July 4th

Happy Independence Day!

Good grief! What a day!

Aussie continues to chew up food and spit it out. He is even afraid to swallow liquid. We will be taking him to the doctor tomorrow. Greg thinks that there is something more to it than just being afraid. You know maybe there is something wrong with his tonsils or something. It's very frustrating. I go from being so upset because Austin is upset to being downright angry because he won't swallow.

Today- the kids planted their flowers. They picked them out last night. I can't remember the name of what Ashley picked. But Austin picked black eyed susans and Mason picked cone flowers. One of Greg's workmates gave Greg some advice as to what flowers to plant and then she even brought him some zinnias. So this has been a wonderful project for Greg and the kids.

Then we went to Lipscomb for some July 4th festivities. The kids played in the bouncy house and maze and went down the big slide. Austin said he was hungry- so we catered to him and got him some french fries at McDonalds. Greg said he ate quite a bit, but I didn't see it. I just saw him holding it in his cheeks and then spitting it out. NASTY!!! But the kids played on the playground a good long time and then we came home.

We were going to watch the fireworks tonight, but we were too tired and just wanted to be home. But we did get to see several on our way. And when we got home someone was letting off really nice sized ones in our cul-de-sac. Austin and Mason were afraid of me being outside. They partly watched from the garage, but Austin begged me to come in.

And here is a just a cute picture from lunch today. This is my little quacker! Yes- guess who taught him that?

Uh-Oh it's past 11:00PM-- goodnight!

Concerned- please pray/offer advice

I don't know what to do...I have a worrier!

Aussie worries about everything!
The last few days he has hardly been eating because he is afraid he is going to choke. He is getting some food in him or I would have already called the doctor. Greg and I have tried to read and explain how our throats work to him. But he is still scared. He is chewing up his food and keeping it in his cheeks until he finally spits it out. I found an article on the internet written for kids about choking. It tells how it happens and what we can do to prevent it. I will read this to him tomorrow. He is VERY smart. A little bit too smart for his age. I wish he didn't worry so much!

Then tonight he begged and begged us to watch the news so he knew that there would be no tornados coming. I didn't let him watch the news, but I assured him over and over that there will be no tornados tonight. He prays to God, but sometimes he tells me that he thinks God doesn't listen.

What do I do with him? He's only "almost" 5.

Please pray for Aussie. And also pray for my brother and his wife, who are flying back home from Bulgaria today/tonight. They have been in the Peace Corp. for 2 years and I'm so glad to have him back in the U.S.!!!

NO!

How dare he even say it?

Someone told Greg today that Kiki would stop being so rough with us IF she had another kitten her age to play with.


Shoot..........I'm just counting the days until she is fixed and declawed. I think she will calm down then. At least I am really hoping so!!!

routine

Well I think there needs to be a routine around here and it's gonna have to start with me. I'm going to take this in baby steps. But my first thing I am going to do is have a set wake up time and bed time.

As much as I like to stay on the computer until way after midnight, I think I am going to set my bedtime at 11:00PM. And attempt to sleep until 7:00AM and GET UP! Of course there will be special events that keep me up later, but I need to start this.

I think it will help me feel rested all day and then I can start adding other routines to the plan.

So all of you out there who are organizers and clean (what's a nicer word than freaks?), I need some help with scheduling. What does your schedule look like?

Aussie draws

I am so proud of Aussie. At McDonald's yesterday, he looked at this book and then he drew pictures on a napkin.

This is really the first time he has drawn anything really recognizable and he did such a great job!

I showed Greg and he said, "Did he draw these all by himself?" Yep he sure did!

He is so proud of himself too! It has given him confidence to draw other things.

Check out these drawings:

He first drew the cat. The whiskers are on one side and the tail is at the bottom. The lines on the body are the stripes and spots on the cat. Then he drew the bunny, and then the fish in the water.

Then he drew this reindeer. (The fifth leg is really it's tail)

We are just so proud of him!

I made my goal!

YAY! It went through! I made my goal! WOOOOHOOO!

I had fun scrapbooking tonight. A church by my house is having an overnight crop. I decided to come home and sleep, but I plan to go back tomorrow. It's really strange being the "goto girl" or the "expert". I'm not used it. Most of the girls I hung out with from Scrap It are all REAL EXPERTS!

I wish we could have a Scrap It reunion!

Ok- I need to go to bed. I was so excited last night I couldn't sleep very well. Tonight I hope I can relax and drift off into la la land peacefully.

Hopefully I'll have pictures to show tomorrow.

I can exhale now!

Phew!!! It has been a crazy week. I can finally take a deep breath. I had my first show last night. My friends were very generous to listen to me practice. I definitely need to get better at it, but it was a great show! Doris and I thank you for those of you who ordered under her name.

There were several incentives to sell a certain amount in June and even though I qualified, I was down to the last minute trying to get the order in before 10:00 this morning. I still don't know if it is going to count for June or July. After all that hustle and bustle this morning I sure hope it got in on time. Anyway, my order said finished at 9:58AM and then it said processed at 10:02AM. I guess I'll find out tomorrow--at least I hope so. This means nothing to my customers, their stuff will still come quickly, it was only for me.

