25 days of christmas

this year, i find myself excedingly thankful for the wonderful people in my life. two years ago we lost a dear friend a week before christmas. we hadn't seen him in a while and i know my husband will always regret letting "life" get in the way of maintianing relationships. so beginning dec 1st, i will post each day about a person i am thankful for. instead of 25 days of christmas movies, music, etc, i will have 25 days of honoring those i love. i encourage you this holiday season to tell the ones you love how much they mean to you. you just never know when it may be your last chance!

we were sitting around the table tonight eating dinner and i asked each of my kids to tell what they're thankful for:

the bean: (9) i'm thankful for my family and my church and my school. i'm also thankful that we live in a country that lets us love Jesus.

zaza: (6) i'm thankful for my mommy making good dinners and for getting green cards at school.

the princess: (4) i'm thankful for God, polly pockets and potato chips.

well, that pretty much sums up our thanksgiving! hope yours was truly blessed!

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thankgiving! I have so much to be thankful for every day of the year. So i will post my top ten things i am thankful for!

10. a house to live in with heat, electricity and running water

9. a church that teaches the Word of God and is made up of people that are like family to me.

8. living in a country that allows me religious freedom

7. two cars to get us where we need to go

6. my husband's job

5. coffee shops:)

4. true friends

3. beautiful, healthy children that make my life worth living

2. a husband who knows all the worst things about me and loves me anyway

1. my savior, Jesus Christ, who took the punishment for my sins and gives me wholeness and eternal life

I hope all of you have a blessed thankgiving among the ones you love. may you be thankful today and everyday for all that you have.

i entered my first blog contest!

i've entered a contest from the blog boutique! if i win, i get a free layout! YAY for me!

one word

One Word Answers
One Word Answers...what could be easier... I took this from mom on the run I'm changing the rules slightly. If you want to play, do a post on your blog. Let me know in the comment section that you answered the "One Word Answers." I'll come by and visit you.Remember, you can only type ONE WORD! Not as easy as you might think. It's really hard to only use one word answers. You can only type one word, on each line.
Here's my One Word Answers:
Where is your cell phone? somewhere
Where is your significant other? work
Your hair? curly
Your mother? best friend
Your father? uptight:)
Your favorite thing? coffee
Your dream last night? none
Your dream/goal? ministry
The room you're in? living
Your fear? fire
Where do you want to be in 6 years? right here
were you last night? tv
What you're not? unforgiving
Muffins? yum!
One of your wish list items? blackberry
Where you grew up? Midwest
The last thing you did? diaper change
What are you wearing? sweats
Your TV? love
Your pet? Dog
Your computer? slow
Your life? Beautiful
Your mood? Content
Missing someone? nope
Your car? minivan
Something you're not wearing? underwear:)
Your summer? short
Love someone? intensely
Your favorite color? Blue
When is the last time you laughed? today
Last time you cried? awhile

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Baby!

my little man turns two today! we had his party yesterday. as you can see, even after opening presents he just wanted to play in the box! i can't believe he is so big. it feels like just yesterday that he was a tiny baby. i love you so much little man!

FRIENDIVERSARY!

this week marks the anniversary of my friendship with my BFF, mandi! we celebrate it every year, mainly because we are big dorks. how we came to be friends is a long, complicated story that i do not have the energy to type. but in honor of this momentus occasion i submit the top ten things i love about mandi!

10. she has the best hair. ever. it is absolutely gorgeous. i am totally envious

9. she is a social worker, like myself, so we tend to see people in the same way. not sure if that's a good or bad thing :)

8. she and i went through a very traumatic experience together that molded the way we view friendships and makes us really appreciate each other even more. she is the only person who can truly understand what that was like.

7. when she's having a crazy day, she calls me and warns me ahead of time that she's going to be crazy. i really appreciate that. i wish some other people in my life would forewarn me when they're going to be crazy.

6. she has this very dry sense of humor that never ceases to crack me up. i can always count on her to make me laugh.

5. she genuinely likes my kids (maybe she doesn't spend enough time with them?) i can call her and share my stories and it doesn't bore her.

4. she has a really similar relationship with her father as i do mine. it helps to have someone who understands that dynamic. she just gets me...

3. she's not afraid to tell me the truth, even if it's not the easy thing to hear. i have a very abrasive personality so alot of people are probably hesitant to make me mad :) she manages to say what needs to be said in a calm and rational way.

