Sorry! The addy is: http://okimlosingit.blogspot.com . I'm not worried about when you change me on the list De'Etta. Just whenever you do the next one. No biggie. I figure if anyone wants to read my blog they'd follow me from here....

Jen

I'm moving....

I've decided to move my blog here. Just wanted to keep this one here at HSB for a few weeks giving everyone a chance to meet me over at my new one. I will probably be deleting this one at the end of Sept. Hope to see you over at my new one!

Jen ºÜº

P.S. I've enjoyed being part of HSB, just looking for a change.

De'Etta, I just saw your comment on the post a couple of days ago calling me "The Scorpion Slayer", if I was drinking something I would've spit it across the room! LOL It does have a nice ring to it....(VBG)

Today was our second day back to school and I'm encouraged about the rest of our year. The kids are doing great so far and are very eager to learn. We started learning about the body today too. I know it's sticking because Brandon was telling daddy tonight at dinner that we have teeth for "tearing/biting" and teeth for "crunching". I told them next time we're going to be learning where the food "goes". He'll sure have a lot to tell daddy at dinner then, I'm sure. LOL This is my daydreamer, so to hear that something is "sticking" makes me happy!

We had a meeting at church tonight for this year's AWANA workers. It started at 6:30pm and ended just before 9:00pm. We ended up at Denny's for dinner since hubby hadn't eaten yet and tonight is their "Kids Eat Free" night. Our family can eat there for the same amount that it costs us if we were to go to McD's or Burger King or something.

Right now I'm printing off business cards for hubby for his employees. Hubby has been swamped at work. He's down a Human Resources Manager so that means that he's doing THAT job in addition to his. That is alot of work considering their whole business consists of providing employees to their clients. His bosses are cutting him no slack either so he's really rundown and stressed right now. So, I'm going to be up for awhile getting some stuff done for him. On that note, I better go so that I can get this stuff done. This would go some much faster if I could do this on my computer instead of his laptop...

Jen

I typed up a huge long post about my weekend, complete with pics last night then when I pushed "post" it didn't work and erased my whole post. I opted to head to bed instead of composing it again. Here are some edited portions of last night post....

Friday: Had to take mom to the dealership to have her car worked on. Spent the day doing Walmart, Payless Shoes, Joann Fabrics, and then Savers (thrift store). We were on the hunt for some good fabric at least 60% wool for a sewing contest that Hannah will be doing. She has to do the whole project herself, we can only be there to advise/suggest we can't touch it in any way. We're hoping she can make a simple skirt and matching vest and then *maybe* a hat. We picked up a wool blanket that was pink/cream check to use. I'm hoping to find some reasonably priced burgundy and some cream to use as floral accents. Wool is so very expensive and pretty hard to find in Az.....I also picked up a couple of "baby" things that were really cheap and I just couldn't pass them up.

Gender neutral, brand new condition, and totally cute. Do you blame me? They will be even more perfect if we have a little Violet...

Saturday: We headed out again to Goodwill this time. We were on the hunt for a decently priced dresser for Matty. The boys' dresser was overflowing with clothes-time to move one out. I ended up with a really nice solid wood desk that was $25. Kinda weird using a desk as a dresser, I know, but it works for what we need it for. The top will make a handy "diaper changing" area, the drawers are plenty large enough for his clothes, and the space where your legs would go, will work great for him to slide a toy bin into. Saturday night I started working on some baby blankets that I'm making for friends and family who are having babies within the next 6 months or so. This is the first one so far...4 more to go!

They are made from "baby" chenille and flannel and so soft and snuggly!

Today we started back to school. Had a rough start this morning and really trying to get myself into a regular schedule. The kids were a little wiggly but we got it all done. I'm doing Saxon Phonics K with both my 6 yo and 4 yo and they are both "getting it". My 4 yo's fine motor skills are not as developed yet but he's right up there with the 6yo in memorizing the letters and sounds. Both my 7 yo and 6 yo LOVE math and would sit and do it all day if I let them. My 4 yo is chomping at the bit to do it as well but we've gotta get him memorizing his numbers and doing his counting first. We all sat down and actually played a *game* today. I really am NOT fond of board games, ESPECIALLY kids ones. But, I did it anyways and we all had a good time. Even my 2 yo had fun, he kept asking me "My turn!?!". I'd say "not yet..." and then he go "K!". It was too cute...

