We are home and digging out from under all the traveling baggage. Hope you had a wonderful week!

It's almost my anniversary!

Christmas is over which means that New Year's is almost here which means that right after that I will have been married 5 years. Such a short time and yet such a long, long time. So much can happen in 5 years. 3 babies can happen in 5 years. 3 homes can happen in 5 years.  2 complete sets of dishes can happen in 5 years.

We are still enjoying our family here in Tennessee. The girls have moments of being overstimulated and super cranky but overall are having a wonderful week.

I can't believed it snowed at home. Snow must hate me. It never wants to be where I am. :(

It smells like spring outside.

What a beautiful day!

The girls are getting a chance to play outside with Bella before we hit the road. I am braving the weather (since it is lovely) and cleaning out the van and........

I completed my ironing. ALL of it. That is a big, big deal for me.

I doubt that I will be posting much during this holiday week but you never know. I might just find the time while vegging out at the in-laws. Maybe I'll take a break between my canasta games and get you all caught up on our holiday going-on's.

Pioneer Woman is having contests every day through the 25th on her blog .  She's also having them on her Tasty Kitchen blog. Go enter and buy me a professional carpet cleaning with your prize.

Happy Holidays!
Rebekah

Be warned. It's strange.

I'll just be honest with you. My stomach is tore up. Something I ate last night does NOT like its new surroundings. So you can guess what the outcome is...

I was playing  (at) the Moonlight Sonata this morning while the girls were eating breakfast. Claire finished and scooted up on the piano bench beside me.

Claire: "Ewww!!! That smells bad!!"

Elaina: "It wasn't me!"

Claire: "It was Eily. She pooped again. holding her nose Oh gross!"

She cuddles up next to me and gives me a hug.

"Momma smells good."


It's so nice to have someone just assume that anything bad can in no way be related to you. I wonder how long that will last.

Note to Eily:

Dearest Eily,
Thank you so much for always taking the fall for Mommy. It helps my self esteem more than you can imagine. Especially because you have no idea what self esteem is.
Your loving, gastrointestinally tore up mother,
Rebekah

I saw this on a bumper today and it made me laugh. It'still making me laugh.

Eat beef. The West wasn't won on salads.

A new blog to follow

Sarah has a blog now.

It's a Curvy Irby Road

Hey, all you Arkansas women. Look what I just ran across.
http://www.nwadeals.net/

I just want to apologize for all the "it's" in the previous posts that should have been "its." Some days I just don't catch it all.

Bella, Christmas things and present time

Bella let her cold nose touch my fingertips this morning. Happy day!

It's a Christmas Festival!!

Today I am participating in a Holiday Festival. It starts at 8am so I woke at the bright and early hour of 5:30 to shower and get loaded in the car.

 It takes a little over 30 minutes to get from my house to where the Festival is so I made sure I left in plenty of time to get here and get set up. There are about 12 vendors here and I am the only one that had to travel so far. Someone please tell me why it’s 8:12am and I am the only one that is ready and set up. All the women are frantically bustling around and I’m just sitting here taking it all in. I’ll probably update when I get bored.

8:20am

I’ve started thinking about how different men and women are. I tried to visualize a bunch of men all setting up booths of tools, car parts or grills and trying to make it all appealing. Perhaps a deer head or two placed just so. It just gets me all tickled inside. Jason would think this is all just a bunch of silliness if he were here and in some way I agree with him. There is garland and sparkly tablecloths and Christmas trees and one booth even has a little coffee table set up with two different kinds of coffee to choose from. Ok. That part isn’t silly. In fact, that would be Jason’s favorite thing about this festival.  We have jewelry, Home Interiors, Pampered Chef, Scentsy, Arbonne and many of the stores around town have set up booths. The lady to my left (who I think was in one of my old Girl Scout troops) is even selling rugs. Three tables full of rugs. Good luck, honey. What we don’t have are customers.  Oh! Correction. I just had my first customer.

8:42am

I just heard one woman say that it starts at 9am. That makes a lot more sense. The rug lady is bringing in more rugs. She has a cardboard box that says Rug Sale. Hmm. Who would have ever guessed?

8:44

I hear jingle bells!!

I wish someone were selling food.

8:55am

Hey! Someone is selling food!! Now I just have to find someone giving away money and I’ll be all set. I’ll for sure keep you posted about that.

9:56am

Rug lady sold a rug.

No free money to be found yet.

10:10am

I’m starting to covet one of Rug Lady’s rugs. Look away, self. Look away.

I’m also very, very hungry.

