Happy New Year's!

Psalm 20:4
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

Philippians 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Just a few verses to consider while your thinking on the new year and what that means for you!

This last one is my favorite =)

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

Already?

Well so much for jumping back into blogging! I can’t believe it’s already been a week! I guess with a birthday in our house and Christmas last week I should have known better.  So just to keep those interested updated the k on my laptop is completely gone, it was hanging on , then it was gone and their was this nub I was pressing, well after the last time one of kids used the laptop my k is now nothing! I just press the space were it belongs and bam *k* it feels quite odd to do it, but is actually working better than it when it was originally damaged. Okay now that you are all clued in about that I can move on…….

So I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a pretty good one, I’m going to try and find some pictures to share with you, so hold just a minute!

 

 

This was about all the pictures I got and then our camera was full, in fact this appears to be the only one I captured of  Baby Boy Christmas morning! 

I will be back soon, I promise! I’ve got a book I should have written a review on ages ago and something else I’m ‘supposed’ to blog about, plus I’m going to join the Body after Baby Challenge over at Mama Notes, so more about that soon!

Off to watch a movie w/hubby if we can stay awake!

Not Me Monday

 

Today is Monday, time to tell all to everyone who cares to listen (or read) and laugh with you at how ‘perfect’ you are! Head on over to MckMama’s to read everyone else’s NMM’s!

I surely have not been out of the  blogging loop for over a month! I didn’t decided that today is a beautiful day for hopping  back into the bloggy world!  I’ve not enjoyed my break one bit!

Today is not 2 days before one my children’s birthdays and only 4 days before Christmas, because if it was I surely wouldn’t still need to do quite a bit of shopping, not to mention wrapping! I’m not going to have to drive from store to store to find the toys that are apparently sold out because I waited so long! I don’t blame this one tiny bit on my husband who desperately wanted me to wait for him to shop! Nope, not me!

Today was not the first official day of my children’s Christmas break and I most certainly did not sleep in till 10 to have to reschedule the appointment I had at 10:15! It’s not 3:30 now and I’m still without a bra or proper clothes! I’m not going to have to around like a mad woman in a bit to have dinner and the house ready for when my hubby comes home at 6 so I can rush out and try to do some more shopping! That wasn’t a run-on sentence either,  I always use proper grammar since my mom was an English teacher and all ;)!

Our Christmas tree did not get put up last Monday to just finally get decorated yesterday! I would never do that!

And these most certainly weren’t the best pictures of my 4 kids together that I could get last week! I’m not having a hard time getting pictures because my memory card died in my camera and now I can only take 16 pictures at a time w/out removing them.  

Break

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm taking a short blogging break, but a bit longer than normal.........I will be back though and maybe I will have found some new perspective on things or maybe not. Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Not Me Monday

 

Ok, you know the drill right? It’s time to tell about all those things you might not normally admit, of course denying them all as you go along! Understand? Good!  Be sure and visit MckMama to read everybody else’s  NMM’s!

Today I will not write this post all about guinea pigs! Because we were not blessed with two piggies from freecycle with a full size cage and all after we’d put off getting any because of the cost!

But before I get started on the guinea pig thing, I did not think I needed to giveaway our hamster cage and supplies on freecycle since we’d been blessed that way! So after people not showing up and no more interest I did not list the cage and supplies on craigslist for $15. I did not get a response almost immediately. When the nice lady showed up and was going to walk away with it all, I didn’t ask her if she had the money on her? I did not feel awkward asking in the first place to then realize she didn’t respond to the craigslist add, she responded to the freecycle add. I didn’t feel slightly embarrassed and she didn’t offer me $5 which I promptly turned down, apologizing!

Here are our new girls we’ve had them about two wheeks! They don’t make all kinds of noises one of which is called a wheek!

So I don’t make these  girls veggie salads twice a day!

I don’t think it’s adorable how they squeak and jump when I take their food ball to fill with veggies! I’ve not gotten pooped and peed on by these sweet creatures. They don’t ever have poop on their claws when I pick them up, that doesn’t disgust me at all!

Even though these two girls live in my daughter’s room, I do not clean their cage and do most of the taking care of these two little cavies! We don’t call them the piggies and I’m not wondering if Baby Boy will be thoroughly confused about what a pig really is!

 

Gracie is the darker one and Mama is in the bag of hay (we left them with the names they came with)! In case you were wondering they are 2 1/2 yrs. old.

I did not make a play pen for them to be in on our porch and a lid for their open cage, since we have our sweet Lily who loves small animals a bit too much!  I would never devote that much effort, money and time to two rodents!

Even though these girls are supposed to belong to my girl, she’s still not a bit nervous to hold them!

