Taking Thyme

It Has Been Forever!

2009-10-23T07:01:00.001-07:00

Wow, it has been forever since I posted on my blog. I have been so out of touch...

We have moved and life is settling into a normal routine again. Getting used to the train has been quite the challenge and it seems like we are just starting to be able to sleep through it for the most part. I love the house but the train could easily disappear... LOL!

I just unpacked several boxes that I brought in from the garage where I still have some things I have to unpack and put away. One thing I miss are closets...seems like I don't have any closets here and lack for storage. Anyway... inside the boxes were some of those BIG roaches...we thought we had killed all of them, but some of them must have gotten away because there was one running through the kitchen the other day. All the kids were talking about it and Alexa comes running to me telling me she was scared, and wanting to climb (typical girl) :) Then I guess she thought maybe she shouldn't show that she was scared so she started saying the roach was scared of her and it was her best friend. I had to smile because if it would have got close to her she probably would have climbed the wall. Last night as she was going to bed she emphasized to me that she was SCARED of roaches.

Another little tidbit that may make you smile. We have 5 chickens, one for each kid, and they are her favorite playmates. She is always loving on them, and they will do about anything for her. She brings them in to play with, in fact the other night I heard something hitting the door and there were three of them wanting in. Anyway, I asked her if she wanted to eat chicken and she looked at me like I lost my mind. "That's gwoss" she told me. I just laughed. She always eats chicken.

Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day has turned out to be quite interesting. One of my boys woke up with a swollen eye yesterday, he looked like someone had socked him.. LOL! I thought maybe it would get better but by last night he was having a lot of pain and swelling in his eyelid. The skin began to look bruised and by this morning we had had a miserable night with the pain and discomfort. This morning Urgent Care opened at 9:00 am and I took him to have it checked. Needless to say they diagnosed him with a very bad case of Conjunctivites, gave him 3 prescriptions and advised lots of water. Now I want to take a nap..LOL!

Happy Mother's Day to All!

Some Easter Pics!

2009-04-14T12:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures I took of the kids decorating Easter Eggs.

Daddy and Daughter!

2009-03-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

Alexa had always been a Daddy's girl. She always looks for him and when he is around she is following in his steps wanting to be with him. Sunday they were out by the lake and I couldn't resist snapping these photos.

A Piece of Art!

2009-03-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Last night Alexa was being so quiet, when I checked her she had a Hot Pink Sharpie. She had redecorated our Guest Bathroom completely. She had colored the door, the sink, and the trim around the door. This picture I took after I had already sprayed Clorox Clean Up hoping to get it off, then realized that this was the first time she had actually drawn anything, so I just had to take a photo. Usually everything is just scribbles, but this was her first drawing. She just turned 2 1/2 at the end of last month.

Alexa - 2 1/2

2009-03-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

I have gotten so far behind in updating my blog, but wanted to put some pictures on that I took of Alexa.

So pretty!

2009-01-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

I saw this outfit and just had to have it.. and she looks so pretty in it....

A New Blog

2009-01-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking of starting a blog to put all of my cards and crafts and have finally decided to do it. It is called The Paper Gourmet. I will be posting cards and crafts that I make, including the information for making the card. Please come by and check it out.

The Holidays

2009-01-16T10:06:00.001-08:00

The holidays this year were quite different for us. With having a family of 7 it can get quite costly to travel by air so in order to try to save and also for my husband to be able to visit his family in Guatemala, we decided to do things differently. He took all the boys and went to Guatemala, and I took the girls and went to visit family in Ohio. Spending the holidays apart was very difficult for us, and I doubt we will ever do it again, but the my husband and the boys came back with so many stories and so many pictures. Me and the girls also had a great time, but things were different being without them.

Here are some pictures they took on their trip. Now I can't wait for us to make this trip all together as a family. The boys really miss being there and tell me they would love to live there. Guess I really missed out. LOL!

Chocolaty Pomegranites

2008-11-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Today's SCS challenge was to make a card incorporating chocolate and since all I had was Chocolate Chip paper I decided to use this new stamp set by Flourishes and this is what I came up with. I just love this new stamp set, I can tell it will be one of my favorites.