This morning we were out of milk and juice. So I got the kids in the car and headed to a small grocery store near by. They were still in their PJs. Milk, Juice and Bacon...that's all we need. Each of them got their own little cart. It was cute! But it would have been cuter if they didn't run and hit me in the back of the ankles with them. And when they are excited they are loud! And when they are already loud and not getting their way they get even louder! No doughnuts! No we don't need lemons! No we don't need those mexican-chinese critter things!

So it is time to go and they get upset because their carts are not full. (eyeroll)

I caved into some cookies, in which Ashley dropped on the floor at the checkout and lost 2 of them. Then we get in the car and had cookies for breakfast. It was just one of those mornings where you just said, fine eat the dang things. So each had a cookie and the rest of the cookies fell out and into the van. (and smooshed)

Then we run home...I do my order thing...run downstairs and get them dressed...and off to the bank and then to the dentist. (leaving my cell phone at home) What did we do without cell phones? The boys did great at the dentist. Ashley acted like she had been traumatized! I even got in the dentist chair and had her in my lap and she wouldn't let the woman brush her teeth. So then the kids were playing in the waiting room, while I was setting up their next appointment. Austin did something, Mason started crying. I said something to Austin and he smarted back to me. I grabbed him and took him into the bathroom to have a little chat. What I didn't know was when I grabbed him I poked his eye. He has a little mark under his eye where I made it bleed. I felt/feel horrible! So I took them to McDonald's for lunch!

Have you had one of those days? It was exciting and frustrating all at the same time. I'm so glad to have a few moments to myself. Greg has the kids outside playing. Ahhhhhhhh!

Now I think I'll go scrapbook!

just a little of nothin'

Wow! I've realized I have been so busy I haven't even taken any pictures. Good grief-What's going on with me? I'm gonna have to get that camera out tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow...We are going to see Charlotte's Web at Providence. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Ahhhhh.....here comes the rain again. It's rained here everyday for 4 days. We really needed it. But I really don't like thunderstorms, because that means I have to turn off my computer.

I guess I better go c-l-e-a-n. Maybe if I spell it out I won't know what I'm doing. That's what we do with our kids right? They need to go to b-e-d or we will have i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m after dinner.

yeah- I'm still here....I don't think it's working.
hmmmmm....maybe I'll take a little nap on the couch and then get up in 15 minutes and clean.
night.

business cards

"The new phone books are here...The new phone books are here"



So are any of you Steve Martin fans? That is a quote from one of his famous films, The Jerk. I love that movie! Anyway, that is how I feel today.



"My new business cards are here...My new business cards are here!"




In all my working life I have never had a business card. I am so tickled! Of course I had to edit it to put it on my blog. I'm also creating a nice sticker to put on the side for texture and color.

You know the best form of advertising is word of mouth. If you know anyone who likes Usborne books, please send them my way. I'm sure I could come up with some nice incentive for you for doing so.

And since 75% of them are under $10.00, order them for birthday gifts, baby showers, the unexpected wedding shower (jk), teachers, grandkids, homeschooling Moms and of course for your OWN children.

Hey don't be surprised if I give you a business card! :) If you don't want it just give it to somebody else.

Let's laugh at our dear friend

Oh I thought it was about time to update.

Last night I had a great time. Dana and I went to Scrapn' Memories and scrapbooked. It was so good to just get out and be creative. The only thing I don't like is that it just closes way too early. I really get my mojo going around 9:00PM and then to have to turn around and clean up to be out of there at 10:00, well it just stinks!

Yesterday was pretty funny. Dana and I dropped our kids off at VBS and we headed to Target and Kohls to run some errands. Since I'm making a little bit of money, I thought I would buy some shirts. Oh it is so nice to have new clothes. It just makes you feel all good inside. Anyway, while we were there Dana's phone rang off the hook. I mean if she wasn't on it, the phone was ringing and 1/2 the time she is on it she is looking at her phone to see who is calling in. It is absolutely insane! So when I called her yesterday and she didn't answer, I just went into this crazy spiel. It was something like, "Hello, this is Michelle from Grand Central Station. We realize that our line has been crossed with your line. We want you to know we are aware of the situtation and we are looking into trying to fix it." So later on in the day, I call her again and she doesn't answer. So I decide to expound on the last message. In my head I can see her laughing, because she knows how crazy it is. So the next phone call is something like this:

Uh...Helloooo...this is Michelle from Grand Central Station again. I just spoke with our service men. And they said they see no end in sight to the abundance of calls you are receiving. We are really sorry for the inconvenience. We suggest changing your phone number and go through the extra steps to keep it private. And Only give out the number to a few select people and not to anyone whose names begins with Q or R.

Yes silly-crazy-come on you know it's a joke conversation.

So much later in the day I call her again. (hmmmm...Gee I wonder if I'm contributing way too much to her phone ringing.) This time I was serious, saying I know I left 2 smart alec messages, but really this is what I wanted. I get a call back from her. She said she didn't get the the smart alec messages from me. I said, "you didn't?" She said, "no her phone is crazy and she just didn't get them." So I said, "you didn't get a phone call from Grand Central Station?"

Silence

Dana: Yes, how'd you know...That was YOU? I have been calling all these unknown numbers on my phone thinking this company had the wrong person and I thought I would be nice and tell them.

OH MY GOODNESS I AM DYING LAUGHING!!

