Date night!

Me and hubby have a date night planned for this weekend. I'm so excited because it's been forever since we've been alone. Together. For a whole day. (I can't even remember what that's like!)  BUT today he had the nerve to suggest that since it's going to be warm this weekend that we keep the kids at home and work outside. I DON'T THINK SO! We never get time alone so kids are going to mamaws, I'm buying a new pair of shoes, we're going hiking (hopefully the somewhere on the parkway but anwhere will do as long as we're outside) and then to a movie and dinner. I stay at home and work everyday. NOT doing it this weekend. The yard can wait till next weekend. I promise.

And yes, I'm buying a brand new pair of shoes just to get dirty hiking in them. I don't own a pair of good walking shoes anymore. My shoe collection consists of super cute boots, heels, and the good ole flip flops. May need to buy 2 pair then :) I'll use any excuse to buy shoes. Wouldn't you? I think so.

I need help!

I have a last minute school emergency and need some help! Well, I wouldn't call it an emergency really but now that I have your attention I do need some ideas!

So I have to take snack and volunteer at preschool tomorrow. I bought gingerbread cookies for the kids (a no-no because it's not 'healthy' but I thought I could get away with it for Christmas!) I was just looking at the lable a minute ago and it was processed in a plant that has tree nuts. There is a little girl in the class that is allergic to tree nuts. Peanut butter is fine, no kids allergic to that, but nothing with tree nuts. I'm not sure how severe her allergy is but I know her family and she was hospitalized this year for it (I think that's how they found the allergy). So I don't want to risk it. I considered taking something else for her and letting the other kids have it but didn't think that was fair. So i need help figuring out something else to take. I'm also taking strawberry yougurt and apple juice. I like to do things that are different. Almost every day I pick Gavin up I ask him what he had for snack and he says Goldfish or Cheez-its. Which I don't think is really 'healthy' but is accepted.

Funny thing is, this will be my 3rd time buying a snack for school this week! Last week I was supposed to do it but it snowed so we didn't have school and I let the boys eat what I'd bought. The teacher offered me Monday since you get $15 off tuition if you volunteer. Lol, I've spent way more than $15 in snacks this time! Anyway I could really use some suggestions.

Life's Truths for Mature Adults

I got this email and it made me giggle so I wanted to share it. Hope it makes you giggle too. I think what makes it so funny is that it's all SO TRUE!


Life's Truths for Mature Adults

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. Really, how ARE you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Crap!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to
finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and
hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?


26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'll bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today I turn 26! I told Gavin last night that today was my birthday and what I wanted for my present was to get a lot of kisses from him. As soon as we got up this morning, he kissed me all over my face and said, "Happy birthday mommy!" I can't think of a better present than that. It made my whole day! Hubby bought me a Wii and the Wii fit plus last week for my present. My mom gave me $50 which we put toward the Wii. I love it by the way! I haven't gotten to use it as much as I'd like though. The kids are mostly on it and by the time they go to bed, I'm too worn out to exercise.

Anyway, since it's my birthday, I thought I'd share a few baby pics of myself. I was one chunky little baby! It's weird looking back at them. In some of the pictures I can definitely tell the boys look a little bit like me.

Hehe, I was so fat

Me & my sis

My 1st birthday

Me and my brother, I don't know what was up w/ my hairdo!

We have a new car

Well, not exactly new but it's a 2004 Jeep Liberty. His grandma bought a new Subaru and gave us her Jeep. They do weird things like that. It's very nice of them, which is the weird part! They did the same thing with 2 other cars. They just buy a new car and instead of trading in the old one, they give it to hubs.

Honestly, I don't particularly love the car. I do love Jeep but the liberty isn't really my style but right now I drive a Kia Rio and it's TINY so the extra room will be great. I don't really like the way the body style looks but hey, it's free and I'll take it! Hubby's gone right now getting the title work and everything done. He sold his Blazer earlier today so as of whenever he gets back, it's ours :)

This is pretty much what it looks like (This isn't ours, just one I found online) :

 Ok, now that I've told you about it, it just hit me that we have a new car. SQEEEEE! *insert goofy happy dance here*

Please help the Emerson family get on Extreme Makeover Home Edition

There is a family that lives in my area that are truly the most deserving of a new house than anyone I could think of. Everyone is trying to get them on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We could really use your help. Whether you know them or not, this family has been through so much. I wish all of you had the opportunity to meet Amber. She is so wonderful, sweet and inspiring. Here is her story from their facebook page:


ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is casting for deserving families in North Carolina and the Emerson Family, of Madison County, is the right family to win this! With a family of four and several animals - space is not the only factor in their eligibility to deserve a new home! Among the four is a beautiful eight year old girl, who is an inspiration to all for her survival story. At only the age of 10 months, she was in a freak accident causing over 90% to be burned, scarred, and graphed. She is among the youngest and most severe burn survivors, to this day, worldwide. Three years post burn, one of her primary caregivers, her father Dave was diagnosed with stage one emphysema and while still knowing that wasn't all - he was also diagnosed with Muscular Sclerosis a year later. This family has pulled and stuck together, stayed strong in their faith, and maintained a so called "normal" life. With those two personal stories, there are also several material reasons they are more than deserving of a new home! Amber has prosthetic legs, a power wheel chair, and a manual wheel chair and as residents of NC we all know the land is all but flat in our region. Mobility for the two has been affected greatly due to the uneven terrain, steps, and doorways. Also, unfinished ramps and walkways. There are many modifications that are not only necessary, but are left incomplete due to lack of time, funds, and physical energy. We created this group to ask for your help (to be nominated), your support, and your prayers. If you would like, please feel free to add personal stories of your encounters with the Emerson family - and also any reasons you think they should receive the home makeover as well. 

Amber and her sister Grace

Her family does SO much to give her a normal, happy life. She was in my niece's dance class several years ago and to see her in her wheelchair up on that stage dancing and smiling was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! I know almost all of my followers don't know this family, but I wish you did! Please go check out their facebook page and see for yourself why they need this. There are pictures of the house on there that shows the need they have and there's also pictures of beautiful little Amber on there as well. Please help if you will.

We need as many people as possible to help get Extreme Makeover's attention. You can send an email to castingnorthcarolina@gmail.com, Post why you think the Emerson's deserve this makeover on the Extreme Makeover, home edition's facebook page and there are also some posts on the discussions page of the page too.

Our newest additon to the family

We have a new addition to the family! It's another boy. I'm so outnumbered here but maybe this will sedate my baby craving!

My cousin gave my mom a kitten he'd gotten from some woman. She told him that she had to take them all to the pound. She had 3 left so he saved one. He took it to my moms and gave it to her and she said she'd give it to Gage for his birthday. My cousin called me to make sure Gage could have it. We'd been thinking about getting one for a couple months anyway so it seemed like the right time.

My cousin did say he was a bit early. Only 4 weeks but he plays like an 8 week old! He follows Gavin and Gage around. It's so cute the way he runs after Gage. He kind of hops instead of running! Neither one of the boys will sit still and hold him. He tries to get in Gavins lap but he's always been afraid of animals so he jumps up and runs but he likes to pet him and give him kisses.

I forgot how hard it is to litterbox train! Saturday night he peed and pooped on me in the bed! He stays in the bathroom now at night.

We have had a hard time coming up with a name for the little guy. We kept asking Gage what kitty's name was and he'd say "KITTY!" Gavin said William once because that's what he named his teddy bear he sleeps with. I love the name Oliver but that's a name I picked out when I finally get my dream dog. An English Bulldog. Isn't that cute? A bulldog named Oliver!? Haven't gotten Hubby on board though. Most of those are between $500 and $2,000.

So last night, we asked the boys again what they wanted to name him and out of the blue, Gavin came up with (I have no idea how to spell this!)... Ogberd, Ogbourd, Ogburd, well, anyhow he says it Og-Bird. (If you know of a good way to spell it let me know!) As soon as he said it, Gage said, Ogberd, Ogberd. Hubby looked at me with raised eyebrows and said 'I... guess that's it' Gavin said 'Well, Ogberd it is!' Hubby said 'Ok, Ogberd it is.' I was kind of speechless the entire time but both boys like it so poor kitty is Ogberd now. Where did he get that name??? It was so random! But we said they could choose and that's what they chose... poor poor kitty!

Anyway so introducing Ogberd, Ogbird, Ogbyrd.... whatever his name is...

My environmentally conscious 4 year old

I meant to write a post for Earth day but completely forgot until this morning when I was filling up the sink to do some dishes and went into the laundry room to get a towel. Gavin saw the water running and came in there to find me and looked at me in a stern way and said "Mama, NO wasting water" and pointed to the sink. It was so cute that it made my heart melt! I had to pick him up and show him that I was filling it up to wash dishes and that that wasn't wasting water. But I was so proud of him for acknowledging the fact that leaving the water running was a bad thing. I told my husband about it and told him that Gavin was my little 'Earth saving buddy!"

Just last week too, he saw that the computer was left on (I am bad for leaving it on because I am on and off of it pretty much all day) he hunted me down and informed me that I was wasting energy by leaving the computer on when I wasn't using it. I of course told him that he was right and did a good job telling me and had to shut it off! I can't tell you how proud I am of him. He just started this in the past couple weeks and I'm amazed at how much he picks up on. He is definitely great motivation! It made me realize that even that young, kids can see the things that we do as adults that are wrong. They see the things we do and so they grow up thinking its OK to do these bad habits. Well, most kids anyway! I'm thankful that Gavin is outgoing and smart enough to call me out on the things I need to change!