This card is made using Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranite and Whisper White. I used Nestabilities for the circle and scalloped circle die cuts and also for the small scalloped tag. I also used the cuttlebug for the textured scallop strip under the ribbon and used paper piercing on the scallops and along the bottom.

Some new cards...

2008-11-16T04:59:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of cards I made for the challenges on SCS this week and wanted to post here.

This card was made using an acrylic stamp by Flourishes for the bg, and I stamped it onto Flourishes clear cardstock for my DP. I used Stampin Up cardstock Basic Black and Blush Blossom, and stamped the bird stamp using an acrylic stamp I purchased at Michaels.

This card was made using the SU Wanted stampset, and I stamped it onto very vanilla SU paper and sponged on the paper using So Saffron ink, covering all the paper lightly, and added Basic Brown on the edges, stamping over the whole panel with the weathered bg inked in Basic Brown. I used Martha Stewart ribbon and I am not sure where the corner accessories are from. I think it came out with a very cowgirly look.

It's a Nature World!!!

2008-11-16T04:47:00.000-08:00

Friday morning we were getting ready for school and with five kids trying to get them all ready and out the door is somewhat of a challenge. It was time to get in the car, and I was doing last minute checks on backpacks, snacks, shoes, belts, faces, hair, etc. When I step outside to find my two younger boys checking out this tree frog that had not escaped their attention. We frequently find tree frogs here and they never tire of wanting to catch them, and I usually try to explain that the tree frogs will not live here if they are always bothering them, and that usually works to deter them from catching them, but this one wasn't so lucky, and in their effort to save him so they could play with him later, he died. They put him in a plastic container on the back porch and when they came home he was dead. I didn't think to see if they had actually put him there, but he didn't make it. So here are the pics I took of Jacob holding him. I thought he was kind of cute... LOL!

I'm Back!!!

2008-10-15T18:38:00.001-07:00

I have been so busy since school started that it seems that my blog has been neglected. I have been wanting to update my blog but it seems that I haven't had time to set down and actually get it done.

This past weekend we had the priveledge of having my mom here to visit and I tried taking some pictures of her with the kids. Unfortunatly the little ones were not cooperating, and this is one of the best that I could get.

It Came Today!

2008-08-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I entered the Back to School Giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom. And to my great surprise and great happiness I won this camera from Ciao. I received it today in the mail and wanted to post a picture of it.

OUR BIG FLOWER?

2008-08-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

We have decided to have our dog Linda spayed and so yesterday was the big day. We went and dropped her off in the morning and I felt so sorry for her, she was shaking like a leaf that I felt so bad to leave her.

When we went to pick her up this morning they told us that we should have her wear this collar so she doesn't pick out her stitches and my kids are saying that she looks like a big flower. LOL!

I am so happy to not have to worry about her anymore and will be even happier when the stitches are out and things are back to normal. But for now we have a BIG FLOWER in our home.

YESTERDAY!

2008-08-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

One of the things my kids love to do is to bring me flowers. Those flowers may range from weeds to any other flower looking thing they may find. I always thank them and and try to appear like I actually LOVE the wonderful treasures as much as they do, but most of the time it is more about loving the child and their wonderful thoughtfulness. This time however it was a flower that I have been admiring afar for a long time and they surprised me yesterday with this flower. I think these flowers are so beautiful, but they belong in the water and I do love to admire the flowers in their own places, they make God's world so much more pleasant and wonderful, and my children decided to bring some of his masterpieces into our home, so now we have four of these wonderul flowers gracing our kitchen.

To say I don't appreciate these beautiful gifts and the thought behind them is not even close to true, but in my minds eye the fear of them actually going to the lake (without me knowing it) and having to step into the water, (OK, my overly careful mind can conjur all kinds of things, not the least which is alligators), but everything is o.k. and after explaining to them the dangers of venturing out without permission and supervision hopefully they will never venture out like that again. I am thankful that at least they didn't take the baby with them.