I headed out this evening to take Penny to the groomer. I know, it seems like such an extravagence but I can't *stand* cutting her nails. I figure it's worth the $10/month to go have her done. I do give her a bath though about halfway in between and clean out her ears every other day. Bassets are known for "smelling" and it's mostly because of their "hound ears" so I keep them clean.

Well, the diet subject has been brought up again. Becky just joined WW and is wanting me to check it out. I've been wanting to get back into it but right now I'm kinda waiting until I know if I'm pg or not. Won't really be able to find out for another week or so. I'm trying to eat healthier and chose a buffet restaurant tonight instead of Wendy's for dinner while I was waiting for Penny. I was able to have a salad and grilled chicken and even had some SF pudding for dessert. Not trying to lose weight at this point just looking to make better choices. I'm also on a juice kick. I figure if I want something instead of water to drink, a little juice is healthier than soda and I can get some extra vitamins that way. Sooo I am working my there, just kinda in limbo right now until I know for sure. If the past is any predictor of the future I'm really expecing a + result next week, but God is ultimately in control and it might be a "no" for now. I'm ok with that too. Then, I can get myself back into "shape" and then sometime next year start thinking about a baby again, or maybe not. Hubby has kindof started panicking thinking about another. I thought he was ok with it, but maybe God needs to work some more in his heart first. I think the biggest thing for him is the financial responsibility of a child and the medical bills right off the bat. He's really working towards paying off our debt and is probably looking at it as "2 steps forward, 1 step back". If it wasn't for the money, he would be right there with me 100%.

Well, I better go. I'm determined to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. Might not be able to fall asleep but at least I can say I went to bed early.

Jen ºÜº

Today I awoke with a "BOOM!". A monsoon storm rolled in around 7 am and was so strong it literally shook my bed. I thought, "Oooh! today is a good day to all snuggle up in mom's bed and watch cartoons and listen to the storm." My children had other plans....everyone kept bugging each other or wrestling so that didn't last very long.

We got up and I started making breakfast when our doorbell rang. The kids all ran to the front window to see who it was and started yelling "Mom, it's a LADY!" "Mom, it looks like that neighbor lady across the street!". Mind you, we had just gotten up and I had a 4 yo totally naked because he had wet the bed and was getting clothes to change into. I answered the door in my pj's. What must she think of us? We had gotten her whole stack of mail in our mailbox about 3 days ago. We had repeatedly gone over there and knocked on their door to give it to them, but they were never home. So, I decided yesterday to leave a note on her garage door. So she stood there holding the note, all of the marker ink had bled except my house number so she wasn't sure what I wanted. I handed her her mail before she could really ask. She went on to talk about how scary that is, that the post office gave me all her mail etc. I agreed and she thanked me and went on her way. I went back to making breakfast and was thinking to myself, "You know what's REALLY scary?" "Where's the mail that we SHOULD'VE gotten that day?" We haven't had any neighbors hunting US down to give us our mail.....

After that, we all took showers and got dressed for the day. I decided last night that we're going to move the kids' rooms around a bit so we're continuing our "Spring Cleaning" mission for the week. We got the whole downstairs done except the kitchen, which I'll do tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll also start to tackle the upstairs. Not much to do up there really. I've just got some leftover stuff in the old schoolroom which needs to come out so that we can make room for Hannah to go in there. On Saturday I hope to take down the boys' beds and put up their bunkbed. Actually one of the boys' beds will go to Matthew (2 1/2yo) in his room. It has rails all along the side so that he can't fall out. Also on Saturday, I hope to hit the Goodwill and Savers (Value Village in Wa.) to try and find a decent dresser for him so I can set up his room. Right now we have his clothes in the same dresser as the other two boys, in their room. Not too convenient.