Ok so to her defense...She listens to these calls while kids are running all around her and the phone is cutting in and out and she is only getting part of the conversation. Then on top of that, she has a new phone that she hasn't programed any numbers into it. So almost ALL of the numbers coming in are UNKNOWN to her! LOL!

She comments to me with one word..."PAYBACK"

ROFLOL!! Really Dana I wasn't trying to fool you. I can't believe you didn't realize it was me.

sleeping

Good day....................need bed. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Date nights

Hello Friends!

Today after church we spent most of the day cleaning because we actually had a babysitter come over. WOOHOO! We had a date. Greg and I went to see Sweet Charity starring Molly Ringwald. I really enjoyed it. The dancing was really fabulous. Not much of a story, which I tend to prefer those that have rich plots, but still enjoyable.

We even had a date last night. We watched Little Miss Sunshine on the couch together. That was a great movie, sad but funny at the same time.

My back is getting itchy again. URG! It is really starting to peel now. The stop itching gel works, but it only works for 4 hours and then needs to be reapplied. And guess what? I can't reach it. It's a pretty funny site when I'm really itching and there is no one around to scratch it. I find a corner wall and wiggle around to try to relieve some of the itch. Most of the time it makes it worse, but for some reason I keep going back to doing that.

Someone suggested an oatmeal bath. I haven't tried that yet as I thought I was healing, but I guess I should give it a shot.

Tomorrow is my BIG Kick off Usborne Show. I'm doing it with a friend of mine who signed up around the same time I did. We are having it in our church annex. Right now I have one friend who RSVP'd to come. So I guess I'll do some calling tomorrow. That is my least favorite thing to do. I just don't want to bother people or make them feel uncomfortable if they don't want to come. However, I'm the type of person who would forget and would appreciate a call. So if I want to be successful, I got to do what needs to be done. And on that note: I am finding it very difficult in writing about it on my blog. I want to talk about what I am doing and ask questions etc. But yet, I also think that I would look too pushy. So I guess I will ask 1 question. If you have or have been part of a small based business- how do you advertise? The good thing is that I REALLY LOVE these books, so that will be helpful. But who do you talk to? When no one is "biting" what do you do to get noticed? Ok that turned into 3 questions-sorry. I would love your input on this. You can comment here or email me at eskimokisses@bellsouth.net.

So does anyone want to come to my show tomorrow? I promise to be on my best behavior! :D And I'll even have strawberries with chocolate sauce. Mmmmmmmm!
It's at 7:00PM at Woodmont Hills Family of God in the Annex (the white house in front of the church) Or if you want to check out the catalog online you can go here to look and order. And what's really great is if you want to send a gift to someone you can send your order to a different address. Over 75% of the books are under $10.00. Go check it out.

Alright time for me to get some beauty sleep. Goodnight.

Father's Day Present

Ok so Jill asked how am I doing?

I'm doing ok. My sunburn is not quite as bad. It still itches some, but it is not nearly as bad as it was. My hubby is forbidding me to stay out of the sun for awhile. I don't blame him.

And Sara said to talk more about the garage. Well first of all Sara, I am excited to just know that you read my blog. I had no idea. And what more can I say about the garage. It is fabulous! And it is still clean and orderly. Today the trash man actually TOOK all the trash that we left out there (finally). Now if bulk pick-up would actually come then we would be set.

Ok onto today.

I'm worn out.
When I picked up the kids from VBS, we went to the mall to eat lunch and get Daddy's father's day present. (side note: oh shoot! I have my Dad's card and forgot to mail it.) I had planned that we would eat at Chic-Fil-A because I had 3 FREE kids' meal coupons. So we get to the mall, and somewhere in between VBS and Chic-Fil-A the coupons fell out of my pocket. UGH! So I am standing there with VERY hungry children, whom I have promised to eat lunch. So I had to pay full price. UGH UGH UGH!

Anyway, our lawn mower broke and so I planned to get Greg one for Father's Day. I had planned in our budget that we would pay $250 for one. So I get all the information, with all three kids "helping" and find the one I want to purchase. And I did! I was excited!

Greg checked the online bank statement and freaked. Hey no problem right? I PLANNED and BUDGETED for this. HA! I didn't plan for all the Home Depot trips he took earlier in the month for mulch and garage supplies. So I was terribly disappointed but the lawn mower had to be returned until next month. (With no rain the grass is dead anyway.) So Greg went to the store to return the $250 lawn mower and got what he REALLY wanted for Father's Day. Get this....



He bought $1.00 sunglasses at the dollar store.

Want to update

I wish I had something to say, but I don't.

Sunburned

So...What's worse than a bad sunburn?

An allergic reaction and a sunburn.

So What's worse than a bad sunburn with an allergic reaction?

An extremely itchy, bad sunburn with a kitten jumping onto a bare back and scratching all the way down it.

I have decided this kitten is either getting de-clawed or is being put up for adoption. I think we are all sick of her.

Lovely positive stuff here huh? Sorry!

The only thing that is helping is Benadryl. But it is knocking me out! One is not quite good enough, even though that is what I'm trying to get by on. But when I take 2, I can't function doing anything else.

Please pray for healing!

Scrapbooking Fun

Alrighty here are the layouts I completed today:

This is the one I was talking about yesterday that is way outside my box, but it does show how I actually doodle. Which I think is actually pretty cool. It was lots of fun to do! (Unfortunately I missed the deadline of the OLW challenge.

