Friday, October 31, 2008

Been busy

I have been so busy these last couple of days, I have not had a chance to update the blog. I spent two days folding and stapling 1300 little books for a teacher. Today I helped a family from church have a huge yard sale. Tomorrow I will be helping the same family move their daughter and grand daughters into their own duplex. I am a busy bee.
Mark and the boys just left for the weekend to go camping for the Cub-Dad weekend with the boy scouts. So I am free for the weekend. If I was still in Cali I would be having a blast with my lady friends, but since I am here and don't have many "hanging out" friends I will spend my free time getting my nails done, taking a bubble bath, and reading another good book. Mark has the camera so I wont be able to post any pics till Sunday evening! Hope you all have a Happy Halloween.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

When to heat...

Yes that does say 59 degrees!
How cold does it need to get before you turn on the heater? This morning it was 59 degrees in the house. Tonight Mark fixed the heater. The door on the furnace was upside down and not pressing on the safely botton. Fixed that problem. Still no heat. He looked again and saw that the igniter switch was turned off. Fixed that problem, now we have heat!

Monday, October 27, 2008

I woke up from my wonderful nap....

and was greeted by the dogs and this.......


Now I have to clean it up and they are staying outside for the rest of day.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fundraiser Done!

Marcus and I went out this afternoon and finished up with the fundraisers. We were able to sell over $300 for both boys. It took alot of walking and talking to get it done, but thank the Lord it is done!

Tonight we started our first fire in the fireplace. We didn't open the flute before we started it so of course the house filled with smoke quickly. We opened the windows and doors and the house cleared up quickly. We learned our lesson. We have not had a fire place for over 9 nears so we are new at this. We need to learn quickly as this is going to be how we warm our house this winter. The boys helped start it and they used what they just learned in Boy Scouts to do it!
Tomorrow I am going to start cleaning the yards. There are pine needles thick all over. It will take me a week, but I need to start time. :-(

Friday, October 24, 2008

Texas High 22 Mavericks 2

That's right!! Texas High won another home game. It was nice and COLD during this one. We drank 5 cups of hot chocolate, nachos, and candy. It was fun. This time we bought tickets to sit up in the stands and it was very nice to be able to watch the half time show and hear all the music from the bands.





Today I helped a family from church unload a semi with all their stuff. After that I came home and stapled packets together for a teacher from school. About an hour later, the school called me to see if I would come help with the Fall Festival. When I got there I put together 15 raffle baskets and wrapped them. Then we set up all the games and the cake walk and snack bar. Pretty fun but lots of work. I wish we would have done something like this in Cali. I will have more pics tomorrow. Oh and I got to go to lunch with the ladies who run the VIPs program (same as PTA) and made some new friends.
The boys are snuggled on the couch under a big quilt and I am calling it a day and going to bed!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Being Resourceful is a blessing

Most of you know how resourceful I can be. Well, I am at it again. The boys brought home their school picture packets for us to choose from and pay for. Since I am not working I am trying to not spend any unnecessary money. I remembered that in California, Life Touch Photography, gave free picture packets to the parent volunteers that assisted on picture day. I called the school secretary and inquired. She had never heard of this before. I asked her if she would call and ask. She said yes. She called me back in less than 30 minutes and told me that I was right. I said I would be there when needed and would stay as long as needed. She told me what to wrote on the comments section of the packets and just like that, by asking a simple question, I just saved my family $96.00. I am so happy!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Its Monday

Yesterday after church we took the boys and the dogs to the lake for some fun fishing and playing in the water.


Tonight we had Marcus's Boy Scouts Meeting so I went with him and Dad took Zachery to the park and played catch for a while. the mosquitoes were out in force tonight. It was horrible. Marcus learned how to pitch a tent and tie some knots. Good stuff~ Look how handsome he is!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

$10 to go!

Of course we joined the boys scouts right during fund raiser time! Each scout has a goal of $300. That is alot of popcorn. Today Marcus went to his friends house to play so Zachery put on his uniform and we went door to door selling. We only went around our street and one other one. It took us 3 hours. All but 4 houses purchased something. I was blown away at the support of our neighborhood. It was never this easy in Califronia. Zachery was a happy man when we got home, counted the money, and realized we only had $10 to go!! Next Weekend........ Marcus's turn. Wish us luck. :-)

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Worth 43 minutes of your time.

This is a great video to watch. Please watch it and make a commitment to change the life of children, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice.

http://www.sandalschurch.com/media/video.asp Then click on the top link the reads Abort our Abortion Strategy.