I also wanted to add this photo to the photo contest at 5 Minutes for Moms. Living in Florida it seems that our most beautiful flowering time of the year is in the winter, but there are a few hardy flowers that happen to bloom and look so elegant in the hot scorching summer months, and this is one of them. Hope you enjoy it as much as I am. What would I do with the $500.00 prize. I would spend it for the two birthdays that I have coming up. With two parties at the end of the month I am sure it would help make them special. My baby will be two and my baby boy will turn 6, so a shopping I will go. You can check out the contest here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/3898/win-500-in-our-summer-fun-photo-contest

Fun In The Sun!

2008-07-21T17:08:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a lot of fun for the kids. It was their cousins birthday party and they had rented a HUGE water slide. Between the trampolin, the water slide, and the pool they were outside in the sun all day, and came home with red noses and rosie cheeks. They next day they all woke up aching from all the climbing on the slide, but what a fun day it had been. Here are some pics.

Artistic Expressions!

2008-07-10T11:42:00.001-07:00

Today we decided to take a journey into the world of painting. Each of the kids (except the baby who was napping) got to paint something. Here are some pics with them and their creations. Jonathan wanted to have lines on his coconut, and tried so hard to make the look right, I guess it is hard when you don't have the right paintbrushes as he wanted one that was very tiny and all we had were the bigger ones.

Here is Ashley with her sandals they just had to be purple, and she used all the purple because she also had to paint the backs of them, I guess this can show how much she likes to decorate and make sure things are just so. One of her favorite jobs is to be given a job of organizing or decorating, she just needs to work on the cleaning part, that could go by forever without being touched. HE HE!

And then there is Erik. He painted his sailboat and was so proud of it, it was just the best, the star just had to be yellow and he informed Jacob that you could not paint a star blue, but Jacob being so much of his own person, painted his boat using a complete different set of colors and it came out beautifully even if he didn't paint his star yellow. Now they will each have something to set on their nightstands they painted by themselves.

Florida Blessings!

2008-07-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

I found this on the Sunday Funnies and thought it was too funny to pass up...

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN FLORIDA IN JULY WHEN...

~ The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
~ The trees are whistling for the dogs.
~ The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
~ Hot water now comes out of both taps.
~ You can make sun tea instantly.
~ You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
~ The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
~ You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
~ You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
~ You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
~ You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
~ Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
~ You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
~ The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
~ Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
~ The cows are giving evaporated milk.

Erik's Party!

2008-06-28T13:29:00.001-07:00

Here are all the kids singing Happy Birthday to him! Today we had Erik's Birthday Party, he will be 7 tomorrow, and he was so excited. We had 21 kids come all together, and it was really fun. It is amazing what a good time they had together. I am so happy so many of the kids from his class could come, it made it really special.
Now, I have to say that I learned on thing from this party and that is that I will NEVER be a professional cake decorator. I decided to try my hand at decorating my own cake for his party, and it was a disaster. I actually ended up running to Wal-Mart at 10:30 last night and buying a cake so we would have a cake for today. I was happy with my cupcakes though, I like they way they turned out.

This Looks Like Fun!

2008-06-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

This looks like a lot of fun, and brought a smile to my face when I read it. I found in on one of my favorite blogs. Mocha With Linda, thought I would try it...

1. Where is your cell phone? Hmmm.
2. Your significant other? Husband
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Mom
5. Your father?Far
6. Your favorite thing? Hobbies
7. Your dream last night? Forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? Lemonade
9. Your dream/goal? Christlike
10. The room you’re in? Dining Room
11. Your church? Ministry
12. Your fear? Loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Family
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Perfect
16. Muffins? Mmmm!
17. One of your wish list items? Millionare
18. Where you grew up? Ohio
19. The last thing you did? Sleep
20. What are you wearing? Glasses
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pets? None
23. Your computer? Close
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? Tired
26. Missing someone? Friend
27. Your car? SUV
28. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite store? Target
30. Your summer? Busy
31. Like(love) someone? Family
32. Your favorite color?Alot
33. Last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Unsure
35. Who will repost this? You?!