11:01am

Mom, Rachel, Leah and kiddos came by.  Rug lady is actually doing quite well. I’m not doing too bad myself.  I’m enjoying this time to just sit and think and occasionally visit with strangers. People can be very nice.

11:19am

Ugs should not be worn with hoodies.

11:25am

IPhoto can double as a mirror when you are sitting at a booth and want to check and make sure that the rooster tail on the back of your head isn’t sticking up again. I cut my hair very short. I don’t like it but the good thing is that my hair grows exceptionally fast so maybe I won’t have to deal with it being this hard to fix for very long.

11:55am

I’m growing weary. Mommy, mommy, where’s my food?

I need a nap.

12:22pm

Madam, please know that it is after noon. You should not be showing up here in your pajamas. Come on!

12:50pm

I’m starting to get bored. I should have brought a book with me for when there are no customers in the building. I just finished the first book of The Zion Chronicles and I am so anxious to start the second one. These books are just wonderful and it’s been long enough since last read them that it’s almost like reading for the first time all over again.

1:01pm

I have decided to sell rugs. This lady is making a killing!

I am drinking the worst tasting coffee but I need its warmth.  Sometimes you have to go through some unpleasantness to survive.

1:15pm

Has another hour passed, yet?

2:36pm

Rachel, Eli and Luke are here visiting. It’s nice.

3:23pm

It’s been a very successful day. I booked 4 shows and sold several items. Now it’s just about time to pack up and I am more than ready. I miss my babies and my man. He took the girls to the Dollar Tree today and let them pick out a gift, a card and wrapping paper for my Christmas gift. How fun is that?  He also let them wrap it and he said you can really tell it was wrapped by little children. I can’t wait to see it!

I did not mean to go so long between posts. Sorry.

Everyday I think about the fact that I need to post but then I get sidetracked and I just let the whole day go by without getting it accomplished.

Things are just regular here. Our day typically goes like this:
We wake up and get dressed.
We eat.
I get the house cleaned and the girls play.
We eat.
Eily naps and Elaina and Claire do their schoolwork.
I clean some more, read and do computer things and they play some more.
I cook.
We eat.
Bath time/wind down time/clean up once again time.
Bed time.
Ahhhhhhhh time.

It's nice and most of the time I don't feel like messing it up by spending a lot of time on the computer. I have started reading again. It's made me deliriously happy. I forgot just how enjoyable it is to lose yourself in a book.

Eily is so funny right now. If she starts to throw a fit I just say, "Eily, go to your bed," and she knows to go there until she has stopped crying. I love watching her walk down the hallway. It's like a dog slinking off with it's tail between it's legs. It's so cute and then once she has calmed down she totters back down the hallway. It's so stinking cute.

*sigh* Nothing to write about. I'm quiting for now. Maybe I will feel a bit more chatty tomorrow.

It's a girl!!!!

We have a new member of the family (suprise!) and it was confirmed just this morning that is is indeed a girl. This house will be just overrun with females. Poor Jason. He hasn't a chance.

Now, for the name. It's Bella. Rememeber when we were expecting Eily? The two names under consideration were Eily and Isabella. Eily won but Bella has stayed close to my heart. So this one is Bella and such a sweet, sweet face she has. She was extremely modest and we had a very hard time determining the sex but she eventually moved her tail just enough that we were finally able to get an adequate glimpse.

Oh stop having heart attacks and fainting spells. It's just a dog.

She's a beagle with the most precious face there has ever been on a canine. She is very, very skittish so we have been putting food out every day and slowly but surely she is warming up to us. She wants so very badly to let me touch her and will get within a few inches of my hand but then she wimpers and runs back a few feet. I feel that with love and patience we will get there. Any tips from you animal people out there?

Giveaway! (Not from me. Sorry.)

Melanie at Big Mama is having a $100 dollar giveaway and I encourage you all to read this but then not go enter. The less entries the more likely that I will win! Not really. Enter your heart out. Her blog is the very first thing I read on the Internet every morning. She posts once a day so it's nice not to have to check back all day long to see if there have been updates. You should make it a daily read.

Someone tell me if I have misspelled anything, please.

My 400th post. Woot!

Natural light is beautiful. My children are beautiful.  Enjoy.

You may call me crazy if you like.

I started something new today. Well, two things actually. First, I switched Eily's crib for a toddler bed. I only had to discipline her twice this afternoon at nap time. When she woke up she just hollered from her bed because apparently she now thinks she is never supposed to get out of bed without permission. Even if nap time is over. I didn't correct her.

