Sometimes I need a reminder

The Lord is my Shephard, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever!!

Psalm 23

Footprints
One night I had a dream--

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord

and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,

one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that many times along the path of my life,there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,

you would walk with me all the way,

but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life

there is only one set of footprints.

"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,

you should leave me."

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,

I love you and I would never, never leave you

during your times of trial and suffering.

"When you saw only one set of footprints,

it was then that I carried you."

...Mary Stevenson

Yep.... its been one of those days!

Working Woman's Household Tips

Margaret Fulton's way:
Stuff miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice-cream drips.
The Working Woman's way:
Just suck the ice-cream out of the bottom of the cone for Pete's sake. You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it anyway!!

Margaret Fulton's:
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking tin, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
Working Woman's:
Woolworth's sell cakes. They even do decorated versions.

Margaret Fulton's:
If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a potato slice.
Working Woman's:
If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, tough! Recite the working Woman's motto: 'I made it and you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!'

Margaret Fulton's:
Wrap celery in aluminium foil when putting it in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
Working Woman's:
It could keep forever. Who eats it??

Margaret Fulton's:
Cure for headaches.. Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.
Working Woman's:
Cure for headaches.. Take a lime, cut it in half and drop it in a double vodka. Drink the vodka. You might still have the headache, but you won't care!

AND FINALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP…

Margaret Fulton's:
Freeze leftover wine into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
Working Woman's:
Left over wine??? HELLO!!!????

What happened? Your now 11!!!!

Have I mentioned my dislike for a little thing called Time? How it just keeps ticking along no matter how hard I try and stop it. Even if I take all the batteries out of all the clocks, it still teases me with its ever constant...

t i c k t o c k....t i c k t o c k

How in a blink of an eye we can go from this whipper snapper of a little guy

To quite a handsome lad of Eleven years old

Even though I try not to, I think Kaden is mentioned a little more then Kyler. But then again Kyler is at school all day or out playing with his friends most of the time. So I thought I would post 11 things you may not know about our Kyler

1. Most say he is the spitting image of his father....call me crazy but I can't see it. He just looks like Kyler!

2.Kyler is always very polite with his please and Thank You's

3. You will frequently catch him without his shirt on

4. He suffers from frequent migraines and nose bleeds. But he takes it all in stride!

5. He has a blanket- turned- rag that he calls his "B" He thinks he has lost it but what he doesn't know is that I have it stored safely in a zip lock bag in my drawer. I am waiting till his 18th birthday party to pull it out :)

6. You would not believe how well behaved this child is. He is like me in the fact that he strives to please everyone in his life.

7. He is really not that interested in sports even though he at times gets teased from the boys at school because of it. I try and assure him that just because he is a boy doesn't mean he has to like sports. I think we have a brainiac on our hands :)

8. Kyler likes chocolate like a woman going through PMS...seriously this kid is addicted!

9. He is actually reading Twilight right now

10. Kyler split his head open twice in one year from running into the corner of the wall. He was 2 yrs old and still has the scars to prove it

11. He is the best big brother anyone could ask for

Sometimes its hard to remember Kyler being small and toddler like. I wish I would have known about Blogs back in 1998 because I would be able to remember so much more of the past 11 years. But here is what I do know... He will always be my baby even though there is a small part of me who's looking forward to some of the teen stuff to come (some I am not looking forward too! Todd is trying to prepare me for whats to come)

And I will love him always and forever...

Blue tongue and all!

Happy Birthday Kyler!!!!!

Least favorite part of being a mom

I love being a mom! I always wanted to be a mom even when I was a little girl. The hours I would play with my dolls...dressing them up...feeding them....rocking them....combing their hair. I imagined that real motherhood would be all these things and really... not much more! I am always surprised, still after 11 years of motherhood, when reality occasionally sets in and things happen that I don't remember signing up for. Things like my precious child jumping off the chair and literally landing on his face. Not his feet but HIS FACE!!! I don't know what to do when little teeth go into the gums and create buckets of blood streaming out of the mouth. This is not a scenario I played out with the dolls. I didn't sign up for this. I remember only agreeing to the dressing up, feeding, playing and rocking to sleep parts. I think we need to pull out the contract again and go over the points I put my initials on because I really doubt bloody and bruised mouths are not on there. There is no way I would have agreed to it.

