OAMC website

Here is a great website for learning how to do OAMC. This is just a great website all around! I could spend hours looking through their articles.

Once A Month Cooking Recipe List

OAMC Recipe List

• Mom’s Spaghetti (2 dinners)
• Pizza kits (1 dinner)
• French Bread Pizzas (2 dinners)
• Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry (2 dinners)
• Just Like Thanksgiving Chicken (1 dinner)
• Taco Soup (2 dinners)
• South of the Border Cheesy Potato Soup (2 dinners)
• Old-Time Beef Stew courtesy Paula Dean (2 dinners)
• King Ranch Chicken Casserole (2 dinners)
• Beef Gyros (2 dinners)
• Cream Cheese Chicken (2 dinners)
• Hawaiian Chicken (2 dinners)
• Easy Chicken Quesadillas (2 dinners)
• Shredded Beef Tacos (2 dinners)
• Magnificent Casserole (2 dinners)

That is a total of 28 dinners. I am going to work on my grocery list later this week. If anyone wants me to post one of these recipes, let me know.

I didn’t make it to church tonight, which is why I had time to work on this list. Dh took the younger kids and I stayed home with the 2 oldest kids and the baby. It’s a long story that I don’t wish to share. Just one of those evenings…

Once A Month Cooking

Monday Natalie called me and was telling me about a great website called Happy To Be Called Mommy.
She found Bethany's blog through Menu Plan Monday over at Organizing Junkie. Bethany has a section on OAMC, and it has inspired me to try this again. When we lived down south in Mission, I did OAMC often and it worked out great. It really helped me stay within my monthly food budget and I loved being able to pop a meal in the oven and not have to worry about what was for dinner. Now, I do remember that I got sick and tired of eating casseroles, because that is mainly what I cooked during my OAMC sessions back then.

This time I am going to get more creative and come up with more than just casseroles. I will get my list on here soon, hopefully tonight or tomorrow. Well, probably not tonight because tonight is church, then a back-to-school ice cream bash, then I am staying up late to get some things listed on eBay. eBay is having a month of no listing fees, if any of you are interested in selling some of your stuff. It is free through September 30th.

Beauty in the Common Things: sweet Baby smiles and giggles
Listen In: Baby Girl using a tape measure to measure her kitchen
Supper Plans: Mexican beans and rice
Things to do today: take dd13 to dentist to get 2 cavities filled
View from the kitchen window: sunshine

I have been meaning to post pictures and an update on the first day of school. I will hopefully get to that soon. My 3 oldest boys and dd13 started school Monday and my 4, almost 5, year old son starts pre-k Tuesday, September 4th. I may wait and post all pictures next Tuesday when all of the boys are at school. DD13 is enjoying being home with me again this year. Homeschooling is challenging for me, but it is the best thing for her, at least for this year.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Thank you, Annb!!

Annb gave me an award! She said very sweet things about me and gave me the Nice Matters award. Thank you!

Time Travel Tuesday~Honey, We're Having A Baby edition

How did you find out you were pregnant, how did you share the news with your hubbie... how did you tell your family?


I have been pregnant 7 times, so this post could get really long…

Just kidding! I am only going to tell you about one of my pregnancies~ in honor of my 4 year old son’s upcoming birthday (Aug 30^th he will turn 5!!), I am going to tell the story of finding out I was pregnant with him and sharing it with my husband.

We had been trying to get pregnant for 2 years, with no success. In September of 2001, we began praying for twins. (That is a really great story that I will share another time). In November of that year, the day after Thanksgiving, we adopted our twin boys. Then in January, I began feeling strange. I just thought I was tired from adding 2 toddlers to our family. I remember being on the phone with Annie and she said, “I know you are pregnant. Take a test.” I knew there was no way I was pregnant and I did not want to take a test because I had taken SO many pregnancy tests over the past 2 years and they were all negative. I didn’t want another negative pregnancy test!!

