Pillow pet giveaway @ Mom to bed by 8!

I entered to win a unicorn pillow pet at Mom to Bed by 8's site! I am on a quest to win one, or two for Christmas this year, and I am hoping all my work pays off! Mom to Bed by 8 has a ton of great giveaways for you to enter, so really, you don't want my pillow pet, I'm sure, right? lol

Great giveaway on Me and Bella!

I entered to win the iPod Shuffle 1000 giveaway on Me and Bella! You need to be a follower of her blog to enter. Hope-Anne wants me to get her one for Christmas, and I am hoping I win!

Bloggy blockage

I am so frustrated with life right now and can't blog about things, so I have been NOT blogging. It stinks. I need to write out what I experience and feel and blow out my frustrations in writing. It's how I deal. But I can't do that right now, so I am not able to "deal" very well. When I can't write what I feel, I apparently won't write anything.

There are 3 major situations that have been hurting me throughout the last 7 months.

1. Some major hurt from our former church. It hurts worse than a LOT of things I've been through.

2. My husband and I separated.

3. We've lost 3 babies in a year and a half.

I'm doing alright with the loss of Aksel. I look at his high chair and think of how he would have fit in the tiny little cup holder spot and will never be big enough to sit in there and I cry. But I am alright with how things turned out. I grieve him, but am glad that he will not experience the emotional and physical pains of this world.

My marriage is getting worked on, and I know that we will be OK. We have to remain separated for awhile so Donnie can work through his recovery, but we are both confident that things will be better in the future.

The church stuff. Ouch. A group that felt I was wronged ended up confronting the leadership in front of the assembly, and we were invited so that this time we wouldn't be talked about without being able to dispute things. It was good, because the elders were saying that we left the church because I was asked to step down, but that isn't even remotely the reason. I didn't want to leave at all. We left because the elders would not answer to the congregation WHY they did what they did, and since it is a congregation led church, they are obligated to answer why they do things. They refused to answer very vague (nothing confidential) questions. They also refused to look into the fact that I felt they were acting on lies told about me. We later proved it, and instead of accepting that proof, they decided to tear down that very influential man's reputation. So, yes, I am hurting, hurting hurting. I care about these men!

I pray and pray for and about them. This is a battle not of the flesh, and I have to focus on that. I don't believe they are acting on their own accord, and I have to not allow my flesh to blame them. It's a tough, tough path to walk on.

My friends stand beside me and I thank my God for them every day. God led me to the book of Job and I read how his "friends" counseled him. They blamed him, he HAD to be at fault. But he wasn't. That is where I am. I have searched and pleaded with God for what I have done so that I could change and NOT go through this EVER again. (that doesn't mean I didn't do anything wrong in reaction, no one is blameless) But God does not cast blame at me. It isn't about me. My friends don't blame me either. I have better friends than Job! They just love me and cry with me and help me battle the darkness. They see the true battle is in the spiritual world.

We finally have hope after the confrontation. The congregation suggested a panel from the church investigate and pursue reconciliation through repentance. At some point that changed to having a Peacekeeper group come in and help decide on the panel. Some people think it was to decide to have a panel or not, and some people understood it to mean they would help decide how to choose a panel. At any rate, that is expected, but then hope gets dashed again. The person in charge of getting the peacekeepers out decided not to even mention a panel at all, and we have no idea WHY. I am just beyond frustrated. But I will not allow the spiritual warfare to make me quit!

I am now just trying my hardest to focus on the GOOD. Our new church is amazing, and the most focused church I have ever seen at trying to get the lost in to hear God. The dedication and devotion to God's work from the congregation blows me away. We were asked to give the biggest gift we'd ever given to a church with about 2 weeks notice. The congregation gave $182,000+!!!! That meant they had enough above the goal they needed to open a new church site in OUR TOWN!!!!

I am now focusing on helping with the church plant. We are all volunteering and very excited to be a part of it.

Little Miss Muffet

You know that old poem Little Miss Muffet?
Yeah, I know what it means now, all that tuffet and curds and whey talk......

Little Miss Muffet (Lisa)
Sat on her tuffet (lay in her bed)
Eating her curds and whey (dreaming away)
When along came a spider (right on her thigh)
And scared Miss Muffet away (that one is obvious)

Old and new

Sometimes the timing of things just amazes me.

Yesterday morning I had a D&C to remove the last of the placenta that was just too stubborn to come out. I wasn't scared so much of the surgery as I was of dying. I'm not sure why, but I was pretty close to hysterical before the surgery with so many things in my life unfinished.

But the surgery went off perfectly and I really haven't even had any pain other that right afterwards. I slept most of the morning and afternoon and felt pretty good.

Around 5pm my friend Crystal called and said her water broke, and since I am her doula that meant a trip up to the hospital! Amazingly her labor went FAST and the baby was born at 6:42pm! I had plenty of energy for less than 2 hours of "work." Her little girl was born so fast and is just beautiful with a head full of dark hair!

I think I shall go apply for official doula classes now.

I just thought that God was so good to take the end of my trauma and bless me with witnessing a new life on the same day.

Now if only the rest of the stress in my life could be worked out with just a beautiful moment.

Frustrations

For the last few days Sam has really been acting out, full blown temper tantrums. It is so very unlike him. Normally a threat of a spanking will make him straighten up, but lately he has been mouthing off defiantly and flat out screaming like a demon child. I partly thought he must be getting sick, but it could be all the stress around here. It has been a very crazy 6 months for us.

Last night Sam was screaming and kicking and yelling at us until we put him to bed, and it only got worse from there. At one point I spanked him and he kept it up and I asked him if he needed me to spank his bare butt to which he answered "I'll poop on you!" It was so funny, but so disrespectful. (I knew I was safe, he spent about 30 minutes pooping earlier, lol)

I spent quite some time fighting something God wanted me to do. I did it, but grudgingly often times, and kept asking God if I could quit. Then I finally sought God out and he confirmed and confirmed and confirmed that I was to keep doing it, so I got on board with His plan with a happy heart. I found a way to get trained better and started a plan of action.