I took Penny to class tonight. Was a little exhausting the last two weeks. Tonight we started to teach them to "Stay". Then to stay with distractions. Training dogs is hard work I tell ya'. It will be worth it though, if when It's all said and done, that I have a calm and obedient doggie. Never had one of those before. Now, if I can just figure out how to adapt these lessons to my kids......just kidding! (VBG)

Jen ºÜº

Today was pretty uneventful as well. We did run up to church so that I could pickup my Sunday School materials for my SS class. I teach the 2's and 3's. I had to have someone fill in for me this weekend since we were in Tombstone. This next week is the last Sunday of the Summer quarter so I picked up my new materials for Fall quarter as well. 

 We went out to dinner with Mom tonight. We went to Garcia's mexican restaurant. Of course I didn't have anything "healthy". Mexican is the WORST place to go if I'm trying to be good, I LOVE IT TOO MUCH!

One interesting thing DID happen on the walk that I took Penny on tonight. A bark scorpion ran across the sidewalk right in front of us. You know that nasty kind that stung my baby a couple of months ago and landed him in the ER at 4am. I was wearing sandals and was afraid to actually step on it, afraid that it might sting my foot somehow. So, I took off my sandal and threw it down until I squished the little bugger, while holding my bare foot in the air, and holding the puppy's leash. I must have been a sight to watch! Oh well, THAT one won't be travelling our way any time soon......LOL.

Well, better go. I'm going to earnestly try and get my schedule changed to a more normal one. I've been an insomniac since I was like 4yo and have been going to bed around 2am since I was around 14yo. It's a hard habit to break!!! I've tried and tried and tried. I finally tried a melatonin supplement so that I could go to sleep "naturally", BIG HUGE FAT NO-NO!!! Never again! NOT good if you're prone to depression already....

Jen ºÜº

Here are the pictures of our weekend in Tombstone. I forgot to post them the other night...

The kids and Grammy swimming at the Motel 6.

Matty finally trusted Grammy enough to get into the pool with her.

The "Ok Corral" reenactment.

Matty on a saddle in the Tombstone courthouse.

Jacob's turn in the saddle.

Brandon not very happy to be posing for mom.

My "big" girl taking her turn in the saddle.

Our family after our wagon ride tour through Tombstone.

This is how I found my son sleeping in the van on the way home from Tombstone. I had to check to see if he was breathing, lol. Funny boy!

This is how my boy ate dinner last night. Still tuckered out from our weekend jaunt.

Ok, had to sneek one in of Penny. She's sitting so nice for mommy! Looks like she's smiling a bit too....

Jen ºÜº

Nothing too interesting happened here today. Got a little more housework done. Mom came over and made some phone calls and looked at the classifieds online.

I spent a good part of the afternoon arranging for "speakers" to come out to give a presentation/workshop to our "SLArizona Eastside Playgroup". I volunteered to be the "Eastside Speaker Coordinator" and also the "Mom's Night Out Coordinator". This is HUGE for me as I'm so shy and really mostly like to be a recluse, but I'm forcing myself out of my comfort zone and getting involved in things this year! My kids will be soooo happy!!! I'm part of two groups this year, my church's homeschool group, and the Sonlight Arizona Yahoo group. They each have a monthly park day. My church's one also has field trips planned, which is why I changed the focus of our history and science mid-year (for us). The Sonlight one has field trips which we probably won't attend much of, but they also have the Mom's Night Out and also co-op classes which we might do some of. I'm thinking of having my dd do the cooking class and we're putting each of the kids in a class at the YMCA. We just joined last week so we could get the kids in some "activities". We're going to have a busy year!!! 

The kids got along pretty well together today, a little tiff here and there but nothing major. The puppy had alot of energy today though. I was constantly trying to keep her from jumping on the kids. I can't wait until she's a lazy old bassett!

The kids are wanting to start school. I'm hoping I can stall until next Monday so I can get caught up on the house. I got them interested in the math blocks and some games and that seemed to satisfy their itch for learning.

We rented The Shaggy Dog (the new one) last night so the olders could watch it. They got a kick out of it. Tonight they watched The Incredibles, another movie we rented last night. They can't get enough of the "superhero" type movies like Sky High, The Incredibles, Rescue Heroes, etc...

Jen ºÜº

By mommy2fourc's, here are my answers....

