An adventure for sure!

We left for California last Saturday and returned late last night and it was an adventure for sure! The drive out was not too bad, the boys were awesome, truck did great! We arrived on Sunday evening, got showered and went to Central Community for the Children's Christmas Program. We all went home, I changed my clothes and went back to church so I could go to the streets of skid row in LA for Jackets for Jesus. I was so happy to be able to make this annual Christmas Party on the streets as I have for the last 4 years. The next day was busy with helping our friends get a storage unit for their stuff and I had a date with my small group ladies for dinner. It was so nice and refreshing to be around them and share what we have all been up to for the last 6 months. It felt like I had just left yesterday since most of us have been in touch. Tuesday was full with moving everything in storage so T & M could make the move to TX. Oh I also got my hair done and had lunch with Dorothy!! I love seeing my friends and spending time with them. Wednesday was more moving into storage! Went home around 7ish, had dinner, then started a game of Monopoly with the boys. That was fun. All 4 of us playing, on teams! We paused the game at 12:30 am. Went to bed. Was woken up at 3:00am Christmas Eve by Ozell, Mark's mom, fainting and hitting the wall and floor hard. We flew out of bed, Mark at her side trying to wake her, me on the phone with 911 since she could not talk and was laboring to breath. SCARY SCARY SCARY!! Fire dept came, ambulance came, they took her to the ER. Mark went with her, I stayed home with the boys, who never woke up during all of the drama, and I called the family to let them know what happened. A few hours later they were back home, Docs ruled out stroke and Heart Attack and said it was a BAD case of anti gas (??) that put too put pressure on her diaphrame and caused her to faint. WOW we were so happy to hear that!! Went to bed for a few hours, woke up Christmas AM for fun, food, and presents, and LOTS of calls from family checking up on Ozell. We planned to leave this day to go to my brothers in AZ but decided to stay the night to make sure all was well with Ozell. Up in the am, off to AZ. got there and had tons of fun for the next couple days. My whole family was there, Mom, Nat, Nick, Shane and all the kids. It was great! I hope we can do this every year. We should have left to come home on Sunday AM but we were waiting for T & M to meet us, however that did not happen. They were having trouble pulling the car and trailer with their big 4x4 truck. So we went back to Desert Center to help them but pulling the trailer with our truck. Our motivation was that we were scared they would fish tail out of control and roll the truck/trailer. We hooked up the trailer, got on the freeway and our worst nightmare came true. We fish tailed the trailer, lost control and almost went over the side of the freeway. We dented up the driver side of the truck and dropped the trailer for T & M to deal with. AAA came and got the car off the trailer, we went to Blythe to get a room. T brought the trailer to the hotel room and we all got a few much needed hours of sleep. Woke up Monday AM. T had to figure out what to do with the trailer, we left and went back to AZ to get our boys and get on the road to come home. We drove to Benson, AZ got a room, relaxed and got some good sleep, got up Tuesday AM and drove the rest of the way home. About 130 miles from home we stopped to get gas and heard our truck's valves ticking. Our hearts just sunk to the ground. We just wanted to get home. We had to put 4 QTs of oil in the engine. We kept driving just hoping we would make it home without the engine freezing up. We stopped about 20 miles later to let Z go potty and the ticking was gone!! Mark said we would be fine and I relaxed. When we pulled in the drive way we were so excited! We unloaded our cooler with our meat and went right to bed!!! A long adventure, lots of issues, but even more blessings. We are thankful for the time we had with our friends and families!

What have I done???

I have created internet monsters. They both know how to go to their favorite websites. They know that they are not allowed to go to any sites I dont enter for them. If I allowed them to they would be on here all night long.
Zachery is listening to the Jonas Brothers web site and playing games on biggreenhelp.com

Mark is on the same website on my laptop.

This is the scene in the fireplace room each night the kids get there homework done and reading finished before bed time. There are four in this family and only three computers. We may need to invest in another one.

If this happens again...