I am staying home all this week except for an occassional trip to Dollar General or the grocery store. You know, to get toilet paper to wipe...there. The reason that we might need extra tp is that I have decided to see how potty training Eily goes. She is very, very young, 19 months, but she hates to be wet and she is VERY excited about the whole idea. My carpets are so stained that a little spot or two from accidents won't even show. Better to try this before cleaning the carpets, no? So far she has gone in the potty zero times and on the floor twice. I'll try to remember to keep you all updated on how this crazy idea is coming along.

Updated again

In case there is anyone that still needs a gift idea for Christmas.

Sacran Wishlist

Back to normal

What is normal in our home? I'm not sure. But I'm going to be thinking about that and contemplating and analyzing until I come up with what I think the answer should be.  I'll get back to you on that one.

We had a great Thanksgiving and as soon as I get the cord back from Grandma's house I will upload pictures and give you all a splendiferous post to read.  How was your Thanksgiving? What did you do? Where did you go? What was your favorite food item from the Main Meal? Did you give your closet a makeover? I did and it was wonderful. Cleansing. This is what I got rid of and will no longer be taking up room in my closet.

Isn't that amazing?  Tomorrow I am going to price it all and pack it away until yard sale weather comes 'round again. I bet I make a pretty penny. (Which in yard sale terms is about $100.)



Could someone please tell me where spell check is in Beta?

I just got through cooking...

*big breath*
2 pans of dinner rolls, 1 pineapple upside-down cake, 2 blueberry pies, 1 cherry pie, 2 pumpkin pies, 2 casserole dishes of mashed potatoes, about 3 dozen oatmeal-raisin crisps and 1 pumpkin cheesecake.

I really want to take a nap. I feel full.

To remember

Tonight as I was bathing the girls, we were discussing Harmony Hill and all the lesson that they learned there. Elaina said, "Yesterday, when we went to Harmony Hill, it took a really long time to get there. Like, 5 minutes!"

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

It's Monday and this no computer until the afternoon thing is working. You should join me. It's very refreshing.

I changed my blogger to Beta and there is no spell check. I'm very nervous about submitting this post.

My house has been getting completely away from me. I kept pondering the reason and came up with two possibilities.


1) Eily. She walks now, has been for a while, and maybe the one added child really makes a difference in the cleanliness of one's home.

2) I spend waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on the computer.

I quickly decided that number 2 wasn't the culprit so I began to watch Eily and see if she really made so much more of a mess than the other two hooligans put together.

She didn't. :(

Which meant I had to face up to reality and un-addict myself from ol' Besty here. Starting this morning I didn't get on the computer until Eily had gone down for her afternoon nap. Well, I did check my email very quickly when I got up to make sure there was nothing important and then closed all tabs except for Pandora. I need my music to help the day get started. What a difference staying off the computer made. The house is picked up and the laundry has been going all morning. Now we are having quite time. Elaina and Claire are resting in the back and I am having a nice, peaceful time on the computer. I lose my steam in the afternoon and since my house is back to par, that's ok. Before, I would finally start working on the house around lunch and then crash soon afterwards. It was just not working.
So, if you need to reach me in the am you will just have to use the phone.

I love this woman's nusic. Madeleine Peyroux

Go now and watch and listen. You'll be glad that you did.

Think you're a bad housewife? I just let a load of laundry sour. Twice.

What if everything you ate, instead of going to your tummy or kiester, went to your ankles? Or your elbows?

Scatterbrained

Oh man. It feels so good to have a full refrigerator again. It's packed to the brim but you know in less than a week it will be looking sparse again. We humans can really put away the food.

It turned into winter last night. I just went out to check the mail and I can't get my hands to stop shaking. Was it yesterday that I was wearing sandals? Yes, yes it was. Hmm.

I know that I still owe you a PW meeting post but all those pictures are what's keeping me from getting it done. Come on blogger. Step up to the plate and change the way picture posts are done. It's slowing me down.

The days have been very hectic but this week is supposed to be slow. I miss slow weeks. They are good for my sanity. I even did a reading lesson with Elaina this morning. Actually, let me tell you what all happened this morning. It started out so good. We all got up except Daddy. I cooked buttermilk biscuits from scratch, fried bacon and made coffee. Then we got daddy out of bed, we ate breakfast as a family and then cleaned up. Then I did school with Elaina while Jason kept the two other hooligans occupied elsewhere. Then he had to leave and go to work and I...
played a game on the computer all morning. I did. Isn't that awful? It didn't feel like it was all morning. Eily started climbing all over me and whining so it dawned on me that it might be snack time and when I looked at the clock it was noon. Noon! And now I am writing this post when I should be eating and doing housework.
Goodbye. I am going to go be productive.