So what I was going to talk about for Earth Day was the little things we are doing as a family to live a little bit 'greener' lifestyle. I know we could be doing so much more but we'll try to work up to that. We've made a lot of changes in our household the past 6 months that I'm proud of. And while what we're doing is good for the environment, which is always a good thing, we also have other motives for doing them that makes it that much more worth the effort.

First, of course you all know that I cloth diaper Gage. I started last July. I started out with just 2 diapers to give it a try. I thought that if I could have 4-5 to use during the day, it would save some money in disposables. Well I jumped in and never looked back! Other than not filling up the landfills with thousands of diapers, I also love cloth diapering because the money saving aspect. My cloth diapers have already paid for themselves by not having to buy sposies every week. But the main reason I like it is, what else can make your kids butt look so cute? Why in the world would you want to put a saggy white thing on your child's bum when you can get adorable, funky, awesome, fluffy, soft, absorbent, natural diaper on him that looks a million times better? I can't find one reason!

Second, We started recycling as soon as we moved into this house. Before, we had a dumpster right out back that everyone just dumped everything in. We didn't have to pay for it (it was included in the rent), it was convenient, and there was no effort in running out a trash bag and throwing it in. Now however, we have to take our trash off. We do have trash pickup but we have to pay for it and with all the new house payment and everything going on, we just don't want to pay for it. We take ours directly to the landfill, it's closer to take it there than a transfer station. My mom lives in another county and there you pay once a year, I think it's $75 or something and you get a card you can use all year long. Here, they don't have that. We pay $1 per bag, which isn't too bad. Using cloth, we don't fill up the bags near as often. But recycling there is free. It's not one of those places that pay you to recycle though but that's ok. Before we were recycling, we were getting a full bag of trash per day. Now we recycle almost everything and we're getting about 2 bags a week. So recycling = Saving money... which is good.

Third, I've always had well water my entire life. Then we moved into the new house which has city water. Now, if you've never had city water and then that's all you have, it's a huge change. I guess we could get used to it but I think it's disgusting! So I had been buying bottled water. I know, bad. I recently bought a PUR water dispenser and love it! I keep it in the fridge and when I get a glass out, I just open the lid and pour another glass of tap in. Simple. It's always cold. It tastes awesome and I don't have one thing bad to say about it. Plus it was only $24 on sale at Target so it was a great investment. I've probably already saved that much just by not having to buy water every week.

We also got a couple of those stainless steel water bottles. My husband uses his sometimes at work but to me, it gives the water a metallic taste so since I'm usually always home, I just use a glass.

And finally, I am addicted to reusable shopping bags. I love, love, love them. I have about 9 of them that range from the regular blue Wal-mart bags, to the beige Ingles (my supermarket) ones, to some really cute polka dotted and flowery bags. I thought I would need more than that but I usually take in too many. In the supermarket, I can usually fit an entire grocery cart full of stuff into 3 bags. 3 BAGS. That sure as heck beats the 50 little plastic bags that seem to always rip or the handles break and you gotta stand in the parking lot and pick up your food off the ground, chasing run away cans rolling under other peoples cars. There is no comparison. I'm the only one in my family that uses reusable bags and I can't seem to get everyone else to understand that you pay 50 cents to a buck fifty for a bag that's going to last a very long time that holds EVERYTHING. It's good for the environment and they make my life so much easier. It takes less trips to the car to carry everything in, and that's never a bad thing!

So that's my 4 little things I do. I know there's more but I'm pretty proud that we're taking small steps. The only one my husband is really for is the recycling because it saves him money and he's the one taking the garbage out but he humors me with the other stuff. He doesn't change any diapers and he would never take a reusable bag in a store but he has quit looking at me weird when I do these things so I think he's coming around!

What are some things you do to be 'green'? Do you recycle? Buy organic? You don't have to do much and it's so much easier and actually more fun than I'd ever thought it could be.

President Obama & family is in Asheville

Some of you who follow me on Twitter may have heard me making fun of Kmart for selling these basketballs with Obama's face on them with a huge sign that said "President Obama is coming to Asheville!" Some thought I was joking but sadly I was not. It was ridiculous! I really regret leaving my phone out in the car because I so wanted to take a picture of it. 


The entire Asheville area is very worked up about the visit. For those that didn't believe me that him and his family are taking a weekend vacation here at the Grove Park Inn, here's a link to ABC news with the article about it.

I really don't think it's that big of deal. I don't think anyone will even see them. Last time he was here (when he was still a candidate running for president), he ate at 12 Bones, this awesome BBQ joint down on the river. They showed him on TV ordering 2 full racks of ribs. 


Fast forward to today, I went out this morning to do some grocery shopping and to pick up the rest of Gavins party supplies. I was on my way home at 1:30. I was about a mile or 2 miles away from the 12 Bones Restaurant (which is about 10 min. from where I live). I see this long line of cars just stopped lined up the road. I thought It's gotta be Obama. He ate here last time and he's probably there again and everyone is stopped to try and get a glimpse. So I turn around to go the other way. Only when I realized that I was sooo close to home and going ALL the way back the way I came was going to take forever so I turn BACK around and then saw that the police had the entire road blocked from about another mile back from where I was the first time. They weren't letting anyone through. They were making everyone turn around.