Our dogs are going to be using the dog houses more than they would like to. I am tired of getting up in the morning and cleaning their little messes. I didnt sign up for this part of pet ownership. I signed up for the loving and cuddling part of pet ownership! aaahhhuuurrrrr

Shoes

Why? when son #1 (he asked his name not be used) has 4 brand new pairs of shoes in the top of his closet......nice ones too...vans, schetchers, nike....
continue to wear shoes that look like this....

and this?

I think he is trying to embarass me, really. So now I will pay more attention to their shoes before they leave the house in the mornings. I am still a parent in training.

Its another B-day party!!

Matthew, Marcus's best friend here, turned 10 last weekend. This weekend he had his B-day party at the bowling alley. Yummy pizza, soda, and cake! Does it get any better?

His parents, who you see in this picture, have been secretly sent to us be Him. They have showed us the way things are done down here in the south, where and how to get our kids involved in the community and sports, and have been great resources for us.

Marcus and I :-) arent we so adorable?
marcus and matthew! Burning up all the extra energy they seem to have.

It was a great afternoon and gave us something to do while Mark was at work.

Out with the old, in with the new, again~

Just in time for the cold winter weather, Mark got the final window replaced

with the new vinyl double pane windows. Three of the rooms look like this one. It really is two separate windows combined to make one. These windows are the original ones they put in when the house was built. We could feel the cold air coming right thru them.

This is what the new ones look like. Much better right? I hope this helps with our heating bill that went from $25 to $90 this last month. Also, when we replaced the windows in the house in Cali each window was a different size and we had to special order them all. Not this time. ALL 9 windows were the same size and they are a stock item at Home Depot and all for less than $800. This is our first project in our new home, it went smooth and without any issues. Mark is so awesome, he can fix anything around this house, a true blessing for God. The next project is the sliding doors, when we get back home. I love home remodeling. Its fun!

OH NO!!! GERMS

When this is what you see at 3:45 p.m. it can mean only one thing. Cold season has invaded our home. The school called and told me he was not feeling well, had a 102 deg temp, and a very red throat.

I wish he slept like this every night. Oh! and his teacher said he was perfect today. hhhuummm

I let him sleep for an hour before the clinic opened up at 5 p.m.

We are sitting in the waiting room and what a nice surprise....we are the only ones in there! This is a first for us. California would have had a min 1 hour wait.

Marcus trying to entertain us while we wait.

When we left the doctors office, 25 minutes later, we had a bunch of free samples, a prescription for Amoxicillian and a recipe for some cute Reindeer Cookies. Wal-Mart filled the script for $4!

Medicine in.... fever and yuckies out!! Soon!

Since I was out taking care of Zachery till 7, I had to come up with something quick for dinner, so we made chili cheese nachos. It worked! Tomorrows dinner will be better.

Two new houses....

For these two girls!!

They are always trying to come in the house because it is staying colder now. We always have them in at night but during the day we try to leave them out so they can run, play, have fresh air... do dogie things. Mark and I knew we needed to get them houses with the weather changing, but we didn't really have the extra money right now with the holidays. I told a friend I was looking for dog houses so if she came across someone selling one for cheap she could keep us in mind. Last week she brought this one to me. I still need to wash it out but Mark put some blankets in it and Bella claimed it as home.

Today, this same friend brought me this one! This one is really dirty! I need to wash it out before Chloe can use it. Do you see the sunroof in the top of it? Chloe has some type of phobia when she can not see up so I am hoping she will use this house since it has the sun roof. God knew exactly what we needed to care for our dogs and he provided it just when we needed it. God is TOO GOOD. Whats even better? Both of these houses were given to us for FREE!! Can you believe it? God has taken care of Mark and I and every need we have, it really is amazing how faithful He is. This adds to our awesome testimony. We are joyful in the little things.

What will they do for a treat?

This is Zachery's favorite dipping sauce.

This is Zachery's most hated food. He has NEVER eaten a salad. I don't make the kids eat what they don't like.