I decided to go ahead and take one since I couldn’t remember the date of my last cycle. So, on the morning of January 10, 2002, I was walking down the hallway to the bathroom to take the test. We had a little telephone cabinet in the hallway and on it was a calendar with a scripture for each day. I looked at it as I was walking past and the scripture for that day was Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I took the test and to my complete surprise it was positive!! I ran out and showed it to my husband, who had no idea what it was. He was in such shock when he figured out what it was!!!

Our little boy was born August 30^th of that year. God truly did give us the desire of our hearts. We had two children, and then adopted 2 more, and then in less than a year had another one! From 2 children to 5 children in 10 months!

; )

Baby's Celebrity Look-alikes

http://www.myheritage.com

Who would have thought that I look like Sharon Stone and Baby looks like Michael Jackson?

My Celebrity Look-alikes

http://www.myheritage.com

This is SO FUNNY!!!

This is the description of an eBay auction that just ended earlier this week. This lady is a great writer and sold the cards for over $140.00!! All of her auctions are funny…

I'm selling a bunch of Pokemon cards. Why? Because my kids sneaked them into my shopping cart while at the grocery store and I ended up buying them because I didn't notice they were there until we got home. How could I have possibly not noticed they were in my cart, you ask? Let me explain.

You haven’t lived until you’ve gone grocery shopping with six kids in tow. I would rather swim, covered in bait, through the English Channel, be a contestant on Fear Factor when they’re having pig brains for lunch, or do fourth grade math than to take my six kids to the grocery store. Because I absolutely detest grocery shopping, I tend to put it off as long as possible. There comes a time, however, when you’re peering into your fridge and thinking, ‘Hmmm, what can I make with ketchup, Italian dressing, and half an onion,’ that you decide you cannot avoid going to the grocery store any longer. Before beginning this most treacherous mission, I gather all the kids together and give them “The Lecture“.

“The Lecture“ goes like this…

MOM: “We have to go to the grocery store.”

KIDS: “Whine whine whine whine whine.“

MOM: “Hey, I don’t want to go either, but it’s either that or we’re eating cream of onion-ketchup soup and drinking Italian dressing for dinner tonight.”

KIDS: “Whine whine whine whine whine.“

MOM: “Now here are the rules: do not ask me for anything, do not poke the packages of meat in the butcher section, do not test the laws of physics and try to take out the bottom can in the pyramid shaped display, do not play baseball with oranges in the produce section, and most importantly, do not try to leave your brother at the store. Again.”

OK, the kids have been briefed. Time to go.

Once at the store, we grab not one, but two shopping carts. I wear the baby in a sling and the two little children sit in the carts while I push one cart and my oldest son pushes the other one. My oldest daughter is not allowed to push a cart. Ever. Why? Because the last time I let her push the cart, she smashed into my ankles so many times, my feet had to be amputated by the end of our shopping trip. This is not a good thing. You try running after a toddler with no feet sometime.

At this point, a woman looks at our two carts and asks me, “Are they all yours?” I answer good naturedly, “Yep!

“Oh my, you have your hands full.”

“Yes, I do, but it‘s fun!” I say smiling. I’ve heard all this before. In fact, I hear it every time I go anywhere with my brood.

We begin in the produce section where all these wonderfully, artistically arranged pyramids of fruit stand. There is something so irresistibly appealing about the apple on the bottom of the pile, that a child cannot help but try to touch it. Much like a bug to a zapper, the child is drawn to this piece of fruit. I turn around to the sounds of apples cascading down the display and onto the floor. Like Indiana Jones, there stands my son holding the all-consuming treasure that he just HAD to get and gazing at me with this dumbfounded look as if to say, “Did you see that??? Wow! I never thought that would happen!”

I give the offending child an exasperated sigh and say, “Didn’t I tell you, before we left, that I didn’t want you taking stuff from the bottom of the pile???”

“No. You said that you didn’t want us to take a can from the bottom of the pile. You didn’t say anything about apples.”

With superhuman effort, I resist the urge to send my child to the moon and instead focus on the positive - my child actually listened to me and remembered what I said!!! I make a mental note to be a little more specific the next time I give the kids The Grocery Store Lecture.

A little old man looks at all of us and says, “Are all of those your kids?”