5 things in my freezer: 

1.  A roast

2.  frozen veggies

3.  Ice cream

4.  2 loaves of bread

5.  Cool animal-shaped gel ice packs Grandpa and Michelle sent the kids!

5 things in my closet:

1.  Shoes

2.  Cowboy hats

3.  A baby gate

4. An antique quilt

5.  Coats/jackets

5 things in my car:

1.  A Tombstone newspaper reprinted (forgot to bring it in)

2. 4 car seats

3. Garbage (only a little, I cleaned out the van finally!)

4.  Sticky stuff in my cupholders

5.  Sunshields on the the windshield (finally got some and they really work!)

5 things in my purse:

1.  Wallet

2.  Checkbook

3.  Cell phone

4.  Keys

5.  gum

(I stole all of mommy2fourc's answers!)

5 things in my wallet:

1.  Library card

2.  Drivers License

3.  Debit card

4.  Receipts

5.  Pics of my kids

5 people I tag:

1. Not2many

2.Ok, I'm also losing it! 

3. MLPinky

4. Kelly's Weightloss

5. DMalament

I'm still alive and kickin'. I know it's been a few days since I last posted and my last post was such a "downer"....don't mean to be downer to anyone. Think of it this way, if I'm posting in my blog, I'm forcing myself to do something "normal" and refusing to let myself sit around and be depressed!

We went down to Tombstone again on Saturday and stayed the night. My grandparents came over with my two oldest and stayed the night as well. They had a fun time swimming in the motel's pool on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Then on Sunday after lunch we headed to Tombstone. We got there in time to see the reenactment this time and my grandfather was so wonderful to watch our puppy for us so that we could go see it and the rest of the town. It was a funny sight, my grandfather sitting outside of the tavern with a baby bassett hound attached to the leg of his chair. They got so much attention from the people going in and coming out it was too funny! I think my grandpa enjoyed the attention as much as the puppy!!!

After the reenactment, we met up with my grandmother at the Courthouse again. It was more fun with the two olders as I was able to actually "teach" them a little more about the exhibits than the younger two had the attention for last time. After that, we walked downtown and visited some shops. We stopped by the Epitaph which was the old newspaper printer and we picked up a reprint of the newspaper printed the day after the "Shooting at the Ok Corral". I haven't had much time to really look it over or read it yet but it looks interesting. After that, we went on a wagon ride tour through Tombstone. The driver tells about the points of interest along the way, Wyatt Earp's house, etc....it was worth the $$$ as it gives you a visual layout of where things are/were. After that we had dinner with my grandparents and headed home. We got home around 10:45pm and only got the essentials unloaded from the van as we were all tired.

Today we made a Walmart run to get garbage bags along with some other things. Got home and started unpacking the kids' trip stuff. They came home with at least 2X what they left here with! Gotta' love Grammy's!....

I really miss her and wish they lived a little closer to us. They are only 6 hours away but it makes for a looonnnggg weekend so we don't do it much. Maybe hubby will get that Albuquerque office and we'll be even closer to El Paso!!

Ok, on to another topic. This is a secret now, so don't tell anyone....(VBG). My husband informed me this weekend that he will no longer "worry" about having another baby. I've had "baby fever" for at least 5 months now and have been hinting here and there but not pressuring him in any way. We finally had the "talk" this weekend and it started with him saying "You REALLY want 5 kids!?!". I told him I'd at least like one more, but that I didn't want to pressure him into it as it's a big responsibility. Well he thought about it for awhile and decided that it wouldn't be too "horrible" if we had one more. Yay!!! Becky, iffin' things happen this month, it might be that May baby that you've been bugging me to have! LOL

Things are kindof "rough" still with mom. I've made huge strides as far as that's concerned though. I've somehow managed to "remove" myself from her situation so that I can be "here" with my family again and get things on track. I was too involved in her "stuff" that I didn't have anything left for my own family. I haven't turned my back on her or anything, don't want to give the wrong impression, but I've just emotionally removed myself from her problems. I've done what I can do and the rest is up to her. I can't go "down" with her, but I'll be here for her when she wants to come back up....