When he saw the other kids at church eating their treats he asked if he could have one. I said no since he had not eaten ANY food.

Then he brings in this salad covered in Ranch and asked if he ate it could he have a treat. I said absolutely. Can you believe he ate all he put on his plate and did not complain one word? I was so happy. He enjoyed his treat. I will be praying this is not the last salad he eats. Now if I can get Marcus to try it..... :-)

Wall oven

Whats wrong with this picture? The digital clock thing is not on. That is because 3 months ago it broke giving error codes that forced the oven to not work. 1 1/2 months ago I finally called the home warranty company to tell them so it can be fixed. One week later repair guy comes, orders part, then comes back a week later. Installs part, still not bueno, orders another part. 3 weeks later calls to tell me part is no longer available. Now I am waiting for the "options" department of the home warranty company to call so we can get a new one. It has been three months since I have been able to bake chicken, blue berry muffins, biscuits, pork chops, etc.... The good news is now we will be getting a new one for FREE. God is showing me how to be patient and to be thankful I have an oven and not to be irritated when I need to be wifely/motherly and use it. :-) I think laziness is my core sin. What is yours?

Last night...no sleeping issues

Thank you everyone who shared some advise with me regarding my son's sleeping issues. Last night was a great night. He did not wake up once! We prayed with him and played Christian music on his radio. Today I am going to sit and write down all the scriptures you shared and start with that tonight. He is still sleeping with his brother and that helps. The problem is his brother is 9 and will be wanting his privacy soon so I need to start moving him into his own room little by little. Parenting never ends!
God is showing me many things in this season of life. 1- He loves me. 2- I am not perfect. 3-it is OK to reach out and ask for support-even from people you may not know. 4- I should always be humble and know that others are sharing in the same issues as I am. 5- God gave me these gifts because He knew I could handle it, even when I am so frustrated and ready to give up. 6- He is showing me that I have not be focusing on and trusting Him enough and I need to! 7- He gave me the perfect husband that delites in raising our boys.
Thank you everyone, I feel loved.

Night scares

So....Zachery sometimes has issues with fear at night. I remember when I was his age I did to. I cant remember what I did to get over it, but somehow I did. Last night it happened again. It always does when he is not sleeping in the room with his brother, who is away on a field trip. We give him hugs and kisses, tell him we love him, tuck him in, read a story, pray with him, rub his back, everything you can think of to make him feel safe and secure. It does not work. When he comes is scared of the different sounds we tell him exactly what the sounds are. So after a couple times of him coming into our room last night, I finally told him at 4am to go watch cartoons in the living room. When I got up this morning, this is what we found. He is zonked out on the couch with the TV on. So here is my question: Have you had to deal with this with your kids and if you did what did you do? Thanks for the advise.

NASA

Marcus left today for his trip to NASA with Boy Scouts! I am so happy that we joined this organization. The best part of it is that the goal is to strengthen the bond between the scouts and God and their families. We can use all the help in this area we can get. He packed his bags last night and was up and ready to go at 4:30 a.m. even though we did not need to leave till 7:45 a.m.

this is Marcus and Matthew before they got on the bus.

Here they are on the bus and already playing the PSP and DS. It didn't take long.

It is so nice that the local churches support the scouts and their goals. First Baptist donated the use of this bus the field trip. Each parent had to pay $20 towards gas. I am glad the prices have gone down!
This is my beloved Zachery sad because he did not get to go. I told him a couple more years when he is his brothers age he too will get to go on this trip. Until then.....he pouts. Today he and I get to spend quality time together. First thing in the to do list?? Coloring. Love it, cant wait.

Why???

This is why we will not be able to put any presents under the tree....the dogs will eat them! Why must they eat everything??

Little gifts

Why does he always bring me home these little gifts? I would much rather have a flower! :-)

Really??? Can't he just throw it away with the rest of the trash? Now I have to clean out the lunch bag. What kind of gifts do your kids bring home?

