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.