My new slogan

Home. It's where poop happens.

I haven't forgotten you

I have some important house cleaning, laundry folding and grocery shopping that has to take place before I spend more than 5 minutes on this computer. I will return to you before too long. I have a post coming about meeting PW.

She's tall.

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

1993 or so

I am at my Uncle Robert and Aunt Rachel's house tonight. It is just lovely. All the children are about helping cook and putting out the fall decorations. The smells coming from the kitchen are wonderful and there is soft music in the background. It reminds me so much of the evenings in our home before we all got growed up and sech. If I could pick any time or place to go back to for a moment it would be to a chilly fall evening at home with everyone there. One of those nights when the fire was going because we didn't have central heat and air and we all ended up together in the Living Room because there was no den and we didn't have 5 different bedrooms for everyone to go to and hide in bed and read a book. We just read on the couch or on the floor with our toes propped up on the front of the stove soaking up the warmth. You know, back before there was The TV.

Mom and Dad, do not despair. I do enjoy watching the old movies with you but those days were priceless.

Plus, that was before I really knew what stress was and my biggest challenge was deciding what puzzle to build or what LightBrite design to work on.

Little tiny children that most definitely read this blog, soak up these days. They pass all too quickly.

I am in Memphis and I have no cell phone.

Wednesday

I would just like to state that the bedrooms, playroom, hallway and bathrooms are clean picked up. I just wanted you to know that. Oh, and I want to thank my mother for folding 123,456 pieces of clothing while she was here last night. And I am losing over half of my little family today and that makes me very sad.

And here is a very strange pair of shoes.

I just needed you to know all that.

Items that only the more expensive name-brands should be used because it really makes a difference:

1. Q-Tips
2. Trash bags
3. Dr. Pepper
4. Toothpaste
5. Laundry detergent (Only, Gain Original Scent)(For me, anyways)
6. Dryer Sheets (same scent)
7. Pantyhose


(Thank goodness for sales and coupons.)

My Tree and Me

I really like the uniqueness of these geneology charts. These are by My Tree and Me.

Twitterpated

I am totally and completely in love with my new cast iron skillet.

Boo Humbug!

Some days are so long. And it's not that they are bad, they are just taking forever to end. Today is one of those days. I need to go get supper on and get ready for the trick-or-treaters that are going to be showing up before long. We are going to let the girls put on their princess dresses to hand out the candy. That's about the closest I can comfortably get to celebrating this demonic holiday. If we didn't live in a housing addition that had 1,098,570 children in it we wouldn't even be doing that. I just hate Halloween. Why are people drawn to something that tries to glorify ghosts, witches, death, and all sorts of spooky and nasty creatures? I don't get it. I'll just take me some Thanksgiving, thank you very much.

Part of Aunt Rachel's comment that she left on my cousin's blog:

If it's the Swine Flu, you'll need Oinkment. If it's the Bird Flu, you'll need Tweetments.

You're funny, Aunt Rachel.

No Kidding!

I have been in such a creative slump here lately. I used to think of the best posts all throughout the day and most never made it to the computer but they were good. Now I think of nothing. Nada. Zilch. I used to write the most hilarious posts while I took a shower. It's too bad I didn't have a voice recorder in there because by the time I was actually at the computer I could never remember the paragraphs that had been created earlier. So you would just end up reading some lame "I love this/these" type post. Cheating posts, I call them. One post was about past clothing. Specifically, large, elastic waist-banded blue flowered culottes that were the complete basis for my wardrobe in the 7th grade. In 9th grade I had moved on from culottes to skirts that came to my ankles. I had a skirt that became known as My Ever Familiar Skirt. It was brown with little flowers on it. And I wore it EVERY DAY. No kidding. I hated having to always wear a skirt in public and this skirt was the only skirt I owned that didn't make me feel like a complete loser when I was the only girl at the horse club not wearing riding pants. It was, to me, barely stylish and I was clinging to that since everything else I owned was not stylish at all. I mean, AT ALL. I still own this skirt. I put it on about once every 2 or 3 years just to smile and remember all the good I-want-to-go hide-in-the-corner-and-be-invisible moments.

In the 6th grade I a wore a mini skirt everyday. No kidding! I was a rebel. Wait a minute, That's not right. I wasn't a rebel. That was just my delusion talking. I did wear a mini-skirt but it was a blue jean mini skirt with a foot of eyelet lace sewed on to the bottom so that it hit me below the knees. Sometimes, when I actually did want to be a rebel, I would go into the ladies bathroom and tuck the lace up under the skirt and stand and twist and look at myself and imagine what it would be like if I actually could let the world see my knees. In college I did buy a blue jean mini skirt but I never had the guts to wear it. Thankfully. It's no one's business what my scar covered knees look like. But it was there, hanging in my closet, letting me know that I was a dork.