By this time I'm pretty ticked off. I mean they would shut down the entire road just so the President can chow down on some ribs? Come on. 


I had to drive another 30 minutes to get on the interstate. Traffic was terrible. I got on the interstate and noticed that the side I was on was bumper to bumper. Stop and Go. I was like 'What the heck is going on?' Then I saw that every exit was shut down by the police. All of downtown Asheville seemed inaccessible. There were people standing on the bridges. 


Then I see on the other side of the interstate that there is not a car one. Then I realized that they shut it all down so the motorcade could go through. That's when I saw the first 2 police motorcycles. It just so happened though that about that time, I came to one of those concrete barriers that separates the road. So that's all I saw! The people standing on the side of the road started cheering and waving. I didn't get to see anything but I heard it! I heard the cars going by but that was all. On down toward Patton Ave. There were cars stopped on the side of the road and people standing everywhere with cameras. I happened to have my camera with me so I pull over and wait a minute. There were still police cars, ambulances, DOT trucks... pretty much anything with flashing lights were following them! I swear they had to have used every police car they had. 


Anyway, I remember thinking 'This is good and all but I just want to get to Taco Bell and go home!' (I hadn't eaten all day and by this time it was about 2:30) I never did see the Presidents car, only a bunch of cops, 1 ambulance, 2 DOT trucks and 1 black SUV. The SUV was a bit curious. It was at the end though, probably Secret Service or something. So I was a bit less mad because it turns out that Obama wasn't holding up traffic to eat. But I was still perplexed at the reason for shutting down ALL the roads and exits. I mean they were driving from the airport on the interstate. That has nothing to do with the river (where the 12 Bones is) or any of downtown. I honestly don't see making hundreds or maybe even thousands of peoples lives any harder just because the President is coming through. They could have just sent some police ahead to clear the road before and put some a mile or 2 behind and leave it at that. They shut down all of Asheville just so President Obama can drive through. It took me an hour out of my way to get home today. And this is all I have to show for it (these are after it was all over. By the time I got pulled over, they were gone): 

So that's it. Not much to look at I know. I told Gavin though that this is probably as close as we're ever going to get! Seeing a bunch of police and hearing their car! And this was only a couple police there were tons more, I was just able to get these pics real quick while I was stopped for a second. 

EDIT: 

So I was just on the local news facebook page and it turns out they were at 12 Bones restaurant.  Grrr. So that's why the entire road was shut down. They had a pic of him and said " They ate ribs, greens, baked beans, corn bread, and mac & cheese."

There was also a really cool pic from  a woman who got a picture of Air Force One landing at the Asheville Airport. Surprising since the airport is so tiny but they made it! 

What would you like to win?

So I've decided to throw in a couple gift cards for the boys' Birthday Bash next month. I'll be using my own money to purchase them so I wanted to ask you all where you want those giftcards to come from. I was thinking of getting 2 to the same store so I could have 2 winners, or would you rather have giftcards to two different stores? It's completely up to you guys, my wonderful readers! Just to give you ideas, I was thinking Target, ToysRus/BabiesRus, Starbucks, Old Navy... you can pick your favorite out of those or suggest another place I haven't thought of.

I might put some other things up too, just because I love ya! Leave me a comment with your vote.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone is having a great Easter! As for us, we're stuck here at home :( Gavin is too sick to go anywhere.

In the past couple weeks, all my nieces and my nephew have had this thing where they ran pretty high fevers for up to 5 days with a terrible cough. One of my nieces ran one for 5 days and it got up to over 104 degrees. The Dr. told her that it was some virus thing and it'd stick around for about 7 days. Another one of my nieces had the same symptoms and was taken to a different Dr. (the one I take my kids to) and it turns out that she has walking pneumonia. Anyway, Gage had something the other day & had the same cough and a fever of 102.5 but it only lasted 2 days. Now Gavin came down with it on Friday morning and still has it. I'm not sure if Gage's might have been teeth or if he just wasn't as affected as bad as the others. He is getting in his 2 yr molars right now.

Yesterday we were supposed to go to a dinner at my hubbys family's but since Gavin was sick, I stayed home with him and he took Gage. Afterward, they came over to see him for awhile. This morning, I was hoping he was over it so we could go to Church and then to my moms for dinner and an egg hunt. But no such luck. I was up every 2 hrs last night checking on him and waking him up to give him medicine and wet him down with a washcloth. He started puking again around 6am.