It wasn't long before the attacks started. You know that when you are gung ho to serve God you are going to get attacked. I was forced to step down by Godly men, who listened to lies about me and never checked to be sure they were true. Even with proof of the lies, they wouldn't back down. It has been very stressful. To trust men to be ethical and wise yet they don't even follow the Bible in not taking action without 2 or 3 witnesses, and if that witness proves to be purposely hurting that person surely you wouldn't continue without investigating, right? Not so. Anyway, we left. Several wonderful people have been fighting it, but pride runs deep.

After that, my husband who has paranoid personality disorder and obsessive thought disorder had a crisis in his mental health, but since his counsellor and 2 accountability partners proved through that incident that he has a reason to be paranoid, he went through it alone, trusting no one. Now it is affecting our marriage, and we are separated. We are in the same house, hoping to work things out, but physically we are separated and in different rooms. We don't fight, it isn't a matter of anything like that, he is still my life-long friend, but I know it is still stressful for the kids.

Just a week and a half after that happened, we lost our unborn baby. That birth has been traumatic physically on me, and I am still struggling with expelling the placenta and now have to have a surgery.

I just can't imagine how hard this is on Sam. I'm frustrated, how much more must he be, not knowing or understanding anything that is going on?

Aksel Maximus

On October 4, 2010 our son Aksel Maximus was born straight into the arms of our Lord. He was perfectly formed and beautiful even at only 14 weeks, and we were very clearly able to see that he was, indeed, a son.

Aksel means Father of Peace and Maximus means The Greatest. It was a strong name we had picked out for him a couple weeks previous to his birth. We are so thankful for the good his death has brought into our lives. While we wish we had him, we have still been very blessed by him while we had him. He has brought some peace to us, as weird as that sounds. Many, many friends have come and comforted us, helped us dedicate our son to God before we left him, and offered words of comfort and many, many prayers.

It has been very rough for me, physically, and I am not recuperating as well as I should be. It appears that the placenta was attached to my c-section scar, and because of that it wasn't coming out in one piece. I bled a LOT and passed out about 15 minutes after he was born. After a few hours and a threat of a D&C I called and asked for prayers. The bleeding immediately slowed down. God is good! 4 days later I am still not able to get my hemoglobin levels back up and am having some minor issues, but I will get back to healthy soon.

We really found it healing to be able to see our baby, to know he was a boy and be able to name him. It was much easier emotionally than a miscarriage that leaves things unanswered. His perfect little body put us and all who saw him in awe of our awesome creator God!

Life as We Know It

Last week I was able to go to a pre-screening of the new movie Life as We Know It with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. I brought a girlfriend along to laugh and cry with.

We knew going in that in spite of being billed as a romantic comedy that there would be some sad parts because the premise of the movie is a couple dies and leaves their infant daughter with their two best friends, who are not only not married to each other, they pretty much despise each other.

The beginning was quite funny as the couple is set up on a blind date and to say it didn't go well would be an understatement. That sets the scene for their mutual dislike for each other.

As the couple who set them up grow together and get married and have a child, the two get thrown together over and over in many comic situations.

Until the baby's first birthday. Then they are thrown together by tragedy and mutual love for their godchild. They move in together to keep the baby's life stable as possible, and even grow to respect each other a bit.

I have to say that Anna and I cried at least as much as we laughed. There were many sad moments, moments that really reflect the kind of problems that would really be faced in such a tragedy.

There was a lot of comedy and even some surprising romantic moments and great twists in the plot as the story progressed.

Life As We Know It is definitely a movie that I will buy when it comes out, and I will probably even go see it in theaters a second time! It is very good and really plays on all your emotions, a mark of a truly good writer.

I attended a complimentary screening of this film to facilitate my review, and I received a gift card from Mom Central as a thank you for my time.

Band-aids

Earlier today Hope-Anne asked Trinity to bring her a band-aid for her finger.

Don't you long for the days when you could ask mom for a band-aid and a kiss and your pain would disappear? Remember those days?

Sometimes there isn't a band-aid big enough, though. Not to catch the blood or to stop the hurt. Not even God will keep you from going through that pain. It is supposed to grow you, build perseverance and character.

I'd rather a band-aid and a kiss on my boo-boo.

I told them!

When I found out I was pregnant, after a week of denial over why I was late, I knew I needed to get in for an ultrasound to be sure I didn't have another tubal pregnancy. The surgeon and my regular doctor both told me that I needed to be seen as soon as I found out again because there is a slightly higher risk of a second tubal.
So I went to make an appointment but they wouldn't let me do anything unless I had a pregnancy test FIRST. Um, yeah, because the 5 I took couldn't be trusted to be right? I don't know if I really am pregnant after 12 pregnancies? Give me a break. But fine. So I do that and find out I AM pregnant! Shocker. Then they said I had to go to the OB educator class before I could do anything else. Um NO. I'm not taking that. Last time they dilly dallied about that I nearly died from a tubal rupture.
I got a note in to my doctor and he, just based on my call, set up a referral for an ultrasound. He is a good doctor. So I go to set it up and they won't let me because I don't have insurance. Hello? I am paying cash right now in full. It was a BATTLE to get one set up. Those gals made me meet with financing to even set it up with me paying cash! The financing gals were trying to get me to sign up for insurances and told me that I wouldn't be able to get insured through an employer, no insurance takes on pre-existing pregnancies. I told them I would be able to, I've never had an issue with big companies.

We've waited patiently while Donnie switched jobs, and lo and behold! The temp agencies medical insurance would not have a problem with pre-existing pregnancy! So we just have to wait for the one month period before we can sign up. In that time Donnie has been offered a full time job at the company he is contracted at! Strangely enough, both companies use the same insurance company! So, I should be covered soon.

My only real issues are:
1. I want a midwife at home so I don't have to have a forced c-section, but we haven't found out if they cover one, and even if they do, they only cover 80% AFTER the $800 deductible. Fine, if we weren't taking a HUGE paycut. But with a wedding coming up? Probably won't happen.
2. I don't know if my regular doctor is in-network yet. But at least if I do go through a hospital, the whole thing is covered 100% after a $20 copay once.

God is good! I trusted all along that God would provide insurance for this birth. I'm not totally giving up on having my homebirth, but I am willing to let it go if I have to. Donnie has never liked the idea, anyway.

Happy 21st Birthday, Drew!