I want to share a picture with you. You need to prepare yourself b/c it is rough. You might cringe. You might even cry. Maybe I shouldn't post it and spare you the agony. Nah. At least you aren't in the picture (well, some of you are). Ok. I think I will start with something a little less shocking.

Here we have Sarah sporting our Nana's old swimming suit. Cute, isn't she?

Next up, we have me in an outfit that I made myself and was quite proud of. I also considered this extremely fashionable.

I'm just easing you in, by the way.

Below, you will see two different pictures of me in My Ever Familiar Skirt. Notice once the cold weather hit I added sock to the ensemble. Snazzy.

It's about to get ugly.

This is "us." Aren't we looking goooood. Mmh! I'm the one front and center. The one with the hair that apparently got overlooked that day. The one with white socks and Keds.

And now for the big one. It's so bad. I'm laughing so hard right now. Don't just glance at this picture. Study it. The longer you look the more you will laugh. Check out the placement of Rachel's waistband. Check out Asa's pants. Check out my mini skirt. Check out Anna's skirt. And then, go make sure your children are wearing something appropriate. Or, (I like this idea better) put them in some of your old clothes and take a picture so that later in life they will have something to blog about.

Jesse, Anna, Matt, Rachel (snicker, snicker), Asa (guffaw), Luke, Me, Stephanie, Leah

The Pupinni Sisters

I am loving these girls. How fun is their website?

Love this!

http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/dance-shoes-for-the-father-and-the-daughter/

A FactList

Fact 1. My house stinks. Eily has pooped a lot this morning.

Fact 2. I have 133 SwagBucks.

Fact 3. I cannot decide if I want to cash them in and have another contest or hold out for the $20 Target e-card and use it for myself.

Fact4. My rib is still out and it hurts.

Fact 5. I am going to see the Pioneer Woman in Little Rock in 2 weeks. She is going to sign my cookbook.

Fact 6. I am already tired of being home and I haven't been home all weekend.

Fact 7. This is Jason's last full week at the Art Center. Woot!

Fact 8. I am going to be in a cook-off over Thanksgiving weekend.

Fact 9. My two oldest girls are walking around wearing the following:
Elaina- panties, Eily's coat, blue rain boots
Claire- bikini cut orange polka dotted panties worn backwards which has created quite
the wedgie, pink cowgirl boots, Jason's Buddy Holly glasses, and a Teletubbie bag that contains all of our Mr. Potato Head toys.

Fact 10: The door is shut and the blinds are drawn and apparently for good reason. (see fact 9)


Happy Monday, everyone!

Here you go, Nanny.

Sorry about the whole booger picking and eating thing. I wasn't even looking at her and didn't realize that was on the video.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A new world has been presented

Elaina read from her first book today. Not her reading lesson book, a regular old book. A bright new world has been opened to her. Today she saw the wonderful places that you can visit and people that you can meet once you delve into a book. Do you want to hear her adventure? Are you ready for this? Here we go...

Balls, balls, balls. Big balls. Little balls. Balls for you and me. (turn the page)I like balls. I can play with this one. I make it go up and down. You can play with me. Look out. (this is where it gets really exciting.) Here it comes. Get it. Get it. (Turn the page) This is fun to play. The ball is a little one. Can you get this little ball? Look at the little ones here. Pretty little ones. Make one go in. Make one go out.

I'll spare you the rest. With books as exciting and dramatic as this I think I'll soon be having to pry the books away from her fingers just to get her to get dressed.

Don't you agree?

Shew!

It's 5 o'clock and I have the entire house cleaned except the playroom and I will work on that after supper. I think I have done well but the girls are the one's that have been truly exceptional. They played together so well and only fought a couple of times. And by fighting I mean arguing, not actual fist fighting. That was main reason I was able to get so much accomplished. Tonight, after supper I am going to clean that playroom and then start labeling picture cd's. Slowly, I am getting there.

They've learned!!

While I was mowing the back yard the two oldest girls were outside playing. They lost interest after a bit and came inside. I finished the back yard, mowed the side and front yards and finally made it inside. They were in my room playing dress-up with my clothes that were folded and piled on my bed. They are no longer folded. Anyway, I just noticed that when they came inside they took off their shoes at the backdoor and piled them neatly to the side. I feel very proud. They did it. They learned something. All that nagging was not in vain. It stuck with them.