I’m not going to leave you with a shot of the cage before we added the lid, we didn’t just get the lid on yesterday and therefore I’ve not snapped any pictures of that! And the cage doesn’t rarely look so clean because they don’t poop a LOT!

They aren’t a bit spoiled!

Winner

The Cheerios Gift Pack Giveaway is now over! I really enjoyed reading about everyones reading time with their kids! I have to say I used to be much better about reading with my kids when bedtime wasn’t so rushed with 4 kids and when they didn’t have to get up and go to school (we used to homeschool). I really  need to get back into some of my old habits of reading at least nightly with them. My younger two get read to the most, with Baby Boy taking the cake, as he is always bringing me books to read.

And yes I’ve picked a winner using Random.org and the winner is…….

#4 which was

Grace who said “Since I have 5 kids of very different ages I read to the 2 youngest and then I read to the middle one and have him read it back to me then I let the older 2 read to me.”

I really need to have my older two read to me more!

Congratulations Grace! You will be getting the Cheerios prize pack with a box of Cheerios, 5 books and a Barnes & Noble Gift Card!

Pictures Kids Take

Curly has his own camera that all the kids pass around from time to time, here is sample of what they choose to photograph. The quality isn’t that great, but you get the idea!

View Full Album

I’ve never done this put in pictures as an album thing before so I figured I needed to try it out…..

What Happened?

So that’s the question for this post!

What happened? What happened to the week? Where did the past two weeks go? In fact what happened to October how did that slip by me?  My contest for the great Cheerios gift pack ends Friday night at midnight, so there is still a bit of time to get yourself entered! Just once again wondering what happened to all that time….don’t let time slip away from you, make good use of it, enter my contest then go read some books with your kids, ya know, if you have any that will listen! 

And what happened to this picture? Just wondering if anyone can figure out all the things Sissy & I worked together to change in Photoshop on this picture? No prize, but I’m curious to see if anyone can list all the things that are changed =)! Of course some are more obvious than others, yes she picked out that lovely shade for her hair, lets hope she never decides she wants this color in real life!

So what happened to this perfectly good picture? Why did we have to go and ruin it?

What happened to that word verfication on my comments? I got rid of it, because I just noticed it was on there while glancing at some settings tonight! Aren’t you happy??

What happened to that book review I was going to do and forgot all about….hmnnn…..maybe I started reading Twilight again and forgot all about it….maybe……..

And what happened to that guinea pig post I was going to do? Have you seen it? Oh right that’s because I’ve not done it yet! Soon, I will get to that and I will show you a bunch of the pics I took at the park the day I took the one above! But for now I’m going to see if I can remove a child or two from my bed because there is no question what happened to my empty bed, the rugrats got to it first!

Friday Fragments

We got two guinea pigs yesterday and a post all about them will be coming soon!

Baby Boy still loves his doll!

I changed my book list in the side bar to a link with more details on some of the books, I’m going to ‘try’ and keep it updated.

Baby Boy took some of my keys off my laptop this week and now it takes a great effort to get the KKKKKKKKK to work! So if I start typing without K’s you know why! I never realized how much I use that darn letter!

Baby Boy is talking a bit more, or trying anyways.

My kids had a half day this Wednesday and next Wednesday they have no school and then in two more weeks they get a whole week off!

I’ve got a giveaway going on that I almost forgot about! So don’t you forget to enter, I promise it’s worth it! Just click here!

Go chec out Half-Past Kissin Time for some more Fragments!

His Doll

A kiss for ‘doll’!

Helping ‘doll’ rock on the horsey!

Patting doll to sleep with Sissy looking so proud at what she’s teaching him!

And last but not least a sweet, soundless video. Notice when he puts his finger to his mouth and blows it he is saying shhh, he does this when I sing to him, he knows I can’t carry a tune!

Not Me Monday

 

I can’t believe it’s Monday, October 26th November 2nd, it seems like time just flies by lately! So it’s time for another edition of Not Me Monday hosted by MckMama, it’s the blog carnival where we tell all our little secrets, ya know all the ‘not me’s’ of the week!

I surely did not just finish yesterday’s dishes at 3:00pm Monday, nope I’d never leave dirty dishes sitting around!

Just like I never ignore the fact that my toddler’s diaper needs a changing! I always change it as soon as I notice! So it would never happen that today when I was leaving to pick up Curly from preschool that Baby Boy signed poop and pointed to his diaper and I then inquired of him if did have poop for him to nod, yes. So at the point I most definitely did not throw him in the car, dirty diaper and all so I wouldn’t be late to pick up Curly! He did not fall asleep on the way home, so I didn’t have to wake him up at home to change his diaper that I delayed earlier. I never cause things like that to happen!

I did not (seriously) even manage to finish this post Monday, so I’m not scheduling it for next Monday so I’ll have something to post then!