I have to agree with Linda, some of these were difficult, but it definitly made me think. Thanks Linda for the challenge! If you would like to play along please leave a comment here so I can come enjoy yours also.

What a weekend!

2008-06-23T06:36:00.001-07:00

Well, the weekend has come and gone, and all those wonderful things I had planned for the weekend didn't happen. I wanted to clean the garage, which is a complete disaster area right now, and only got about half finished as there were so many interferances mostly by the by the names of Erik, Jacob, and Alexa. I did get a lot of boxes emptied and finally they will disappear from the inventory in the garage.

We had plans to take the kids on a long bike ride as they recently got new bikes, but the weather didn't cooperate. It began to rain not long after we finished lunch and we had severe thunderstorm/tornado warnings up until time to leave for church. So much for the long bike ride and the use of long stored energy that the two younger boys keep letting me know they have. With the constant sounds of sirens, jumping, and sneaking the bikes into the house for those "bike rides" it can be quite the crazy moments in this house.

The week has begun, and band camp has started for Ashley. She is so excited as she has been looking forward to this day for a long time. Hope she has fun. Jonathan is over at his best friends house for the morning so it is just me and the three little ones. Wonder what I can get finished this morning.

Sketch Challenge!

2008-06-18T08:05:00.001-07:00

Today is the Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers, and I decided to combine the Sketch Challenge and the Color Challenge. I used Big Bold Birthday for this card, and cut some vellum to use for the bottoms of the cupcakes. I also decided to cuttlebug the Kraft bg. I really like this card, it will be a fun birthday card to give out.

A Day At The Park!

2008-06-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to go to the park. It was a fun trip, and the kids were so excited. I took my cameral planning to take a lot of pics, but didn't really get to take to many. Here are a couple that I took of Alexa peeking from one of the holes by the slide. We really liked this park, and are planning to go back again.

After being home all week, we needed to get out and do something fun, so we went out for lunch, and then we went to Constitution Park in Tequesta. This is a really neat park, and the playground for the older kids is 3 stories high. It has rock climbing walls, and ropes to climb. Long slides and lots of different things to do. Even the big kids had a blast and were disappointed that we couldn't stay longer.

As you can see from these pictures, it had been raining, but it was a blessing, as it has been so hot here, and it really cooled it down. We were able to be there without sweltering.

Sketch Challenge~

2008-06-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Today is the Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast, and this is the card I made. I used Basic Grey paper, and the stamp I used was from Papertrey Ink. Sorry the colors faded a little when I took the photo. If you would like to check out the challenge you can click on the link under Check These Out!

Thank You!

2008-05-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

I want to post a special THANK YOU to Stacie for the wonderful candle and cleaners I received the other day. Sorry I havn't posted in a while, but have been extremely busy with the kids last couple of weeks of school. We have one more week, and summer is here. YEAH!

Stacie, I love the candle, it burns great and smells great. The cleaners are great too. Love the smell...

Hopefully I will be able to post something on Monday, for now, hope everyone has a great weekend.

Please check out Stacie's website HERE!

FEAR!

2008-05-22T05:07:00.001-07:00

Last night we were having meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner. Doesn't seem to harmless, unless you are a 6 year old boy with a loose tooth. Erik was eating and suddenly ran from the table crying, he had bitten down and loosened his tooth even more, problem is he is terrified of having his teeth pulled. He is hardly afraid of anything, and this seems so miniscule to me, but to him it is HUGE! So began the battle of trying to convince him that it was o.k. to pull his tooth. Nope, nothing doing, that tooth was not to be removed. So today has come and the tooth is still there. I guess he will eventually get it out on his own has he does most of the others, but there is just something about a floppy tooth in their mouths that get to me.

