Can we get ONE good picture??

Today, Chon and the kids came over. Mikey had been really excited about it and looking forward to it since early on in the week. Every morning, he'd wake up asking if today was the day that "Tia Chonies was coming over". As soon as he woke up today, he said "Tia Chonies is almost here" and when I said she was on her way, he got so happy and excited! After we ate breakfast, Chon and I got to scrapping :) I only had one page planned and that was all I did too :( I haven't taken a picture of it yet because I am not quite done or happy with it yet. It needs "tweaking"...lol :) Chon and I both lifted the same one so when she posts hers, you'll see how different they look! After we scrapped for a while, we asked my mom to watch the kids so we could run over to Target because neither of us had gotten the kids their Easter gifts yet. I had gotten the kids something from The Family Christian Store last weekend....a daily devotional book for tweens for Lij and a DVD for Mikey. I like the DVDs they have there because they all have some kind of "moral". Since it "is" Easter and the reason for the holiday is about Jesus, I thought it was fitting for their baskets to have at least something like that in there. I also got Lij a hat we had seen at Target the last time we were there...he's liking hats right now. And some new earbuds for his Ipod because he lost his...he's also very irresponsible with his stuff right now...hope that's a "phase". For Mikey, I got him the "Bolt" DVD and some Playdoh. Mikey cannot get enough Playdoh! lol But we have to keep buying him new ones because he always leaves them laying out and they end up drying out. They never are the same once you start adding water to them to "moisten" them up. It wasn't the Playdoh set he had asked for...I didn't find that one, but I hope he likes it none the less. I also got them some cookie snack bags, chocolates, jelly beans, ect.
We picked up some McD's on the way back so after we had lunch, we got all the egg dying stuff out and set up the kids at the kitchen island to dye the hard boiled eggs Chon had made for Steve and the eggs I was going to use for cascarones. Chon had this really neat "egg spinner" machine and the kids loved using that. Those eggs looked really cool and "speckley". Of course, her kids wanted to use the regular dyes in the cups and my kids wanted to use the "spinner"! Ah, the grass is always greener...lol They all took turns and made quite the mess! Okay, not a big mess, but enough mess for us OCD people! LOL
Before Chon left, we wanted to get some outside pics of all the kids together...that was fun...NOT! I always forget how frustrating it is trying to get some good pics of the kids. They never all look at the camera at the same time, Mikey is always so uncooperative and running off, the kids end up making that "scary smile" and we end up just giving up! LOL Of ALL the pics we took...I think I got a "few" good ones, but mostly not so good ones! Don't they know we need good pictures to scrap?? Sheesh! lol :)
So that was our day. It was fun, and tiring and noisey, but the kids had a good time playing together and we had fun playing with our paper :)
Tomorrow. we need to get Mikey's hair cut and do our grocery shopping. I think we might go to church...not sure because I think this service is longer than normal and last week Mikey was getting impatient. It's also late in the day...5:30...Mikey is usually not at his best by the end of the day so we will see. Miguel works on Sunday...wtg River City, but whatever. We might go to my uncle's house for a bbq when he does get home. We'll see about that too.
Well, I hope everyone has a great Easter :)
Here's some pics to share :)
Blogger isn't cooperating so I'll upload tomorrow...it's late and I'm tired and we have to wake up early...more later :)

Today and I Am

I saw this on Lindsey's blog and thought I'd add this along with my "I AM" inspired from Estee's blog :) Not that any cares about all the things I have done today...but maybe...just maybe...lol :)

Today (so far) I have:

I woke up at 6:15
I turned off the alarm and went back to bed...lol
I woke up again at 6:30
I got Lij some breakfast..frozen waffles and juice
I went and woke up Lij
I came and sat down at the computer to keep myself awake
I helped Lij fix his hair
I sat with Lij until it was time to wake up Miguel
I woke up Miguel and walked them out
I went back to bed with Mikey...hee,hee :)
I woke up around 9:30 to Mikey trying to "sneak" off the bed so we came to the couch to watch tv.
I feel alseep...AGAIN...lol
I woke up around 11:00...YIKES
I got Mikey some breakfast
I made our bed
I made Lij's bed
I started a load of laundry
I put some clothes away
I mopped the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms
I vacuumed
I cleaned our bathrooms
I sat at the computer for a while and got a LO together
I talked to Chon on the computer while I got on the exercise bike
I sat down here again and updated my blog :)

That's alot of stuff for only half the day! Kind of makes me see that I really DO do alot around here!