This is one that I did today using Kelli Crowe's new line for ScrapInStyle. I love it! It's so not like the usual things I do either, but it sure was fun!

This is another layout I did that is simple, but I like it. Someone at our crop today had some little Irish papers that she was giving away and I just happened to have some Irish pictures with me. You need to read the title in an Irish accent.

And here is a picture I took of my kids at Chuck E. Cheese on Friday.

We had a great day today. It's so bizzarre how time flies when you're having fun!!!

birthdays, pool, scrapbooking and MORE scrapbooking tomorrow

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad! The 8th is Mom's and the 9th is Dad's.

Today the kids and I met with my Marvelous Multiple Moms and kids for swimming at the Y. They have a really neat little pool, where the deepest is 3 ft. Great for my kids age. The kids were so excited that I only got half of me covered with sunblock. So I have a really nasty sunburned back. Yeaouch!!!! All of them were wearing swimming life jackets. Austin started to learn how to swim by himself with that on and he was SO proud of himself. But then the lightning came and we all had to get out. They want to go back tomorrow. It was quite a feat watching all 3 of them by myself. Very very scary at first, but after we laid some ground rules things got easier.

Then tonight I went scrapbooking. I started on a class idea, but I couldn't finish it because I didn't have enough of the right supplies. It's rather challanging coming up with a layout for everyone to do; and I'm not sure that it is my favorite thing. This will be my first time teaching a scrapbooking class, so we will just have to see how it goes.

Then I did one layout that is completely out of the box for me. I'll have to take a picture of it and put it on here. And since it happened to have "STOP" on it, I am going to enter it into the OLW contest. Anyway, I know doodling on your pages is in right now. And I wanted to doodle like I did when I was in school. It is a very unique type of doodling where everything is connected. Anyway, anytime I would doodle I would always put 3 things on my drawings. One would be a clock (usually because I was bored and I was watching the clock). Two would be a STOP sign (usually because I just wanted class to end). And Three would be a #2 pencil (I guess representing being in school). So I did a layout of all my quirky doodling with a picture of myself on the page. For some of the rest of the doodling I wrote about things that I love or like to do. I'll try to upload a picture tomorrow. I'm happy with it, but it's weird.

I'm hoping to get a lot more done tomorrow. DO YOU REMEMBER what tomorrow is? You locals are still invited! We are having a scrapbooking crop and yard sale at my church from 8:00 to 5:00PM. Call me for directions: . I probably won't be there until 10:00, since it is almost 2:00 right now. I guess I better go to bed.

Happenings

First of all Steena said she is for hire. So if anyone is truly serious about cleaning out a garage or room or rooms, let me know and I'll hook you up. She has 3 requirements: 1. Children need to be out of the house 2. Pets need to be out of the way too 3. Have a 2-liter Dr. Pepper on hand for her.

Next: Aussie stories

Sunday there were no children's classes and the kids had to come to big church with us. They did pretty well, but they were still very antsy. When we got home Austin said, "It was longer than the Sound of Music." We will have to tell our preacher that one.

Then we were talking about choosing a spouse when you get older and Austin said, "What if 2 girls want to marry me?" I said, "Well then you would have to choose, What would you do?" And he said, "I guess I would just do Eenie Meenie Minee Moe"


Today we went to see Open Season at the theatre. Every summer Regal Cinemas put out free movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This was great! The kids had a good time and sat through it with no problems. I don't know what comes on next, but we will probably be there.

The CARS are in!

Alrighty- so here are the pictures of my clean and organized garage.

This is the back wall. All the containers on the top are empty!!!

This is the left side and my favorite. These are all my holiday boxes. I LOVE that I can find my Easter and Thanksgiving boxes without having to go through 11 Christmas boxes stuffed in a corner.

This is the right side. Even the cabinets were cleaned out. I know exactly where the hammer is without digging through Greg's toolbox. All the gardening stuff is together and all the car stuff is together. EVEN underneath the steps was cleaned out. It had paints and wallpaper rolls from the previous owner.

And this was the hardest thing for me to get rid of. It belonged to my Grandma Curly.

I miss her! I cried a little and am tearing up now. I know I would never use it, but my Grandma was all about sewing. She sewed many of my clothes when I was little. She had 2 sewing machines and this was her favorite. I remember sewing on it when I was little. I would literally sew clothes onto my barbie dolls. She was the best Grandma in the WORLD!

Ok- so on to the final product. Check this out! It was tough, but we got both cars into the garage.

And I owe it all to my friend Steena, who came over and said, "Let me help you clean out your garage." She is a master organizer and extremely hard worker!!! She helped us to organize things in a practical way of how we would use them. She is amazing and I wish I could think of some way to thank her in a very special way. Can you think of what we can do for her? (remember we a low on money)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

AY ay ay-- I need a babysitter for 2 hours so I can sleep.

It's GONE!

It's 1:37AM

Both cars are in the garage.

We took 2 van loads to Goodwill.

4 bags of clothes to a friend who is having a baby.

The Garage looks GREAT! I'll share pictures later (today).

We still have a HUGE pile of trash on our front lawn that we need to take to the dump. Do any of you local people know where one is?

Out it Goes.

