Prayers needed for 2 little boys!

The first is the 4 year old son of a long time online friend, Lori. Her Dalton was diagnosed with LCPD, he will likely have to use braces, crutches, bed rest, therapy or possibly even surgery none of which would be easy for any young child. Here's Dalton's blog to read all about him, his LCPD, and for updates as they get more information. http://www.dalton-lcpd.blogspot.com/

The second prayer request is for the little 8 week old MckMiracle named Stellan. I have been following MckMama's blog for a while now. Stellan had some severe heart trouble while in the womb, he was treated and was born with no signs whatsoever of any problems with his heart. Well now he has RSV and is having a very rough time with it and needs LOTS of prayers.

Not only do both of these precious boys need prayers but their mamas do as well. Please pray that both of these boys are completely healed with no lasting affects. And pray that their mamas have the strength that they need to get through these trials and come through it as stronger ladies (if that's even possible with either of these ladies).

OMG!!! Broken hearts, santa, snow and other misc. stuff

OMG! As in OH MY GOSH, what was that?!?! Today I heard a crash and turned around to find this...

Yes, that's our Christmas tree laying on the floor. I am not real sure how it happened, Elianna and Alyvia (my niece that I babysit for) were standing by the tree. Elianna was pulling the string on the one ornament to make it play music and somehow it just happened. It resulted in a broken antler

A couple broken hearts

And I thought my heart was going to be broken because Bethanie's first Christmas ornament was headlessIt's a Precious Moments baby girl that says Baby's first Christmas and has the year. My grandma got it for her. When I saw it laying there I could feel the tears coming to my eyes and I had to walk away for a minute, Elianna was already really upset, she didn't need to see me getting really upset too. THANKFULLY, it was a clean break, a little super glue and other than a couple little shiney spots from the glue, you can't even telll the difference. My tree looks awful now and it's really wobbly ( I think I may have cracked the stand when I stood it back up) but you know I am just REALLY thankful that none of the kids were hurt and there wasn't more damage to my onaments.

I tried to post yesterday but blogger would not let me to the posting page. Yesterday Elianna had her preschool class party. Santa came and she SAT ON HIS LAP and SMILED ABOUT IT!!!! This is the first time she has ever happily sat on his lap.

She was even scared to death of him as a baby...

And just so you can get a better look at that face...

LOL!!! Look at those chubby cheeks. I just noticed that she has the same dress on in both of those pictures, hand me downs are great.

On Tuesday we woke up to about 4 inches of snow. Both of the girls schools were closed so I bundled them all up (took about 20-30 minutes) headed out side, took a few pictures, the girls played a minute or 2, then one needed to use the potty. Took her in, unbundled her, she used the potty, bundled her back up (another 10 minutes) she went back out side. I fixed the baby a bottle and as soon as I went to sit down to feed her...here they came, they were done playing in the snow already! Why do I always spend more time bundling them up than they actually spend outside playing?!?! Oh well, at least they enjoyed it for a few minutes.

Oh, and would you look at this...

Yes, those are EMPTY clothes baskets, my laundry is ALL done. Well the clothes are anyway. It's been so long since I have had ALL my clothes done that I just washed a pumpkin shirt...that hadn't been worn since Halloween!!!!

What I'm gonna miss...

Time for Pam's You're Gonna Miss This Moment once again. I missed last weeks and the week before so I've missed that for sure! I've had lots of moments that I will miss but didn't write them down :( so now I can't remember them. But here is what I will miss tonight.Tonight the girls went to bed really late, as is becoming the norm for weekends, but they were still in the bed talking and giggling (that was a previous YGMT, that I will miss the giggles). So I went in there and sat with them for a while. I was telling them they need to get their room cleaned up before Christmas because Santa sure wouldn't leave many presents if he saw how messy their room is. So they were talking about how many, "maybe only 2 or 3 or maybe even just 1". Well that wasn't the way I wanted the conversation to go! So I told them that I thought 3 presents was a good number for Santa to bring since that's how many Jesus got when he was born (I am borrowing that idea from someone else but can't remember who it was that said it, Thanks if it was you). You would have thought I had said 30 gifts each, lol. Both of their eyes lit up and they both said YEA! Then Elianna started asking how many she got on her birthday, lol. I told her her birthday was different than Jesus' birthday, she said "yea, cause we don't have cake or anything", lol. I said well we could, I said I thought that was a good idea to make a cake or cupcakes and write Happy Birthday Jesus on it on Christmas morning. They LOVED that idea too. I'll really miss the excitement they show toward the little things, I really hope they never loose that though. I'll also miss, when they are grown and out of the house, getting to go sit with them in their beds just chatting. Oh, and the hugs and kisses, I got LOTS of them tonight while I sat with them in the bed, I will definetly miss those. For more You're Gonna Miss This Moment go visit Pam's blog.

