Twilight

So, I started Twilight a few days ago and so far I am loving it. It is not as easy a read as The Lake House, as I am only on chapter 3 when with the other I was finished by this time. Nothing to exciting has happened yet. Thus far the only events that have happened are Bella moves to Washington state from Arizona, enrolls in school and meets a bunch of kids including Edward Cullen....That's it for now!! Happy New Year evweryone!!!

James Patterson's "The Lake House"...

...is an excellent read. I started it yesterday and finished it today. I know that a lot of people don't have time to read a novel in two days, and I usually don't either. With short chapters and a great story line that is easy to follow, it is a novel that is definitely hard to put down. Tomorrow I am going to start "Twilight." Mostly to see what the fuss is all about. I will let you know!!!

MMMMMMMMMMMM.....GOOD!!!

Last night, Clay and Erica made the best stew and bar - b - qued jalapeno poppers that I have ever tasted!!! I don't even like stew, but I ate two bowls. YUMMY!!!!!

Christmas

Well, it's finally over. My house is a wreck and once again the kiddos have way too much stuff. When did Christmas become so commercial? And furthermore, why? Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. On His birthday, He was brought only three gifts. Today, He is often overlooked and the presents pile up. We really need to get away from the economic aspect of the holiday and get back to the true meaning. That is my rant for the day. Until next time!!

Random Thoughts At This Time

I am finally getting to sit here this afternoon and catch up on all the programs that I have DVR'd. I can't believe how little time there is during the day between the time that I drop Paige off in the morning until the time that I have to leave to go pick her up from school, so the few programs that I do like to watch during the day get set to TIVO so I can take my time alone to do laundry and the housework...When I even have time for that. I usually spend most of my time doing one of my favorite things - feeding changing and playing with my favorite set of twins in the whole world!!! After school is dedicated to homework, dinner, and the super fun games I used to love when I was 5 and now have the excuse to play again! Ok, that's it for now...and about as random as they come!

Abundance of Blessings

What started out as what I thought was a rough and trying year has almost come to a close and now that I look back and ponder on the past 12 months, I realize that God has blessed us tremendously in 2008. The twins were born two months early and we were blessed by giving birth to two heavy (both over 5 pounds) and healthy little girls (we all went home in 3 days)! In July I watched my youngest fight for her life and watched my best friend's little girl fight even harder. We were thin blessed by the Angels better known as doctors, nurses and pca's at Texas Children's hospital. Those may have well been the most trying two weeks of my life. I questioned my faith and everything I believed in, but God pulled me up and saw me through it and I am now a stronger person because of it. In August I watched my baby go off to her first day of Kindergarten. I cried all day long!!! I am blessed because Paige loves school and I never have to fight with her to get up in the mornings or to do her homework. She loves school so much. Most recently the twins, who are still tiny and petite, have FINALLY hit a growth spurt and topped of the scales at a whopping 15 pounds. Until the last few weeks, they were still wearing their new born and size 0-3 clothes. They turned 8 months old on Thanksgiving. Now every one knows when there is a one income household with three children, you have to prioritize on that the money is spent on. I went to God in prayer and told Him that I didn't know how we were going to come up with the money to get the twins a new wardrobe and the few pieces that we did have that still fit were either not warm enough and the clothes that were warm enough were not going to last through the whole winter with the two of them and all the washing that their clothes get. Well God did two things then. The blessings came in three industrial sized 30 gallon trash bags from my good friends Missy and Brandon. The totes were too big to fit in my car and there were two large and two medium sized totes full of clothes, and even some for Paige too, and the sizes will last them through the winter and into the summer. Secondly, Jon got a good quarterly bonus from his new job. His old job at NAPA was not good to him at all. He never missed a day in five years, but yet he never got a raise, bonus, or even a thanks for your hard work. With this new job at National Oilwell Varco, he gets quarterly performance bonuses, great insurance and benefits and alternating weekends and holidays off, so yeah, I think that everything worked out great!! And now we can pay ALL of our bills on time and haven't really had to scrape since he's been there. Yes, I would definitely say that 2008 has been a year of blessings and I am believing for even more in 2009!

Oh, Christmas Tree...

So, last Sunday night, Cole, Sara, Jon, the girls and I went Christmas tree shopping. While at what Paige referred to as "the Christmas Tree Forest" aka Houston Garden Center, we found what we thought was a beautiful, fairly decent sized tree. We got it home and it turned out to be kind of short with a bent trunk. After some artistic cutting on Jon's part and some maneuvering of the tree stand on my part, we finally got it to stand pretty straight and look pretty good. I thought I had more energy than I did, and got ALL of the Christmas things out of the storage closet. Needless to say I had just enough energy to do just that and hand the lights on the tree. Paige and Jone put some ornaments on, and I intend to finish today. All in all I think it's a beautiful tree. The bottom is a bit empty though due to the twins having a hard time resisting the urge to un - decorate the tree. Well, that's my Christmas tree story for today. I wish everyone success with their shopping trips, but remember the true meaning of Christmas, and remember that the greatest, most perfect gift cant be found in a store or wrapped in pretty paper. The greatest gift of all was found in a plain wooden manger in a stable in Bethlehem that first Christmas night 2008 years ago.