I don't know whats up with all the white gunk growing in his lip. I am hoping its supposed to look worse before it gets better. This happened on Sunday night and Monday I thought I should take him to the doctor to get it checked. She suggested I go to the ER and get stitches (for some reason they don't do that at the office). She proceeded to tell me they would have to cut the flap of skin and then stitch it up. Insert pictures of a screaming bloody murder child in my head. I was made to think that if I didn't get it done then the wound would heal funny and he would have a huge bump in his lip...like forever. Insert images of my deformed child with no social life and never getting married in my head. So I called Todd and told him to meet me at the hospital because there was no way in hell I was going to do this by myself. Insert memories of screaming child with a broken arm a year ago! Of course the Er is busy because its a Monday so we wait.....................

and wait.......................

and wait........................

2 hours later we walk out of the ER with no stitches! Mr Dr. said he did not recommend getting them because of increased chance of infection (we should have gone in right after he hurt himself) and he thought it would heal fine on his own. But he said he would do it if we wanted him to. Ummmmm stupid question....think we will pass. 2 hours of my life I will never get back but at least he didn't have to have unnecessary pain and here's hoping he will return to his cutie- patootie form in no time.

Why did God give me all boys?? I am not good at this kind of stuff. When both boys got circumcised I had to leave the room. When Kyler split his head open 9 yrs ago, I had to leave the room while he got his stitches. Its up to Todd to clean all wounds in the house. I made Todd take Kaden to get his cast off because I couldn't stand the thought of him freaking out while they sawed the thing off. I am sure there is a lesson in all of this but so far I can't come up with one!

Home is where my heart lives

I am home....finally home. Little did I know that when I quoted the "Leaving on a jet plane" song, that I really was speaking of the future! More on that later.

Anyways...I had a wonderful time in Las Vegas. It was in the high 60's and I cherished the warm sun on my skin. My Aunt lives in a gated-golf community so I convinced myself that I was staying in a resort all week. Before I left I didn't know what would be on the agenda but because my Aunt is known for her high energy and spontaneity....I wasn't worried about being bored.

So here's a quick run down in 250 words/pictures or less........

Hoover Dam

I didn't even know Hoover Dam was in the area....that shows you how much I know! I liked going back and forth from Nevada to Arizona. I am just weird that way.

Bellagio (and other "Strip" stuff)

I thought the fountain show was beautiful! It almost brought me to tears. I love that there is so much to look at.

Oatman, Arizona

Ahhhhhhhh ... 75 degrees that day! Even though its brown over there, it still has its own kind of beauty

Feeding the fish at Lake Mead

The brilliant blueness of the lake in the middle of the desert almost looked unreal. I think this was Kadens favorite part of the week

Hot Springs

Right smack in the middle of no where is a hot spring! It was so pretty and serene. But it warned not to get the water in your nose...tiny creatures can kill you!

Valley of Fire State Park

So pretty and my favorite part..........Quiet! So quiet and peaceful

I was supposed to come home on Friday but 30 min before we were to board our flight....it was canceled. All flights canceled for the rest of the day because of fog. (Not there but here.) I was not looking forward to telling Todd that I wasn't coming home. The poor guy was very much looking forward to me being home. But the worst part was not telling him about the canceled flight....it was telling home I wouldn't be home till Monday. Sorry babe!

So with the few extra days of my vacation, we drove to Utah and stayed the night.

Mt Zion

Its hard to capture the beauty with a snapshot camera. Again sooooo quiet and peaceful. And even though there was snow on the ground, it was still warm!

So who knew there was so much more to the Las Vegas area then gambling on the strip? Its good to be home but I miss the warm sunshine.

Oh and just incase you didn't know......

"I'm leaving on a jet plane....