Dinning

Zachery likes to help with cooking dinner, so I let him tonight. We made chickin strips, fresh cut french fries, and corn on the cob. He did an awesome job with dipping the strips in the egg mixture and then putting them in the flour. I did the flour shaking and placing in the oil.
It was yummy and the kids grubbed. Zachery likes to "dine" so he set the table with our nice plastic plates, silverware and cups. All in all it was a great family dinner with lots of good conversation.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Got Box Tops?

So do we! However, we need more! That's where you come in. Can you please send us your box tops? I am the Box Tops Coordinator for the school and I started a program this month. We are trying to raise $20K this year and need all the help we can get. So for all of you that don't have kids, can you please send them my way? If you have my address, cool. If not, email me and I will give it to you. Our school will get 10cents for every top turned in and this month we get double credit. So please cut and send them this way. Thanks a bunch :-)

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Yummy southern BBQ

This is our new favorite BBQ restaurant to eat at. Whats even better? Kids eat for free on Tuesday nights! Even better than that? The kids like the food and we are able to have have an enjoyable dinner experience. Mark likes the chopped beef over a baked potato and I like the chopped beef over a big bowl of beans! I have never had beans like they have here in the south and I am hooked! The only problem? Beans Beans the more you eat the more you toot, and tooting I have been doing! WOW, they are so good, I don't even care if I toot!! :-)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Mind Changing

For so long I had my mind set with a few thoughts concerning older people. Today most of those changed. I spent 1 1/2 hrs this morning tracing and cutting out pink ribbons for a craft for Friday. Then at 2:30 I went back and helped do candy apples with the residents. I spent time with a lady that has both legs amputated, one arm is not usable and she can baring see. BUT she can talk up a storm and that is what she did. Another lady was blind but had so much joy in eating the treat, even asking me if I could put another coat of caramel on her apple. Another lady, very old, maybe in her late 80s, held and kissed my hand about 5 times while she ate her apple.It was pretty amazing. Tomorrow I will go back at 10am and paint nails for the female residents. I have no idea how many come out for this but I am sure it will give me tons of opportunity to talk and build relationships. My only fear, and I know it will come to pass, is looking for someone and they have gone to be with Jesus. Lets hope this does not happen for quite some time so I can learn how to prepare and deal with it. Even though I am a sinner and not worthy of His mercy, God is still working on me, molding me to serve others and Him.

Making friends

I am off to make some new friends with older people. Today is my first day at Heritage Plaza Nursing Home. Not sure what I will be doing, but I will have fun what ever it is.

Back in business


That's me so happy because Mark figured out that the camera was locked because the battery was dead! It had no juices to turn on.... Funny.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Busy Morning

This morning we slept in till 9 o'clock. I went to my appointment at the nursing home at 10 and it was fast and easy. Tomorrow will be my first day volunteering! I cant wait. I will be doing all kinds of stuff. I am going on Wednesday and I will be painting the ladies' nails! How fun is that? I am so excited. When I got back home we dropped the boys off at Minton's and Mark and I went for a drive. We wanted to look at houses. Every week we try and get out and just drive around town and see where we live. Today we were looking at houses our friends and found SO many awesome houses for such reasonable prices. The bad/good news is that now we are considering a new house. I like my $600 payment but wow can we get so much for our money here. We will be praying about this. tonight we are going to the boys' first boy scout meetings. Our church family friend sewed all the patches on the shirts for me, that was a blessing and it saved me about $45! I just need to get the pants hemmed now. By 9 we will all be pooped and ready for bed!
Sorry no pics, my camera is on "locked" status and I cant figure out how to clear it. Hopefully soon.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Final Score 59-25 Texas High!!

That's right!! Texas High whooped on the Sulphur Springs team. It was a beautiful stadium and was packed with fans. Our seats were in the "In Zone." The worst part of the field in my opinion, but hey, they were free. Next time we are going to get regular seats so we can enjoy the half time show. Great night, great fun, and great family time!

We rode the shuttle bus from the high school to the football stadium. It is about 6 miles away.
Pregame show. I loved listening to the bank play. Next time I want to sit right next to them.
Look at the fans wearing their Texas Tiger Orange! We need to get orange shirts for the next game.
Look at the happy family! Except Mark for some reason refused to smile. Kinda frustrated me.

To actually do what I desire to do...my goal

Heritage Plaza Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is looking for volunteers to dedicate about an hour a week to residents by calling bingo, helping with arts & crafts, painting fingernails, etc. If you would like to be a part of the family, please contact Roxanne Miller, Life Enrichment Coordinator, at 903-792-6700.