I am really striving hard to not make Christmas about the gifts they get this year. We haven't went to all the "santa" things (breakfast with santa, special trip to the mall to visit him, etc) this year like we usually do and although I thought we would really miss them and feel like we were skipping a big part of Christmas, we really haven't. We are planning to go to at least 1 Christmas program at one of the churches in the area (our's doesn't have one, we really don't have enough people, it's just a small church). And we are going to be going to 2 Christmas parties that friends are having for the kids, and of course both girls will have class parties at school. So we have plenty to do without getting overwhelmed with SO much. They both know that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus, I just want that to be a much bigger part of Christmas this year. And really, I just want this Christmas to be simpler, more about the important things. I am also trying really hard to not make Christmas about money, how much we spend on gifts for people. I always seem to stress over that part. This year we are making a good bit of our gifts. I sometimes find my mind drifting to what else could I get xxx, me making this for them just isn't enough. But you know, it really is enough. The girls have been working on gifts and they are LOVING it. They kept asking tonight, when can we sew? lol. Yes I am really letting them sew (simple things), even Elianna who is not even 4 yet, and surprisingly enough, she does quite well, they both did much better than I expected. I'll be sure to get pictures and show them of the gifts we are making. I am excited to see peoples reactions. Hopefully I can get everything I have planned finished in time.

Been meaning to...

A while back I was tagged by Jen at Against All Odds To find the forth picture in the forth folder, post it and explain it. I was all excited about this until I went to the picture files. The first I went to under My Pictures, the forth file only had 2 picture. So I went to "Sarah's" files (that's the place I use to save pictures) and the picture isn't one I took, heck it's not even of one of my girls :( But I will post it anyway.

This is a picture that was emailed to me back in 2006. This is my DH's, step dad's, daughter's daughter. SFIL (step father in law) didn't even know this daughter of his existed till about 7 years ago. One day she just contacted him and said you might be my father, they met, he and her look just alike, she met the family, she was VERY friendly and everyone liked her and welcomed her into the family...except MIL! MIL was jealous of her for some unknown reason. She would contact her behind SFIL's back and say really mean things to her and overall just treated her like crap. Finally the long lost daughter just quit calling and coming around MIL and SFIL. MIL would always try to act like the victim by saying things to me about how she doesn't understand why she ever wanted to meet SFIL if she didn't want to be a part of the family and that she didn't understand why she wouldn't come around...she didn't know that I knew the things she had said to her in private. I use to keep in touch with her and she would send me pictures of her little girl all the time but then she moved to Florida. I still get emails from her every once in a while but not often. ANYWAYS, this is her little girl Hailey, who was absolutely cute as a button with big pretty eyes and long beautiful hair, on her first day of dance class :)

Something else I have been meaning to do is post the words to this song that I posted a while back. I realized when I replayed it that you really can't hear the words too well, and they are worth hearing/reading. I just LOVE this song!! I really am going to have to buy this CD.

Here's the video of the song


Here's the words:
"A Baby Changes Everything" by Faith Hill

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring, on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

The man she loves she's never touched
How will she keep his trust
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries, oh she cries

She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries and she cries O she cries

Shepherds all gather 'round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything

Choir of Angels sing
Glory to the newborn king
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Everything, everything, everything

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

My whole life is turned around
I was lost and now I'm found
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

I'm getting frustrated!!!

UPDATE: I kinda feel bad for this post so had to update. Dr. L who I asked for help with my class schedule emailed me TODAY...on a SUNDAY, he really must have been busy last week. And the other guy, well...I realized after I wrote this post that....the email I sent him never went through. So I sent it again and am hoping to hear from him tomorrow or at least this week. I know they are both good people who are really willing to help me I was just getting frustrated because I feel like I am at a standstill with not much time left.

I just need to vent a minute! I am HOPING to start back to school in January. Classes start January 12th so just over a month. Yet I still don't know if everything is going to work out or not. Because I am over the number of hours for finacial aid (student loans is all we qualify for) I need the one guy in the education department to fix my degree audit. I have called the office several times, he always either has someone in his office or he's out at the moment. I have left messages a couple of times with the one girl who sounds young, she's probably a student. Yet he has never called me back! Finally I emailed him. Then I am really needing to go ahead and schedule my classes before the ones I need are filled up and I am left with nothing to take. So I contact my advisor, called, he was out of town so they tell me to email him. I do, he sends me a quick message saying he doesn't have time to look at it right then but he would for sure on Thursday and/or Friday. Well here it is almost 6 pm on Friday, no calls or emails from either one of them!! I am just frustrated. Both of the men I am refering to were so nice and willing to help me however they could back a couple months ago when I first contacted them. UUUGGGHHHHH!