Thinking about the apple incident, I reply, “Nope. They just started following me. I’ve never seen them before in my life.”

OK, now onto the bakery section where everything smells so good, I’m tempted to fill my cart with cookies and call it a day. Being on a perpetual diet, I try to hurry past the assortment of pies, cakes, breads, and pastries that have my children drooling. At this point the chorus of “Can we gets” begins.

“Can we get donuts?”

“No.”

“Can we get cupcakes?”

“No.”

“Can we get muffins?”

“No.”

“Can we get pie?”

“No.”

You’d think they’d catch on by this point, but no, they’re just getting started.

In the bakery, they’re giving away free samples of coffee cake and of course, my kids all take one. The toddler decides he doesn’t like it and proceeds to spit it out in my hand. (That’s what moms do. We put our hands in front of our children’s mouths so they can spit stuff into them. We’d rather carry around a handful of chewed up coffee cake, than to have the child spit it out onto the floor. I’m not sure why this is, but ask any mom and she’ll tell you the same.) Of course, there’s no garbage can around, so I continue shopping one-handed while searching for someplace to dispose of the regurgitated mess in my hand.

In the meat department, a mother with one small baby asks me, “Wow! Are all six yours?”

I answer her, “Yes, but I’m thinking of selling a couple of them.”

(Still searching for a garbage can at this point.)

Ok, after the meat department, my kids’ attention spans are spent. They’re done shopping at this point, but we aren’t even halfway through the store. This is about the time they like to start having shopping cart races. And who may I thank for teaching them this fun pastime? My seventh “child”, also known as my husband. While I’m picking out loaves of bread, the kids are running down the aisle behind the carts in an effort to get us kicked out of the store. I put to stop to that just as my son is about to crash head on into a giant cardboard cut-out of a Keebler elf stacked with packages of cookies.

Ah! Yes! I find a small trash can by the coffee machine in the cereal aisle and finally dump out the squishy contents of my hand. After standing in the cereal aisle for an hour and a half while the kids perused the various cereals, comparing the marshmallow and cheap, plastic toy content of each box, I broke down and let them each pick out a box. At any given time, we have twenty open boxes of cereal in my house.

As this is going on, my toddler is playing Houdini and maneuvering his little body out of the seat belt in an attempt to stand up in the cart. I’m amazed the kid made it to his second birthday without suffering a brain damaging head injury. In between trying to flip himself out of the cart, he sucks on the metal bars of the shopping cart. Mmmm, can you say “influenza”?

The shopping trip continues much like this. I break up fights between the kids now and then and stoop down to pick up items that the toddler has flung out of the cart. I desperately try to get everything on my list without adding too many other goodies to the carts.

Somehow I manage to complete my shopping in under four hours and head for the check-outs where my kids start in on a chorus of, “Can we have candy?” What evil minded person decided it would be a good idea to put a display of candy in the check-out lanes, right at a child’s eye level? Obviously someone who has never been shopping with children.

As I unload the carts, I notice many extra items that my kids have sneaked in the carts unbeknownst to me. I remove a box of Twinkies, a package of cupcakes, a bag of candy, and a can of cat food (we don’t even have a cat!). I somehow missed the box of Pokemon cards however and ended up purchasing them unbeknownst to me. As I pay for my purchases, the clerk looks at me, indicates my kids, and asks, “Are they all yours?”

Frustrated, exhausted from my trip, sick to my stomach from writing out a check for $289.53, dreading unloading all the groceries and putting them away and tired of hearing that question, I look at the clerk and answer her in my most sarcastic voice, “No. They’re not mine. I just go around the neighborhood gathering up kids to take to the grocery store because it’s so much more fun that way.”

So, up for auction is an opened (they ripped open the box on the way home from the store) package of Pokemon cards. There are 44 cards total. They're in perfect condition, as I took them away from the kiddos as soon as we got home from the store. Many of them say "Energy". I tried carrying them around with me, but they didn't work. I definitely didn't have any more energy than usual. One of them is shiny. There are a few creature-like things on many of them. One is called Pupitar. Hee hee hee Pupitar! (Oh no! My kids' sense of humor is rubbing off on me!) Anyway, I don't there's anything special about any of these cards, but I'm very much not an authority on Pokemon cards. I just know that I'm not letting my kids keep these as a reward for their sneakiness.

