First Day of the Year!

So my first day of the year was relatively good and uneventful overall.

BFF, her DH, my XH and I stayed up with BFF's DS's until after midnight. The boys then went to bed. The adults stayed up a bit longer reminiscing about life. We finally went to bed WAY too late. LOL

We got up a little before 8 this morning and made our coffee, finished packing up XH's stuff and got Bug and Peanut ready to head out the door. We had to take their Daddy (XH) to the airport to go home. It's been a pleasant visit really, but it was over, and it was time. Fortunately, despite some earlier weather reports, we had smooth sailing the whole way!

We dropped him off and then headed for a potty break for the girls. After a little over an hour in the car I figured they needed a break. We found a KMart and decided to go there. The girls were glad! We walked around a little, bought a couple small things, and headed back out.

Our next stop was IKEA. BFF wanted to go there, she neglected to tell me it was the biggest sale of the year!!! WOWSERS. We had to park at the farthest end of the parking garage!! We wandered a little, looked at bed options for expanding from 2 to 4 beds in the girls room (probably going to find a way to trundle the existing beds). We found a couple of items we needed, voted AGAINST the cafe (WAY crowded) and headed downstairs). We paid for our treasures and then go a quick hot dog lunch which Bug chowed down on in record speed. While we were eating, BFF's DH sent us a pic of the now collapsed bookshelf at home. OH NO! So we headed back into IKEA to look for a book shelf. No Luck, but we found a new set of drawers for the girls!

We then headed home. We had our special New Year's dinner: Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, and Black Eyed Peas. I know the Cabbage is for wealth, the BEP's for good luck, but I'm not sure about the rest, other than YUM!

Tonight while I was finishing up another blog, Peanut comes downstairs, now mind you, this is about 3-4 hours after they went to bed. She looks at me and says "Good Morning Mommy." I about fell out of my chair!!! LOL After a few questions with her, BFF and I take her upstairs, give her some cough medicine (she is slightly sick) and help her back into bed. I think she was pretty out of it. She didn't really know what time it was AT ALL. LOL

Well, I hope you all had fun, safe, and uneventful starts to your year as well!!

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Christmas

We had a beautiful Christmas. It was a pleasure to see the joy on my children's faces as their piles of gifts grew larger. They are BLESSED. (My own biological children and the other 5 I have claimed with my heart :) ).

Bug was priceless, she was less about opening the presents and more excited as she started receiving her packages. The look of SHOCK and joy at getting a PACKAGE was so amazing.

The girls got lots of clothes (always needed and appreciated!! And they are fashionistas anyway so they LOVE it!!) FurReal puppies, Barbie quads, pink Legos, bean bag chairs, Tinkerbell dolls, Girly Little People, personalized coloring books and crayons, TONS of Littlest Pet Shop animals and accessories, several books, and much more. This was the stuff I can REMEMBER!! LOL

BFF and I are already discussing the four girls joint birthday party (since their birthdays are 5 days apart) and that since they LOVE their Littlest Pet Shop stuff SO much that we think their theme will be LPS. :)

Bug and Peanut's Daddy brought them an additional "gift" not really a Christmas gift but sort of, he has given us the Wii. EVERYONE in the house benefits from it though. BFF's DS's have been wanting a Wii so they are super excited about it.

I was very blessed this year as well. I was very disappointed that I was unable to find a gift for BFF, until at the last minute BFF tells me there is something she wants at one store. (she KNEW all the problems behind my "gift failure" this year). So she knew exactly what she was getting from me, but at least I KNEW she wanted it!!! :) In many ways this made me most happy of all. Because I'd had such bad luck trying to get her a gift. Went to order her gift and it was no longer available, went to buy the other part and it wasn't available in the color for HER, etc...

I myself did receive very thoughtful gifts. BFF got me some small notebook/journal type books. I had been wanting them for my purse and bible bag. She helps my girls pick out a great knitting book, some candy and AWESOME pajamas for me. BFF's mom and dad got me a nice work out/yoga set, my sister and her husband got me a dragonfly necklace with earrings and a monetary donation to my school fund :), BFF's DH got me a Saints Jersey personalized with my name! YAY!!! :) and my mom... well, I'm not at liberty to say just yet... I'll be able to spill the beans in a few more days. LOL And post pictures. :P

We enjoyed watching the kids play with all their new toys and games and watch a video, and we enjoyed a DELICIOUS prime rib dinner. We went to bed fairly early after a LONG day.