So we're stuck at home today with 4 dozen eggs and a sick child. Why so many you ask? Well, I had to buy 2 dozen plastic eggs and fill them with prizes and candy for the little egg hunt they do right after Church and then we dyed 2 dozen real eggs for my moms house. I guess if his medicine kicks in here in a bit we might head outside and just do it here. It's not looking good though. It's one o'clock, Gavins fever just came back up and Gage is needing a nap. He's throwing a temper tantrum right now and just came in here and pinched me on the arm with both hands! Ahhhh, cranky sick babies are tough! Anyway, I'll just sit here and reflect on the real reason for Easter and enjoy my family :)

Happy Easter!

POM Wonderful Giveaway

I was recently contacted by Kristen from POM Wonderful. She generously offered to send me some 100% pomegranate juice to try out and to use in some of my recipes.

I was very excited to give it a try. I have never actually tasted a pomegranate, though I have tried pomegranate and blueberry juice before and really liked it. I had been wanting to try some of the POM Wonderful juice for awhile and luckily Kristen stumbled upon my blog and gave me the opportunity to do so!

When I got the juice in the mail, I imagined by the looks of it that it might taste a bit like prune juice or something. I opened it up and took a sip. It really has an interesting flavor (Not at all like prune juice thankfully!). It's sweet but tart at the same time. It's very smooth and quite good actually.

Pomegranates really have some wonderful health benefits as well as being delicious! It's great for Cardiovascular health and it is packed full of antioxidants. It is very beneficial to men especially, it's excellent for prostate health and erectile function. Now, my husband wouldn't even try it, he's like a child when it comes to trying something new, but my dad tried some and liked it.

There are a lot of great, yummy looking recipes at POM Wonderful's website to try out. I want to try every one of them! I made the blushing POM holiday cheesecake. The recipe is to make your own cheesecake from scratch but I cheated and went the lazy route and bought a no bake cheesecake and made the glaze for the top. I know, I know, I'm a cheater but it still tasted awesome! It's supposed to be for a whole cheesecake but I made mine in jumbo muffin cups so it came out in perfect, single portions (well, not for me. I don't eat sweets much so one fed me, Gavin, and Gage!).

(the picture didn't make it look

very pretty but they did come 

out really cute!)

Here's how I made the glaze for the top:

I took 1.5 cups of the pomegranate juice, 1/3 of a cup of granulated sugar, and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch & combined them in a saucepan. You bring it to a boil then reduce the heat. You let it cook for 2 minutes, stirring the whole time. Let it cool a bit and then pour on top of the cheesecake. Easy peasy! I was pretty intimidated making the glaze. I had never done that before but it was so simple, I couldn't believe it!

I wasn't sure how it would taste but it was amazing! I think I'm going to use pomegranate glaze from now on with cheesecake instead of cherry or strawberry. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It still had just a touch of the tartness in it. I LOVED it!

I'm also planning on making these cupcakes very soon. I love all the dessert recipes on their site! I know it's corny but I gotta say it, POM Wonderful truly is Wonderful!

If you'd like to try some POM Wonderful, here's the chance to win some! The winner will receive a coupon for a free 16oz bottle of POM juice. Here's how to enter:

For the first entry, Go check out POM Wonderful's website and tell me something you learned. 

(You must do this entry first or the others will not count)

Extra entries:

Tell me why you would like to try POM Wonderful or if you have already tried it and why you like it.

Become a Fan of POM Wonderful on facebook

Become a Fan of this blog on facebook

Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway. (you can do this 3 times per day)

Enter my other giveaway and comment that you did.

Comment on another non-giveaway post and tell me which one. 

Please leave your email in EVERY comment in this format: yourname at soandso dot com

so I can contact you if you win. If you do not do this, it is your responsibility to check back here to see if you won. If I'm not contacted within 24 hours I will have to choose another winner.

This giveaway will end Friday, March 26th at around midnight EST.

Monster trucks and little boys

Last night I bought some tickets online for the big Monster Truck show tonight. We go every year, the kids love it. There is just something about big trucks and little boys. They just go hand in hand I guess. I have to be honest though, I love it just as much as they do! I've got a lot of redneck in me so I've always had a thing for big trucks too : )

Last year both boys were a little scared of it at first. It's very loud. Me & hubby were miserable because he wouldn't leave early so we got there right as it was starting and there were no seats left. We had to stand in the back and hold the kids up so they could see for like 3 hours. Luckily we ran into some of hubby's friends there so they held them a time or two to give us a break. (Thank you Harry and Gabe!!!)

I think the boys will enjoy it even more this year. We've got their big ear muff things and our ear plugs ready. We're going an hour early to get seats so we're all set for some crushing, mashing, muddy, somewhat smelly fun!


Here's some pics of last years show, I'm sure I'll get some of tonights too:

(Gage and the creepy Spongebob guy. Gavin cried... I don't blame him)

Snow's on the way!

So we are supposed to be getting a big snow storm today. They're thinking we'll get about a foot of snow tonight. About a month ago, it snowed 16 inches! To see some pics go here.