So last night after everyone was in bed, I began to think about the blessing this little boy has been to us. He was born on June 29, 2001, and he was 7'0. I remember sitting in the hospital holding him that day, and he began to spit up and choke. I immediatly called in the nurses and they told me it was normal. He was my third one and it wasn't something that they had done before so I didn't think it was normal, but I figured they knew what they were talking about. We took him home and when he was 10 days old, we were getting ready for bed, and for some reason it was a feeling I could never describe to anyone but I was just paranoid to leave him alone, I couldn't leave him unless DH was sitting with him, and when I came back and was getting ready for bed, he was sound asleep in front of me, when his eyes flew open and he began to fight for breath. A fear came over me at that moment that I have never experienced in my life. I picked him up thinking it would help him to breathe, but it didn't. I began to try different things with him, but nothing was working. Now I have been trained in CPR, and all those things, but couldn't remember anything of what to do. Here was my baby, fighting for his life, and I couldn't think of what to do. I gave him some breaths and he began to breathe again, but was choking so badly that he couldn't really get his breath. I began to suction his throat and it helped a little. Here was the one time when I should have called 911, but it completley slipped my mind, I called the doctors office and they sent us to ER. When we got there, they began working on him, doing all kinds of tests and put him on oxygen as his oxygen levels were so low. His hads were so tiny that they had to use a flashlight to find his veins. (He was still under his birthweight). I was so afraid at this point, I felt that my baby was going to be gone, a fear I never want to have again. I didn't want to have anyone else hold him for fear that he would slip away from me

He was hooked up to all kinds of moniters and admitted into ICU. They asked questions and some of them were so scary. This was about the time when there was a surge in mothers abusing and killing their babies, and so they were immediatly cautious. They were considering brain scans and all, but ruled it out. He was in ICU for 4 days and they still didn't have any conclusive results to any of the tests that they ran, so they put him into a regular room and released him the next day.

He got to go home but with a monitor so if he stopped breathing it would alert us. By 2 days later he had had another spell. It wasn't as bad as the first, but it scared me. I couldn't just keep not knowing what was causing these spells, so I called his pediatrician, and he seen him immediatly that day. After asking a few questions, he said he couldn't actually diagnose him, but he believed he had GI Reflux. So he sent him to a specialist the next day. He was again admitted to the hospital for a test. This time they inserted tubes through his nose and into his stomach. For 24 hrs, I had to monitor everthing he did. If he coughed, cried, spit up, ate, everything. After 24 hrs he was released to go home and we were just awaiting the results of the tests. The results came back positive and he was put on a special diet, which completely fixed the problem. The final diagnosis was that he had spit up and when he took a breath it had gone into his lungs cuasing him to aspirate. They said he would have been considered SIDS, as we would never have heard him. He was so silent in all his fighting that if I hadn't been looking at him, I never would have known.

I thank God every day for the blessings I have, and when I think about how close we were to losing one of the kids, I still want to cry. He is so special. He is the one to come to me and thank s me for being his mommy, he tells me that I am the best cook, mommy, etc. in the whole world. He still comes and crawls up on my lap for snuggles, and is such a sensitive person. He wants to do the right thing so badly and when he doesn't he gets very repentant. When I imagine our family without him, it makes me hug him more and appreciate more the days I have with the kids. Each one brings something special and different into our family, and they are very much loved.

Sorry for the long post, but just had to share with everyone the miracle this little boy is that he is still here with us today. The doctors said that if we had not been with him we would never have heard him, and he would not have made it. I really believe that God gave me that feeling I had that night, and if I hadn't listened to it, he would not be with us today, and my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones. You are in my thoughts and prayers!

I WANTED To Stamp Today!

2008-05-20T09:07:00.001-07:00

I got up this morning REALLY wanting to stamp, so after DH left for work, I went to SCS to check out the challenge for today. The color challenge today was Buckaroo Blue, Soft Sky, and Certainly Celery. Great colors for a baby boy card, so I thought I would do it. So I get all my things out, and start creating. Then the battle begins. Alexa decides that stamping is not gonna happen. She immediatly begins crying. I got her to color for a few minutes, but even that didn't last long. I put her up on my stamping space, and she sat there for while, after all, all those punches, ink pads, pieces of paper, and tape are just too much for a one year old to resist. But even that didn't last. It wasn't long before she was crying some more. Then it turned into an all out wail. So I had to leave the card not finished. We came downstairs and fixed lunch and she has been happy ever since. So I don't really know what she was so upset about but now it seems to be over. She really is a joy to have around, except when you want to stamp (HE HE!), she loves to hug and kiss, loves snuggles, and has an extraordinary way of making everyone in the family feel special. One of her favorite things to do is play outside in the yard.