Trick or Treat

Mostly treats around here, I forgot to get a shot of all the candy though!

My masked boys would only wear their masks for about 1 minute while I tried to get a picture and curly took off another part of his costume too! Next year we will pick costumes w/out masks!

If you were wondering Baby Boy was a dog, his head is behind him and Sissy is a vampire princess or something like that, also Curly is a ninja and of course PJ is Darth Vader!

    

This is someone else’s giant pumpkin!

 

Curly kept throwing his basket in the stroller to get on Daddy’s shoulders, also you might notice Sissy and Baby Boy used Easter baskets! Baby Boy really started to like going up to the door and getting candy! There was one person who opened their door while laying on the ground with a spooky mask and he started to turn from that one, but the guy took of his mask.

He wouldn’t let go of that pail until we gave him a lollipop!

This was actually the first I remember ever having him sit in the stroller unbuckled and having him hop up and down, he kept running back to take his seat after he got his candy! I’m normally big about buckling him in.

Oh and one more thing it was hot out! Hot and humid, if you notice how curly Curly’s hair is in the pictures, that is because he was very sweaty! I was glad I didn’t have on a costume!

We went home and finished watching Ice Age 3 which I rented and let them eat 5 pieces of candy each, then it was late to bed!

Today I think we are switching the boys room with the Baby Boy’s . That should be fun!

Exhausted

I feel like I’m always tired and always a few steps behind where I want to be with things! I’d really like to fix both of these things, any suggestions? Maybe  I could pawn off all my kids on one of you for a weekend  and then drink a bunch of caffeine (which I quit, mostly) and get caught up! Sounds good, I just need to do this once a month or so!

Anyways, I have no pictures to post but I’m sure I will after tonight, of course you might not recognize them, but you can try! Okay I’m off to work on a bit of catching up around the house and to chat with hubby!

What are ya’ll doing tonight? Anything exciting? I think we’re just trick or treating with our family and going to bed, okay maybe we’ll watch a movie or play a game before bed  and I’m going to try and do some muffin or cookie baking just because it seems like a good day for that!

Don’t forget to enter my contest!

My Book List

So I realized that I can't keep all the books I've read in the a list on my sidebar so I decided to make them on a separate page and just link in my sidebar for those who might be interested! I've missed quite a few but am going to try and keep better track now that I'm doing it this way and may occasionally write a brief opinion or fact!
A Mitford Trilogy by Jan Karon ~ starting with At Home in Mitford, very, very good and what I'd call heartwarming, I've actually read past the first three books, not sure how many there are but I've read (or listened to) five now and I know there is more. Sweet stories about an Episcopal preacher that will mostly keep you turning the pages for more, they have a similar feel as a James Herriot book!
A Map of the World (Oprah's Book Club) ~ don't read this if you don't want to be slightly depressed and crying. It had a lot of dark subjects in my opinion!
The Shepherd's Voice by Robin Lee Hatcher ~ I really felt like I learned more about being a good Christian woman from reading this book, I loved how much the lead woman- Akira- talked with God and repeated scriptures to herself, plus it was just a good book.
Ezekiel's Shadow by David Ryan Long

Violet Dawn (Kanner Lake Series #1) and Coral Moon (Kanner Lake Series #2) ~ these are Murder Mystery's written with a Christian perspective, easy reads, not too deep, but I'll probably finish the series.

Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson ~ aimed at teens, I let my 10 yr old read these and she loved them! I liked them pretty well myself.

The River Wife
Cross Country
The Poisonwood Bible
Face of Betrayal
The Other Side of Silence
The Twilight Saga
A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards: A Novel
Merciless ~ great Christian Science Fiction Trilogy
Fearless
Relentless

Update 7/2014
I've read so much since I last posted on here, so here are some I can remember

Most everything by Charlaine Harrisincluding
The Sookie Stackhouse books - While I loved these fun books, I did not like what I saw of the True Blood show based on these books.
The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries - Small town librarian solving mysteries.
And most recently Midnight Crossroad - this one took a little getting into, but I liked how it incorporated characters from her other series.

I'm currently rereading the The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
 to analyze for my own YA writing - I enjoyed the first two but not third so much.

I also really enjoyed her Gregor the Overlander books. unfortunately I couldn't my kids into these ones, though my older two read the Hunger Games. 

I recently read the grown up book

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson - this was different for me, it took awhile for me to figure out who was talking - It centered around a very small town social worker in the early 80's. The ending sort of tapered and off and left me feeling incomplete. 

I've also managed to hit some non-fiction writing books in search of help

My favs so far are Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers
 -this one I've read the most of

and Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies

I'm not good at completing non-fiction books, I usually just read parts. 

.