Today I Am:

Reading: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman I've had this book since Vday..got it on sale at The Family Christian Store, but hadn't read it yet because I was reading another. But my friend Lori and were discussing some things the other night and I decided to start reading it instead. So far it's been VERY informative and I'm eager to find out what Miguel's "love language" is.

Listening to: STILL loving my Tenth Avenue North. I have it in my CD player in whatever room I'm in.

Obsessed With: Getting back into shape right now.

Thinking About: Elijah's Spring Break coming up and how I will deal with both Mikey and Lij 24/7 for TEN days!

Planning To: Scrapbook and hang out with Chon on Friday :)

Dreaming Of: Miguel's upcoming vacation :) A whole week of my baby :)

Enjoying: having Lij home. I go to bed so happy every night knowing that he is sleeping just a few feet away from me and he is well and safe and fed..thank God :)

Vowing To: Stick to my exercise routine and get back in shape.

Working On: Making a "puppet theater" for Mikey. I hope he doesn't 'wreck it'...lol

A Weekly Thing....

It appears to be that I'm only averaging a post a week as of lately. I've had nothing new to report..at least nothing interesting..lol So I wouldn't want to torture you all with the mundane details in my daily life as a SAHM! :)

I've still been working out...doing the bike every day. Although this week and last week, I was doing the preprogramed workouts that vary in resistance. The first couple of days, I only did the 20 minute workout to let my legs/body adjust to it and the rest of the days I have added an additional 10 minutes to get my 30 minutes of cardio. Thankfully, it's gotten easier. Maybe next week, I will step up to the second program. I've also added in some leg lifts...only 30 so far. I think next week, I will add in some crunches and/or situps. It's amazing the difference I have felt and seen in my mid section with just this little bit of "exercise" and drinking TONS of water. I'm very happy so far and I'm positive that I can get back to where I was before. I would really ultimately love to get back to running...can't believe I'm saying that, but I really did like it. Just don't know when or if that will ever happen. My ankle still looks the same, but thankfully not hurting as often as before although when it "does" hurt, it REALLY hurts :(

Oh, I'm also really excited about Easter coming up :) For the obvious reasons and because my "no shopping" promise will be over!! I am just so very proud of myself for sticking to it. And glad I did because I would have been so disappointed in myself had I not. I've also learned alot during this time as far as my shopping "habits" and have realized that some of my shopping is strictly impulse buying and I really need to work on that a bit more. Over all, I'm pretty good at that...at not buying stuff just because it's cute or new or "in". But there are those purchases now and then where I could have used that money on something I WOULD use instead of something that is just sitting in a drawer somewhere collecting dust. So, I've been keeping a list of things that I have seen that I thought I wanted and I was running through it the other day and I found there were alot of things I really didn't want so much anymore and I ended up scratching off at least half of my list. It wasn't a SUPER long list...lol...maybe 15 things which has now become about 8. I was thinking of maybe continuing this "wiser" shopping and giving myself a scrappy budget and ONLY spending that each month. This way I will know I only have x amount of dollars to spend and ask myself "do I really need this?" I think it will help me make smarter choices.

Speaking of scrapping, I was able to put this one page together over a span of two or three days. Not that it was that "complicated" of a page, but I was just doing a little here and there whenever I had the time. I really love the way it turned out. I used some of my newer MME and some older stuff like BG Urban Prairie as well. I love when I can incorporate stuff I've had for ages with newer stuff. Also love to put as many different manufacturers as I can on one page! LOL Me and my sis do this thing sometimes when the other does a page like this and try to name all the different brands just by looking at the page. Hey, there's a cool idea for a little RAK. I can post a page and see who can guess all the brands correctly! I was meaning to do an Easter RAK with some Spring/Easter stuff I got a while back, but time just crept up on me and now it's only a few days away. Still might do it. I don't think anyone minds getting an Easter RAK a little bit late :)

What else?? Still getting used to the whole waking up at 6:15 to get Lij ready and off to school. I am so NOT the morning person! I am such a grump when I'm tired/sleepy! lol Most days, I end up taking a small nap sometime during the day because I just cannot make it until bedtime...lol I wonder how Mikey does it?? :)

I don't think we have any "plans" for Easter Sunday. Miguel has to work...surprise, surprise....I thank God every day that in these times when lots of people are losing their jobs, that Miguel is still blessed to have one, but boy do I NOT like the company he works for. Do NOT get me started on that!