....Don't know when I'll be back again..." Oh wait yes I do! I'll be back Friday. I am making a spur of the moment trip to Las Vegas Baby! My super duper awesome mother offered to give me an early birthday present and has paid for me to go to Vegas to spend a few days with my aunt and the sunshine. Yes sunshine...do you remember what that is? This all came about yesterday and now Kaden and I are leaving tomorrow morning. I would much rather be taking Todd with me instead of Kaden but....oh well beggars can't be choosers. Poor Kyler is bummed that he can't go and I am bummed for him. Wouldn't you be down if you couldn't go to Vegas? Since I have done The Strip and I don't really have much money, It will be interesting to find out what I will be doing. What does one do in Vegas BESIDES going to the Strip? Oh well whatever it is, I will be enjoying myself I am sure. So excuse me while I go dust off my sunglasses and search for my open -toe shoes....Cuz I've got a plane to catch (early in the morning)

See Ya!

Poor Kermit!

This is Kyler

(yes that is a paintball gun in his hand and yes that is paint on my fence! But that's another story for another time)

Like any typical kid he has foods he dislikes. I think he is being a tad picky but he is his own person I guess. Here is a list of a few foods he doesn't like...

*Cooked Veggies

*Jam

*Onions

*Cheese on his sandwiches

*Ketchup with his fries

*Tomatoes

*Fruit desserts

*Oatmeal

*Eggs

Ok so here's where I am going with this. Last night after a somewhat traumatic experience at the dentist for the both the boys, I took them to the China buffet next door. Kyler was begging and begging to go (buffets are the holy grail for him)and since I thought it would be a nice change from Mcdonalds...I agreed. Normally I would have just gone home to eat but the freeway was a major major mess due to all the flooding in the area. (That's right...snow ...rain and now flooding! Whats next? Locusts?) I thought the food was just ok, probably not the worth the price but that's not what matters here...What matters is that I can't get my kid to eat eggs or oatmeal but he is all gun-ho for this...

He started eating it before I could get a proper shot of it so I know you can't tell what it is but can I just say.....poor little Kermit! Yep, my kid is eating frog legs!. I had mentioned that I had seen them and imagine my surprise when he ran over and got some.

Frog Legs

Squid

Mussels

Crab

Shrimp (ok ok I like shrimp too)

Sushi

oh and this too....

Crayfish!

I could hardly look at the things on the plate. Those little legs and beady little eyes! It almost to much.

Oh no Kaden! Not you too?

I am still trying to decide if the whole experience (and the price!) was worth the blissful look on Kylers face as we walked out to the car.

Personally I think Frogs are friends....not food!

Gingerbread Houses

Christmas was kind of a bummer for me this year. Its been a stressful year and everything kind of compounded there at the end. The snow was pretty but debilitating. I missed church during the whole season so I wasn't able to get my "pick me up" that I need every week. Money was tight so we only bought for the kids and that made Christmas morning slightly....off. I didn't even get to be the one to take the kids to see santa because there wasn't time to do baking and santa in one day. So Todd took them without me. I was really bummed about that. Its the little things that give mom's pleasure I guess.

But there is one thing that happened as planned....

Gingerbread Houses!

Every year since Todd and I have been together we have an annual tradition with his family to go downtown and see the gingerbread house. Do you even know about them??? If not then maybe next year you can plan on going and seeing them at the Sheraton Hotel . You will be impressed. This ain't your mama's gingerbread houses!

We always park at Seattle Center and take the monorail down to Westlake to have lunch (or dinner)

During our lunch at Westlake, little Lydia was entertaining us with her cuteness

Caleb doesn't look like he thinking about mischief at all. Nope...he would never do that!

Look how generous Kaden is with his hard earned money. I think we all need to take a lesson from him

So here we have arrived at the gingerbread displays. Every year they have a theme nd I think its local businesses that labor over it several months in advance.

Keep in mind that everything you see is edible

Kaden is dreaming of all the sweets...Oh the possibilities!

This is the one we voted as our favorite. Of course...Super Mario!

Afterwards we rounded off the day with a trip to the winter carousal. Its Kadens favorite part of the day!

What hidden treasures do you know about?