We're getting the olders settled into life here again and we're working on "spring cleaning" the house so that we can start school again on Monday. Good thing we school year 'round because we take so many "life breaks" that it takes us a whole year to get things done. I've also gone to two homeschool meetings this month and have found some new focus for history and science this year. For science we're going to major in the human body and minor in the SL's science projects. For History we're going to major in Arizona history (because we're here right now) and then minor in the ancient history from SL. Hope I don't confuse the poor kids! If it gets to be too much I'll drop the SL stuff and go with the topical stuff as it's relevant to us right now and they'll retain more of it than reading from books or textbooks about it later.

Ok, that's all the exciting things going on around here.

Jen

Yesterday I was bummed once again. I went with mom to take one of her dogs to the Humane Society. We went to the location that was closest to our house, still 45 mins away, and learned that they don't take "turn-ins". So, we got back into the car and headed for the other location, another 45 mins away from that one. When we finally got there, they had a sign up saying that they were full. I was so frustrated as this is a hard thing for my Mom to do and it's so hard to convince her that this is the right thing to do and we just keep hitting a wall so to speak. So, on the way home she was telling me that her vet had told her that there is some medication that she can give the dog that will calm her down and hopefully stop any aggression. It sounds good and all, but this is more than just the dogs being aggressive. My mom needs to get HERSELF in order and stop worrying about these silly dogs. In my opinion if you have to medicate them to make them civil around people/each other, and you have to spend money that you don't have to take care of them, and you have to keep them physically apart from each other in the apartment so they don't get into a fight, it's time to do something!!! Why can't SHE see this???? I mean, am I really being THAT unreasonable???? If it comes down to it, I guess I'll have to be firm with her, as it was in the contract, that she had to at least give one of them up, and she could keep the other one, so long as the training didn't cost too much. That's another thing, the training is going to be more than I feel she can afford so I'll probably have to deal with that when it comes up too.

Note to self: Don't become an irrational/unlogical/irresponsible person when your kids move out of your house. They don't need to be taking care of you when they are trying to raise their own kids too.......I should at least wait until I need diapers (VBG).

Thanks,

Jen

208/186/168/130

Here are some pictures from the last week or so. Didn't have as many as I thought I did and some I just didn't want to post here. There's one of Matty proudly showing off his "big boy" spiderman undies, which I deemed inappropriate for "cyber-lurker viewing" (don't want weirdos seeing my boy in his undies!), and then some more of Penny, which I'm thinking you all are getting tired of seeing. Anyways, here are the ones I COULD post.

These first ones are of my "cowboys" Jake and Matthew.

(Disclaimer: He's not "shooting" me, he's showing you all his new gun.)

We went to a place called Rawhide last weekend. The boys are wearing their cowboy hats that they got there, the guns were purchased at Walmart for 1/4 of the price of the ones they were selling at Rawhide. When we went there we were hoping to learn more about the "wild-wild west" as we've gotten quite the itch since we visited Tombstone a few weeks ago. It turned out to be nothing more than a highly commercialized fake western town. We went to a couple of shows which were pitifully ridiculus and visited a couple of giftshops and snack stands to get some drinks. There really wasn't a whole lot to do there and we were really disappointed. They have a steakhouse there and I suspect it's a way to get people out there to eat at the steakhouse. Oh well, at least we can say we've been there, and the boys at least had some fun.

This next pic is of my now "terrible-two-year-old" Matty getting into the laundry detergent again....for the third time this week. Grandma is making HIM clean it up this time...I've now since MOVED said detergent to a much safer area.

B-Dee, B-Dee, B-Dee, that's ALL folks!

Till next time,

Porky the Pig

(I mean Jen. Although I DO feel like a pig right now, VBG!)

Well today I started out really good on my diet. Even drank a bunch of water. Then I bombed again with dinner. We took Mom to the mall to get her some new clothes for work and job interviews. We didn't end up getting dinner until 8:00pm and we were all *starving* by then. Everything looked good of course and I ended up with chinese food instead of the a salad I had planned on getting earlier in the evening. One more day ruined and one more "start day" ruined.