We are REALLY cleaning out the garage. Not just move stuff here and put that there. I mean Macro sorting then micro sorting. Everything has a place type of cleaning.

Which means TONS and TONS of stuff is going to Goodwill. Lots of nice things that I had planned on selling. Out they go.

So if you want to come over tomorrow after 11:15 and get some stuff come on over.

Most of it is toys. We have a kid's bike and tricycle, a table, coolers, a drink cooler that has never been used, rug, christmas dishes, christmas decorations and much much more. And LOTS of kids clothes and some women's size 16-18 dresses.

I will be taking the kids to Christ Church to play after lunch and then Greg and our friend Steena are taking it all to Goodwill. I have too many emotional attachments to things, so I just can't see it being packed up and going out.

Email me by Sunday 11:30AM, if you want something . eskimokisses@bellsouth.net

Good night.

Mason's addendum to Greg's prayer

Greg came home after having an excellent day and was all giddy and sing songy. When we sat down to dinner. Greg started to say the prayer. Since he was in such a good mood, his prayer was very poetic. This was quite funny:

Daddy: Let’s pray for the food. Dear God in Heaven…Thank you for my 3 beautiful children, who shine like stars in the nighttime sky. And thank you for their beautiful Mommy who is like a…

Mason: Chicken!

Daddy: How is she like a Chicken?

Mason: She's like a Chicken.

Daddy: Yes, Lord. Thank you for Mommy, who is like a mother hen who gathers her chicks up under her wings to protect them.

Want to get together Friday?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Finally!!! Wow last month was hard. We get paid once a month. And by the end of every month we struggle a little bit. But this month was extra tough. We rescued a kitten and adopted her that was approx $200 in medical bills that we didn't intend to spend. Plus all the food, litter box and cat supplies. I am very thankful for the babysitting jobs I have had lately. Those helped put milk and fruit in the refrigerator. I went to Wal Mart tonight to get groceries- it is so good to have a stocked pantry again.

Anyway, today was a tough day. When Greg got home from work I was able to get out to grocery shop. I love to grocery shop when I don't have to rush or have kids with me. It took at least an hour for me to de-stress. But I did and when I got home I felt refreshed again.

So is that what you call retail therapy?

I need to have a plan for tomorrow so it doesn't end up like today. Anybody want to get together and do something (with kids)? Hmmm...I wonder if the water park in Smyrna is open. That would be fun. But more fun with friends.

Today and an invitation to scrapbook

I didn't take any pictures today and I wish I had.
Today we washed the cars. We got the kids outside to help and they were so cute. Mason sprayed the cars and Austin and Ashley got sponges and scrubbed the cars. Ashley said, "I know I'm very good at this." Then she would turn around and say, "This car is so dirty it is so disgusting." Cracked me up!
I actually enjoyed washing the car. But my body sure was aching after I finished.

---------------------------------------------------

Since we have very little in the bank right now, we are fixing food that we actually have in the freezer. (What a concept!)
So for lunch I made Poppyseed chicken (Ashley's request). And I made a yummy pork roast. I didn't know pork could taste so good. It was a very easy recipe. 1 pork roast, 1 cup Worstershire sauce and 1 cup brown sugar. Put it in the crockpot on high for 1 hour and then on low for 8 to 10 hours.

I got a lot of this food from the Angel Food Ministries. I don't even have a clue how to cook some of it. I've got some frozen frying chicken thighs. What do I do with them? I don't think any of us like the thighs. Is that dark meat or white meat? If it's white meat I'll boil them and get the meat off for casseroles, but if it's dark meat I don't know what I'll do with it. Does anyone want them?

I pulled out steak burgers for tomorrow.
I wish we had a grill.
______________________________________

Well I'm falling asleep. I am really trying to figure out something interesting to say, but nothing is coming to me.

OHHHHH!

Saturday, June 9th
Some of my friends are getting together to scrapbook at my church from 8 to 5PM. (Yes, I doubt I'll be there at 8AM) BUT...this is going to be a Scrapbooking Yard Sale too. Bring something you don't need anymore to sell and/or pick up something that you might want to have. YOU Locals are invited to come. Let me know if you would like to come and I'll give you directions. Just email me at eskimokisses@bellsouth.net .

Usborne Books

I told you a few weeks ago that I would tell you more about my business endeavor. I am now a consultant for Usborne Books.

I learned of Usborne about 4 years ago, when I saw them at a fair. I had bought several books for my kids as Christmas presents. When I got home I showed my husband the books I got.

Now Greg is Mr. Picky about books! He worked at the Nashville Library and was an English major in college. And he RAVED about them.

They are well written and well illustrated. We fell in love with them.

Now that I am about to homeschool, I knew that I would be using several of these books to teach my kids. That is why I decided to become a consultant.

I am hosting my very first e-show. If you go to this link you will see an online catalog of the books that Usborne carrys. Go ahead and browse around. If you have any questions, you can email me at eskimokisses@bellsouth.net . Also make sure to sign up to win $50 in free books.


Now if you are still with me, Let me tell you about 3 of my favorites.

My family loves the Farmyard Tales. We have the Complete Book of Farmyard Tales. It also comes in smaller collections and individual books. One thing that is really great about this book is that if you have a beginner reader, they can read just the sentence at the top of each page and it still tells a story. But for the advanced reader you can add to the story by reading the sentences at the bottom of the page. Plus this book also has a hidden duck on each page as an added game the kids look forward to when reading.