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and enjoyed celebrating the birth of Christ with their family and friends. :)

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Long Day

You know those days... that ones that just never seem to end. Today is that day. I am dragging some SERIOUS monkey butt for some reason. It's been a bit rough for me today. Interesting mail, still recovering kiddos, extra people in the house, work, and oh boy do the people at the store want their stamps. You would think postage stamps were going out of style!!!!

So yeah... Lots of craziness and a long day for me.

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Busy week ahead...

Hot coffee and homemade peppermint biscotti is being quickly put down my throat, and the car is already warming up/defrosting outside. I need to be on my way to work in about 5 minutes really, 10 at the most (but I could still clock in on time if I left in 15, how sad is that??). OH how I dislike the 7 am shift... there is NOTHING to do a 7 am at that store!!! It will pick up a little at about ten.

My parents arrived yesterday, and my ex-husband arrives Friday. Let the mayhem begin! LOL Tomorrow BFF and I are taking advantage of the baby sitters to go do Pilates. Since Peanut is contagious and we can't risk the others being possibly contagious we can't put ANY of them in daycare at the Y. But Grandma and Grandpa don't mind :). And I need to call the doctor's and let them know Savannah is now sick. And I have to call the insurance and verify info about Bug's upcoming MRI. And I have work tomorrow.

And I work Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm off Thursday. I don't like mid-week days off. :( They are not nice. I work Friday right up to my special requested time off to allow just a sufficient time to go get the ex from the airport.

Saturday is Sabbath and we will be HOPEFULLY taking 13 people. That is if Peanut is healthy and no other kids come down with it by then. *sigh*

Well, Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go...

Have a FABULOUS day!!!!! :)

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The parents are here

The parent's are here
Bug is feeling MUCH better, her sores are nearly gone!! Praise God!
Peanut now has the sores, :( but we know what to do this time!
I have to work WAY too early in the morning. BOO
The Saints game will not be broadcast here tomorrow, but hopefully we'll be able to watch it on NFL replay.

Overall, Life is pretty darn good and I can't complain too much. Peanut will survive just as Bug did, but she'll be pretty miserable for a few days. :(

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School, Saints, and parents on the road...

I am trying to figure out what my best course of action is for school... I had found a GREAT program that would allow me to complete my EMT program in just 3 weeks. Now, as a former EMT I NORMALLY would NOT recommend this to ANYONE. However, I don't consider myself normal. I worked as an EMT in a civilian setting for 5 years, and then another year in the Army. I have taken this EXACT course (EMT-B) THREE TIMES already, and never scored less than an A in the class. So, I spoke to my EMT and paramedic friends and asked for their opinions and all of them told me the same thing, go for it, it'll be nothing but review for you. Only one minor problem. I need pretty much $1000 before Christmas to attend that program. As of right now, I have a grand total of $125. I could sacrifice my entire January child support, but I won't receive it until December 31st. It may be too late. And it will still leave me a little short.

Then there is a bigger concern. Sometimes I forget that I am NOT a 20 something, single woman anymore. I am a 31 year old single MOTHER. I HAVE to factor my children into this. Much as I want to do the extremely short class, it may not be the best option for my daughters. I would be in school a little over 40 hours a week for three weeks straight, and on top of that there would be at home studying, and at least one shift a week at work. When would I see my babies??? A part of me REALLY thinks the short class would be best for me, BUT, I don't know that it would be best for THEM.

The same school that has that class has some 12 week options as well, they actually cost a little less, just under $900. And are partial day classes just three days a week as opposed to all day five days a week. The downside to those classes is they are at facilities farther away, but not too much farther. There are also some tuition payment plan options with those, so if I REALLY wanted to, I could spread the payments out, basically to $100 a week.

Overall, I really like this program because their cost IS pretty much as all inclusive as it can be for the area. It covers the text, and this one even covers PART of the state testing expenses. I'll need to come up with another $225 for testing expenses by the end of the course, but that would be March. But it's okay.

The other good thing about this class is that it will be a schedule that should allow me to continue to work a schedule of 25-30 hours a week. I NEED to continue to work that kind of schedule honestly. I NEED that income for now.

Now, on to my INCREDIBLE Saints. Oh did you SEE their awesome win last night??? And they are now 11-0!!!! :) :) :) How I love my Saints.