And they learned.
Now if I could just convince Jason that nagging is educational and beneficial and not just irritating to listen to.

I'm taking a mid day break. So far I have cleaned the kitchen. It took about two hours and if you knew the size of my kitchen that would tell you just how bad it was. I have also completed all the laundry and mowed the yards. Eily is now awake so the cleaning will slow down a little bit again but that's ok. I am moving on to the dining room and living room now. Wish me speed!

This was about a year and a half ago.

Click on the picture to watch. You have to watch it twice because for some reason it won't play the whole thing the first time.

Time for another one

I am alone with the girls this weekend. Except for a quick trip to the grocery store tomorrow to get more milk we aren't going anywhere. We are staying here and getting things done!

Therefore, here is another list:

My Weekend List

1. Get the house completely cleaned (the deep kind of cleaning) from top to bottom, left to right
2. Get the front and back yards mowed
3. Get the PC advertisement ideas going and possibly accomplished
4. Get laundry done
5. Order mini catalogs (this one's iffy)
6. Go through the picture cd's and label them
7. Get PC bag ready to go for the show on Monday
8. Stay happy and don't gripe at the girls

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning on the way to school, the girls and I started talking about God and how he was everywhere all the time. I explained that He was in the car with us and it became so real to me and all day I have felt Him near. It makes a difference in your day when that thought is constantly on your mind. It makes a difference in how I talked for sure and I don't mean bad language because I don't use language to begin with. I mean in the tone of my voice. I can be pretty cranky sounding to the girls and it is really showing in the way they talk to each other. Especially in the way Claire talks. The other night Jason and I had a pretty big argument and now thinking back and picturing God there listening to what I said and how I said it makes me ashamed and sad and very, very embarrassed.

I hope this "strong feeling of presence" stays around. I can use it.

Scratch

This has tickled me pink. Oh my goodness. Please go read this, especially if you are a girl. So funny.

Ok. Now that you are done, can you imagine? A pink wool thong. No thank you.

Guess what! I've earned $3.33 from my little Juice Box Jungle widget over there on the right.

I'm thinking it's going to take a while to save up enough money for a cool prize. Unless you want a candy bar as the prize. Or a pencil.

Yummy to my...ears

There is nothing that can compare with Christopher Plummer singing Edelweiss.
Mmmmhhh.

Except Moon River

Dr. Travis, maybe you could bring your table to my house.

Eily has been running a fever for two days. She acts like she feels very, very yucky. We were supposed to go to Toddler Hour, the chiro and Chuck E. Cheese today but the first two didn't happen. Audrey finished her last reading lesson this week so her reward was to go to CEC. Since Elaina and Claire had been so excited about it, Ashlie came and picked them up on their way. It was a sweet gesture on Ashlie's part because that means she will be watching 6 kids. Fun.

I really needed to go to the chiro. I have a rib on my right side that is always slipping out of place. Now that I have been exercising it has really been a pain. Every time I do a crunch it pops and feels so icky. Maybe Eily will get well soon and maybe no one else will get this.

That's not very likely to happen.

I would also like to say that I am about to go do Day 4 of my exercising and I can already tell a huge difference in my endurance. Also, in my bladder control. Bring on those jumping jacks!
(Sorry if I have offended any males but it's a true side effect of having those little babies that you drool over. Things like jumping jacks and trampolines can be very scary and sometimes embarrassing once one has experienced childbirth.)

I've updated it

For the family members that have our names for Family Day and Christmas:
My Everchanging Wishlist

It brings my blood to a boil, but in a good way. (Pun intended)

All my life I have tried to figure out what is my "thing." I enjoy a lot of different hobbies. I enjoy singing, playing (at) the piano, taking pictures, cooking, scrap booking, horse riding, sewing, etc... I have give all a fair shot at being proclaimed "The Thing." But there is only one that truly makes my stomach get tingly when I think about it. Only one thing that I could spend hours reading about. One thing I could experimenting with and not get a least a little bit bored. One thing that if there is a gift in the Secret Santa that relates to it I will not be playing nice and will end up with that gift. One thing that I will always, always, always want to do.
Cook.
I love to cook. I love to cook. I love to cook.

I could let it completely consume me if I didn't have better sense.
When the girls get a little bit older I look forward to spending some serious blocks of time developing my knowledge of cooking. Learning about ratios and how they are the means for being able to cook anything without a recipe. I get giddy at the thought.