We also have the First Thousand Words in Chinese and Spanish. Now I took Spanish in High school, so I know how to pronounce the words. But for Chinese, I really have no clue. So these books are internet-linked with a pronunciation guide. I can look up any word in this book and I can hear what the word sounds like.

Then the next book is a new favorite of mine. I just got this in my starter kit. It's called the Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World. I absolutely love this and so do my kids. It has internet-links for each topic. It has games and extra projects you can do. One thing it has is a recipe to make a rice crispy ball with different colored layers this is used as a model to show the insides of our Earth. Then you can eat it. One of the games it has for the planet page is of the Magic School Bus. The teacher travels from one planet to another and you have to guess where she is by the clues she leaves. I haven't gotten through all of this book yet, but I can tell you I am already impressed.

I'm excited about this new endeavor, because I truly believe in these books. Go take a look here and tell me what you think. If you have a favorite Usborne book leave a comment and share it with me and my readers.

Thanks, Chelle

Prayers please!

I'm EXHAUSTED and I can't sleep. I was just tossing and turning in bed. I'm not sure what to do to get to sleep.

Anyway, since I was up I thought I would check my email. I found that the tutorial that I was joining for homeschooling has been CANCELLED due to a last minute decision of the church that was going to host it. Now it is too late in the game to find and re-start negotiations with another church to host.

I really wanted to be in a co-op or tutorial of some type for support. And now I have nothing. I know it is not needed, but being my first year I felt it was important to be connected.

Please pray with me over this situation. I'm clueless as to where to turn now. I printed off a waiting list form for New-life-academy, which is where I wanted to be in the first place. I just wish I had filled it out back in March.

Week at a Glance

You would think that I would go to bed since I am so exhausted. But I have a free moment. When everyone else is in bed and I can actually "think", is really the only time I can blog.

We got to go to the zoo again on Monday. This time we made it all the way around. Ashley was thirsty, so we quickly went through it.

When we got there, the first thing the kids did was get maps.

They all sat down and read their maps. I have no idea if they could actually read it or not, but they sure thought they were.

We did get to see some more animals. Someday, I'll have to go back and enjoy it by myself.

Here are some more pictures of the animals we saw.

I just love this picture of the leopard sleeping on the tree branch. I had only seen that in cartoons.

This is a little "tiny" cave along the path that the kids ducked into so Mommy could take a picture.

And in this picture Ashley is looking at the Alligators. I just thought it was a cute profile shot.

Then on Tuesday I took the kids to Centennial Park. They fed the ducks and geese with goldfish crackers.

I just love orange on my kids. I wouldn't have thought to buy them. But this is one of the hand me downs and I just love them.

Wednesday and Thursday were a blur, I don't even remember what happened. Friday was a BIG day! Greg and I went to the curriculum fair. We got or ordered everything for starting to homeschool in the Fall. I'm actually excited now. Everyone I talk to has such different oppinions on what curriculum you should use. I felt myself defending my decision before I even got it. That is very frustrating! Honestly I just don't know until I'm into it. I feel negatism (is that a word?) all around me. PLEASE, DON'T SAY ANYTHING UNLESS IT IS ENCOURAGING! Unfortunately, I am very affected by what people say and more times than not after talking to someone about homeschooling I feel like I'm going to be a failure. Or I think that that person thinks I'm going to be a failure. Either way it is not a healthy way to look at it. SO encouraging words only please. The kids ask everyday if they can start Kindergarten. They are very excited about me being their teacher.

So today was a BLAST! I went to Scrapin' Memories and had an all day crop. It was really fun. The owner of the plaza, Sophies Bistro, donated appetizers and they were incredible!!! I thought that was pretty smart, because I know now I will go to them. Tammy had lots of door prizes, games, contests and make-n-takes. Everybody got a door prize. I won the first game. It was several words that we needed to unscramble. They were not easy! But I finally got them all with a clue for the one word everyone was stuck on. And I won an 8x8 album.

Tomorrow is going to be a REALLY busy day. I'm not even sure we will get to do everything. Here are the events, but lots of them run into each other: Church, Church picnic, Graduation party, Usborne meeting, Harris Teeter (triple coupons), Greg works with Wes, I take kids to small group, I put kids to bed, love on neglected kitten, go to bed!

So that is my week in a nutshell! Or should I say this is Nut Chelle's week at a glance.

(My attempt at being funny late at night.) Ok so goodnight and God bless!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was GREAT!

Aussie jumped up first thing Sunday morning and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" He was SO excited about the gift he got me. I think he even slept with it the night before. He told me I would think it was beautiful and that I could put it up in his room on the bookshelf. So he ran and gave it to me. He got me a long ugly Cat statue. He was so excited! I told him he could keep it in his room. And I gave him tons of hugs!

Then Mason got me 3 small stinky candles (ACHOO!) Ok so they are not really stinky- they are just floral scented which I'm allergic to. But he was SO precious! Daddy said he looked at each candle and smelled each one. He picked them out especially for me, which is just priceless! He took them and distributed them around the house. Will I light them? You bet!

The best things were the homemade cards. This is the first year that they really could write all their letters. So they each wrote Happy Mother's Day on their cards and signed their names. I just LOVE them!