2 posts from me in one day...can you believe it?!?! Well now I am off to START my Christmas shopping.

Traumatizing accident...or maybe not.

Yesterday on the way to school someone hit the side of Bethanie's school bus. The school called on my way to pick Elianna up and left a message telling us the accident happened and that all the kids were checked by the school nurse and everyone was fine. So I just let it go. Then a little over an hour before she got home I started to worry. Bethanie has only been in one car accident and that was back when I was pregnant with Elianna, I was stopped at a stop sign, thought the car in front of me had gone, took my foot off the break and rolled into the car in front of me, it was SO minor that she didn't even know it happened but the cops had to be called because it left a pencil sized dent in the other guys bumper and he had just gotten the car. I doubt she even remembers it. So I worried, almost called and asked her teacher how she had acted all day (thinking she may have been distracted and worried all day) but decided I wouldn't call till after she got home. She comes home, I was waiting at the door for her, here's how our conversation went:

Me: So how was your day?
B: Good
Me: anything exciting happen?
B: XXXX's birthday, we had a party!
Me: Oh, how exciting! Anything else?
B: I buyed presents (at Santa's secret shop that they had going on this week and she got them out to show me what she got for everyone)
Me: Is that all that happened? (realizing she wasn't traumatized like I was worried she was going to be)
B: YYYEEEEAAAA? (thinking hard)
Me: How about on your way to school this morning?
B: (thinking hard for a moment, then her face lights up with a HUGE smile) Somebody hit the side of the bus!!!! (like it was the most exciting thing that had happened all year)
Me: Did it scare you?
B: NO!! (in a "are you crazy mom" kinda voice)
Me: Did you feel it hit the bus?
B: No, but we heard it, it was a loud CCRRRRRRRRUUNNNNNNCCCCHHHHHHH! The police had to come and we had to be quiet while we waited for him to get there.
Me: So it didn't scare you at all?
B: NNNOOOO!


So every things fine, wasn't traumatizing like I had thought, I worried for nothing. THANK GOD it was just a very mild accident and everyone was fine but I sure hope and pray it never happens again, no matter how exciting it was for the kids.

This post is for Lori!

Lori at TAFKA requested ideas for Christmas themed craft ideas to do with her boys. WOOOHOOO right up my ally (however I am failing miserably as a babysitter because I couldn't tell you the last time we did a craft at my house :( maybe this will get me motivated)

Have you ever visited the Family Fun web site? They have a TON of crafts, recipes, fun ideas, printables...anything to make family life fun ;D

So here are a few of my favorites ~ just click the picture to go to the instructions.

My girls have never made these yet but they LOVE using a hole punch because of Polar Express (think of the tickets) so I am sure they would love these.

These don't look that cute but just using holiday color beads would be cuter. And I know for my kids (the ones I babysit, in Sunday School/Bible school, and Girl scouts) concentrating on putting beads on a pipe cleaner or sting, keeps them VERY quiet and still for quite a while :)

We have never tried these either but I think they are REALLY cute! I even saw them on some other web site where they cut out words and strung them together for a garland and it was CUTE!

These are much cute, IMO, painted red, and you can put their names and the year on them when they are finished.

I think these are cute. Have you ever heard of the Jesse Tree? These would be perfect for this.

Here are a few cards but the idea doesn't have to be used for a card, just on paper would be cute too.

Another hand print idea, which I could not find a picture of, is for a reindeer. You can use paint and actually do prints OR you can just trace on construction paper and cut it out (good cutting practice for them :) ) Do one foot print for the face and 2 hands for the antlers, then a red pom-pom for the nose and wiggly eyes.

Another thing the kids love to do is give them a big piece of green construction paper and let them cut out a tree (fold paper in half and cut on fold, you can even just draw a simple triangle for them to cut out). Give them glue and little pompoms, glitter, stickers, cereal, etc. and let them decorate their tree.

For food there are these ideas. We make these at Christmas party about every year but we use just round regular sugar cookies. You can also make them with cupcakes using chocolate icing on top with the same features as the cookie.

I think these are adorable, and quick and easy to make!

Oh and you can't forget the gingerbread houses and stuff. You can do the actual gingerbread ones.

And these trains are SOOOOO cute, especially for boys

Or here is an easier house using Graham crackers and all the goodies, including people and reigndeer, to go along with the house

Or the un-edible variety

Well I had planned to find some other ideas to share as well from somewhere other than family fun but this is getting quite long so here are some places I go to for ideas

Kaboose

Free Kids Crafts

Creative Kids At Home

DLTK

The Craft Crow Blog

Crayola (I've never had much luck with the Crayola website, maybe it's just me, but it's not real user friendly but it looks like maybe they have changed it some so maybe it's better now)

I know there are more but this should get you started at least :D