I have a Holiday Entertaining cookbook and it has been calling out to me for two years. "Open me! Use me! Throw a party!"
This year I am obeying. I would like to announce the first ever Annual Holiday Sacran Dinner. I want everyone that wants to come, come. But... I will have to have an accurate head count so RSVP is mandatory. One thing you should know, it will be good, it will be clean and it will be fun.
The date is still pending but I would love to hear how many of you are interested in the idea, if you think it would be better to do it before Christmas or right afterwards, etc... I will have to limit the guest list at some point so it's somewhat a first come, first serve basis and once I get a feel for how many people are interested I can figure out what the cut off number is. I might even have a certain number of tickets available. My brain is still trying to figure out the best way to do this. Children will be welcome so don't worry about having to find a babysitter and if I do use the ticket idea they won't require them. I would love to meet some of you far away readers and also hook up with the familiar faces. Oohhhh, I'm getting so excited just thinking about this!! Ahh!!!
Please, give me feedback!

October 3

I feel the baby bug about to bite.

Day 2

I died.

October 1, 2009

I just completed day one of The 30 Day Shred. The only muscles that I can now control are my finger muscles and even they are wanting to go awry.
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Ok. I wrote those two sentences above and then Eily started crying. I had just finished my workout and had somehow managed to get my moving-like-a-noodle body over to the computer, completely sink into the chair, and she wakes up. Babies seem to always have that perfect kind of timing. The word perfect is dripping with sarcasm in case you didn't get that on your own. Not only did she wake up but she woke up CRANKY! The only way that she would stop crying was if I was standing. You do day one level one of The 30 Day Shred and you tell me how well you stand right afterwards. It wasn't easy.

On a much sadder and different note,
One of my most favorite people in the world, Danny Davis (he drove the carriage in our wedding), is battling cancer. It started out as melanoma on his face, had moved to his liver and lungs and then today they found out that it's in his brain. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

4 Years

Dear Elaina,
Finally! You are four years old. You have been waiting so long for this momentous occasion.
You have had a very good year as far as learning is concerned. You are almost through with your reading lesson book and you have finally mastered (basically) drawing inside the lines in your coloring books. You have fihured out how to use the mouse on the computer and you are now learning a little about using the keypad. You are trying to convince yourself that you are brave on your big-girl bike but I can see the hesitation in your eyes.
I can't believe how quickly you have reached this age. I never knew how grown up the age 4 is until I became a parent. It's totally different coming at it from this viewpoint. It seems like I should still be changing your diaper. Although to be honest I do still wipe your bottom a lot. :)
You are still so sweet but just here lately you have been having a little bit of attitude. Usually, all it seems to take is a gentle reminder and you are back to being your pleasant self. I am learning I can trust you to follow orders and to make sure others follow the orders as well!
You have a strong desire to learn to cook and believe me, I will maximize on that!!! You are the kissiest child we have and I love that. You are always coming up and kissing whatever body part you can get your mouth on.
You are a blessing to us and make a wonderful oldest child.
I love you Elaina Ceridwen.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday, Claire! (revised)

My sweet Rachel Claire,

You are 3 now. Almost a little lady. You have become so much easier this year. (Unfortunately, Eily is right on your heels with the terrible two's.) Right now you are picking up the house for me. What a sweetie.

You are learning your letters, have finally mastered your colors and are fully potty trained. It was a big year for you. You also ride your tricycle everywhere and you LOVE swimming lessons. Your hair has reached your chin so you more like a girl. :)

You can really have an ugly mouth but we are working on how to speak nicely and we are working on your ability to get along with others.
You give the best hugs and have the most delightful way of expressing yourself when you talk. I could watch you talk for hours and never once get bored. This year we will start on your school and I look forward to seeing you learn new things but dread the drama that is bound to happen. You have practiced putting diapers on Pooh Bear for quite a while now and the other day you diapered Eily while I was getting Elaina out of the bathtub. What a nice surprise! You have always been my "mothering" child."

I love you, Rachel Claire and I hope that I do you right as a mother. I hope I can nurture your soft, loving side and help it to be your most dominate personality. You are truly special and I'm so blessed that you were given to me.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's a new week

I didn't get one birthday post up last week. Unless you count the poop post but I do not consider that a proper birthday post.

I will try to get a post or two up today amist all the other little things I have planned. I like days at home that are just puttery. Putting about here and there doing this and that. Maybe not getting dressed until 9 or 10. Maybe eating breakfast for lunch and then lunch for afternoon snack.
I want to get all the laundry folded. I want to call Best Buy and get some computer things resolved. I want to make a quick run to the grocery store. I want to cook a good supper for the family. I want to straighten up our home. I want to read The Christian Pathway. I want to get Elaina's reading lesson done. I want to give the girls a bath and brush their teeth. I want to get two one more birthday posts post written. I want to mow the back yard. I want to get caught up with my Pampered Chef stuff.
But it doesn't matter if this all gets accomplished or not. It's a puttery day and that's that.