It just blows my mind that is was 21 YEARS ago that you were born, so tiny and perfect. Now you are a grown man with a wife and a career. An air traffic controller! In the US Air Force! Makes my heart swell! (even if I always dreamed of you being in the Army, I am still proud!)

Ultrasound pics!

I went to a great 3D/4D ultrasound place for pics yesterday! It is just a place for fun, no measurements or diagnostics, just 40 minutes of watching your baby jump around and playing! Beautiful experience, and one that I plan to repeat with this baby!

This is a cute pic of the baby stretching tall, arms raised up, legs pushed down.
I didn't see it at the time, but looking at the pics, this looks like a baby being held in it's mothers arms! So precious! And in this one, though it is very, very early, you can see what appears to be boy bits down there between his legs. lol I'm still holding out hope for a girl, but this little one was more than happy to flash us the whole time, and it never looked like it could be girl parts at all. So, I'm gonna work a little harder on that boys name now.

This was such a great experience! Well worth the $100 I spent. I went away with a DVD of everything, a CD of tons of pics, and 6 photo quality pictures, PLUS 3 gift bags of stuff! If you live in MN you should get your ultrasound at Bella Angel in Maple Grove!

Quick update

This past weekend was our monthly ladies night out. We meet every second Friday. Even though we have switched churches, our group just couldn't stand not meeting, so we find a way! This weekend one of the ladies was able to secure us her mom's cabin for the whole night! It is right on a lake, and there were tons of beds, so we were able to sleep over with no worries. It was also Miss Daisy's birthday, which is probably why her mom offered the cabin. My friend Jeannie made her a cake with colorful daisies, and I hear it tasted a-maz-ing! (I'm not a cake eater)

Today is my first ultrasound. I am getting a 3D or 4D one done this evening. I'm sad Donnie won't be there, but I don't want to wait anymore. Things are just so weird that I want to get a peek in there and see for myself that all is well and on track. Hopefully I will be able to upload the video and share it here. (I'm not sharing results until after Donnie sees it!)

On the morning sickness front: things are getting worse instead of better. I'm making it through, and keeping hydrated, but the throwing up is more frequent. This needs to stop, I have parents night Firday and have to walk out onto the football field in front of TONS of students and parents and NOT puke on the field. I can't let Devon down, either, this is his senior year and he is always so understanding about me not making all his games.

Old, overweight, and pregnant...... is there a funny side?

Just so you know, there is definitely TMI in this post. Men won't want to read this. And I probably don't want you to. I mostly write to moms, and that is who this post is for. As well as for myself, so I remember this stuff and can look back and laugh some day. Some day.

Part of the charm of ladies night out, or just a good time with your close girlfriends, is that you can sit back and complain about the getting old process and commiserate together. It helps you to laugh at the changes you are going through, you know, so you don't have to cry all the time, lol.

I've heard older women talk about how they lose bladder control when they laugh or sneeze. Pregnant women, too. It isn't funny to us, but you know, there really isn't much we can do about it. And even what we can do is limited by the time and money we have left over after giving everything of ourselves to and for our kids. So we laugh. Right?

I am going to journal the next 7 months of this old, overweight pregnancy with honesty and transparency and way too much information.

I am 39 years old. That makes me of "advanced maternal age" in this pregnancy. Supposedly putting me at risk for all sorts of issues. That doesn't worry me, but being old does make things harder. The whole weak bladder thing. Not cool. So when I have to deal with the nasty side effect of pregnancy and puke, I also get to pee my pants. Fun times. Miserable and humiliated.

Plus I am super tired. I've never been so tired! I've been through this whole pregnancy thing a few times, and this tired is a new thing. Why am I so tired? I'm just too old for this!

I am also overweight. I wasn't even this heavy at 9 months pregnant with my first few pregnancies. I'm only 5'4" and 40+lbs overweight. And I think half of that weight is in my chest. OK, maybe not half, but my chest is huge. DD is ridiculous on my height. Could be worse, true. However, it isn't funny when I lay on my side or my back and the fat from by chestular area splays up toward my neck. And funny thing is that if something touches my throat area, I puke. So I am being gagged and choked by my own boobs. Yippee. Well, maybe it is a little funny.

Then there is the whole fun of being pregnant. Puking, nauseated, bloated, gaseous, not to mention having to go through exams in private areas, poking, prodding, needles, and CHILD BIRTH. I need to eat, but I hate food. I need protein, but I hate meat. I need to drink, but I hate everything. Nothing sounds good, nothing tastes good, nothing is that good coming back up.

Old, fat, pregnant and miserable. But a little happy and a lot blessed!

We've reached the breaking point

This bout with morning sickness is going so well compared to the other kids that I hate to utter a word of complaint. Really, normally I have lost 15lbs by now, and I am only down 5. Usually I puke many, many, many, MANY times a day, and in fact, by this point, I would have made a bed in the bathroom so I am closer to the toilet.
But this time I have only thrown up about 4 days now, and never more than one episode a day. So, yes, I think it is going great!
However, what is making it go so great is my lack of movement and staying hydrated. I need to lay down most of the day or I do throw up. So I am not able to get anything done around here. I can't cook anything, I can't even stand to walk into the kitchen. I can't clean anything. And do you think the kids clean? Not without me. It is getting to be a bit of a stress issue around here.
The kid KNOW they have to do a chore every day, but they are not doing it unless they are told, and even then it isn't happening much. I am in bed and not seeing what they are or are not doing. Donnie is getting stressed about it, too.
I know the kids hate it, and it has to be hard on them having mom down all day every day. They have to pick up my slack with feeding and watching the little two, keeping clean towels going, etc.

I'm really praying that this morning sickness only lasts the first trimester because none of us can take much more of it. With Sam it went on for 22 weeks. We'd deal with it, but my house wouldn't survive.

Hopefully just under 2 weeks to go.

My man, Sam!

Sam cracks me up all the time! I think I shall name all my kids with names that mean "laughter" from now on, cause I just love how much laughter he brings into our lives!