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!

Well, as I said in an earlier post, my neice Christine is expecting her first baby sometime around June or July. My best friend married my brother in law in September. Sara's mom became ill and found out that she had cancer, so the honeymoon was postponed until last week. Well, Cole and Sara finally made it back and guess what!!!!! Another baby!!!!!! This is about the time that I found that I was pregnant with Paige, so all I can say is July is going to be a very busy month for birthdays!!!!!

New Movie

I just found out that there is a movie coming out documenting the life of Billy Graham. It is called Billy. I knew nothing about it until I was shopping at Wal - Mart the other night and found the motion picture soundtrack. I didn't get a chance to buy it, but you can bet that I will as soon as I have the opportunity to get back there. The song selections are excellent. I don't know when the movie is scheduled to come out or even if any of the theatres around here are going to pick it up. I cant wait to see it. Well, I am taking Paige to a special program at the library, so I guess that is it for now. Until we meet again!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW

So, Paige started kindergarten this year and I took it upon myself to be the class mom. Today was their Thanksgiving Feast. I was at the school all day helping out. I love kids, but have a new found respect for teachers and now know why I am a nurse instead!!! I'm going to take a nap!!

Thank You, Sean Rackley...

For following my blog. It shows that at least someone is interested in what I have to say, no matter how much since it does not make. Tell Marissa I have been thinking of her and I will give her a call soon. Aidan is one of the most handsome boys I have ever seen!!!! See you soon!

You dirty dog!!!

Everyone know how distraught I have been since the death of our beloved Rottie, Chaos. I needed another big dog to come live with us to scare off any burglars, creepos, villains, Lex Luthors or any other bad guys that may come our way. OK, it was just to give me peace of mind since every dog we have ever had have just been big softies afraid of their own shadow. Enter Jake. 100 pounds of pure dumbness. Think "Which way did he go George?" He looks mean, so he serves his purpose even though no on knows that he is completely harmless. Anywho, the lady who lives down the street who always used to come and yell at my husband that our dog tore up her trash every day (he slept inside, there was no way he was tearing up her trash unless at night he some how got thumbs and he could disarm our security system and let himself in and out) well, her dog has been coming into our yard, not tearing up trash but eating Cool Whips food. Yes I do have a dog named cool whip. She is half Chiwawa and half jack Russell. It's a long story as to why she is named that...It's for another post. Anyway, this other dog has been being a nuisance for a few weeks now and Jake finally stepped up and did his job, chasing the stray back home. Well, he didn't want to come back really and was basically just running around the cul - de - sac where we live like a crazy person. It took me an hour to catch him and drag him back to our yard. I let him know that he was in big trouble and that type of behavior was not to be tolerated. I don't think that he believed me though because what was i going to do? Take away his favorite rope? Anyway as I was bringing him back to his kennel, he stopped where cool whip was sitting and proceeded to relieve himself on her. Yes he peed on my little dog and she just sat there. EEEEWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! He then walked calmly to his dog house and laid right down as nothing ever happened. I think I can laugh at it now that everyone involved has had a bath and all are secured until the next potty break, but man what a morning!!!!!! Does anyone know of any dog therapists? If someone relieved themselves on me, I would be in dire need of one LOL

I'm a GREAT aunt

Or at least I like to think so. I hope the neices and nephews do to. They always seem to have a great time when they come over here!! The neices and nephews range in age anywhere from three to 28 and all in between. Well, last week we get a call from my sister in law saying that my oldest neice age 24 is pregnant. That officialy makes me a "great aunt". Wow. When I think of that I think of an old lady. Hey, I'm still not finished having kids yet. What a blessing though that my twins will now have someone their age to grow up with!! Growing up is something that they are doing so fast!! Peyton can now say mama, bye, car, Jake (the dog) and kiss Pressley still speaks her own language, but Peyton can sure understand her. The other day, they somehow got into a case of diapers and it looked like the pamper factory exploded in the nursery!!! When I walked in and found them both were laughing and grinning from ear to ear!!! There is no way to get mad at them after that. More later!!!! I hsve to pick Paige up from school in a bit then it's off to the library!!!

Thank You!!!

Due to life happening, I fell way behind on my housework. Thank you so much to Zack, Kim and Kristian who helped me clean up when they came over. I appreciate that more than you will ever know. Well, after the loss of my beloved Rottweiler, we are finally getting a new "guard" dog. Jake is coming to live with us due to Clay and Erica not being allowed to have pets due to the deer that live next door. Don't tell anyone, but Jake is a big baby who loves everyone...He just looks mean!!!! Well, that's all for now!!