Make a point today to have a happy morning!
Ceridwen

If you have a sensitive gag reflex you might not want to read this one

This has been the worst day of my life. Ever.
Elaina did wonderful on her reading lesson. I have almost finished deep cleaning the entire house and I made a huge dent in my pile of unclipped coupons.
So what made this day stand out as the worst?

While Elaina was doing her reading lesson, Claire and Eily were in the dining room eating choclate chip cherry granola bars. Eily came into the playroom and handed me a choclate chip out of her granola bar. I ate it.

It was poop. Actual poop.

I had changed her diaper just minutes earlier and the substance in the diaper was made up of little round balls. (She will be eating rasins for her next snack.) Apparently one very small ball fell out of the diaper without me noticing. Eily found it. Eily shared it.

I have to quit writing now and go throw up.

(No one tell Jason, ok? He'll never kiss me again. And I can't say I'd blame him.)

It's my birthday!!

I woke up this morning with an upset stomach. Something I ate yesterday is not happy with its new surroundings.
Claire woke up the entire family by throwing a big fit during the night so I am very tired.

But Elaina made up for everything. This morning she wanted me to make a list of things to do. I was too busy groaning over my tummy and said no so she said she would make her own list. And for the very first time, she sounded out her words and wrote them on a piece of paper.




























The top work looks like pk, but it's not. She started with the bottom word: "P","i" (the "i" is fancy) and then a "k" that is really a "n" but I didn't tell her that. She isn't skilled at drawing "k's" yet.

Then she hit the bottom of the paper and had to write the next word above the first word. She started with the u (that looks like a "k") and once again ran out of room so she just wrote the "p" in front of the "u". Are you still with me?

The end result: pu pik, which translated means "Pick up."

Suddenly I'm seeing her go off to college!! :)

And you smell like one too!!!!!!!

It's the start of one of two annual Birthday Weeks at our house!! Lots and lots and lots of birthday posts will be coming your way. Claire's birthday is Tuesday, my birthday is Wednesday and Elaina's birthday is Friday. Then there will be the post about the joint birthday party that was held at Check E. Cheese last week. But it has to come at the end.

Becuase I said so, that's why.

I'm sorry to say...

There will probably never be an Uncle Josh, Little Bit and Dixie, Part 2 because making up a post on blogger that has a numerous amount of pictures makes me want to go hide in a corner, curl up into a ball and suck my thumb. And if you believe it (or even if you don't), I did suck my thumb this afternoon. I was pretending to be Claire's baby because she was in distress that Elaina had quit playing with her. It slightly disturbed Claire but even after all these years, it comforted me. There is nothing like a good thumb suck.

Back to the post. You won't be missing much. It was basically going to be some pictures of dog running and stick throwing and canine drool. I will post a very few pictures of the girls from that night that I thought were funny.



This was Eily rejecting Dixie's approach.

















Something's interesting...
























Something's hilarious...
























Something's wrong with this girl. :)


















Disclaimer: Elaina dressed herself.

A Solicitation

Does anyone want anything from Pampered Chef? I have a customer/friend that needs a few orders added to her show so I am trying my best to help her get them. The soneware and metal bakeware are 20% off this month so now is the time so stock up! Plus, Christmas is coming up and Pampered Chef items would make a great gift! If you want something just email me at jaybeksacran@gmail.com and I will get you the information that you need. Thanks everyone!

Every night it is someone else's turn to have the stomach bug. Tonight will either be Jason or Eily. Jason is showing the most promise.

A tale of a girl and her three microwaves

My first microwave was the size of a Tupperware container. It warmed many a wonderful thing for us. It helped Aunt Rachel make us toffee bars the weekend we found out we were expecting Elaina. Aunt Rachel had issues with its cooking abilities.

My second microwave was the size of a normal television. It could have held the first microwave and then more. It was old and as far as I know is still going strong. It was made very well.

My third microwave is just right. And boy, can that sucker heat! Time will tell how well it holds up.

I was and still am thankful for all three. They were all gifts and each played an important role in our household.




Sometimes the little things suddenly appear large.

New Hair

I cut and colored my hair last week and these are the only two pictures I have that somewhat show what it looks like.

This is basically the cut. I normally have sweepy bangs but in this picture I have them pulled back.

Showing the red.