My parents hit the road yesterday. They are driving cross country to visit my sister and I for Christmas. They stopped last night in Kingman, AZ. For their own safety I will not post their next stop. They are expected to arrive at my sister's sometime this weekend. They will be there a week or so and then they will head up here to see us for a couple weeks. The original plan was actually 2 weeks at my sisters then 2 weeks here. But they realized the entire 2 weeks they'd be at my sister's house she and her husband would be in school still, including finals week!!! SO... instead they are leaving before finals to come here and going back after Christmas for another week with her when she is out of school and they can enjoy the time a little more. I think it's a good deal for them. And it works out well for us as my ex-husband is coming to visit our daughters. So now we'll have a week with just my parents, a week with my parents and my ex (please pray for me during that week!!!!!!!!!), and then a week with just my ex (continue to pray, though for different reasons!).

It should be a BUSY BUSY month, but a good month :) I'll do my best to keep everyone posted!!

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What's on tap for the coming week:

As usual we have a busy week ahead of us.

We are in the midst of preparing for the blessed Christmas season and all that it entails. This is such a joyous time for us. I have worked hard to approach it with an open heart and mind. We will be having both my parents and my former husband staying with us. My parents asked this morning for some changes to their dates. It is no problem for us to work with their changes. It will give them a week alone with us before my ex arrives, and then a week with all three of them here, and then they will leave and my ex will be here for a week without them. This is actually a good thing.

We must finish preparing our home for extended company however. And the children are eagerly awaiting putting up the Christmas tree this evening, as am I! :) This is always one of my favorite things to do :)

I am working tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. A fairly typical schedule for me.

We are hoping to go do repeat Christmas pictures tomorrow morning as our pictures need to be re-done.

Monday we are going to do the Enchanted Village out near Ikea. I am looking forward to this. :)

BFF and I are re-committing ourselves to our morning workouts. We have slipped a little lately. We've allowed ourselves to get drawn into staying out too late with friends and then been unable to get up at 4:30 am to go to the gym. It does require a certain level of commitment to tell our friends no, because we KNOW we have to get to bed on time. And once her DH transfers (all too soon unfortunately) it's just going to get worse. Instead of getting UP at 4:30 am, we'll need to be LEAVING at 4:30 am and be AT the gym working out at 4:30 am. WOW. We will have to be home for her DH to be leaving for work by 5:45 and the gym is about 20 minutes away. We'll only get 30 minutes in the gym. But it's enough time. IF we are committed to getting out the door RIGHT AWAY. IF we get RIGHT on our equipment once we are there. IF we keep an eye on the clock.

I will try to post a few of my baptism pictures from last week in a little while. BFF is busy working on her new blog background for Christmas so I don't want to bother her too much with it! :P She does SO much for me. :) I really am thankful to have her in my life and to call my Best Friend Forever!! :)

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Auntie arrives and Cake 2

Well, yesterday was a full day for us!

BFF dropped me off at work and headed to the airport to pick up my sister who was arriving. I was a bit upset that I couldn't go to the airport, but that is my own fault. I didn't get my time off request in soon enough.

I got to fly solo at work for a while, at the service desk! I had no problems. :) Work was, well, work. LOL BFF and sister came with all 7 kids for my break. That was a nice treat. And then they did some quick grocery shopping and went home.

BFF and sister then picked me up from work to take me to cake class. Other than forgetting my change of clothes, we were good to go. We stopped at North End Treats for a slice of pizza and off to Micheal's for my 3rd cake class.

We were doing clowns, shell borders, star flowers, swirl flowers and roses. Let me start by saying... The clown bodies are cute, but the heads are UGLY!!! I have dreaded making these clowns because of their heads. But I want to learn and it is a part of the learning process. So here is my poor clown...



I think those heads are just plain scary! LOL

I did my shell border in white because I just was not wanting to mix colors LOL. The pink and blue of my clown were colors I already had and I just added a little more white icing to the batch to lighten it and give me enough to work with.

The star flowers and swirl flowers are in pink on my cake. I like them pretty well but need to work on them more. For the roses I decided to mix up some color. I did a light lavender, but I didn't FULLY mix it. I left it slightly unmixed to give it a purposely mottled color. I liked how it turned out, though it's pretty much impossible to see in my picture! LOL I think it actually has a very natural look to it.



The cake itself is a modified vegan lemon cake, with buttercream filling and frosting. YUM YUM Can't wait to cut into it today! LOL

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My week...

Well, ex-DH arrived Thursday night to visit with Bug and Peanut for a while. I will leave it at that.