Oh, Chon is coming by on Friday with the kids to maybe do a little scrapping and just hang out. Lij starts his Spring Break next Monday, but he has early release on Thursday and off for Good Friday. And then he's off for a whole other week for Spring Break so I think he'll be off for a total of 10 days including the weekends. That will be nice...or torturous...we shall see...lol :) Miguel is playing Jesus in the reenactment of the crucifi...okay, I have to admit I have NO idea how to spell that. He is playing Jesus in a play where they crucify him...on Good Friday for our church. It's this play they put on in the actual streets surrounding the church. Miguel wanted us to go watch, but truthfully, I don't know that I would want to. I can't even watch The Passion of Christ w/out feeling sick to my stomache and crying like a baby. I don't know how I would feel seeing Miguel play that part. Although I know it's just a "play"...I don't know how that would effect me. So I think this year, I will pass...sorry, baby :) I know he'll do awesome though :)

Okay, I think that is it for now. I have some chicken lasagna cooking in the oven for dinner and I think I need to go ice my ankle because it's hurting :( More later :) Oh, and check back to see if I'm doing my giveaway. Which btw, I see that I have 18 followers, but rarely have comments from anyone other than my sis, or Gina or a few ppl who regularly post. Don't be shy :) Come on down! LOL :)

Thirty two

This page is another lift from muffyvan's gallery on 2 Peas. I really like her stuff...the whole "everything but the kitchen sink" style I really dig :) Most of the product on this is "old" and/or I got from my scraps stash.I really love it! This puts my page count at 32 for the year. Don't know if I'll reach 100 for this year...it's "possible"...we will just see :) Not much else going on....nothing new to report...no news is good news, right? :)

I LOVE this page!!

I saw this pic of my friend on Facebook and just LOVED it and knew I wanted to scrap it since I have NO recent pics of her. I was looking for something really GREAT to lift or get inspiration from because this was a very special page for me and I found this AWESOME LO on the Prima Marketing blog using the Mommy & Me papers. Of course, I don't have those because of the "no shopping for Lent" thing so I just improvised, but I LOOOOOVE the way it turned out! I usually don't use the exact papers and embellies when I lift a LO anyway. I'm going to send my friend a link to my blog so she can see the page for herself since she can't see it in person. She lives in Pennsylvania and we "met" on an online parenting site over 9 years ago. We used to chat on the computer...oops, no...WEBTV...lol all the time (this was before my computer days), send each other snail mail and packages and talk on the phone for hours on a pretty regular basis. Over the years, we have both had kids and gotten busy with our lives, but our friendship has still survived :) I really hope to someday meet in person, but even if we never do, I still love her very much and value her friendship :)

Over the weekend we went to that reunion of Miguel's at Chacho's. It was fun...his friends are really funny! Afterwards, we did our grocery shopping which was kind of nice because it was late and the store was pretty much empty. And we didn't have the kids so that was a plus. We got it done pretty fast. On Saturday, we took the kids to the movies to see "Monsters VS Aliens" but we didn't get to see it in 3D because that showing wasn't until 4:30. It was still a very good movie and the kids loved it. After the movie we ate lunch at Bill Miller's and then went to church. On the way home, we stopped and rented a movie...some Transporter movie I think it was....with Jason Statham I think his name is...don't know if I spelled it right. That is one HOT man!! I mean HOTTTT!!! lol It was a good movie. Also bought a Kung Fu Panda game for the kids to play on the XBox. On Sunday, we took the kids to walk at Woodlawn Lake....we only walked around the lake once because it was kind of windy and Mikey started coughing. I also got to do all my cleaning yesterday so that left me free today to do my scrapping :) Well, I actually did do "some" cleaning today and got on my bike too even though my ankle is really hurting. I did one of the preprogrammed workouts and it was HARD! It was only a 20 minute workout, but the resistance would change on its own from time to time and it went up to 6 at one point and my legs hurt and I wanted to stop...lol, but I didn't!
Hmmm...that's pretty much it for today. I can't even think straight..lol. I've been up since 6:15 and I'm sleepy and Mikey has been up just as long and he is at that point where he's REALLY tired even though I told him a MILLION times earlier to lay down and take a nap,but he didn't. So now, he is tired and wanting to take one, but can't because it's too late for a nap and he's cranky and making everyone just as miserable as he is! I don't like it when he's cranky!! But it's seven o'clock and I can give Mikey a bath in a while and hopefully that will keep him up until at least 9:00 and then I can put him down for the night...woohooo!! And then we will do it all over again tomorrow :)