Shipping is FREE on this item. Insurance is optional, but once I drop the package at the post office, it is no longer my responsibility. For example, if my son decides to pour a bottle of glue into the envelope, or my daughter spills a glass of juice on the package, that’s my responsibility and I will fully refund your money. If, however, I take the envelope to the post office and a disgruntled mail carrier sets fire to it, a pack of wild dogs rip into it, or a mail sorting machine shreds it, it’s out of my hands, so you may want to add insurance. I will leave feedback for you as soon as I’ve received your payment. I will be happy to combine shipping on multiple items won within three days. This comes from a smoke-free, pet-free, child-filled home. Please ask me any questions before placing your bid. Happy bidding! :)

**Update**

My mom's test results are back and everything is benign. Praise God!!!!! Thank you all for praying!!

Beauty in the Common Things: elementary schools
Listen In: kids talking to each other, baby "talking" to everyone
Supper Plans: Black bean, corn, and rice burritos
Today I Plan To: work on everything I was supposed to do yesterday (I did get a lot of it done), visit with my in-laws who will be here in 30 minutes!!
View From the Kitchen Window: a beautiful blue sky

Beauty in the Common Things: homemade bread
Listen In: kids playing
Supper Plans: Chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, green peas
Today I Plan To: wash sheets, complete laundry, clean bathrooms, meet electricity guy at land, Open House at school, schedule haircut for ds9, schedule dr. appt. for ds9, freeze corn on the cob, write note to friend, finish and deliver teacher gifts from last year (yes, these are the gifts I was supposed to make last May and give to their last year teachers), get a call from my mom telling me everything is fine
View From the Kitchen Window: neighbor's sprinkler that has been on since 8 am

Beauty in the Common Things: cooking a meal for my family
Listen In: the boys are watching The Emperor's New Groove
Supper Plans: Red Beans and Rice, salad
To Do Today (what's left on my list ;) get dinner finished up, get everyone to church on time, fold and put away all clean laundry, wash sheets, take diapers to lady at church
View From the Kitchen Window: sunshine and the wind blowing the flag

Update On My Mom

Mom went to her appt. this morning. They told her she has to have another breast MRI and a biopsy tomorrow afternoon.
??????
No answers. They did say they do not think there is anything wrong, but they want to make sure. This is her 5th appt. in the past 2 weeks or so. Hopefully, she will know something tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you all for praying for her!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: burgers on the grill, pasta

Tuesday: Black Bean, Rice, and Corn Burritos, salad

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup, homemade bread, green peas

Thursday: Red Beans and Rice, grilled corn on the cob

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: Pork Chops and Brown Rice, salad, grilled corn on the cob

Sunday: Chinese Pot Roast, rice, green beans

The Last Week of Summer Vacation

Beauty in the Common Things: school
Listen In: ds4 asking where his wallet is
Supper Plans: burgers on the grill, pasta, rice crispy treats
Today we are going to: take ds4's shot record to pre-k, get the rest of the school supplies, figure out what school clothes the boys still need, visit with my dad (he will be here at noon!)
View From the Kitchen Window: gray storm clouds in the distance

This is our last week before school starts! I hope we can relax and have an enjoyable week. Ds9's school closed last week due to structural damage, so the school board is scrambling trying to figure out where to put all of the intermediate students. There are 840 kids total that they have to put somewhere and they have 1 week to do it. Tonight they are having a parent meeting to give us more information. My boys are excited to go back to school and I am looking forward to getting back into a more normal routine. School is fun for all of us!

I will have dd13 home with me this year; we will be homeschooling her once again. I am looking forward to that because I think it is really going to help her academically and also emotionally. I have a curriculum that works for her and she should do very well this year. I know it is going to be a good thing for all of us! Plus, we will get to grow closer together as mom and daughter. I am looking forward to spending more time with her.