Last night I was laying in bed and he crawled in with me dripping from a bath. I was struggling big time with not throwing up at that time, so I was grabbing at my throat and freaking out "Where's my water bottle?"
Sam says "What's wong wif you throat?"
"Mommy is sick."
"You throat hurt?"
"No, I'm going to throw up."
"Oh, no! That so sad!"
And as I lay back down he snuggles right up into me for comfort! It was A-dor-a-ble!
So I said "Sam, you are such a sweetheart!"
"I naked."

I just cracked up! So he kept repeating it since I obviously thought it was funny, haha.

Avast! A murder has taken place in my kitchen!

The other night we hosted a murder mystery party. We chose Murder Among the Mateys, a pirate theme. It was quite fun to see the guys get so into this one! There was a lot of pirate talk going on for the weeks before hand.
Everyone was invited to a jig at The Salty Sea Dog Inn. Donnie made the sign below for the party, quite cool!
The guys were a little too into the whole theme, me thinks! Naw! They had a great time!

This would be the Governor and his family, his wife and two daughters.

Below from left to right is Cap'n Redbeard, Merciless Morgan (my hubby), Thumbless Jack, and Buccaneer Bradshaw.

Merciless Morgan met an untimely death in the kitchen! Who could have done such a thing!

The cast and crew!

Thank you all for coming and making the party so much fun! I certainly was not the fun one, or the best hostess ever, but you all were great, helping cook and serve and clean up! I appreciate it! Next year we'll do it again and I will NOT be in the midst of morning sickness, Lord willing!

Update

Well, the not throwing up didn't last, but I still feel like I have it under control. As long as this ends at 12 weeks, like most of the kids, I'll make it through without being hospitalized. I just have to make it through, I don't have insurance, lol. God is good!

We didn't get Devon's senior pics taken. Devon and the photographer just have conflicting schedules so far. So we'll wait until the new school year gets settled down. Hopefully I won't be sick anymore, either. That would help.

Kaytlin is doing well at college. She is finding the reason we were so afraid for her safety coming to and from work late at night in the down town area. So far the security guys who are supposed to meet her haven't been reliable, and last night she was pretty afraid waiting for them and started walking back, which was also frightening. God is her protector though, and I trust in Him.

I'm really struggling with stuff from our old church situation. We have moved on, and while we are working on forgiveness, watching the deceptions and manipulations continue is really difficult to deal with. I love the people of that church, and to sit back and know what is going on and not be able to say anything without appearing to be defending myself rather than the people just kills me. It isn't about me any more. I don't have hard feelings for most of the elders, I have always thought of them as wise men, but I see them deceived, and even seeing the deceit in writing, they are unable to admit it and repent, but continue on as if they had to be right. Breaks my heart. But we are out of it. All we can do is pray for those who are so diligently working to protect the congregation.

So, wounded, we've landed in a very unconventional church "for people who don't do church." I can't believe how non-judgemental they are as a whole. You just wouldn't dare voice a judgement toward someone with the acceptance that they exude down to the "lowliest" of workers. It isn't tolerated. The fact that so many of the people there have been wounded by another church lends itself well to people who do not judge others. You don't get to sit and lick your wounds for long, though. Serve, and serve with a joyful heart. It helps a lot to get the focus on the lost, on the great commission. I don't know where we will end up in the long run, but this is the right place to lick our wounds and it is also the right place for our boys. Cody and Sam have both always hated our old church, not the people, but going was a battle royale every week. Now they both go happily! So, there we stick for awhile! The preaching is fantastic, too, so I'm happy, even if I HATE the rock music that they play so loud they need to hand out earplugs at every service, lol.

Tonight is our Murder Among the Matey's murder mystery party! The excitement is just building and it is a blast to watch the guests talk pirate on facebook and hunt for the perfect costume. Now if only I could get my lazy butt kids to get the house spotless (for pirates, HA) I would be happy. Not gonna happen, so my guests will just have to understand that I am dealing with morning sickness so they will have to overlook it or clean it themselves, hehe. ( which I wouldn't fight too hard, haha)

Off I go to prepare for the invasion of the pirates tonight!

All is well in preggo land

So far I am about 9 weeks, I think, and I am doing well. Normally I would be really sick and sometimes hospitalized at this point for dehydration. But for some reason I am holding my own. I am feeling ill all day, but no throwing up!!!! You have no idea how huge that is for me! I lose a lot of weight in the first few months, but not this time.

I have almost no cravings, and I despise chocolate. Soda and tea hurt my stomach. But water is a heavenly elixir, the weirdest symptom EVER for me, as with every other pregnancy water has been an instant vomit aid. I could not stomach water ever. But now I must have it all day.

I've also quit strangely been able to feel the baby bump around in my uterus. (not by hand, but inside of me) I've never felt on this early, but it is, indeed the baby.

So, everything so far is completely abnormal for both my boy and girl pregnancies. I'm starting to wonder......... could it be? Twins? Boy and girl cancelling each other's hormones out? Naw!

In the rest of the Qtpie Kingdom we've had a few changes.

Kaytlin moved out and is now living in a dorm at college. We are all ready for it, but there are some worries, like safety in the cities, but she rests in God's hands, and I have to give her up to Him. It will be fine.

Donnie has been contracting out for a year and a half, and just started a new contract job. We weren't really comfortable with it being only 3 months, but it was at least 3 months longer with income than not taking it, right? Well, it looks like it will easily turn into a permanent position, as he was HIGHLY recommended by one of their very respected employees. We'll wait out a bit of the 3 months before applying for a permanent position, though, because the contract agency provides insurance that will cover the pregnancy without considering it pre-existing, so the new company will have to cover the baby since we will have had insurance previously. God is good!

What else is new?

Cody will be starting high school. Devon starts his senior year. Nicole starts online public school, and Trinity goes to first grade homeschool. Sam is still a T.O.T. (Tornado of Terror for you newbies) And recently Drew, our oldest son, became an official Air Traffic Controller in the U.S. Air Force. We are super proud of him! It was tough, but he stuck with it!

Next up:

Devon's senior pictures are this week. Those should be amazing, we are going to some fun places!
We are hosting a Pirate murder mystery party with many of our close friends! That will be a blast!

I guess it's time to let the cat out of the bag....

Last night I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch. Donnie sent me off to bed with Sam, who was not tired due to a nap fiasco. So I turned on some kid shows for him to calm down to while I slept. I was awoken to a glass bottle being knocked off my headboard onto my head. OUCH!!!