These Pictures

of Alexa were taken of her playing outside in the backyard. One of her favorite things to do. I love this dress, and this pose of her looks like she is praying. She was watching something on the ground, and I just couldn't resist this one. The picture at the top is of her sitting in a box. She loves sitting inside of boxes, any size as long as she can fit. In this picture she has two of her favorite things, her SI (see), and her doggie. I am surprised her TI TI (a huge yellow blanket her daddy bought her when he went to Guatemala) was not with her.

Fresh Bread!!

2008-05-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

So, today I decided to bake a fresh loaf of bread from scratch. I found this recipe, and started first thing this morning. This is the first time I have baked a loaf of bread, and was very excited to be watching it rise and smelling the yeast.

So here is the finished loaf of bread. Tasted pretty good too. Smelling it made my mouth water. I definitly didn't do it perfectly, but for my first time I was very happy with the results.

Here is the recipe:

BUTTERMILK BREAD

5 to 51/2 cups of all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 package of dry yeast

1 cup of water

1 cup of buttermilk

1/3 cup of shortening

1 egg, beaten

This recipe makes two loaves. So you will need 2 loaf pans.

In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups flour, the sugar, salt, baking soda, and yeast. Combine water, buttermilk, and shortening and heat over low heat until warm. (Shortening doesn't need to melt). Add liquid gradually to the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour to make a thick batter and beat for another 2 minutes.

From this point forward, use a wooden spoon and fingers to work in the additional flour. Add flour gradually, until the mass of dough is soft not sticky. Then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface.

Knead the ball of dough until it is - about 8 minutes. Dough will pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl when it has enough flour.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until the dough doubles in size (about 1 hr.).

Punch down and cut into 2 pieces. Turn the cut side under and gently press and pat the dough to form for loaf pan.

Cover with wax paper and return to warm place for about 45 minutes or until it has risen to about 1" above the pan.

Preheat oven to 375 20 minutes before baking.

Brush the loaves with the egg, bake for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and it sounds hollow when thumped.

Today I Stamped!

2008-05-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Today was the Featured Stamper Challenge. I really enjoy this challenge as it gives me a chance to make some of my favorite cards. You can check out this challenge on www.splitcoaststampers.com. I used basic grey and also SU pretty in pink paper for this card. I added some eyelets on the sentiment and cuttlebugged the back panel using Swiss Dots. The CB is one of my favorite tools. I finally got it when I could use a 50% coupon. I love it and don't know what I would do without it now. This CB folder is also one of my favorites. Thanks to someone I know for suggesting it (Thanks Lori). This card was taken from the gallery of Dawnsing. Thanks again for the great gallery Dawnsing.

Long Day!

2008-05-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well, today has been a long day, and I can't wait for tomorrow. Jonathan and Ashley are going to state competitions tomorrow and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I know they are excited too. I was trying to go with them, but couldn't work out my schedule. I actually think they are more excited about going on the bus than being in the competition. HE HE! Will post more tomorrow.

My New Blog Template

2008-05-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

I am so excited. I found this awesome link for blog templates, and fell in love. This is absolutly lovely. I am so happy with it I can't say enough. I want to thank Michelle for my awesome looking blog. If you are interested you can check it out at Shabby Creations.

TARGET!

2008-05-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this, a $100 GC to Target, one of my favorite stores. Check out the Bounty link, it is for all bloggers.

A Mother's Day Memoir

2008-05-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

So Mother's Day has come and gone, and it was a Mother's Day to remember. My morning started off with DH cooking lots ( and I mean LOTS) of rice. We were having a dinner for the mother's at church and he volunteered to take the rice. Now, DH is a very good cook, and usually his food is really good, but for some reason he forgot to put the salt, then he burned one pot of rice. He also made the salsa, which came out YUMMY! Well, while he was cooking I was getting the kids ready for church, which I usually do anyway, and ironing, which he usually does, and feeding the kids.