Will you please pray for my mom? I don't really feel like going into detail, but she has an appt. Wednesday. When she leaves that appt. she will know if she has breast cancer or not. This is the 3rd or 4th appt. for her. They keep calling her back in to look at something suspicious. We are all trying not to think the worst but we are definitely ready for an answer. Please pray for my dad also.

Sunday, the Best Day of the Week!

Beauty in the Common Things: fellowship with other believers
Listen In: boys outside in the pool
Supper Plans: leftovers
Things I Plan To Do Today: rest
View From the Kitchen Window:a sunny afternoon

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Describe your laundry routine. Do you have a certain day when you do it all, or do you just wash whatever you need for the next day?

I do laundry everyday, or at least I am supposed to do laundry everyday! We have a lot of clothes to wash, so I pretty much need to keep it going at all times. I try to stick to my schedule (MWF- kids’ laundry, TTh-Mine and dh’s laundry, S-towels, sheets) but I must admit that it rarely happens.



Soup

In your opinion, what age will you be when you’ll consider yourself to truly be old?

Hmmm…I agree with Annie on this one. I used to think 30 was old. Now that I am 30, it feels so young still! Then 60 seemed old for sure. But now that my parents are 58 and still young, I am changing that one, too. So, like Annie said, 100 is truly old and anything over 100 is super truly old! But what a blessing to live to be 100. Wow, wouldn’t that be neat?

Salad

What is one of your goals? Is it short-term, long-term, or both?

A long-term goal I have is to raise my children to be wonderful, Christ-loving, God-following, responsible fun adults. That is a very time-consuming goal and I am working on it everyday.
My short-term goals include losing the rest of the weight I want to lose, getting fit and staying that way (staying fit is a long-term goal I guess), making exercise a habit, and getting our house built by March.
Oh, and a big short-term goal I almost forgot: getting out of debt. We are diligently working on getting out of debt and should be there by March, about the time we move into our new house.

Main Course

Name something unbelievable you’ve seen or read lately.

I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.

Dessert

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how happy are you today?

Since I woke up with a migraine and I feel nauseous, I will have to say I am about a 5.

A Tag!

Annb tagged me for a meme! Thanks, Ann! I always love a good meme.