I decided that it was time for Sam to SLEEP, so I shut the TV off on him. Which set off the usual protesting while he rolls around the bed like he is in agony.

"Its dark, I can't see! I want TV! I hate you! I not like you anymore!"
And then came the strangest reason he has ever come up with to get the TV back on.

"I'm pregnant!!"

Umm, I guess I shouldn't use that as a reason to get my way around the house anymore, since he so obviously picked it up, lol. He is missing the whole baby in the belly part of "pregnant" but still, it was hilarious!

Yes, I am pregnant! Baby #8 is due in April!

The Shred Sled!

My kids were given the opportunity to try out the next-generation caster board through Team Mom and Shred Sled. Shred Sled is a 4-wheel inline, dual deck board. There is a flexible connector between the two decks that rotate vertically and horizontally for easier movements.

When you use this board you don't stand on one leg and push with the other, you need to use your hips, legs and arms to get the board moving. (great exercise!) The movements are a combination of snowboarding, surfing and skateboarding all in one. I love that the decks have a grip surface so it is hard to slip off, plus the decks are slightly concave for better foot control.

The wheels, which only move forward, are made of polyurethane ABEC-5 bearings, which are smoother and stronger than standard hardware, and rarely need to be replaced. The casters are made from aluminum, and are not prone to rusting like many boards' metal casters.

What did my kids think of the Shred Sled? Judging from the tracks being worn into my wood floors as the kids ride circles around my house, I am going to say that they LOVE it! And they concur. Cody gives it two thumbs up! Devon doesn't think it is very practical, as in using as a method to get somewhere, but he does enjoy riding it for fun.

It took all of them a couple of days to really be able to get up and get some good balance and to be able to propel for a good distance. They needed to hold onto something to be able to get on both decks. But now they can get on with relative ease. Cody is even riding it UP HILL!

The board is being used every day by at least 3 of the kids. They really enjoy it. In fact, they have decided my rugs all need to be moved out of THEIR way so they can just ride around my house.

The Shred Sled is available at retailers and online at Shredsled.com for around $59.99 and comes in three colors: red, blue and black. Remember to wear safety gear when riding the board!

Thank you, Team Mom and thank you Shred Sled, for this review opportunity! My kids are very pleased!

Trip to the candy store

Yesterday we made a stop at Minnesota's Largest Candy Store. It was fun, lots and lots of candy. Weird candy. We bought quite a few things to gross out the boys. Vampire repelling, garlic flavored mints, onion ring flavored mints, corn dog chap stick, lol. But there were two that really topped the gross factor chart.
Chum Bucket candy smells really bad, and no one was willing to taste it, of course. I mean, really, who wants to eat nasty long-dead flavored candy?

But there was a candy that made the chum bucket candy smell appetizing. I'm not even kidding.

Zombie Mints. Brain flavored mints. When I bought them I thought "Who knows, brains could taste good, and these could be really tasty, since who knows what brains actually taste like."

Umm, I couldn't have been more wrong. Seriously, I nearly barfed on my dining room floor. From the smell. Not one boy was brave enough to try them.

These make THIS taste delicious.

This just might end my joke purchases. It wasn't even funny. The skunk jelly beans were funny, but these, not funny. Seriously, I almost barfed at the SMELL.

Agony and Joy

I'm struggling deeply right now, and blogging is so hard. This is my diary and I am not free to write in it. Because even the truth is turned against me. Not that I have blogged any details of what is going on in our church struggles, but I just can't. That hurts me. I need to blog it. It is how I work things out.

Suffice it to say, my world has turned upside down. My "friends" have become my "enemy" and my trust turned into betrayal.

I am filled with joy that I have true friends who back me, love me, support me and fight for me! I truly found out that my close friends were really in it for thick and thin! Do you girls know how much I love you and how much you mean to me? I call you "friend" and God made us sisters!

Our son married a wonderful woman, our daughter became engaged to a fine Christian man, and we've found a passion for God's Word that was not strong enough in the past. There are joys in our life, too.

Agony. Joy. Agony. Joy. That is my life right now. Sleepless nights, joy-filled days. A conundrum of sorts!

I also praise God that some restoration has started taking place. The joy sifted to a bit of a higher status for a day there, lol. Then night came along.......... the night is when the darkness creeps in, through your house and into your thoughts. Chasing sleep with a maniacal laugh.

But then the sun comes up and you see new life! Light chases away the darkness! Does the tired body then get to rest? No. Maybe tonight the darkness won't come creeping with evil intents.

Question for you

When you are in conflict with Christians you are not supposed to tithe until you work it out, right?
What do you do when you have tried and tried and you CAN'T work it out? I am not the offender, so it isn't a matter of me humbling myself and just apologizing and making it right. I can't get the offenders to see the truth, and I am done with trying. But what do we do about tithing when the offense still stands?
For that matter, our former pastor preaches that you shouldn't have communion while someone has a problem with you, either. I can't find that Biblically, and the offenders don't have a problem with taking communion during this either.

Anyway, at what point do you start tithing again?

Do ya wanna dance?

Donnie and I were invited to a wedding by a very special couple. The wedding was elegant and enjoyable. We picked up a few things we'll be wanting to use in the next wedding we plan. (I may need to make an announcement here....)

The reception was gorgeous and very fun to watch! The entrance of the bridal party was unique and super fun! They backed the limo INTO the building and unloaded them, some from the trunk, dancing to music. The father's speech and blessing was fun and funny, and touching. (something we will copy!)

We ended up pretty much trapped there due to tornadoes in the area. Not fun when your kids are at home. But it soon passed and the dance started.

I wanted to dance! Donnie wanted to go home. We had no kids, hardly anyone we knew were there, and most of them we will probably not see again. We could cut loose and have a blast!

But no.

Donnie starts bribing me, cause I'm mad! He will play music at home and we can dance. We can stop at the liqueur store on the way home and get the ingredients for a Mudslide, or better yet, a bottle of Brut! (I LOVE champagne, but not allowed to drink it, haha) So we left, even though I really wanted to stay and dance.