Last time we weren't really prepared. It usually doesn't snow that much here. Everybody we knew lost power. Most of them for a whole week. My SIL was melting snow to rinse out baby bottles! It was sooo bad. Luckily out power never went out so we just enjoyed playing in the snow. Gavin and hubby tried to go sledding down a big hill in the front yard but since we usually don't get enough snow to sled in, we have never bothered buying one. They tried sledding on a big lid off one of those huge Christmas tubs that you put decorations and stuff in. Needless to say, it didn't work!

So this time we knew it was going to come, the weather guy said that it looked like it was going to be similar to the last storm. I went out yesterday to the store for some groceries (It was packed BTW) and then started my search for a sled. Just so you know, NEVER try to find something like that last minute. It's no fun at all.

I had planned on going to Toys R Us but Kmart was closer so I thought I'd try that first. No luck, they had no winter toys out. They had water guns out already. I headed over to Toys R Us, nope. They had swimming pools but no sleds, or anything else remotely winter like. Next is Lowes, I figure why not? Better just check, no luck. Northern tool? Uh-uh.

Keep in mind I done all this with the groceries in the back of the car. Including milk, cheese, all that good stuff. Gavin was whining because he wanted a sled. I told him we'd go home, put up the food & then call around trying to find one.

We get home & I called Dick's sporting goods. Duh, if anyone would have a sled they would. The lady said they had 2 long ones and a few round ones left but they were going quick. I said well I guess I'd better hurry huh? Then being the awesome customer service person she is offered to hold one of the big ones for me. I wish I'd gotten her name to call her supervisor and compliment her!

So hubby decides he'll go with us and we get there and first just try to find where the sleds are because we really didn't think she would actually hold it for us. Usually places say that and just don't do it. We couldn't find them. We walked up to this girl near the checkout and ask where they are at. She says we're out, they're all gone. So I say I called a little bit ago and she interrupted and said OH, you're the one that wanted the 2 person one aren't you? I said yeah, that was me. She goes behind the counter and pulls out this really awesome looking sled and said, these went so fast, I actually got yelled at because someone saw it behind the counter and wanted it but I told them they couldn't  have it! I thought that was the sweetest thing! She got cussed out by another customer but she still held that sled for me so my boys could have fun in the snow!

I looked at hubby (who didn't think I needed to call) and said aren't you glad I called? He said yeah, I'm really glad you called now. I hadn't been but about an hour from the time I called to the time we got to the store. They were sold out in that short amount of time.

I'm still really annoyed that all the other stores found it necessary to put out SUMMER stuff in the middle of January. They put all the snow stuff up by the time it actually starts snowing. But that doesn't matter now, we got our sled and that's all that matters.

Update:

I have an update on my friend that was hospitalized yesterday for preeclampsia at 36 weeks. She went to the Dr. yesterday when they discovered she had preeclampsia & sent her on to the hospital. That's really all I knew until just a few minutes ago.

Her BP was 147/98 yesterday. It's came down some as did the swelling. She has protein in her urine so they're keeping her to keep an eye on that. They said the baby is fine, he looks to be a good size. They are going to do another ultrasound. She'll probably get to come home either today or tomorrow.

They are talking about possibly inducing Wednesday. Prayers for her and the baby. Also for her mom who's a wreck right now! I know I would be too!

Also a quick update on my papaw who's also in the hospital. He had the pacemaker put in yesterday. The surgery went well but didn't go exactly as planned. While the surgeon was putting it in, they found a birth defect that kept them from putting it where they had planned on, but they improvised and it all turned out fine. Hopefully he can come home soon too. Keep praying for him too please.

Santa or no Santa?

Do you 'do' Santa Claus at your house?

This is a question I have thought about since having my first child. Gavin is getting big enough now to start doing the Santa thing.

My sisters kids do believe in Santa and I think that's perfectly fine. It is a really good bribe. I don't know how many times I've heard her say, "Stop that or Santa's not going to give you any presents." But I think really that's all it is... a good bribe. I have decided not to press the Santa issue. My brother has decided to do the same thing. I thought my husband would think I was crazy but he actually agreed completely! I think we will put more emphasis on the fact that we are celebrating Jesus' birth. I've told the boys that the reason we get presents at Christmas is because Jesus loves us and we love each other so we give gifts at Christmas time.

On the other hand, when they start school, I don't want them to kill some poor kids hopes and tell them there's no Santa. That would just be mean. So I think I've came up with a plan that does both:

1. The reason we have Christmas is that it is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

2. Turn it into a history lesson, There once was a man who lived a long time ago named Saint Nicholas who gave out presents to little boys and girls at Christmas time. (Here's a good website that explains the different versions of the story.)