"8 Things About My Marriage"
1. We met in October, were engaged in December, and got married in June! It was a whirlwind, although I don't think it was as fast as Annb and her hubby. I think they met in October and got married in February. They have us beat for the fastest courtship.
2. Our wedding was at the home of Dave Roberts, an elder at our church. He and his wife, Judy, were oh so gracious in letting us have our wedding there. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding.
Annie helped me plan it and she fixed my hair for the wedding. She was my matron of honor and Kourtney was my maid of honor.
3. We had such a great honeymoon!! We went on a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas. The first night we spent at a really nice hotel in OKC, then we flew to Miami the next morning. We stayed one night in Miami and then left the next morning on our cruise. We stopped in Nassau, Coco Kay (sp?), and Key West. We had so much fun and were totally spoiled by the time we got back. Well, I was spoiled. Dh paid extra for me to get chocolate strawberries and champagne every night plus a massage and a facial. I want to do all of that again on our 10th anniversary.
4. We are currently building a dream of ours. On one of our first dates we took my 2 children (ages 4 and 4 months at the time) to Hafer Park in Edmond, OK. We sat on a swing (it was like a porch swing)and watched my daughter play while we held the baby and talked. We talked about getting married and having 6 kids. We agreed that we wanted to live on lots of land with a yellow house complete with a wrap-around porch. We are finally getting to make that dream a reality!
5. Dh adopted my 2 children the November after we were married. It was a very special day for us! After we left the courthouse we let our daughter (5 yrs old at that time) pick somewhere special to go to celebrate. She chose Chuck E Cheese's! We have picture of us on the little Chuck E Cheese car.
6. We have lots of fun together. We are silly and run around the house chasing each other with the kids running behind us. That is fun until someone gets hurt. : )
7. We really don't argue very much. actually, building this house has tested our communication skills quite a bit already, but we don't have major fights very often at all. We may get in a fuss or a mild argument but we don't get in many big fights. I told someone once that we have a big fight about twice a year.
8. We have moved 7 times in 8 years.
1) We moved to Norman, OK when we were first married. We bought the cutest little house within walking distance to a nice park. It was adorable and only 900 square feet. So tiny!
2) Then about 2 months after we were married his company transferred him to Mexico. Yes, Mexico. So we moved to McAllen, TX, and lived in a corporate apartment for about 7 months. That was nice because I had maids that came twice a week and cleaned everything. They even did our laundry and dishes! How spoiled was I?? It was a hard move. We were suddenly 13 hours away from all of our family and friends. And we were newlyweds with 2 little kids. But it ended up being the best thing for us. God really blessed us in McAllen. I think I would move back there in a heartbeat, but I know that the experience we had there can't be repeated.
3) We bought a house in Mission, TX, which is right next to McAllen. We had an awesome church there that we still miss! We made such good friends in Mission and McAllen. We even had palm trees in our back yard. We were about an hour from South Padre Island so we went there several times.
4) Then dh got a job in Dallas with SBC. We moved to his brother and sister-in-law's house temporarily while we looked for a house. The funny thing was that they were living in LA at the time and said we could live in there house and sort of house sit. Well, the day we were packing up our U Haul truck and driving out of Mission, they called and said, "Surprise! We are back from LA! But you all can live here with us until you get a house." That didn't work too long. I think I held out for a month and then went to OK to stay with my parents.
5) After about 2 months of staying with my parents and Dh down in TX with his brother and sister-in-law we bought a house in the DFW area. We lived there from 2001-2006. We brought 4 babies home to that little house.
6) We then attempted to buy a house in Fort Worth, but the deal fell through after we had been living there for 5 months (long story- we leased the house from sellers until we closed, but the deal fell through b/c of their financial problems so we had to move out so the bank could foreclose.).
8) Then we moved to the house we are currently renting. And here we are!!
When we move to our new house next Spring, that will be the 8th time we have moved in 8 years. Hopefully that will be the last time we move our family. But you never know what God has planned. We are always open to His leading and will move wherever He tells us to go!

Pictures from Today

This morning Baby Girl disappeared for a few minutes. Guess where I found her? In bed with Baby W! It was so very cute!

This is a picture of our land, from the front of the land (by the highway) looking toward the back of the land. It is 11.1 acres. Our driveway will be finished Monday. This is just the "rough draft" part of the driveway. The driveway is 1400 feet long!! The kids will have a blast riding their bikes up and down it.

This picture is from the back of the land looking toward the front. You can barely see the driveway on the left side of the picture.

Goodbye, Jazz

Valentine's Day 1992- August 11, 2007

Happy Saturday!

Beauty in the Common Things: morning coffee and conversation with a 4 year old boy (who happens to be in his cute little undies playing PS2, sunburned because his Mommy forgot to put sunscreen on him yesterday)
Listen In: PS2 Cars game
Supper Plans: Grilled salmon, rice and veggies, watermelon
Today I Plan To: clean house ALL DAY
View From the Kitchen Window: a bright sunny yard

An Allergy

You can tell a little bit in the picture below that ds7#1 has a red, sort of puffy spot around his nose and eyes. Can you guys see that or is it just me?
Well, yesterday afternoon I noticed that his face was puffy in places, like an allergic reaction. This morning it looks really weird. His whole face is puffy and distorted. We had a similar thing happen when he was 3 or 4 years old. One morning he woke up and one side of his face and his ear were swollen and alien-looking. We took him to the dr. and she said it was an allergic reaction to something in the air. It looks like the same thing is happening now. I am going to give him Benadryl this morning and call the pediatrician this afternoon if he isn't better.
Sometimes I am so glad I didn't follow my dream of becoming a pediatrician! I would hate to have to look at little kid rashes!