I'm really wanting my life back in "order" like it was 2 months ago. We were finally on somewhat of a schedule for once in our life, I was doing really good with my Bible studies, I was able to stick to my diet and eat "healthy", I was able to excercise regularly, etc...but right now I just feel like I'm in a perpetual state of chaos. I don't really feel like we can "have" a schedule with my two oldest being gone and us not doing school or any of our other "regular" stuff. There really just seems like nothing to do but housework and helping my mom get her stuff together/accomplished. I really don't like the "fly by the seat of your pants" way of living and that's how I feel right now.  The only way I know how to explain it is you know when you're first learning how to ride a bike? You start out and are all wobbly and fumbling and don't get very far? Well, that's how I've felt most of my life. Then from about April-June I felt like I had finally learned how to ride my bike and was riding down the street with the wind blowing in my hair. Now, I feel like I'm back to wobbling and fumbling around again. So, right now I'm venting all of this out into cyber world and trying to make some sense of all of this. I DO know that God is the God of order and not chaos, so I really need to get this straightened out again. If not for me at least my kids and family.

One thing I think I've decided that I'm going to do before starting my "diet" again is trying to compile a list of scriptures pertaining to food/eating. If you have any can you please throw some my way? Even ones pertaining to God as our comforter, bread of life, living water. You get the idea? I'd really appreciate it a whole lot. I'm not really looking for book recommendations at the moment as I want to study God's word first, without having an author's viewpoint steering my thoughts one way or the other, I want the Holy Spirit to lead my thoughts instead.

Also, any scriptures related to childrearing/disciplining would be great. This has been heavy on my mind for about 2 months now and I just need to make the time to study this out. I've read a couple of books and have started another one recently but you know what? I want to go off of the Word for now and let the Holy Spirit lead me. I can always see good points and bad points in every book (except the Bible) and I just need to focus on what God wants or says, not what some author has come up with as "truth".

Thanks,

Jen

208/186/168/130

Ok Becky I'm game! I'll start first thing in the morning. Not sure if I can hit the gym as of yet but I'll definately start my "diet" tomorrow.

About the Feingold diet, it's more than just what has been going on lately. This child (Jake) has been a challenge since he was 1 1/2 years old. It's more than discipline issues I suspect as he gets so "out of control" sometimes. I'm also looking at a more healthy lifestyle in general for us all. I know the kids will resist at first but it IS my God-given responsibility to feed my children healthy food and to teach them proper eating/lifestyle habits regardless of what THEY think they should be able to eat/do. I just gotta get MY habits under control again (Ha!) and then I'm thinking of tackling a Feingold or organic diet, still on the fence so we'll see...just clarifying things a little.

Had a busy day today. I dyed my hair, got some appointments made for Mom, got a paper faxed to my Dad, got Penny her shots and some meds, and got Matty a haircut. Then hubby took us out to dinner again. He knows I've been overwhelmed lately so he's trying to ease my load a little. When we got home, we all went for a walk with Penny. Then I did her training and she finally learned how to "fetch" a toy. After that, I gave her a bath, did a load of laundry, and now we're getting the boys ready for bed.

Jen

208/186/164/130

"WE can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13

"This I say then,walk in the Spirit,and WE shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal.5:16

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer"
Romans 12:12

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Weigh-in this morning was 164. I did gain a little but there are certain reasons for those 2 lbs. I think as I'm PMS'y right now. Today was spent running around and getting mom's affairs in order. I wasn't able to start my diet (again!) because we were on the go all day. An excuse I know, but really it was lack of planning on my part and we were concentrating our efforts on much more important things. Mom's decided to keep one of her dogs and it's the one that I didn't think should be "kept" but her reasoning made sense to me. I told her that it would be ok so long as she is able to get some good training for her and that she won't be a danger to other dogs or people around her when the training is finished. I hope I'm making the right decision...