3. Christmas is a time for giving and a time to spend with family and love each other.

There is one tiny little problem though. All over TV there is stories of Santa Claus and everytime we go out, everybody asks Gavin, what's Santa going to bring you? So Gavin comes up to me one day and says Santa is going to bring me presents and come down the chimney. Even though I haven't told him any of that, he still figured it out. I'm not going to make a big deal out of it though. I'm not going to put a lot of emphasis on Santa, but I'm not going to necessarily tell him there's not one either... does that make sense? I'm just not going to use it as a bribe or make a big deal out of Santa coming and leaving presents or anything. I'll let them use their imagingations without taking away the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

We have been teaching them about all the other ways people celebrate Christmas too. Gavin was actually singing the Dreidel song the other day, he was eating Doritos and said, mama, what's a Dorito? I said, you know what a Dorito is, you're eating one honey. And he says, No it's a game, like you spin. Then he starts singing, 'Dorito, Dorito, Dorito...' I laughed so hard at my little guy! I said, No Gavin, It's Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel... He still can't say it right! I want both my boys to know that different people believe different things and that's ok. I want them to be able to understand the different cultures and how they celebrate the holidays.

How do you and your families celebrate Christmas? Do you do the Santa thing, or something else?

 

Ready for Halloween!

We're all ready for Halloween! I've got the treat bags made, decorations up, and costumes bought! I painted a big pumpkin, the kids painted their own little pumpkins. We paint pumpkins here. Carving is waay too messy and too much of a hassle for a 1yo and 3yo. I'll wait till they're a little older for that. They colored little Halloween pictures and we taped them up on the door. I downsized a lot from last year though. We've been so busy moving and stuff that I didn't really even think about Halloween until a couple weeks ago. Most of the decorating was done just this past week!

Gavin's going to be a cowboy and Gage is a monkey (which is his nickname so it fits perfectly!)

 We're actually doing our trick or treating tomorrow. I go back to the town where I grew up (the rest of my family still lives there) and all the businesses downtown set up tables and give out candy. The Church, Sheriffs dept, and the courthouse gives the best ;) There's even a shop that gives out dog bones. Every year I tell them I don't have a dog, and every year they throw one in with the kids candy anyway! Kinda gross but a nice thought :)

Usually they do it on Halloween and since it's on Saturday this year I thought it would be perfect so hubby could go help me with the boys but for some strange reason, they're doing it on Friday. He has to work so I guess it's just me, my 2 boys, My sis, her 3 kids, PLUS her 3 foster kids! Whew it's gonna be a handful. My SIL sometimes goes with us, I'm not sure yet if she will this year.


I guess it's kinda good they're doing it on Friday, that means we can dress up again and go back out Saturday. Or stay here and give out candy to all the other kids. I'm sure Gavin would love to see other kids come to his house and say 'Trick or Treat!' They get way too much candy anyway. My mom,sis, and sis-in-law all make treat bags. As does my aunt. Then they get a load from the shops downtown. Usually the bags are overflowing by the time we're done. We take and extra bag to dump it in when the kids gets too full.


Last year they had so much, plus Christmas candy right after that, I just threw the rest away around Easter this year! My kids actually don't like candy all that much. They must get it from me. I don't like sweets too much. It's a good thing but we waste most of the Halloween candy.


I always half my kids candy with my dad! He has a major sweet tooth so it cuts down on how much my kids get and it gives my daddy something to munch on!

Have a very safe and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

My Uncle

Forgive me if I mistype something or spell words wrong in this post. I'm typing kinda fast because this is hard to write and I figure it I just do it quickly, it'll be easier to get out.

On Tuesday, my uncle (my moms brother) had a massive heart attack. It took the paramedics 30 minutes to get there. His wife tried to do CPR on him until they got there. One paramedic came out and told her that he was gone for her to call his doctor. Then the other paramedic came out and said they she brought him back. They were saying he was without oxygen for about an hour.

They got to the hospital and did surgery to fix his heart which went fine and then he went to ICU. They cooled his body way down, I'm not exactly sure why, and kept him in a coma. The Dr.s run tests on his brain to see what kind of brain damage he had from being w/o oxygen for so long but that it would be 48 hours before they would know anything.

They kept running tests on him and said it didn't look good at all. That if he lived, he wouldn't be the same. The Dr said part of his brain was severly altered. He'd also somehow gotten a staph infection in his nose from one of the tubes in the hospital.

On Friday my niece turned 8 years old so we were having a little party for her when my sister got a call from another Uncle. Everyone had been trying to reach us. My Aunt and my Grandma both called him and tried to tell him but he couldn't make out what they were trying to say because they were so upset they couldn't talk. They said something about he's brain dead and at 1%.

We didn't really know what that meant until later that night when he called back and said that he was definately brain dead and only 1% of his brain is functioning. They were going to pull the plug the next morning.

He was an organ donor so the Dr.s run some tests to make sure all his organs were well enough to take. There's actually a man at Church who only has a few months to live unless he gets a liver transplant so my family called him to make sure he was on the list so he could have my Uncles liver.

It turned out that none of his organs could be used because of both the staph infection and the lack of oxygen for so long. They said that it wasn't worth taking his organs because there was only a 45% chance that they wouldn't be rejected by the recipients body. I hope that makes sense because it was really hard to put it into words.

