Ventilation

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I am so done with today. Done.

So I know I said I want to remain possitive so I will say this....today was a day of testing that desire. Ever have a day that it seems everytime you turn the corner, go to the next room, or check your emial your just in for a plain old "are you kidding me?" kinda day. Then when you throw in a few "why me's?" you know it's all going south. Oh great - here we go and then thats it for the rest of the day, everyone just pushes and pushes and you try to laugh it off, but you really want to SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK - deep breath. It's 8:57pm, watching American Idol. Next is Hell's Kitchen!!! OK - there are some positives. I need to remeber there is only so much time in the day, I only have 2 arms, and I need to sleep every so often. I do kind of think sleeping is a waste of time though. Boring...am I wrong? I wish I was one of those people that could survive on 3-4 hours of sleep a day with all the energy in the world. What do those people eat? I need some.

I could accomplish so much more if I didn't have to sleep. More laundry, more ideas, more time. All I need is a longer day....maybe just 1-2 hours. Not so hard, right? Who would I ask about that?

So another deep breath and I think I'm feeling better. I think I mostly feel better that Chef Ramsey didn't just chop the chickens head off. He is a crazy individual! I digress...as usual.

So my attempts at Ebay went decent, just to keep you informed..lol. I suppose tomorrow is another day and I will end with a positive note:

"Be wise in the use of time. The question in life is not how much time do we have? The question is what shall we do with it." -Anna Robertson Brown

Black and Whites

Picture by Me

As I mentioned before - HUGE fan of black and white photos. Just realized I hadn't included this one in the previous lot, since it's one of my favorites, I'll share it now. My oldest Daughter, Haley.

My reasons for being thankful....there isn't enough words or space

Thank you to my Girls ....
....for giving me the experience of giving life.
....for letting me see pure innocence at its best.
....for giving me laughter at life taken literally.
Thank you to my Husband....
....for thinking I am beautiful even when I think otherwise.
....for being the other half of my thoughts, values, and love.
....for being my rock, my love, and my life.
Thank you to my Mom....
....for showing me the true meaning of a "Mom."
....for believing in me when there was less than anything to be proud of.
....for teaching me values, strength, and ambition.
Thank you to my Mom-in-Law....
....for showing me that you can do everything with anything.
....for showing me the greatest human strength when you think you have none.
....for choosing me to be your son's true love.
Thank you to my Grandfather....
....for being my Dad, my Father, and my Hero even if it's Grand.
....for remembering me in the years you don't remember breakfast.
...for being the most genuine, honorable, and genorous man I know.
Thank you to my Grandmother....
....for teaching me manners and class and the way it should be.
....for being the knot of the family's ties.
....for asserting nobility, pride, and determination for life and family.
Thank you to my Friends....
....for always being a phone call near me.
....for reminding me when I forget who I am.
....for seeing the real me, appreciating what you see, and loving it.
Thank you to my Enemies....
....for making me prove me to me.
....for the rumors that let me see the truth.
....for showing me the strength, integrity, and truth I may have missed.
Thank you to God....
....for giving me life, love, and happiness.
....for giving health, success, and life to everyone around me.
....for the strength, power, and confidence to believe my dreams can come true.
Thank you to those who have given their lives, will give their lives, or will go out and make a change in this world. Your actions will never be forgotten. You will always be engraved in our hearts, minds, and history.Over the years I have become aware of all I have to be grateful for and ashamed of all the time I spent thinking I had none. I am sorry for all the mean, vengeful, and selfish words and acts that I have committed against anyone I know. I would never wish that behavior from or at my own children. Thats where we are at. My children, your children, and the children to come need to see love and kindness in everything that they know and do. The world is becoming a scary place. No one deserves to see death in their streets, loneliness in their lives, and evil in their hearts.

My kids entertain me.....

