I guess we will have to. It shouldn't be that bad if i do a little bit every day until xmas. Maybe i will wait until turkey day is over. tina

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

lets do some homework

What is my motto? I don't think i have one. maybe....LETS GET STARBUCKS
I think i would like to be Samantha Stevens.... from Bewitched. I do not know if she is a superhero, I would like to have the power to just WIGGLE MY NOSE to do or get whatever i want. SCARING PEOPLE makes me laugh histarically, like almost wet my pants funny. I am a DOG LOVER AT HEART, but my husband is allergic to them, so we have a cat, and i actually really love her too. i grew up on a farm and always had both. I do not miss dog poop and pee stains in the yard though. Cats are funny. She makes me laugh too, but not as much as scaring people. I would much rather be smarter.......NOOOOTT......SEXIER FOR SURE. I will never ever understand HOW THE TV WORKS, HOW DOES THE PICTURE APPEAR SEEMINGLY OUT OF KNOWWHERE? My life would be simpler if i could BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING And RELAX MORE. The biggest decision iam dealing with is WHETHER TO GET A JOB AND HOW TO WORK IT AROUND MY EXSISTING LIFE. Okay there is my homework teachers. I hope i passed. see ya at the party. tina

Sunday, November 11, 2007

your not going to believe this!!

okay are you all sitting down? I got a phone call on sat. morning from the owners of the house we were trying to buy. She said that they had been praying all night and they decided that they wanted to know if we were interested in a lease option on the house and we could buy it in 6-8 months when we were able to get a loan. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???? i was blown away. i was humbled, i was speachless. She said that they really wanted us to have the house and with the market the way it was why not just let us move in and lease it until we can get a loan. Again, i had the thought but would never ask her, i told the Lord that if he wanted that to happen, then he had to lay it on there hearts and ask. Well, that seems to be what he did. I had to share it with you. what do ya think? TINA

Friday, November 9, 2007

the answer is no

We found out yesterday that we cannot get a loan. Our mortg. person said 6 months ago there would not have been a problem, but now with the market it is so much harder. I was really bummed. I know i said all along it was the Lord who was in control and i would be joyful whatever the decision would be. Well i had to ask for forgiveness because my attitude yesterday was not joyful or content. It looked like it was going to happen and i was letting myself get emotional about it, that bit me in the butt in the end. We loved the house and i was starting to see us making memories and living there. I trust the Lord ultimately though, even though i do not understand. afterall the buyers saught us out twice. I just really thought this was going to be our dream home. anyway. we will try again in about six months, and hopefully find somthing we love as much or more than this.
Onto somthing else. Do you smell christmas in the air? I do. Starbucks has their cheerfull, wonderfully red holiday cups out already. I love that!! My favorite, only available at christmas time MINT M&M'S are out. Have any of you discoverd them yet? I have been know to buy up to 15 bags in an entire season. I have all my extended family hooked and we always have them in a dish through december. I really tryed to abstain from buying them yesterday, cuz its not december yet. But i literally did not have any control of my hand and what it through in my cart(: (: hee hee. They are a little different though this year. they are bigger, almost like a peanut m&m's, and i think they taste a little bit diff. than the smaller ones they used to make. I think i might call them and make a suggestion. after all i am there biggest fan. maybe since they taste diff. i won't eat so many. whatta ya think? Oh by the way i have only been able to find them at wally's and at safeway. I will share that secret with you. I do not think any of you will be coming to walmart in lebanon to buy them. i will share if anyone comes to my house though.
I actually am getting excited for The Holidays. We are hosting turkey day. I am starting to plan my menu and table decorations. thats fun stuff for me. Hope you all have a good weekend. talk to you soon. tina. hope to meet many of you at the coffee party.

Monday, November 5, 2007

MY KIND OF DAY

I am enjoying today. It is rainy and gray out and it puts me in a cozy mood. i put some ribs in the crockpot, i think i will make some cookies for lunches this week. I will lite some candles to warm up and get comfortable. Have my quiet time, i might even continue my scrapbookin marathon. Mondays for me are a good day to catch up from the weekend, access the rest of the week, maybe make a list of to do's for the next few days. If i am really feeling energetic i will make a menu and cook up ahead. doesn't happen very often, but sometimes it does. I just feel really blessed to beable to be at home. I really enjoy it and love being a house mouse. I am so thankful to the lord for giving me the desires of my heart and letting me stay at home. i wouldnt do very well if i had to work outside the home. i know i would be cranky all the time, some women need it, but i just don't think i would do very well. Thank you Lord for letting blessing me with a husband who works hard and for allowing me to be here. HAVE A BLESSED DAY EVERYONE. TINA

Sunday, November 4, 2007

I'm catching up finally!!

I am so excited.. I am an avid scrapbooker and i have been sooo behind. Like a year and a half behind. That is huge to me. anyway, i just finished 30 pages in my album, iam making headway. I am caught up to the begining of this past summer. Yeah !!!!!! I have come to a realization that i really need to do it more often. You know how you do not do it for awhile and you start loosing your creativity and desire to do it, even though you love it? I have no excuses, i have a scrapbooking room and all my stuff is out and i don't have to put it away every time. It occured to me that i need to do something that i love and enjoy atleast once a week. ME TIME.
I think all of us moms need to have some me time, a little slice every week. It makes us better moms and wives don't you think? I know i feel better. So I encourage all of you to make some time for yourself this week. Rest in the lord and connect with somthing that your passionate about. TINA

Thursday, November 1, 2007

I NEED AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

I am going to throw this out there. I want to join weight watchers, but it is a little to spendy for us right at this moment. But i would love to have a partner to do pretty much the same with as a w.w group. Weigh in weekly and be accountable to journaling and excersing. It can be done over the phone and or get together once a month or something along with the weekly phone calls. Is anyone out there interested? Let me know. TINA

THE FIRST TIME

We have been on the conservitive side of celebrating halloween. We have done a few harvest parties, but usually we go to a movie or something else. We changed our mind this year. We went to a harvest party in Sweet Home at The Chapel and then i took the kids trick or treating to some houses. I have to admit it was fun watchin khalob run around and get excited. Maddison was a little more cautious, i had to talk her into it a little bit. I remember doing it and having a blast. then going home and dumping it all over the floor and inspectin all the loot. This might sound weird but do you remember the SMELL of your pumpkin full of candy? I do, it totally takes me back to childhood. I had to laugh at my kids, they had to complement each person about something in or around there house. Khalob made comments like; "oh nice carving on that pumpkin" or "I like those things on your wall" It was cracking me up. One house we went to there was a big elk head on the wall and i said "look at the elk" Maddi has a way with words and often confuses them. She said " oh, is that an elf?" We all laughed. Khalob was like "did you shoot him, WAY COOL!!" He is a 9 year old boy. It was just a fun evening. What is your favorite halloween candy? Mine is butterfingers or baby ruth, i like smarties too. Khalob is already talking about next year.
We are still waiting on the house. patiently.............. have a great evening! TINA