Anyway, they unplugged him yesterday morning, everybody was there to say goodbye. Well, just the closest family, Mother, Father, wife, sisters, brother, children. My sister went the night before. I didn't go because 1. I didn't want to see him like that, 2. I wasn't that close to him, I only saw him maybe once a year, and 3. No one under the age of 18 is allowed in the hospital right now because of the swine flu thing and there wasn't anyone to watch the kids for me. Hubby had to go to work that night.

They knew he wouldn't die immediately because the 1% of his brain that was working was his brain stem which caused him to be able to breath and made his heart beat. The Dr.s fixed his heart so it was working good. It was just his brain that wasn't working.

I didn't know any of this BTW until last night about 8:30. I assumed he was already gone. My sister called me and said they unplugged him at 8am and he was still alive 12 hours later. And that it could be another 12 hours or 3 days, they didn't know since he was able to breathe.

I hadn't cried at all up until then. It sucked thats for sure but I hadn't cried. After my sister told me that I waited until everyone went to bed last night and I cried. They had him unhooked from everything. No oxygen, no medicine, nothing. I know that's what "unplugged" means but since he was able to breathe, I thought What if that 1% of him thats still here can feel something. What if he's paralyzed and he cant speak or move but he's in pain? That upset me a lot. My mom had assured my sister that his mind was gone and he couldn't feel anything because she had the same concerns as I did. But it still didn't keep me from worrying about it. Who knows what that feels like. I mean, when someone gets unplugged, how can they know that the patient doesn't feel anything. They can't speak, or move, they die. They can't tell you they're in pain. Nobody can know. I can just pray that God was with him and comforted him the whole time. Maybe he was already gone and was watching everyone else that was around him. That's all I can hope for.

I didn't hear anything else until this morning. I went all night wondering if he had died yet. My mom called this morning and said that her, his wife, his 2 stepchildren (his 2 real kids didn't want to see him when he died so they left) my grandparents, and my aunt were all there when he died. The nurse had come in and said that it could be anytime and my mom looked at him while everyone else was looking at the nurse or each other. She saw him take his last breath and she said that was it. He took his last breath and everyone looked at him, and my mom walked out and the nurse asked her "is he gone?"and my mom said yes. I don't think anyone else saw it but my mom. The Drs knew it was coming because they were already suited up outside the door but she was the only one to see him breathe for the last time. It was 10:02 pm EST on October 24th.

She said it was peaceful though. She said if I could have seen him, I'd know that he wasn't in any pain. It just looked like he was sleeping. I guess they had all done their crying all week long because they were peaceful when it happened. I guess we knew it was coming and it's just good it's over. I would've hated to see him stay alive but not be able to live, ya know? I'd rather know he's in a better place than to think of him laying in a bed the rest of his life being hooked up to tubes. It's still hard though. Even though I wasn't real close to him, I still love him. He's my family and I'll miss him. I'll always remember him picking on me when I was little. He's in Heaven with his son, Ryan that died when he was 4 months old. He'd be over 20 years old now.

Here's a picture of the last time I saw my Uncle. It was last year at my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I don't even remember if I spoke to him that day. If I did, I can't remember what it was. He was 50 years old when he died by the way.

Our first night in the new house

I don't have time to write much, I just ran by this house to get a couple things. (Acutally I used that as a reason to go to Starbucks and to write a blog post!

We spent our first night in the new house last night. It went smoothly. Well both boys were in our room, I have a cute pic of all 3 beds in 1 room, I'll show it to yall later.

We still have a lot of stuff in this house to move over but most our stuff is in the new one now so it makes more sense to stay over there.

We don't have phone, TV, or Internet over there yet which is why I had to sneak off to blog. We have to call the phone company tomorrow to switch everything over.

I wish I could tell you more but I'm in a hurry so I'll post more later. Wish us luck!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I know I said I couldn't post anymore for a little while until I had finished moving but I came across this picture yesterday and I have to share it with you.

My Aunts house burned down a little over 2 years ago. Her son, my cousin, was walking through the ashes trying to salvage something. To find something left. He found this pot and was crying with his head bowed, carrying it with the sleeves of his shirt because it was still hot.

Let me know if you can see it. It's not as clear as the original picture.

Look behind my cousins right shoulder.

If you can't see it, I'll try to make it a little clearer.

There is another picture of a Bible that had burned. All of it burned, in a perfect cirlce around the words 'Holy Bible'.

And I know this goes against the whole 'Wordless Wednesday" thing but I thought it was appropriate.

Il Divo singing Amazing Grace

Ok I know it's hard to see. I tried to darken it a little bit so we'll try it now and see if it's any better. I'll leave both of them up to compare.

I think it helped a litte. It's still not as good as the original.

I'll see if my cousin that took the pic can email it to me.

I'll get back to you on it!