Now I need to tell you about one of Ashley's cards that she made for me. She made this the other day. But first a little story. Everytime I see a little baby out in public I go Ga ga over it. Many times I will hold a friend's baby and I tease the kids and say, "Should I take him home?" And they always say, "NO" I say, "Well why not?" And they usually tell me because he doesn't belong to us. Sometimes Aussie will say, "Because WE are your babies". This is a little game that I like to play with them. Anyway, now everytime Ashley sees a baby before me she says, "OH no" And I say "What is it?" And she points at a baby and then says, "Remember my rule! You can't hold or take home any other babies." It totally makes me laugh! Well the other day she told me she was going to make me something she knew I really really wanted. So she drew me a card with lots of babies on it. Isn't that sweet?

I really enjoyed Mother's Day! How about you?

Ugly dog

Ok so in a previous post I wrote: Doesn't God make things so intricately beautiful?

I wonder what He was thinking when he made Sam- the ugliest dog in the World.

Now for some of you who know Sam was not the winner this year. Sam died. The new winner is just as ugly!

Saturday

For Mother's Day- Greg let me get out Friday night and scrapbook and Saturday and scrapbook. Saturday was wonderful. It was supposed to be a crop with people from POTATO (parents of twins and triplets organization). Three people signed up and two people showed up. It was still really nice. I didn't feel any pressure. I just sat and talked and had fun. Then on my way home I really really wanted pizza. So I met the family at Pizza Hut. And it was delicious!!! I decided instead of picking up something at the grocery store and trying to figure out what to cook in a short amount of time that I would rather go out tonight and fix something on Sunday instead of going out then. I think that was a good decision.

On the way home Ashley rode with me and we went to the grocery store and Greg took the boys to the mall to pick up some Mother's Day presents.

Ashley was so good in the grocerey store. She was so excited to be there! She said this was the first time she had just me and her together at the store. She helped me get ALL the groceries and put them all on the conveyor belt at the check out and she helped me put all of them away when we got home. It was a really special bonding time and a learning experience! I had her count how many potatoes we needed; and then I had her tell me which juice cost more.

I'm REALLY tired. I think I'll blog about Mother's Day tomorrow. I also don't want to forget to tell you about Ashley's rule and one of her mother's day cards.

goodnight for now.

Friday Zoo and Friday night

What a wonderful weekend!

On Friday I met some girls from MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) at the zoo. I love this group of people! It was a big group and my kids had a hard time wanting to stay with them. We tried for awhile but then I gave into their whining. We ended up seeing just a few animals, riding the carousel and then playing the rest of the day on the huge playground.

This picture is of Amy our group leader and Lisa who is in our group.

I'm excited about the animals we did see, because for some reason I would always miss them when we went to the zoo. Now I know why. They are on the opposite side from the rest of the animals. We went there first so that was really cool for me. And if you know me, you know I just LOVE giraffes! And the Zebra is quite pretty too. Doesn't God make things so intricately beautiful?

Before we got to the zoo we stopped by a friend's house who gave us SOME GORGEOUS outfits for the kids. She has GBB triplets a year older than mine, so it is really nice to get her hand me downs. They are all brand names and some haven't even been worn. I am just tickled pink with all the clothing!!! Anyway, on the way to the zoo Ashley HAD to hold some of the clothes. When we got to the zoo, she HAD to change clothes into one of the beautiful dresses. She was embarrassed and afraid someone might see her change in the van. I'm glad she has those morals in her head. She has wanted to wear this dress everyday.

So after seeing the animals they begged to ride the carousel. It was awfully cute. I was a little disapointed that a pre-teen decided to sit in between 2 of my children so that I couldn't have them on the same row. Aussie was adament about riding the Kangaroo. When that gate opened he ran right to it.

And Mason picked this. I don't know what it is, but he liked it. Is it a racoon? And I sat next to Mason on a bear.

We ate lunch in the picnic area and got to see a few more animals. Here are a couple of pictures of the meercats. I like this layed back one. Austin said this was his favorite part of the zoo and the telescope.

They really had a great time seeing the animals, but the playground called their name right from the beginning. And it is SOME playground! I was quite nervous watching them in such a big place.

Check out this HUGE slide they went down. Ashley LOVED it, but she would get nervous when she was at the top. So another little older girl sat her in her lap and came down with her.

The kids played and played and just loved it. We bought a membership to the zoo. So if you want to go with us, call us up and we'll go together.