We got the Mudslide ingredients and I made some. I kept asking Donnie about playing music so we can dance. But he kept playing his video game. Finally I gave up. I went to bed. He comes in the bedroom, knowing I am mad, turns on the radio in there and says we should dance. Um, NO, I am not dancing in our room where you have to walk sideways between furniture to get around our giant bed! I went to sleep.

Found out this morning that to him, "dancing" meant having sex! Um, SO NOT ON THE SAME PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would you have gotten sex out of "I'll put on some music and we can dance at home?" There weren't even raised eyebrows to be suggestive here. lol

I think I may have another Mudslide tonight.

Wow, life is moving in a new direction

Our family has made a very big, very difficult, very unwanted move. We are leaving our church of 7 years. The church we have for the first time felt completely at home in and loved serving, and loved raising our kids in. We were HAPPY! Comfortable. Though, to be honest, not completely content.
But now we have to leave, unfortunately amidst great pain and betrayal. I can't do anything more to reconcile than I have. We are leaving and going to give ourselves fully to another church and forgive and move on. I hope one day there will be apologies, but it isn't my job to worry about it.
So, now we are moving forward to some exciting service opportunities! We are joining a church who's goal is to bring in the lost every service. Cody is going to see sinners, deep in the pit, come to Jesus and be radically saved! He will SEE God is real. Our prayers are that this is what he needs in order to believe.
We have some exciting and challenging goals ahead of us, and now we just move forward and go where God leads.
Our hearts are broken over leaving our friends. (not my close friends, I will remain close and involved with them!) Looking forward to making many new friends and working on the Great Commission and serving women at a new church.

Ah, teenagers!

I don't know why teens have to be so rebellious. Is it because God didn't intend for them to still be at home at this age? In Biblical times a 15 year old would be working and possibly married with kids.

I don't know what it is, but I am weary. I need some refreshing. Maybe if other things in my life weren't so rocky, this wouldn't be as trying, but I am just worn out.

However, God gave us these kids, and I know He will give us the strength to get through it. And a sense of humor to at least get a laugh out of some of it!

Poor Cody. The kid had his birthday the day after Drew's wedding. So he had to wait until we recovered financially to get his present. Well, in those days of waiting he managed to get himself grounded from all electronics because of his behavior toward his siblings. He is now grounded until he stops spewing venom at everyone. But we are able to get him his present. His beloved Xbox 360. Wow. Tough, huh? He has it and can't open it or use it! Tough break!

Cody is going through a pretty rough patch of rebellion and has declared that the doesn't believe in God. Not that we are not concerned, because we are, but we are not reacting to it other than to pray more fervently for him. We recognize that we can't accept Christ for him, all we can do is lovingly teach him, and pray.

Unfortunately, house rules are that if you live here, you GO to church. He seemed to think his announcement would change the rules of the house. Um, no. So today he decides to hide when we are leaving for church. Yep, he did.

His Xbox 360 made the trip with us. It went back to the store. Don't follow the rules, you don't have privileges.

The funny thing? The 1pm service we were late to because of trying to find him was cancelled today because of 4th of July events! He just got himself in a whole lotta trouble over nothing!

Thats gotta sting.

What will I do when Sam grows up?

I don't know if I will have anything to blog about! LOL

We have been having so much fun lately calling Sam a Qtpie. I told him he is a qtpie and he said "I not a PIE! I a human!" (he pronounces is hoo men)

Today I found him in the bathroom and he told me he peed and pood in the toilet and I held him and told him how proud I am of the big boy he is becoming! Then I told him the next step to being a big boy is to sleep in his own bed. He said "Why?" lol I told him that is what big boys do, but he can tell me when he is ready to try sleeping in his own bed. So he thought about it and said "Not at night."

Right now, he is watching some fart video with his dad, and just cracking up at it. He is such a boy!

How do you know God is speaking to you?

Lately I have been faced with a problem. I had been asking God what He would have me do, it was a long struggle, and after much prayer and begging and searching and trying to get out of it, I heard God tell me what He wanted for me. It wasn't the answer I wanted to hear, but I was so happy to know for sure, to have peace, finally, and I changed me desire to what God desires for me.

So how do you know who actually heard God? How do you know you are hearing God?

My hearing God is being questioned. Ironically, God spoke to me in a class called Discerning God's Voice (read this to see the thoughts on the exact day it happened). Not even kidding. But I tested it, and God repeatedly confirmed His will for my life. I know that I know that I know it was God.

I looked up how you know that it is God you are hearing.

What does the Bible say?

Jeremiah 29:12-13 says, "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

"Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed" (Proverbs 16:3 Amplified Bible).

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Jesus tells us in John 10:4b and 5, "...and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (interestingly, sick sheep will follow anyone)

"But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14)

Isaiah 30:21 says, "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."

1 John 4:1 Don’t always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is.

John 7:17 Anyone who wants to do His will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up

7 keys ways to discern God's Voice:

• Scripture: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17).
  
  
• The Holy Spirit speaking to our heart: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'know the Lord,' for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them" (Hebrews 8:10-11).
  
  
• The Prophetic (word of knowledge, word of wisdom, personal prophecy): "Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:19-21).
  
  
• Godly counsel: "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14).
  
  
• Confirmation: "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed" (Matthew 18:16).
  
  
• The peace of God: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).
  
  
• Circumstances/Timing: "After these things he (Paul) left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontius, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers" (Acts 18:1-3 -- this relationship between Paul, Aquila and Priscilla -- which happened as a result of circumstances -- became one of the most important strategic partnerships in the book of Acts).

Presupposition for Discernment

Before we can say discernment is actually occurring, certain conditions must be met:

1. You must desire to do God’s will. This means that this must be your fundamental choice in life.
   
   
2. You must be open to God at the moment of discerning. This means that you must be completely open to accept any of the possible results of discerning. If you are only interested in doing what you want to do, and are not open to other possibilities, then discernment is not possible.
   
   
3. You must know what God is like.
   
   
4. You must be a person who prays.

So many of those things fit with what happened. I desired to do God's will, not mine. I was open to what God wanted when I was seeking the answer. I know what God is like, and I pray. Scripture tells me I should be serving people, but does that mean God was speaking to me? OK, are there more reasons to believe it was God? The Holy Spirit just burst in me at the moment of discernment, I was filled with the Spirit and it was an amazing moment, regardless of it not being what I wanted to hear.