Winter and 25 degree weather

Now this is what winter should be like. Right now in California it is still in the 80s. We have been so excited to have a true winter, now that it is here..... we NEED jackets. Marcus already lost his. Mark and I are going to make a trip to the thrift stores today. We cant $30-$50 on jackets when they loose them like they cost $5.

This is on the bend of our street. The boys were so excited to see all the ice. They want snow.

I have decided that 6:40 AM and 25 degrees is too early and too cold for us to be out waiting for the school bus. So I will be taking them to school now. It will be getting colder and colder as we get into Jan and Feb.

I warmed up the car so it was toasty for the boys.

I pray every night that the cold and ice does not get the better of this tree. We got a quote to have it taken down for $800. It is the cheapest so far. Anyone want to donate towards the cause? :-)

Christmas Plans

We will be heading back to Cali for Christmas and I am making plans to meet with friends and family while we are there. If you are available and would like to hook up, please let me know so I can make arrangements. I would love to see all of you but not sure what your schedules look like. For my small group ladies, Nicole and Anna are arranging for a dinner date on Monday before Christmas. Please talk to one of them. The more the better and the more fun it will be. I hope you ALL can make it. It would mean a lot to me. This is how happy I am when thinking about getting to have lunch or dinner with my friends and getting to catch up and share what we have been up to. Only 3 more weeks!!

KJ-52 Baby!!!

That's right!! We got to see Kj-52 right here in little ol Texarkana, TX for $5 each. We saw a flyer advertising the concert at our favorite BBQ place, Smokey Joe's, and on our calendar it went. It was a very small intimate venue compared to Fish Fest where we saw him last. The boys really enjoy his hip-hop Christian music. Before we left for the concert we made this poster. We only had like 5 minutes so it is not the greatest.
The boys were happy to have it!
Before the show, the church had the fellowship hall open with games and snacks while last minute sound checks were being done. Since I was on a date with my two boys, I bought them each 2 pieces of pizza and a soda for $1.50 each. That means we had our "date" on $18!
The church brought in this awesome lighting that really made it feel like a true concert.
He even rapped about our poster. I reminded the boys at the last concert he had a song he uses items from the audience for. I also warned them that he ripped the poster in half at that concert. So when he took our poster, they knew what was coming so we didn't have any issues, if you know what I mean.When the show was all over we bought a little poster of "Tweezie" that he signed and we got this great picture with him! All in all it was a great Friday night out with Marcus and Zachery, a much needed bonding time with mom and sons. If you are wondering where Mark was, he was sleeping, trying to recover from our Thanksgiving travels and no sleep before we worked a 12 hour day.
This is the boys less than 20 minutes after the concert. In PJs, in bed, asleep, with the dogs. All 4 of them in a twin size bed. Why do we have two sets of bunk beds when they prefer to sleep together in 1 bed??? I dont know....

Its decorating time!!

I am really starting to enjoy this whole decorating stuff. There was a time when I was happy with just a tree and nothing else. I think over the years of being married and having kids I have really learned how to love them through creating a warm and festive environment. Our house is all decorated with what decorations I do have. I cant seem to find our stocking holders and stockings. But I will keep looking and hopefully find them.

Marcus got to help with putting the tree together. He really likes doing this part.

Zachery was in charge of separating the lights from the ornaments and making sure they were not tangled and that they worked! He really enjoyed this since he got to do it by himself with no help.

They all still work!!

Here is the finished product! It looks great. Mark and the boys did an amazing job. My job was putting the ornaments on! Our Angel topper is not working so we have to get a new one. I still have the little tree that my sister gave me two years ago. It fit perfectly on the CD stand and it nice to have in this room since we spend lots of time here. I need to get a few more ornaments to put on it. I only have 3 right now, and no topper. Remember, I am a work in progress!

Least but not least, is the dinning room table. Simple and sweet, nothing to big and fancy. That's all I have for decorating. Maybe after Christmas I will have some extra money to shop during the discount days for holiday stuff. We will see what I have to offer this time next year! Hope you are enjoying this holiday season as much as we are. Have you put up your tree yet?