2. my husband loves her. it's good when your husband loves your BFF. just makes life easier.

1. she's funny, kind, inspiring, beautiful, talented, compassionate, smart, loyal, sweet and fabulous. i'm so lucky that she calls me friend!

wednesday is the new friday!

my kids came home from school today talking about thanksgiving. they wanted to know what our plans were and how many days they get off school. i explained to them that they get wednesday through sunday off and that themr would be home also. (this is a really big deal for us since this is his first job where he gets paid holiday time! he used to only have the actual holiday off but no others) the bean said "so wednesday is the new friday?" i guess so! yay for government jobs.... we'll actually get to spend some time together.

can i be serious for a moment? i know that's not my normal M.O. but bare with me. i've been really stressed lately because i have no idea where i'm going to come up with money for christmas. with four kids and a huge family, that's stressful. i'm the kind of person who lies awake at night and obsesses about it. today i watched a documentary about poverty in america. they followed three families and their daily struggles. one of the families had five children and lived in a shack with no running water or electricity. both parents would go out each day looking for manual labor or odd jobs to buy food. neither had a high school diploma or car so there was little else they could do. it broke my heart. here i am worrying how i will buy my kids christmas presents, when people all over my own country are going to bed wondering if they will be able to feed their children tomorrow. or worse yet, worrying because they couldn't feed them today. i looked around my house and realized how very blessed i am. while i like to complain that we have six people in a two bedroom, one bathroom house; there are people who would weep to have this house. i have heat, electricity, water (clean water), clothes, food, gasoline, two cars, and so many toys that we live in constant danger of breaking a leg if we get up during the night. i have a marriage that gets better every year. i have four beautiful, healthy children. every day when i wake up i know that my kids will have a three healthy meals and warm clothes to wear. i have awesome parents and in laws. i have a big family who loves one another and supports each other through anything and everything. i attend a church full of people that are like a second family. my husband has a good job, health insurance and a pension. i am able to sacrifice luxuries so i can stay home and raise my children. i am so incredibly blessed. i just needed to say that.

jumpin on the bandwagon

Everybody's Doing IT
What about you? Are you doing IT? It seems that all my friends, IRL and in the blogosphere are doing IT. I want to jump on the bandwagon and do IT too.So please, I don't feel like being creative today. I'm turning it over to you guys. Ask me a question, any question. Ask me 1, 3, or 5 questions, or MORE. And then, hold on tight, I WILL ANSWER THEM. Oh la la. WOW. That's never been done before. I can hear a pin drop. The audience is gasping at the novelty of this idea. And then maybe, one day soon, I will turn the tables and ask YOU questions. Now wouldn't that be fun?For those of you who think you know everything about me, I bet you don't.

DISCLAIMER: i stole this from mommy mo:)
DISCLAIMER PART TWO: if anyone asks me if i'm having any more children i will strangle you.

yesterday my oldest daughter started her own blog! she enjoys reading mine and loves to write and asked if she could. i helped her set it up and send the link to her friends and family. she wanted to call herself "the miss". is that so cute or what? she has so many of my good qualities and not that bad ones. she really is the best parts of my husband and i. what a cool thing :)

music

i added a music player.... this would basically be the soundtrack of my life!

need some help from my blogger friends

ladies~ can someone please tell me how to get a new layout? one other than those provided by blogger?? i found one on a site i really like, but when i tried to put it on blogger said i would lose everything. i'm so confused. i get bored easily, need something new. just ask themr. he'll come home from work any random day and find me rearraging the furniture. any advice??

Christmas Pics!

we did pictures yesterday of the kids for christmas! that sweet baby girl is my neice.

haircuts for four kids: $45

coordinating outfits: $20

gas, suckers for bribing & time: $30

getting the perfect picture for the grandparents: priceless!

** pictures taken at emily's photography in south charleston, ohio. check out the website

emilysphotography.com! great deals, awesome pics! she also does pet photography!

i need....

MommyMo said i have to do this... i hope she has all those kids occupied to read this cause it may be long!
I have a new game to play. Would you like to play along? The more players, the more fun- promise!1. Write a post on your blog filling in the sentence- I Need......2. Leave me a comment letting me that you are playing along, that way I can go check out your list and see if I "need" to steal any of your "needs".3. Your list can be short or it can be as long as you like.4. Have fun, get creative.