How Lal Got Her Groove Back....

My scrappy groove that is :D I managed to do two pages late in the day today and finished the second one up a while ago. Both were lifts from someone named muffyvan on 2 Peas. I love her stuff...I have her bookmarked as one of my favorite artists. She has a style that I like to call "everything but the kitchen sink" LOL I just made that up...but because she can put all sorts of different "things", brands, colors, ect and it just "goes" and looks awesome. There are several people who have this style that I just LOVE. My dear friend Gina for instance whose blog I have linked in my sidebar :D See how I did that Gina...I just gave you a "plug"...is that what it's called? It sounds weird...lol

Anyway, umm...not much else going on here...still doing the bike...every day for 35 minutes which always comes out to 10 miles or a tiny bit more. My ankle is hurting less and less and I'm wondering if my theory of using it more/hurting less wasn't so off base. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I am definitely feeling a difference in my body and seeing some changes in my mid section. I hate that I got so off track because I had gotten so far and I was really loving running and now, who knows if I'll ever run again!! :( Oh rue the day I slipped and fell...LMBO...but I'm back on track and hopefully it will only get better :)

Plans for the weekend...tomorrow Miguel has another one of his "reunions" with his school friends. I think they are trying to make it like a monthly thing. This time it's going to be at Chacho's. I don't really want to go...I would rather stay home and spend time with the kids as a family because we never really get to, but Miguel said we'd only go for "a little while" and then we could go do our grocery shopping afterwards so we can get that out of the way and have less "errands" to run on Saturday. We want to take the kids to see "Monsters vs Aliens". It looks funny. I bet it will be good and the kids will love it. I think it's in 3D too which is always a bonus. Ugh, but they charge you so much for those dumb glasses. I think that if you already have them from previous 3D movies, that they should charge you less. Think about it....it would cut down on waste because you know alot of people don't recycle them. You bring them home and then you have like TWENTY pairs of 3D glasses that are good for nothing. Besides, if I paid like $4 or $5 extra dollars for them...I'm not giving them back to you, I'm KEEPING them...lol We also need to..well, I want to..run by Wal Mart to pick up a few things for the house. I can't remember if I mentioned on my blog that I gave up scrapbook shopping for Lent...I'm pretty sure I did. Anyway, so there has been NO scrapbook shopping for like four weeks now I think. It hasn't been too hard. Other than last weekend when Chon and I went to M's and I found an AWESOME MAMBI paper pad that I just LOOOVED and wanted SOOO badly!!! And in my head, I kept trying to think of ways around my Lent promise so that I could get it and then I felt bad for doing that because it is such a small sacrifice...nothing really..compared to what Jesus sacrificed for me. So I put it back. I only have two weeks to go and I know it will still be there later.

What else? I think that's about it. It's getting late and I'm still not used to this getting up at 6:30 a.m. thing yet...it's kicking my butt! So I should go...more later :)

Updating....

I can get so lazy about updating my blog! I didn't even realize it's been almost a week since I last posted.