How Fast Time Flies

I remember March 26, 2008 like it was just this morning. I went to the hospital thinking that I had pulled a muscle and found out that the twins were on the way. Ready or not here they come. Two beautiful, HEALTHY, princesses came kicking and screaming into this world on March 27 at 1 am. 2 Months early. Fastforward 7 and a half months and it brings us to today. The twins that I never thought thatI had and the one I was told might be a little "slow" have grown, thrived and accomplished so much. Pressley by the way is no where near slow like the doctor said she was going to be. Peyton is a little mischevious genious as well. They are doing so much. One of Pressley's favorite things to do is give eskimo kisses, you know, where you rub noses with one another. As I put them down for their morning nap, I looked down and saw her and Peyton turn toward one another and touch noses. Both of them had the biggest smiles on their faces. Then as I was leaving, Peyton said, in the most beautiful voice I have ever heard, "kiss". In case you haven't figgured it out, that was her first word!!! I wish everyone could have a bond and connection as strong as that of a set of twins. In the words of the Oakridge Boys, "did you ever stop to think or wonder why, the nearest thing to Heaven is a child?". I totally agree!!

Election

This is definitely a year to go in the history books. For the first time in the history o the United States of America, a black man has been elected for the office of Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces. Otherwise known as the president. I also think that he will do a great job as president. One thing that has really irritated me during this whole long process is the ignorant uninformed comments that I am hearing from various people around me. One person keeps on saying that the only reason she didn't want him in office is because he is Muslim. Number one, he is not Muslim and number two, people flock to this great nation every day seeking freedom from religious persecution. And the other things that I keep hearing are quips about the color of his skin. It is not a good enough reason to vote or not to vote for someone based solely on skin color. Dr Seuss said it best...a person's a person no matter how small. Substitute the word different, or what ever descriptive for the word small and you will see how we should look at life. That's all for now

My five year old learns about death

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty traumatic day for well, just about everyone in our family. I took Paige to her friend Tyler's birthday party and came home to find out from my husband that our beloved Rottweiler, Chaos had passed away at the age of 10 years old. Now I was sad that he was gone, but I also know that dogs of that size and stature don't usually live that long and that at 10 he had a good life. I explained to her that he was in Heaven now with a new body and his legs didnt hurt anymore, and he could run and play again. See, he had gotten hip dysplasia and the last few months had been especially rough on him. She asked that since he had a new body now, would he be comming back to play with her again? Sadly I had to tell her no and explain to her that once the angels take us to Heaven, we will never come back. Again, she asked why. To which I answered, because Heaven is such a wonderful place and being in the presence of God and Jesus was such a great feeling that no one would ever want to come back. While she didn't like the answer she accepted it. That was the traumatizing part for the ive year old. Now as you know five year olds are very resilliant, and dont tend to be depressed for to long of periods of time. When she went inside to play in her room, Jon and I continued digging, which is no small feat due to the fact that rottweilers when they pass need very large holes. We were almost done with that and during the last few digs if you will, I inadvertantly dug up our pet rabbit that was burried last year.Luckily we had wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a grocery bag so it wasn't anymore traumatizing than that. That was my day yesterday. On a happier note, Paige has slept in her bed for one week now!!! YAY!!!!! I think a big girl party is in order!

So I decided to start a blog...

Like the title states I decided to start a blog. I don't even know if anyone will read this, but it seems to be a great outlet anyway. The twins are napping and I just finished reading "Ana's Story" by Jenna Bush. It was a great book. Very easy to read and get into. It also opens the readers eyes to how bad things truely are for young people the world over. Pressley now has two teeth... The better to bite you with my dear...Lol...Peyton is still stuck with her one. Paige seems to be doing better in kindergarten now...Not so much crying when I dropped her off the last two days. Sweetie the dog that was dumped at my great grandmother's house got into ants and now doesnt hardoy want to move, but who can blame her. I dont want to do anything either when I get a bunch of ant bites. I gave her some Zyrtec, I didn't have any benadryl and so today she is kind of sleepy, but things are otherwise ok in that department. Chaos the outside rottweiler is not doing so great on the other hand...I am very sad to say that he most likely will be leaving us soon. He lived a long full life...Almost 10 years...his hips hurt, he's gone deaf and most mornings I think he wonders if it is even worth lifting his head...I am very sad by this...He has served us well...On a nother note, tonight is the fall festival at KRK where sara works. Paige will dress as a fairy of course and the twins if I can get their costumes done in time are going to be thing one and thing two of the cat in the hat fame...I wven have blue hairspray for them... I doubt that I will dress them up tonight...Maybe save the suprise for Halloween night... Well that is about enough for now I guess...Until we meet again