1. i need an uninterupted phone conversation. it's like they have a radar "oh mommy is on the phone, i think i'll try to talk to her!"

2. i need a tropical vacation alone with my husband. one where we lay on a beach all day and someone brings us drinks with little umbrellas in them. we've never had one, we even had a kid on our honeymoon. A breastfeeding kid. and we forgot the packnplay at the airport so she slept with us. romantic, huh? (oohhhh.... so that's why you're supposed to get married before you have kids!)

3. a spa day. i've never had one of those either. i can't even remember my last haircut. with hair like mine you need to have frequent haircuts.

4. a new wardrobe. i've lost 45lbs since february so i am now wearing winter clothes from three years ago. it's not good.

5. a housekeeper. one who cleans, cooks, does laundry and runs errands. actually i'll run the errands, i need to get out of the house.

6. a tummy tuck and a breast lift. just because i've lost most of the weight, doesn't mean all this skin disapeared. you can't gain 60lbs four times and think the skin will not remain. it's sad really. these breasts have fed lots of babies and they show it. thankfully, my husband still thinks i'm hot.

7. i need someone to teach me how to eradicate tantrums for good. today is a day that one more tantrum might put me over the edge.

8. i need my husband to go back to working first shift. i'm not a fan of putting kids to bed alone every night.

9. i need to remember things better. i've always been your typical type A, always on top of things. every since kid number 4 my memory is shot. if i don't write it down, i will not remember.

10. i need the pink blackberry pearl. ok, i really don't need it, but really want it! it's so cute!!

ten things you can't live without if you're a mom!

10. bandaids, cause everything can be fixed with a bandaid
9. a vibrating bouncy chair so you can actually shower occasionally
8. a dvd player because even though before we had kids we said they wouldn't watch tv, eventually they outgrow the bouncy chair and you still need to shower
7. a pizza cutter! i use it for everything.... pizza, pancakes, spaghetti, pb&j
6. an extra large capacity washing machine
5. every dr. suess book
4. a dustbuster, because then even young children can vacuum!
3. a good coffee pot, unlike mine which leaks coffee all over the counter. since i enjoy having one more thing to clean up....
2. a girlfriend who has kids. no one else can truly understand what it's like to want to rip your hair out one moment and want to hug your child the next than another mom.
1. unending energy, creativity, patience, understanding, laughter, grace and most importantly love. and on the days that we don't have all of those, a husband who comes home with flowers!

tagged

Tagged!
So sassymomma Tagged me in a post... I have no idea what to put here so, I'm just gonna try my best.
Here are the rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random fact/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their name.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog.

1. all my kids except one were born on their exact due date!
2. i'm addicted to social networking sites
3. i can fit my whole fist in my mouth
4. i have slight ocd. i have to count the number of words people are saying if i'm nervous
5. i love coffee, its an addiction. i can't live without it
6. i have 2 tattoos and 6 peircings but i'm a conservative republican
7. i've never seen any halloween movies nor been trick or treating
8. my biggest phobia is fire.

i'm tagging lisa, mom on the run & emily!

of course, i went to vote this morning. i told the kids on the way to school that today is the presidential election. the conversation went something like this:

zaza: mommy, i think you should vote for george washington

the bean: you can't vote for him bubbi

zaza: why not? he's on money

the bean: because he's dead

zaza: i'd vote for him anyway, or for Jesus

the bean: Jesus isn't running

zaza: then i'd vote for the one who likes Jesus

so apparently a six year old gets it. i was proud :) then when we arrived at the polling place, the princess kept pointing to every man and asking if that was the president. i don't know how many times i explained to her that the president wouldn't be there. eventually she stated that he should be cause he's about to loose his job! that brought some amusement to several other people in line. outside the polling place, there were members of a certain candidate passing out bottled water and cereal bars. can you say desperate? i'm sorry but if you have to bribe people with breakfast to get a vote, it's time to wrap it up. anyway, wherever your political views lean, get out and vote today!
~on a side note, if you take your "i voted" sticker to any starbucks today, you can get a free coffee! sadly, we dont have one in our town. i did consider driving the 25 mins to the nearest just for my free coffee, but then i realized that's a some addictive behavior. but i sure do love some starbucks!