Sabbath day we went out to camp meeting for church, Chaplain Barry Black was the guest speaker. He is a retired Navy Admiral, and is the 62nd Chaplain of the US Senate. He was GREAT. VERY inspirational, charismatic, and fun. It was a great sermon about "Supersizing your Faith."

After church we came home, quickly changed clothes and left for a twin's birthday party. It was a BLAST, and everyone enjoyed it. There were 5 sets of 3 year old twins there! 9 girls, 1 boy.

Then we came back home, dropped of ex-DH and all four girls (he volunteered!) and the boys and remaining adults headed back to Camp Meeting to hear Chaplain Black speak again. This time the service was about "surviving the season of anxiety." Again, GREAT. I loved hearing him speak.

Sunday we stayed home and relaxed in the morning, then we headed out in the evening for the Steve Green concert at Camp Meeting. WOW, such a great vocalist, down to earth, beautiful. Such a great way to end a weekend of spiritual bliss!

Monday morning I had work, and we were hoping to head to Salem afterwards, but the weather was too bad to go. We wouldn't have been able to get out and DO anything. So we stayed home.

Yesterday I had a middle of the day work shift, so that just totally prevented doing anything.

Today, well, weather, AGAIN. You know, I live in Massachusetts. NOT SEATTLE (not that I have an issue with Seattle, but this weather is more like what SHOULD be happening there.)

*sigh* Hopefully, when BFF gets home she, I and her kids will leave and ex-DH can have some time alone with his DD's.

Nique

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Until next time...

Well, last night, after a wonderful week of sightseeing, and enjoyment, my parents had to go back home to Southern California.

We went to church in the morning. The girls SO love going to church. It's been amazing these last few months to see them growing in God. Their night is not complete without prayers to Jesus. They are repeating our prayers more and more, and even making up some of their own. They sing church songs in the car, and many time will ask when we're going to church. It makes me so pleased to see them loving God.

This was the first time my parents had gone with me since I found the Adventist church. I think Mom really enjoyed going to Sabbath School with the girls. BFF and I don't usually go into class with them anymore, for various reasons. For me, one of those reasons is that I feel it's time for the girls to start going without me right there. I stay just outside their class, so if they need me, I'm there. I figure this will continue for several more years.

After church we took a quick trip to the American Girl store. We'd been meaning all week to take my parents there to see it. This was where we brought the girls for their birthday this year and they got their babies. The girls were SO excited, carrying their own babies and eagerly showing Grandma and Grandpa the other babies.

We came home and had a quick lunch and then had to pack up to go to the airport. BFF, the girls and I accompanied my parents to the airport. We hit a little traffic on the way in, not too bad. After sending them off we set to finding the elusive El Pollo Loco. WE FOUND IT!!!! :)

We came home with our goodies and ate. Then BFF's DH and I took 2 of their DS's to see the Hannah Montana Movie. Now, I MUST confess, I AM a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus fan. I'm not crazy, I do NOT have any posters, etc. But yes, I've been known to watch the TV show, I do own a couple of her CD's (I like the "Miley" music better btw). And I was happy to go see the movie. And it did NOT disappoint me! Well Done Miley! Well Done Disney. Beautiful movie, beautiful music, a touching story. I will be buying this one when it comes out on DVD.

This morning I am back to work, and later this week BFF's parents arrive. I am not taking time off, except for the time for BFF and her family to go to a family event out of the area. My girls and I will enjoy some quiet time at home during that. :) After her parents leave we have a one week break and then my ex-DH arrives to visit the girls. I will be back with my regularly scheduled programming now. :) LOL Well, you know how it is, I write whatever I feel like writing!

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Salem, MA

Today was my parents last full day with us. They fly home tomorrow. :(

We decided to go visit Salem, MA today. As most probably remember from our history classes, Salem was the location of the infamous witch trials. Our plan was to go to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site and tour the Friendship, a tall ship that is maintained and available to tour in the Derby Wharf area. Unfortunately, it set sail on Monday, for Maine, for a haul-out to have work done on it's hull. (Okay, re-reading that, I realize I've spent WAY too much time around my father and the marina back in California, because I TOTALLY understood what all that meant WITHOUT having to look it all up!) Anyway, it doesn't return until July. Well, after looking at the Friendship's schedule, it's gonna be HARD to get there to see the Friendship in between her "guest appearances." LOL

We then walked down Derby street toward The House of the Seven Gables which was the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's book by the same name. But... it's SUPER pricey, so we did NOT actually go in. Another trip. It was a beautiful home though, and I am very interested to learn more about it before we go visit again.