How about more? The place it came from was pretty prophetic, but that could be debated if you wanted to disbelieve God speaks to people. I was seeking Godly counsel, through several avenues, I had multiple people praying with me for God's answer. How about confirmation? The moment I heard it, a person who was praying with me leaned over and said "Did you hear God just speaking to you?" It was pointed out as God's voice and answer before I even said I had heard it! I showed it to 2 other people, one was not convinced, but didn't say anything, and the other was as moved as I was, to tears.

But then I got the peace of God! It was the first time I was totally at peace with the situation in 4 years! It was peace that passed all understanding. But is that enough to convince others that it was God? How about circumstances that happened after that? Coming across training for that situation, random people emailing you that they had you on their heart and were compelled by God to buy you a book for that situation, and excitement and vision from God for the ministry........... All that, and I heard wrong?

So, what do you do when you are forced to disobey what God has clearly led you to do? How do you believe that someone else heard God right, and you were wrong, when God has repeatedly confirmed and supported the discernment you had? How do you convince them of this when they made a decision about your life without even ASKING you what you thought, and dismissing what God told you without even ASKING what it was?

I can tell you it tears you apart inside. It takes away your trust and respect. It rocks your world. It leaves you not wanting to have anything to do with "Christians" again. And serving? Who would want to do that again? It is pretty awful. But I refuse to go that route, and I plan to obey God, and not be a slug in a church somewhere. I KNOW that I know that I KNOW what God told me. I have tested it. I have confirmed it.

Another reason co-sleeping is dangerous

A while back I wrote about the dangers of co-sleeping. Now I have found a new danger.

I was sleeping quite peacefully when I started dreaming of something sprinkling on my hand. I soon started to waken and realized that my dream felt kind of real. My hand felt like it had some sprinkles on it. I woke fully and realized that my hand WAS wet. What happened?

My blanket had sprinkles all over it, too! What would cause that? The bathroom isn't directly over my room. So I set my hand on the bed to sit myself up and I discover a puddle in front of my chest. I smell it. Yep. Pee.

Sam was awake and had stood up behind me and peed over the side of the bed. Or tried. Some of it hit the bed and it sprayed all over my hand and blanket.

Seriously, I have been co-sleeping for over 20 years and I have NEVER had a kid do that. All of them have peed in my bed except Drew, but none have ever tried peeing over the side instead of going to the bathroom.

Only Sam. He constantly does things that shock me. I really didn't believe it was possible to shock us after the rest of the kids. But Sam has things planned that we could never envision.

Facial hair much?

This is a "castle" beard.

Just cool, huh?

Chore time?

Trinity and I were sitting on the couch this morning and she said to me:

Trin: The only 2 people who don't have to do chores here anymore are Drew and Sam.

Me: Drew has to do chores, just not at our house. Jannessa and Drew have to clean the WHOLE house themselves. They don't have kids to help them clean. They don't have kids to mess up the house, either. Hey, maybe I should sent YOU to their house!

Trin: (shook her head no with eyes wide)

Me: You don't want to go to their house for awhile and mess it up?

Trin: (shaking head no)

Me: Why not? You mess up MY house!

Trin: I don't want to mess up the house of someone I love very much!

Gee, thanks! What am I, chopped liver?

Funny Faces

I call this one Beauty and the Dork

Sam really made that face after overtaking and passing the flower girls!

This was the face Sam was giving Grandma and Grandpa when he first saw them before the wedding.

Gotta love Drew's beaver face! haha

Pink or Blue?

It really is true that women view the world through pink glasses and men view it through blue. Several times Donnie and I have been fighting, or I thought we were fighting and our marriage was in trouble, and he thought everything was fine.
That was apparent again today. We've been arguing a LOT lately. I know a lot of stress has been going on and that will have an effect on things, but on top of that we've been arguing. I've been dealing with frustration by going to him about it, since he doesn't want me to talk to my girlfriends about things, so all I want is a sounding board to get it OUT so I don't say something stupid. Right? Well he starts saying stuff to me that is just mean, and all I want is understanding.

So, I told him a couple of days ago that I can't talk to him anymore. He says I can, and say I can't, it goes back and forth, and I stop talking to him about things that bother me.

Today I say how sad it is that we can't go to our usual counselor right now (because of trust issues) and that we need a new counselor. He says "Why do we need a counsellor?" Well, because we aren't getting along! That's why!

His response? Oh, I thought you were finally getting the submission thing down.

Yep, we need some counselling!!!! LOL

(I'm not talking divorce court counselling, I'm talking someone to listen and point out where we are not hearing each other, lol)

Finally....................

I am free of diapers! Sam is finally potty trained! He is having about one accident a week right now, and I consider that successful.

Not only is he potty trained, day and night, he is finally wearing clothes almost all the time, at the very least he has undies on. That is HUGE! He is almost 4 and we are finally getting to be an almost normal household, lol.

This pic is of Sam playing with his "Yord" (sword) and using his undies as his sheath. I think we need to find him a sheath, lol. But we are just happy to see his is in UNDIES and not in diapers or naked.

Now to work on getting them to be a little cleaner around here. But I'm not holding my breath on that one, I haven't even accomplished that with the teens.

I need to change my blog name to Our 8 Qtpies!

Saturday, June 12, 2010 AnDrew Jaimes married Jannessa Michelle. We now have a daughter in law. This gorgeous picture was taken by the photographer, the rest were taken with my camera.

Sam was a PAIN IN THE BUTT the hour before the wedding. He didn't want to be dressed up. "I HATE hansome." He didn't want to wear a flower. "I HATE flowers." He didn't want the job of carrying the pillow. "I HATE jobs!" He did NOT want to wait in the room with the bride and flower girls for their turn to walk down the aisle. "Not in there! There are girls in there! I HATE girls! I HATE girls! I HATE girls!" Then he hid until moments before he was supposed to walk down the aisle. Then he proceeded to run past the girls.

Once up there he flopped all over, bounced on the step on his butt saying "I bored." and many other fun things.

The flower girls were hysterical! Trinity took the job of dropping flower petals seriously. She kept dropping them after getting to her position, and even got down and refilled her basket to keep going. Then her and the other flower girl got down and started blowing the petals at the bride's parents like little fairies blowing pixie dust. It was priceless!