There's been an unexpected change in our lives and Elijah is now back home with us. I'm glad he is...because I really missed him during the week when he was with his dad and I always worried if he was okay, getting enough to eat, taking his medicine...all those things, but I'm very sad, hurt and disappointed in the chain of events that took place that brought us here. So much has been weighing on my mind over the weekend, but I have decided that there is nothing "I" can do about it and I am handing it over to God and know that he can see the bigger picture and has His plans in mind, so I am just going to sit back and let whatever is to be unfold. Miguel has been a HUGE support for me. It's funny how alot of times I complain about the little things he does or doesn't do, but there are times when I really need him and he is there for me with just what I need. Thank God for him because sometimes I feel like he is my calm in this storm that goes on in my head. Either way, Lij is back home and happy, as am I. I went to bed Friday night with a HUGE sense of peace and thankfulness that he was sleeping only a few feet away and that he was not going to be leaving me any time soon :) Of course, the weekend that followed was full of shouting and refereeing fights between him and Mikey, but who cares! He is home and even if I have to yell all day...it's okay :)

On Saturday, Miguel had some stuff to do for this woman whose yard he cuts who just happens to live on the street we used to live on when we lived by Chon's. So we made plans to spend the day hanging out over there while Miguel worked. We went to M's, Hobby Lobby, Wal Mart and Target I believe. I got the kids some arts/crafts stuff...some pipe cleaners to make those Cheerios bird feeders on Estee's blog and I bought some things to make my own version of Estee's fishing game. I'm too lazy to sew...lol..so I got a couple of wooden dowels,a bunch of foam sheets, some self adhesive foam letters, and magnets to do my fishing game. I think I need to get some stronger magnets on my fish because you have to pick them up a certain way right now for the magnet to "take". And some of the google eyes keep falling off even though I used Glue Dots which SAY they are SUPER strong...NOT! Mikey really loves it. I have a deck of alphabet flash cards and what I do is show him a card, ask him what the picture is and then flip the card over and ask him what letter it is and then have him find it for me. We've played it like three times in the past few days and he is getting better at it :)

I also got these CUTE boxes they had in the M's dollar bins to put my pens/markers in. I used Velcro to hold them together. I think they look really nice and are very accesible to me now. I had also moved some stuff around on my tables on Friday so some stuff has a new home :)

Today was my first day getting up early in a LONG time. I set my alarm for 6:15, but didn't wake up until 6:30...VERY hard to get up that early again, but I knew I had to get Lij up and out the door by at least 7:15. I didn't wake up Miguel until 7:00 after Lij was dressed and had eaten breakfast. Miguel said they left with just enough time so now we know when he has to leave the house.

So since I got up so early, I started my day early and got all my cleaning done by noon. I did a little scrapping and did my bike workout and finished just in time to get lunch done so Miguel could eat after he dropped Lij off afterschool. I did end up "dragging" around four p.m. and ended up taking a two hour nap while my mom took the kids outside to play. Boy, I did NOT want to wake up, but I knew I had to get the kids dinner and start the night time routine. I know it's going to take a few days for my body to get used to this early rising so hopefully, I won't feel so tired tomorrow. I guess I should get to bed then, huh because it's almost one a.m. Miguel just got home a bit ago and is eating and watching tv so I think I'm going to hit the sack because six o'clock will come around all too quickly. Nighty night :)

Sidenote:My pages are lacking journaling...so any "empty" spots still need it. It's always hard for me to think of what to write, but I feel like I have to.

Exercising. Scrapbooking. Soup.

Today is my third day doing the bike. Yesterday was a good day...did 35 minutes/10.0 miles. Today, the same. I used a thicker towel on the seat and it wasn't so bad. It really is a very uncomfortable seat! Other than that, I really like it. My ankle is still hurting...not as much as that first night and I'm thinking...maybe the more I use it, the less it will hurt? It's just a theory :)

I was able to do a page today with some silly pics of Mikey I took a few weeks back. I used one of Stephanie Howell's pages for inspiration on my placement and can't remember who...someone I have bookmarked on 2 Peas, for color inspiration. I am very happy with it :)Oh, I also took a pic of my scrapbook area with my new table setup. I really like it :)

Today I made some homemade chicken soup...I've made it before and everyone just LOVES it! Too bad it wasn't a cold day. It was still super YUMMY :)

Mikey is on his third day of antibiotics and seems to be doing better. Last night, there was very little, if any, coughing and we got to sleep on the bed...HOOORAY!! I really needed some good sleep. I was so thankful that Mikey slept well too. I'm sure he was just as tired as I was and feeling pretty crummy I'm sure. So, he's getting better :)

That's all for now!