So I always said that I wanted to volunteer to help others, yet I have not done anything to pursue it. I rescue a dog, say I want to vol there, and never do. I seem to say that over and over to myself. It is something I really want to do but seem to let one of my my core sins, laziness, get in the way. Well I need to get off my sitting muscle and get to work for God's glory. The great news? I get to choose where to work at. In Texarkana, there is this awesome website www.texarkanavolenteercenter.org that lists TONS of places that need helpers. I called and made an appointment to speak with the coordinator at the place I listed above. Please pray there will be a match with their needs and my desires. If not, please pray that God would show me where He wants me. I really should be taking advantage of the fact that God is allowing me this "free" time with income to serve Him and show His love to others, and not be lazy. Can I get an AMEN?

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Football

Tomorrow night we get to go to our first football game in the south. We have been told that the folks in the south LOVE their football, so we are excited to see how the game and fans are. Marcus came home with two free tickets, and his friend had two free tickets. So we called to see if they were going to go. They were NOT, so I asked if we could have their tickets. They said yes!!! Now we get to have a fun family night out for FREE!!!
Yea!! We can't wait.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Cali DMV

First let me say that I am writing this post while still frustrated with the DMV. So I tried to change the address for the car 3 times when we moved here. It never got updated and last week I received a garnishment notice from the FTB. I filled out the forms and returned them so they can clear the account. In the mean time I got a delinquent notice for Marks Bike. We also already have tried to change the address for this. So I called the DMV to see what is going on. The guy tells me that he cant help me since the account was sent to the FTB. And he said that he cant help with the bike since it is not registered. AAAAHHHH!!!!!!

I call the FTB and somehow get rerouted to the DMV. I told the lady the problem. She cleared the account with the DMV and said she was sending a fax to the FTB to close my account. Then I told her that we tried to change the address for the bike. So she cleared that too. even bigger . WHY COULDN'T THAT FIRST GUY HELP ME LIKE SHE DID??
I waited on hold for 20 minutes to talk to her and it was well worth it. Needless to say I can do without EVER having to deal with the DMV again. Now I am on my way to the TEXAS DMV to get my DL. Should be in and out in less than 20 minutes. Cant say that about Cali. This drama is reason enough for us to not ever move back to Cali. I think that my Mom was one of the very few smart ones that worked at the DMV. Now let me pray for the P word!! Patience, before by babies come home.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

So cute...and then

Bella and Marcus are KNOCKED OUT! This is a nightly thing. Every night before bed I check on the boys and this is what I find. If Zach is in the bed too, then somehow Bella gets in between them. How do they all sleep in the same bed??? I have no idea. But they never complain.
And then I went out back and found this food bowl all chewed up. Does she really need to eat the bowl when eating her food?

When Mom comes to visit.....

The laundry gets done.... and she puts it all away, in the same day!
And the pots and stove trays gets deep cleaned.
I love it when my Mom comes to visit.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Backpack check #2

Today I checked the backpacks, as I always do, and found Zachery trying to take his Halloween costume to school. He had it wrapped up tight under his school book. :-)

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

More Games!

Since Mom has been here we have played games every night! It has been so much fun and has inspired me to want to play games with the boys. I am still trying to learn how to be a better mom and spend more time with the boys and this has helped. We taught Marcus how to play Yahtzee and we played JR Yahtzee and Candy land with Zachery. Zachery also gets to roll the dice for us when we play regular Yahtzee. So it is great fun for the family. Mark has not been playing because he is tired after work. Hopefully this weekend we can get him to play with us. But I am so excited to have something else I can do with the boys so they don't drive me crazy! :-) I say that with TONS of love.
Look how much fun we are having. LOL

This morning Mom and I spent from 7:30-1:30 at the school counting money, preparing the bank deposit, and organizing the fundraiser forms for the school. This was my first volunteering opportunity and I completely enjoyed it. I hope they call me for more work!
Today was also the first day of the new sale at my favorite store, Kohl's. And I had a coupon for an additional 30% off all sale and clearance priced items, and you know I HAD to take advantage of that. I ended up buying all my nieces, nephews, my boys, and of course me, shoes for Christmas and the boys some shoes for the future. I got 15 pairs of mostly Scketures, Nike's, and Vans for only $133.24. That is less than $10 a pair!!!! And these are AWESOME shoes!

Please don't let any of my little nieces and nephews see this post cause these are their Christmas presents!! :-)

Tomorrow.... we are staying home and not spending a dime! I am broke.