I always hope I don't bore people with my stories, but they are so entertaining to me! A little clause: I have decided I need to write down the funny things my girlies do and say and bore all you guys with it and so I can laugh and embaress them later on in life with some tidbits. So forgive me if I go on and on since this is the first time. (Wow - Haven't said that in a while. Ha!)
Those of you who know Haley know that she is a bit quirky. She has her likes and dislikes, she is unwavering to changing her mind (unless threatened that she won't be able to attened Lexi's birthday party if she doens't clean her room...then quick as lightening). She is very artistic and extremely smart. She has a goofy sense of humor but fears embarressment most. She loves to love and loves to be loved. She is cautious at all turns and doesn't trust easily. She is a pretty princess...and loves every minute of it. This is also the child who notices how many times someone in a musical changes their shoes...from the girl that if given a choice (and this theory was recently tested and proven correct) between the toy dept. or the clothing dept. immediately walked to the clothes section and picked herself out an outfit and a pocketbook to match, keeping in mind she has matching shoes at home!!!!!! (And I can also honestly say that I had NO influence on this whatsoever.....not even I can keep up) We are in soooooo much trouble. She is so funny, she's a little hypocondriac (her teacher told us she had a class full of little complainers - can you imagine a class of 5 year olds complaining all the time? Confirming why I am not a teacher) and the "problems" she is having are getting more imaginative by the minute. The other morning she was laying on the couch and Andrew comes out and tells her to get dressed for school. She says in a tiny and very dramatic way, "I can't get dressed...my legs hurt because my bones are touching my skin."...You figure it out! LOL
She is growing so fast and it's freaking me out, but she is still sooooooooo innocent and naive. OK - time for a story....we are watching Family Guy (for all you preggos or if you have wee ones - don't let your kids watch this show....brings up waaaaaaay too many hard to answer questions)....so I digress.....it was the episode where Chris and Peter were in the sauna and Chris's towel opened and Peter discovered his son's "third leg" (I just assume everyone watches). So about 15 minutes later the show is almost over and Haley pipes up with, "this show is funny....he has 3 legs!" So I proceeded to laugh hysterically while Haley turns red and starts getting mad at me (God forbid she is just funny and cute). When I was able to contain myself again she turn to Daddy and asks, "Daddy, if he has 3 legs...how come they won't show us the third one?" So, of course, I was very interested in his answer...ha ha...but you know, I don't think he ever actually answered the question....mumbled something and then changed the subject.
It's Haley's 5th birthday about 7am...Haley wakes up and comes out to the living room. I was on the couch with the wee one. Haley, in her first waking up half whine half sratchy pathetic voice, "Am I 5 years old yet?".....I, of course said the obvious and Haley comes back with, "Well then, why am I still so close to the ground?"
OK, one more Haley anecdote....we grew up with The Wizard of Oz (We being you and I). You have the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man. Keeping this in mind that movie is as old as we are....technology has progressed a bit since then. My Mom gives Haley the Wizard of Oz...a timeless classic...and then askes her when she is done watching what everyone was looking for? You know its 2008 when.....Her response, " The Scarecrow was looking for a brain, the Lion wanted to be King, and the Robot needed a heart."
Thats all I have for now on that one. I don't know if I have specific stories with Ashley yet. She doesn't talk much, but is very animated at the same time. She is very outgoing and when you take her to the grocery store (you know you always go in the door that you have to walk all the way down the ends of the checkout to get in) she does the Queen's wave as she passes all the people in line. If someone isn't looking at her she will stare at you and bat the lashes until you tell her she is cute. She will bark at you if you ask her what dogs say. Her squeals of joy will go right through you but when she speaks its the softest voice ever. Don't tell her no and duck if she's mad. Six teeth and she knows how to use them! This little girl will eat anything, I mean ANYTHING! She is fun and likes to be funny, but I don't think she will put up with her big sister's crap. If Ashley wants something, there is nothing that will get in her way.....and she'll stand so proud when she gets it. Her laugh is infectious and her kisses are priceless.
So thats that for me being a proud Mommy and rambling on about my kids. I assume you would have stopped reading by now if you weren't interested. So for you still reading....Thanks for being interested and I hope you have a good day whatever you are doing!!

My Thoughts on My Hubby

Picture by Bryon Patten

Here we are almost 5 years ago and 30 seconds after we said "I DO!" I have this item that I wrote about 6 months ago (right after reading "The Power of Positive Thinking coincidentally) and i thought i might share it....

Oct 17, 2007

Because of the way his arms feel wrapped around me.
Because he worries too much.
Because my girls' eyes light up when he walks into the room.
Because he yells at me for leaving all the lights on when he turns the heat all the way up and leaves a window open.
Because when he rolls in to me in the middle of the night I know I am safe.
Because he makes fun of the way I eat.
Because he notices the way I eat.
Because when I am changing in the other room....he peeks.
Because when we are not together we are waiting to be.
Because he can irritate me to no end and make me laugh hysterically at the same time.
Because he always says he is sorry.
Because he can't lie to save his life....he wouldn't want to.
Because he is my bodyguard.
Because he would lay down his life for our children.
Because he would lay down his life for me.
Because he gives my bum a tap when he walks by me.
Because the little boy in him shows when he plays his video game...tongue sticking out, using his whole body as the controller.
Because he will clean the house and really take a cookie for a prize.
Because he looks so cute covered head to toe in grease and oh so sexy when he cleans up.
Because he is my man.
Because I am his Angel.

I could add new reasons why everyday!!!!

The book that changed my negative mindset.....

So, about 6 months ago, I was being very negative. HA! Anyone who knows me has seen me go into these spirals of negativity that no one can seem to get me out of. I just think everything is going wrong and everyone is being mean to me. As my Grandmother says, "You get a case of the poor me." Well, I certainly do, but then she told me that it's OK to have them sometimes, but what you have to do is limit the amount of time you allow that kind of thinking. You can only have one day at a time of those horrid feelings of despair. So after we talked about that I heard from a friend about this book, "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale. So I stuck my head in and read away. Turns out it was probably one of the most influential books that I have come across. Now granted everyone in the world is way ahead of me because it was published in 1952 and millions upon millions of copies have been sold. The one thing I will say is that it has very strong religious content. I am Catholic, but certainly wouldn't consider myself devote. Putting that aside I read on (it's not preachy, more the basics of moral living). I swear it changed my WHOLE outlook on life. It changed the way I deal with my husband (he must be thrilled :-)). It helps me with patience with my kids or even the person that almost runs you over with her cart in the grocery store (you know we have all had that happen and it can get to you). I loved it so much that I ran out and bought "The Power of Confident Living." I will let you know what I think when I'm done. I just wanted to share this with you and if you ever are having a case of the "poor me," either read a story about someone with worse problems or better yet pick up this book and stay postive from within.

Handmade Ideas for Mother's Day

So I'm attempting to get a head start on my Mother's Day shopping. I am a last minute kind of a gal, but now that I am a Mom (and I already got my Mother's Day present :-) ) I appreciate my Mom just that much more and want to find her the perfect gift. A little birdy lead me to place where all things are hand made from passionate artists that want to have their expressions heard! Each day they do a showcase that gives the artists the ability to showcase their top items for Mother's Day and then allows you to link over to their individual stores. Today's showcase link is:

http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php?showcase_id=mothers_day

They have some absolutely gourgeous jewelry, unique picture frame ideas, and other unique girft ideas. All this brought to you by Etsy.com.

Check them out! Let me know what you think!!!