Hubby got home late from work, and we were organizing Mom's bills all evening and so we ended up going to Burger King for dinner. My plan was to let the boys run off some of their energy in the play area but that didn't end up happening. They were not very well behaved today, and I had gotten completely fed up with it by the time dinner was over, so we left early. I'm really considering doing an organic or Feingold diet. I just can't quite take the plunge though for some reason. Guess it seems too overwhelming right now. Not sure if my 4 yo's acting up is due to food or from the "stress" hanging over our household. I think we've been handling things pretty well lately but you know how kids can pick up things like that. Also, his older brother and sister have been gone for 2 weeks and I think he's just feeling "funky" lately, well I guess we all are to some extent. The two year-old is just being a two year-old! He's the one that waited the longest before going into that "terrible two" stage and I've been so thankful. He's been my "easiest" one so far, so I hope this phase passes really quickly! I miss my "sweet" little boy! He's still sweet, but you know what I mean...

Today was our 12 year anniversary like I said yesterday. My sweet hubby brought me home a bouquet of pink and red roses and a very nice card. He told me when we left BK that he needed to stop at the store on the way home and get something, I never caught on though, as it was a total surprise when he brought the flowers in. God gave me such a wonderful man!

208/186/164/130

"WE can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13

"This I say then,walk in the Spirit,and WE shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal.5:16

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer"
Romans 12:12

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Tomorrow is the 12th anniversary of when my hubby, then 16 asked me to be his girlfriend. Wow, 12 years....doesn't seem like it could be that long! We used to go out and celebrate but we somehow dropped that tradition along the way. Not even sure when which is kinda sad. Oh, well maybe I can get a date night scheduled for next weekend.

Tomorrow is also the day that I'm starting my diet again. I'm gonna do it for real this time. Life has just been so funky the last 2 months that I just couldn't keep up with everything but I'm ready now. I told Becky that I'm not doing it TO lose weight. I'm doing this to get my eating under control and to start eating to fuel/nourish my body rather than eating for pleasure or stress. The weight should follow then but that's not my main goal. I'm also going to hit the gym for the first time in 2 months. I miss it so much and my energy level is definately suffering from it. So wish me "luck" as I feel like the rusty tinman on The Wizard of Oz right now....hope I don't hurt anything (VBG).

Ok, off to do something else! I'll do my weigh-in tomorrow as well. Hope I haven't gone over the 162. I don't wanna have to change my graphics and ticker and such over a pound or two....guess that's what I get though if I gain weight, huh?

Jen

208/186/162/130

"WE can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13

"This I say then,walk in the Spirit,and WE shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal.5:16

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer"
Romans 12:12

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

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A blue t-shirt and hubby's night shorts.

Just thought I'd pop on here and do a quick update.

 I have managed to maintain my weight at 162 which is good! Oh, one of these days I'll reach goal....

My two oldest are still with my grandparents and having a great time down at the beach in Corpus Christi. Well actually a place called Port Aranzes, but it's next to Corpus Christi. I'm starting to miss them but it's been kindof "nice" to only have 2 kids for awhile. I'm still dealing with family issues, I'm potty training a puppy, and potty training a 2 year-old. My 2 year-old decided he wanted to start using the potty and what was I supposed to do? Tell him "No you have to wait till the puppy is trained". So my day right now is consumed with me running around asking the puppy and my boy "Do you have to go potty?". Maybe I can record it and just play it at 10 minute intervels. Or, maybe I can move Matty's potty chair outside on the back patio and just take them both every 15 minutes....hmmm good idea, I'll have to think about that one! (In case you thought I was serious, I'm not!)

For now hubby's job seems secure again. At least as secure as a job can be. The event that upset hubby, most people would probably just blow it off and go on. Hubby has such a strong work ethic that he cares alot, sometimes too much, what his superiors think of his performance. My hubby is also a "policy and procedures" type of guy (thanks to the AF). They've put alot of pressure on him to lower the standards that they use for new hires and he was refusing to. Their company is based on the quality of worker that they provide their clients so hubby saw a problem with the way they are trying to go. Anyways, I told him that the quality of workforce down here is just not as good as it is in other places and so you do probably need to lower what you think a good quality worker is for this area. He agreed and his whole attitude has changed. They are going to experience some very fast growth here soon because of it which is good. Once he helps get this office established, he gets his own office to run somewhere. Ahhhh, I can't wait to finally settle down!!! We've been nomads ever since we got married. Seven moves in eight years or something like that.