Then later that night, Greg watched the kids while I went scrapbooking with some of these same ladies. It would have been wonderful if it hadn't downpoured. On the way there I hit a huge puddle and it came up on my car and I hydroplaned into the other lane. All I could do was pray. I was so scared! Thankfully no one was in the other lane. Since I was closer to the crop than to home I continued on. When I got there I couldn't find my friends. I circled the church. I saw where they parked but couldn't quite figure out which room they were in. So I had to get out the car and look. I found them, but I was drenched. I MEAN SOAKING DRENCHED. I can not even believe that I continued to bring my stuff in and scrapbook. I wanted to be there so bad, but I was cold, wet, tense and that just put me in a mood. One of them lent me her jacket, which worked for awhile until it became soaked too. Then I was cold all over again. And then I began to smell. I was so embarrassed. I stayed there and luckily no one said anything about my body odor. I wasn't too close to anyway thankfully. Then on the way home I thought about what a bad attitude I had and I just hate it when I'm negative. And then I got pulled over for speeding. I was so emotionally spent that I just sat there. This is the FIRST time I have gotten pulled over!! I was going 46 in a 40MPH zone and about 30 feet from a 50MPH sign. The police man came up to the car several minutes after pulling me over. (What do they do during that time?) I rolled down my window and he asked me if I was coming home from work. I said, "no I was just playing." He said, "playing huh?" I said, "Well yeah, actually scrapbooking". He looked at my liscense and then said alright go home and slow down. I was so relieved he didn't give me a ticket. I got home, put on a nice DRY winter nightgown and crawled into bed. Tomorrow will be a better day....AND it WAS!

BFS Assignment #26 "Sharing in Miracles"

For this week's assignment we are to share “personal miracles” that have happened... or a serious answer to prayer.

Well this is long, but how about I share my testimony. It is certainly a huge answer to prayer.

I’ve always known what I wanted to be when I grew up, ever since I was a little girl. I toyed with the idea of being the “best” computer consultant, even better than my Dad for awhile. But deep down my heart’s desire was to be a Mom. Each year growing up, my Mom would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. She had a little school book that had a few of the typecast roles printed in it like nurse, teacher, secretary and then it had a space for other. Every year I would say, “I want to be a Mom”. And my Mom would write that in the ‘other’ slot.

When I was dating my “now husband” he said that he never wanted to have kids. I just looked him straight in the face and said, “Well then…I don’t want to date you.” I knew what I wanted. And obviously he did too, since he changed his mind real quick. We had planned to wait 5 years after we were married to have children. The 5 year mark was coming up and I was starting to get anxious. I finally had his consent. The 5 year mark passed, the 6 year mark passed, and the 7th year and even the 8th year passed. I was hurt. I was angry. I was downright devastated. All of our friends were having their 4th and even 5th babies. Why couldn’t I get pregnant? We are good faithful Christians, responsible, loving…Why not us? Oh and when I heard stories of people getting pregnant and not even wanting the child it would just throw me into a deep depression. I prayed and prayed. I had our church pray for me. We went to the elder’s meeting and had them pray over us. Our parent’s churches and friends prayed for us. If we visited another church, I would even write a prayer request card for them to pray for us. Week after week, year after year and I just couldn’t understand why God wouldn’t bless us with a child.

It got to be so hard that even going to church was difficult. Well actually church was the hardest place to be. Everyone in my Sunday school class were having babies left and right. And everyone knew we wanted to have children. I really wanted to be happy for them. And I was happy for them, except I was so jealous and hurt that I just couldn’t show it. Many times when a pregnancy was announced I had to leave the room. Unfortunately, I wear my feelings on my sleeve and I couldn’t control myself from not crying. No one seemed to really understand, except for those few who had been there. The comments people gave were well meaning, but just hurt even more. On New Arrival’s Day and Mother’s Day…I couldn’t even go to church. I was at the absolute lowest point in my life.

One day at Wednesday night church, I asked my class to pray for me. I started out saying, my birthday is on Sunday and I know that 30 is not old. At that point I got lots of laughter, which then made me break down and say, it’s going to be a really hard day for me, because I thought by this time in my life I would already have children. My class prayed with me and it was not long after that, that we decided to go through in vitro fertilization.

In Vitro is very difficult! Not only is it physically and mentally hard and painful and VERY expensive but, also many hard decisions have to be made within a matter of days. You have to know spiritually what you believe in. WHEN is a child conceived? What will you do if you have embryos left over? Is it killing a child or is it even a child at that point? How many embryos should we put in? If I should die or have an emergency hysterectomy and we have embryos leftover, what do we do with those embryos? If you believe that each embryo is a child then how will you feel if someone else is a surrogate for your children? The list goes on and on.

However when we were going through this whole ordeal, our church of 2000 people were praying for us. My husband worked with approximately 180 4th thru 6th graders at church. And those children learned what in vitro meant and all those kids prayed fervently for us to have 3 or less. I had never seen a church come together like this and bring people closer to each other than I had seen 5 years ago. On New Year’s Eve 2001, I found out I was pregnant. It wasn’t that much longer until I found out we were having triplets. We told our preacher on Sunday morning and we had no idea he was going to do this but he announced it in the church service. I was only 7 weeks pregnant and he announced it. However, my prayers had been answered. OUR whole church’s prayers had been answered. They took very good care of us after the children were born. We had meals for 5 months, we had people come in shifts and help us feed and care for the babies for several months. We were given money. Someone gave us a diaper drive; we had diapers for a year. Two classes pulled funds together to buy a triplet stroller for us. We were given a gift of someone cleaning our house for 1 ½ years. I was given a day a week to run errands or sleep, while a family watched the kids for 1 ½ years. A friend of mine, who was a night owl, came every Wednesday night for 6 months and fed the kids at night, washed dishes and laundry and let me sleep all night long. It was truly amazing and a huge blessing how everyone chipped in to help.
I really don’t know why God took so long to answer our prayers, but I suspect that part of it was to bring our church together and let them be able to see their answered prayer. I am blessed with my heart’s desire and I thank God every night for them!!!