Back in the saddle again...

Yesterday, I put my exercise bike together. I was waiting for Miguel to do it, but he hadn't had time yet, so I figured I'd open it up and give it a try. He was the one who put my treadmill together and that was a long, hard process. I didn't think I'd be able to do this, but after pulling out all the parts which weren't too many and reading the instructions, it seemed easy enough. And it WAS! It only took me about thirty minutes. I think it might have taken me less time if Mikey hadn't been right there in the middle of it. It's not a big machine or heavy at all. It fit right into a corner I had cleared in our bedroom with room to spare, but it is "so" light, that I just pulled it out into the livingroom today when it was time for my work out. The seat is a bit uncomfortable...even for a "cushy" butt like mine! :D I tried "padding" it with a towel over the seat and that helped a tiny bit. Anyway, it's a very quiet machine and my ankle didn't even hurt until almost the end and even then it was very little...thank God. I did 35 minutes and I was able to do TEN miles! Funny how I can do 10 miles on a bike in 35 minutes, but on the treadmill in that time, I could only do 2 and a half miles at the most. So, today is my first day on my road back to getting fit. I have "felt" it these past months and SEE it too. I feel it in the way my clothes feel, the way my body feels....it has not made me very happy. But today, is the start of feeling better about my body again. It has been so hard these past three+ months not being able to do anything and just feeling my body "go". I hope and pray that my ankle will not be bothered by this. Working out today made me realize how even though I always hated it. I feel so much better when I "do" exercise and I really did miss the physical activity. So, I'll keep updated on how that is going.
Nothing else for now. Mikey is sick. He'd been coughing since Saturday night and that night was rough. I slept on the couch with him. Although "slept" is not the right word because we hardly got any sleep at all. Poor Mikey kept coughing the whole night long and I kept waking up every time he did thinking he was going to puke. And I was in an upright sitting position with him sitting in my lap too because for some reason, he seemed to cough less this way. Last night was a repeat of the night before and I told Miguel sometime in the wee hours of the morning, that I thought we should take Mikey to the doctor today. So we did. Throat infection and his ears were just starting too. Good thing we caught it early on. So he's on antibiotics and thankfully today, he hasn't coughed as much as he had the other days. I bought him a cough suppresent to give him later before we go to bed so hopefully we can both get some sleep tonight...LAYING DOWN because I am dragging. I got all my cleaning done today...good thing...nothing left to do all week except laundry and my "daily" chores. Maybe I'll get some scrapping done later in the week. I went by Home Depot this past weekend and got that 4 ft. table for my scrap area and I put my Cricut and paper trimmer on there for kind of a "cutting station". It looks nice. Now I have kind of a "c" shaped working area :)
Okay, I think I need to go lay on the couch. I tried to get Mikey to nap with me earlier, but he wasn't having it. I wish I had his energy! More later :)

My new glasses and some LOs

Chon came over yesterday and spent the night with the kids because Steve was out of town with work in Oklahoma. Lij came over last night too so we had a full house of kids. We ordered pizza and the kids played and watched tv while we scrapped. I got two pages done...yay! And it's two pages that I absolutely LOVE! We had a good time :)

This morning, after we had breakfast and we all got dressed, we headed out to Target just to get out of the house for a bit. I bought myself one of those hair straightener things like the one Chon has because I used hers in the morning and really loved it. I don't normally need a hair straightener to make my hair straight because I can get it that way by drying it with the blow dryer. But I usually do that at night after I shower and if I sleep on my hair...which of course I do...lol...it doesn't always look very good in the morning after I brush it out. So, this will help to straighten the parts that go all wacky! I didn't buy anything else really. We came back home, had lunch and then Chon and the kids went home.

I don't know what we have planned for tomorrow. I think I want to go to Wal Mart to get that small table for my scrap area and I need a set of bed risers to put it on too. We also need to do our grocery shopping, but other than that...nothing planned really. Maybe we will go to church. I want Miguel to put my exercise bike together so I can start using it next week, so hopefully, he can get that done.
Well, that's about it for now :)

This puts my LO count at 25.