So then we continued our walk, admiring the beautiful historic homes. It really gave you more of a sense of what life was like "way back when." And then we arrived at Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie. OMW... So many delicious treats. And MANY of them were safe for BFF's DS. :) That is always a GOOD thing! We walked out of there with SEVERAL things. Some chocolates for my parents, salt water taffy, some sour apple melt away candies, a treat for each of the boys, and one of my personal favorites, Girbralter's. These are so delicious. They were the first candy sold commercially in America. They are still made using the same recipe. They are a wonderful treat.

We also purchase some soda's that I am in LOVE with. Mercury Soda Pop is caffiene free, and corn syrup free!! ALSO, it appears to be completely dye free. We ordered an Orange Cream, Black Cherry, and Root Beer. NONE had dye, all tasted delicious. :)

Finally we went back to the van and began a driving tour around the area. We drove through bits of Salem, but as BFF and I do OH SO WELL, we got lost. And loved every minute of it!!! We ended up in Marblehead, MA. It is a beautiful little town. We drove by Abbot Hall (see also these pictures), Old Burial Hill, and Balch House. Again, we saws DOZENS of historic homes, and I so enjoyed seeing them.

Alas, all good things come to an end, and we knew we needed to get home for dinner. So we headed home where I enjoyed a DELICIOUS Greek Chicken Orzo meal with Mango's on the side. mmmmmmm. Now I'm hungry again LOL But it is time for me to get to sleep.

On the plate for tomorrow is church, followed by taking my parents to the airport, and then BFF's DH, DS's, and I are going to the theater on base to see the Hannah Montana movie. Please pray for me :)

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Slower Day

Well, today was a mostly slower day. We considered heading up to New Hampshire, but as luck would have it, we never did make it.

As we began our winding journey, we headed out toward the base, along a portion of the route that Paul Revere did his midnight run in April 19, 1775. The Minute Man National Historical Park is on this drive and includes an area dedicated to Paul Revere's Capture Site. Although I have not yet had an opportunity, I do want and plan to someday soon take the time to actually park and walk some of this area and get a little more hands on with some of our incredible US History. I really feel blessed to get to live in an area that has SUCH a rich history, and to be able to see and visit these places!

We then headed in toward Boston. We decided to go the route that takes us right through Harvard University. It is such an enjoyable drive. We then headed toward the USS Constitution... except we missed a turn and to avoid the tolls, we had to go quite a ways around. We then tried to find our El Pollo Loco. BFF spent time in California, and I grew up in Southern California. El Pollo Loco is a TREAT to us. We have it bookmarked in the TomTom, but for SOME reason, Tom no longer acknowledges it and cannot plan a route to it. ARG.

As we wandered our way BACK into the city, we passed by the Old North Church where the colonists posted the lantern to warn that the British were coming. It was this sign that prompted the beginning of Paul Revere's midnight run. We also passed by the Paul Revere House and Copp's Hill Cemetery. I have not had the pleasure of doing more than driving by these incredible pieces of our history, but soon I hope to change that!

We also drove by the New England Holocaust Memorial, a beautiful, and sobering site. Again, I've never done more than drive past it, but soon, I will change that. Even from the street it is impressive. If you ever come to the Boston area, PLEASE put this on your MUST see list.

Then we hit Mike's Pastry for some nummy goodness. And then headed on out to see what adventure awaited us! We headed toward New Hampshire, but again, the craving for El Pollo Loco, and KNOWING it was near, we tried to find it, but just had NO luck. I grabbed my cell phone and used the internet to search for it, and found an address. We plugged it into Tom and headed off. UNFORTUNATELY, this supposed El Pollo Loco doesn't really exist. :( *cry* SOOOO... we headed for the nearby Target to pick up a few snacks for later.

Finally, realizing how late it was we headed for home after a quick stop at the Commissary. After a delicious soft taco dinner (Mexican was a MUST tonight LOL), we got the girls to sleep. Then my parents took over for us so that BFF, her DH, and I could go out, JUST THE THREE ADULTS!! This has NEVER happened for us, never. BFF had a gift card to a restaurant so we went there for desert, then a quick trip to Barnes and Noble, and finally home.

Really, this was a SLOWER day for us! LOL We mostly stayed in the car. :)

Now it's off to dream land for me!!! :)

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