Here is a picture of the wedding party, minus the uncooperative little three. All of them are siblings, except one groom's man who will be related after another wedding in about a year, and one flower girl.

The happy couple with the little kids. Hey, at least they all actually sat for the picture!

The bride and groom, finally married!

Drew unwrapping his car from the saran wrap coating, only to find the car filled with balloons.

Sam fell asleep at the reception within a minute of sitting down to eat. He soon gave up the table and crawled under it and slept for over an hour. He was much more cooperative and even decided he liked dancing. Finally something he didn't hate.

Here is the cake I made. My friend made the sheet cake for extras if we needed it, and for those people who don't like fondant.

Feeding each other cake. They were so nice, no cake smashing in the face.

The first dance.

The mother/son dance.

The father/daughter dance.

Going for the garter. Apparently there were two, and he grabbed the wrong one first, lol.

There was lots of dancing by everyone. I have tons of crazy dancing pics to share, but here is the next couple to get married, we think.

The weekend was just fantastic, from rehearsal to present opening. Lots of fun, laughter, and a whole new family to love! The kids on both sides decided they are now siblings, too. A whole new blended family! I cried several times, overwhelmed with the love from the weekend.

Thrill and Move!

Today Donnie and went to a conference for leaders hosted by a church in a neighboring town. The church is quite weird, as churches go, and isn't really for me. However, we have been taking the kids to some Saturday evening services because some of them work on Sundays and need church, and because our church really doesn't preach to teenager boys, where their church strikes a cord with teen boys. It has been so good for them!
I really wish I could remember it all and put it all out there for everyone, it was really that good!

So much of it was about having a vision, and everyone in the church working toward that vision. We are all told to be disciples, it isn't just the leaderships job, it is the church's job. We, the congregation, need to be out COMPELLING people to come into the church to fill God's house. The church needs to be all about the weekend, getting the lost in those seats and getting them saved, nothing else is as important.

How do you do that? You THRILL your believers with the Word of God and your mission, and MOVE them to bring seekers into the church where they will hear the Word. In order to turn a seeker into a believer who brings in seekers you need to bring them along a path of believing, to being baptised, to learning, to volunteering, to connecting to a small group, and then taking classes to deepen faith.

All believers should be volunteering. Period. Not much more than once a month, in order to not be burned out, and not less than once a month so they feel valued. But it isn't a matter of "do you want to volunteer" it is a matter of WHERE are you going to volunteer? If you aren't going to be a productive member of the congregation, you are taking up a seat that a lost person could be sitting in. (those are the pastor's words, but I agree with him when he says it, haha) We've been saying this in our church recently, but how to implement it?

Mentorship. Apprentices. The thrill of following God's vision! Be enthusiastic! Be united in the vision for your church, and know your target. Who are you trying to reach? Each church has a mission, and you should have a defined mission. Because who have have on that stage is who your church is. If it is all 50 year old people, you are not ministering to 20 year old men, you know?

One of the things that I love about The Crossing is that all the volunteers are enthusiastic. And that is because they know they have value, and their job has value. The parking attendants are the first impression, Preaching begins in the parking lot, and they jump and direct traffic into their parking lot, enthusiastically greet you in the parking lot, walk you in with umbrellas and tell you how excited they are to have you there. It is just amazing!
I'm not saying all churches need to go that far into it, but I am saying that enthusiasm and joy in every job is a huge benefit to the church.
But how do they get their volunteers to be excited and animated while directing traffic in the rain? The train them, encourage them, thank them, praise them, mentor them. It is a fantastic program.

Another major benefit I would love to see instituted in our church is a mentorship/apprentice program. All leaders should have an apprentice, then they can take a break, and we have new leaders trained! If all leaders are there after having been an apprentice, they are well trained in the church's vision and not their own!

I am so super excited about these ideas and would love to see how we can implement some of them in our church. The Crossing did an amazing job of training other churches, they never said we should be like them, they are weird enough, no need for more weirdos, but they want to share what works for them. The bigger ideas, not the exact ideas. They say that God gave us eyes so we could plagiarize, lol. They are more than willing to let you use their ideas to further the kingdom of God.

I'll try to keep posting about what I learned, but the wedding is coming fast, and hopefully the pukies will stay away so we can get the flowers and cake done.

Bloggy hiatus

This is the week of Drew's wedding! I have been quite busy lately, and will be the rest of this week.

I am struggling with some issues at church. It is consuming a LOT of my thoughts and emotional energy. I wish it had waited until after the wedding, but apparently it needed to be done IMMEDIATELY, even though there is no plan in place to take over where it is left off. Long story, and unfortunately one I can't really explain yet, especially since I can't get the real truth out of people at this point. But time, meetings, tears, anger, hurt, frustration, joy in the trial, God's voice........... it is very emotionally draining at a time I don't need it.

I'm fighting with my sister. I try to make up with her, I really need a sister right now, but she just can't move on. I've asked her to drop stuff and just be there for me right now because I really need a sister, but she just won't. It is heart breaking.

This was also Kaytlin's last days as a princess. She passed on her crown last night! It was very nice, the speech made me cry, of course. The girls were gorgeous and poised and did fantastic!














Nicole has been wearing an oral expander and finally gets her braces on tomorrow. She is very excited about it finally starting, but unfortunately I can't take her! So I am hoping my mom can take her.

My mom flew in on Friday, and after a 6 hour delay finally got to Ladies night out, where we stayed until 4am having a blast!

Then we went shopping to get supplies to make the bouquets and corsages and stuff. We went to Craft's Direct and found a sale for 25% off our entire purchase! Woot! Saved a lot of money!

Tomorrow I have an all day leadership training event. I am very excited to learn some things that have held me back from being an effective leader! Terrified I am going to end up sick.

The house has been hit by the pukies. So not cool as we need to start making the flowers and the CAKES!!!! I have to make the wedding cake AND the groom's dinner cake! Plus we have a potluck at our house on Thursday for our town's parade which passes right in front of our house!

That is all just the tip of the ice berg. Anyone wanna trade places with me for a few hours? I could use a change of scenery!