A Very Eventful Day

Today was a great day! We had a busy, busy day full of fun and not-so-fun events. My oldest 7-year old lost his first tooth!! (It's really hard to get this little guy to give me a real smile for pictures!) Last night we noticed that one tooth was loose. Then this morning it was REALLY loose. Then, when he was showing his older sister how loose it was, it fell right out! Surprise! He was shocked. He was very glad it didn't hurt. Now the tooth next to it is about the fall out. Probably by tomorrow he will have no front bottom teeth. I think kids are so cute when they are missing those front teeth.


Our driveway was supposed to be started Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. So, today the guy told me he would be there at noon. Well, we went out there tonight to see what progress had been made. Umm....no progress had been made. Actually nothing had been done at all. They guys hadn't even been there. Dh was not happy about that. It's all straightened out now and we were told the driveway would be finished by Friday.

Dd13 cooked dinner and dessert for us. She cooked Turkey Tetrazinni and then some kind of cinnamon sugar muffins for dessert. It was all so good! She is a sweetheart and loves to cook special meals for us.

My mom called me tonight to tell me that Jazz, her dog, probably won't make it through the night. When I was 15, a sophomore in high school, my friend Kourtney and I each brought home a puppy. Without asking our parents. We (my mom and I) named the puppy Jasmine Michelle (Jazz or Jazzy is what we have always called her). She turned out to be the BEST dog! She is adorable, a mix of Sheltie and Lhasa Apso. Her personality is so sweet and friendly. Her birthday was on Valentine's Day and she turned 15 years old this year. We all just love this little dog.

What I love most about Jazz is that she was a "happy spot" for me during the hardest years of my life. When I was 16 and pregnant with my firstborn child, I was extremely depressed. I have struggled with depression on and off in my life but that was the hardest time for me. I remember that I used to sit on the back porch with Jazz and I would just sob and sob. Jazz would sit there with me the whole time, just cuddling with me. I remember in January when everything was gray and cold, I just longed for the new green leaves to show themselves. I was so sick of the sad, gray days. And Jazz was my only Happy Spot. She was my mom's Happy Spot, too. We love her.

Mom said she can't swallow water or food today, and she can't move around very well, so she thinks Jazz won't make it until tomorrow morning. I am so sad. I will miss our precious little Jazzy. I am very thankful God gave her to us for such a long time. What a gift!

Beauty in the Common Things: loving families
Listen In: clicking of the keys as I type
View From the Kitchen Window: dark

Can I Vent, Please?

Warning: This post is very whiny and gripey. Do not proceed unless you want to hear me complaining.

I am sick of walking down the hallway to my boys' bedroom and past their bathroom and smelling a yucky urine smell. GROSS!!!!

I am sick of my kids making messes all over the place and then moaning and groaning when I make them pick up their messes.

I am sick of being financially strapped. There is a light at the end of the tunnel~ in less than 1 year I will have our debt paid off and we will be in our new house. But, today, I am sick of being financially tight.

I am sick of Baby Girl crying so much at bedtime, naptime, and in the middle of the night. What is going on? Why is she crying so much? I really can't figure it out.

I am sick of being heavier than I want to be.

I am even sicker of having no self control with food. I am disgusted with myself for not following Weight Watchers.

I am sick of my 9 year old son trying to negotiate everything with me. Is he asks me something and I say, "No" he tries to negotiate. "Well, if I can't do so-and-so, then can I do so-and-so." This goes on and on until I put a stop to it and then he moans and groans and feels sorry for himself.

I think I may need some time alone. I had some time alone last night when dh took all of the kids to McD's to get dinner for them. I rearranged the living room furniture and hung pictures on the wall. It was very nice.
So maybe I just need to take a good nap. I would if I could get Baby Girl to stop crying and go to sleep. And if I could get all of the neighborhood kids out of my house.

There. I vented. I don't know if I feel any better. Maybe a little.

I hope you all are having a much better day than I am.

: )

Beauty in the Common Things: a rearranged living room (I finally hung pictures on these walls)

Listen In: My youngest twin telling Baby all about Halloween
Supper Plans: grilled salmon, brown rice, corn on the cob, and green beans

Today I Plan To:work on several projects at home, take pictures for the meme Annie tagged me to do

View From the Kitchen Window:
soggy yard, blue sky