I actually got to use my new gift which was a cuban mop that I have been asking him for for months, and he actually got it for me. It is funny that the simple things make me happy. I told him that it was one of the best gifts he could have gotten me. One of the kids had spilled syrup on the floor, so clean it up I did. Funny thing was, those of you that know DH, knows that he is stickler about the floor being sticky, and here he was, cooking, making salsa and walking in the syrup, without complaining or saying anything at all. When I asked him why he didn't tell me about it he said he was trying to not complain about anything. Now that was a sacrifice. HE HE!

Well, we were finally ready to go, and he had the rice sitting on the coffee table ready to take to the car, and Alexa decided to try it out, so she opened it and started eating, LOL!

All in all it was a great Mother's Day!

Also, thanks for your responses on chores, I have to say I agree with all of you, I think laundry is probably #1 for me too.

Have a Great Day Everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

No Stamping???

2008-05-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

What a challenge! I couldn't stamp, so I decided to dig in my box of treasures to see what I could find. First I found the big prima, and then I found these awesome letters, so I decided to use these for the cards I needed for today. I needed to make 2 cards for teachers, so I opted for these simple cards. During my (not stamping) cardmaking this morning, Alexa was just wanting to be held, and also during the posting of it, therefore the lack of information.

She has just gone down for a nap and I can actually type again. She was so cute this morning, Erik was making some noises and she put both hands over her face and said "Oh,Boy!" It was quite funny. She is a regular little character right now.

I have the dreaded chore of grocery shopping today, UGH! The least favorite thing about it is putting it all away when I get home, but if you don't work you don't eat, so I guess I need to make sure I go or I will have to go tomorrow with 5 kids, guess I will go today. I do have to say it is not my most dreaded chore, but it definitly ranks in my top 10.

What is your most dreaded chore?

COME TO THE PARTY!!!!

2008-05-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone loves to party, please come on over and visit. I would also like to extend a welcome to anyone who is visiting me for the first time. As you may see I am new and am just getting started. I am so excited that you are here to visit. I am a mother of five. I have 3 boys and 2 girls.

My hobbies tend to come in cycles, and right now I am into reading, and of course blogging. Other hobbies that I enjoy are scrapbooking, cardmaking (stamping), cooking, talking on the phone (if you can consider that a hobby), playing games, and exploring with the kids.

I love to try new recipes and enjoy cooking with friends.

I would love to recieve comments from you, and would love to visit your blogs

WOW!

2008-05-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

I didn't know that blogging was so fun! I have been so intrigued by all the wonderful blogs out there. I have just started this adventure but am quickly becoming addicted. I can't wait to meet some other bloggers and share in this wonderful world of blogging.

Taking Thyme

2008-05-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Trying to take time to do the little things. Enjoy the kids and all their wonder. Sometimes I get so caught up in all the things I need to do that I forget to take the time to enjoy them. I love all the little things they do, the hugs, kisses, and all the things they say. Sometimes it is even as simple as a look that says it all. Being a mother is not always easy, but it is definitly rewardign to see them growing and learning. Today I watched as my 13 year old son was playing soccer with his friends and just enjoyed the moment. Seeing him become independant and developing relationships outside his family makes me happy.

I watch my 10 year old daughter and see her growing to become a young lady. She loves her sisters and brother so much and is always eager to help. Yesterday she even took out the garbage for her older brother, just to be nice. She loves playing and helping with the baby and is a joy to have in the house.

Then there the two boys, 14 months apart and always getting into trouble. Today they were literally climbing the door jambs and screaming, running up and down the stairs and playing - ghosts!!! Then I took them outside to play and burn some energy, guess what, they got QUIET! Imagine that.. UGH!! The mystery of boys.

Last but definitly not least is the baby. She is 20 months and is talking up a storm, she loves to watch Strawberry Shortcake, and love to have her "Ti Ti" (blanket) and sippy cup wherever she goes.