Last night Me and Penny had our first "Puppy Training" class at Petsmart.

"Look Mom, I can sit."

(anything for a bacon flavored dog snack!)

I am determined to have a well-behaved dog. Many of you can guess why already...anyways, it went really well and she had a blast playing with other puppies. She misses her littermates so much. Everytime she sees herself in a window she starts whining and pawing at it to try and get it to play with her. So sad, I know. She's very smart and is picking up her training very well. I've already trained her to "sit", "laydown", "play dead", and "shake" (hand/paw). Now we're working on her manners (no jumping/no biting!) and learning to listen to her mommy.

I wish there was some kindof class you could take like that to learn how to "train" your kids! Not to obey commmands like a dog of course, but a class to teach you how to properly "raise up/train" your kids like God intends for us to...I know I can read it the Bible but sometimes it's nice to see things "in action". De'Etta, can I come over to your house and study???(g)

Better go, it's late and I've got a looonnnggg day tomorrow.

Jen

208/186/162/130

"WE can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13

"This I say then,walk in the Spirit,and WE shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal.5:16

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer"
Romans 12:12

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Yesterday was my first "clean" day back on my diet. I started out last week but it seems like I was having one meal that was not on plan so I guess I kindof weaned myself into this thing. I haven't been to the gym and am planning on suspending our membership today. Not sure what the future holds and that extra expense needs to be put off for now. It's not like I can't do other stuff, it's just lack of motivation for me when I'm home. It's easier to quit and plop down on the couch, at the gym you can keep going because you have nothing better to do there, KWIM? So, I'll use my excercise bike, pilates tapes, and I have weights for my arms. BTW, my weigh-in was 162 yesterday. I'm going to start my official weigh-ins again on Monday. Will get my "ticker" updated as well as my graphics.

Hubby seems to think that he won't be fired on Tuesday when the VP comes into town. He thinks he's still got some time. We've been working on his resume and have jobs saved from the internet. He also seems to think that he can get hired on fairly easily with one of their clients if he loses his job. I'm halfway tempted to tell him to just find another job but he's afraid that they'll call his employer for references while he's still working there. So, it's either all or nothin' and we're just not ready for the "all" right now. I'm wanting to get a job to start getting things paid down and/or save up money but he's really against it right now. Really, what I could earn in a month or two on minimum wage won't make too much of an impact anyways, so I'm not trying to convince him otherwise at this point.

I'm still mulling over what to do about my mom's dogs IF anything. I've had most  everyone I've asked tell me that I need to report them as dangerous dogs and that's it's against the law to NOT report them. I'm just not sure though. My Pastor's wife in WA really thinks that satan is trying to cause a big blowup between her/us and that this will probably do it. And she's in the camp that it was partially my fault when they killed my dog because I gave her permission to bring them over here and you can't expect a small helpless dog to survive two bigger ones. I agree it's partially my fault but given the fact that they are now fighting and injuring each other I really think they need to be put down. I really just shutter to think of what these dogs *might* do to another animal, human, or even my Mom. My grandmother fears that they might turn on my mom and seriously injure her. When we were on our trip moving Mom down, these dogs ended up almost getting a heatstroke in Las Vegas. One could barely walk. I think that they might have suffered brain damage and are just ticking timebombs so-to-speak. Well, enough of that! Will let you know what I decide and/or do.

All in all I'm in much better spirits than I was 2 days ago. I've accepted our fate whatever it is God has planned for us. It's just so scary to face the unknown....and we have lots of decisions to make which always terrifies me!

Jen

208/186/162/130

"WE can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13

"This I say then,walk in the Spirit,and WE shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal.5:16

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer"
Romans 12:12

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Well, we made the decision to not put the kids into that charter school. Regular public school is out of the question right now as well. So, I guess I'm going to continue to homeschool for now. I'm just so overwhelmed with life right now and I just can't grasp the overall picture of what we're doing the rest of the schoolyear. Maybe that's not so bad though because then I can take things a day at a time...

Jen

208/186/162/130

"WE can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13

"This I say then,walk in the Spirit,and WE shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal.5:16

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer"
Romans 12:12

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18