Hello again. It has been awhile

Hello again fellow bloggers.  I don't know how long it has been, but it has been a long time since I was here. 

Today is Red's 11th birthday.  I can't believe that it has been 11 years since he was born.  He is my wonderful lovable guy.  He is also very annoying and demanding, but I love him more than I can believe. 

He decided that his much loved teddy bear needed a sweater because the bear is starting to loose some of his fur and is getting cold.  So I dug out my crochet needle and got some yarn from friends and made his bear a sweater.  Now the interesting part is, the bear wasn't allowed to know about the sweater because it is the bears present from Santa.  We will be seeing Santa at a family Christmas dinner on Saturday and Santa must give the bear the sweater. 

That was fun.  Then Babes decides that his dog needs a sweater so it doesn't feel left out.  Luckily the dog is a very sound sleeper because his sweater needed several fittings. 

The whole time I am doing this Girlie is laughing her head off at me making sweaters that the stuffed animals can't see.  I think it is great that my boys are still childlike enough to worry about their stuffed animals feelings. 

My mood lately had been pretty good until the cookie fairy (my M-I-L) showed up and baked about 6 dozen cookies and left them all here.  Her sugar cookies are very hard for me to resist and all the extra sugar has dropped my mood.  That along with some financial problems we are having to deal with.  I decided to let the financial worries alone for a couple of days leading up to the birthday.  Tomorrow I will be back to the phone calls and trying to figure out how to stretch $2000 a month to pay $2800 in bills.  Hoping that refinancing the mortgage will help.  We also closed two credit cards and are only using the 3rd for the payments for the kids orthodontia. 

OH, that is right, you guys probably don't know,  all 3 of the kids are in the middle of orthodontic treatments.  Fun.  Especially because Red keeps misplacing his bottom expander.  I wish there was a way that it could be permanently installed like his upper one was.  Well I will keep praying that he finds it. 

I guess that is about it for tonight.  Except for Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Enjoying the quiet.

Well, the kids are away and I am sitting here listening to my hubby snore his way through some TV show.  Not paying enough attention to even know what it is.  I am so enjoying the silence.  And the ability to finish a job that takes more than 10 min without interruption.  That is one of the problems with home educating.  There is rarely any time when the kids aren't around and I am awake enough to do paperwork type jobs that require some attention.  I start, spend 5 min, have to go help a kid, 3 min, have to referee and argument, 5 min, the phone rings, 2 min, someone has a question, and it goes on and on and a job that would take about an hour uninterrupted takes 2-3 hours.  I love my kids, but sometimes I wish I could just wave a wand and have them sit quietly in the corner for 20 min.  Not that I would know what to do if they did because I would be so shocked, but it is nice to dream. 
I got the renewals for my home school group caught up, now to put them into the database.  I also got my evaluations scheduled and contacted someone about getting Babes his standardized testing since he is in 3rd this year.  I also decided that we will be participating in a Co-op this coming school year.  It should be a good experience.  I will be Co Teaching photography to the 6-8 graders with a young lady who will be graduating this spring.  That will be an adventure for sure.  Girlie will probably be in the class.  I am not sure what classes are being offered for everyone yet.  I will find out though. 
Didn't make Curves at all this week.  I was not feeling good physically and that made my emotional status worse and then I made bad food choices which caused me to gain weight and also affected my moods.  I know certain foods kill my attitude, but sometimes I just want to eat them.  Cause they are the tasty ones.  Why do the foods that taste good make my attitude yucky.  I wish that the foods that I didn't like were the ones that made me grumpy.  Would make this loosing weight thing a whole lot easier. 
While I am enjoying the silence now, I will be ready for the kids to come home tomorrow.  Too long without them and the silence becomes oppressive.  So I am going to go read for a bit. then I may do some dishes, or start a load of laundry or fold some clothes, or.... who am I kidding.  I will read for a bit then play on the computer some more then go to bed. 
Have a great week.

I am back

It has been a while.  I have not been feeling very well emotionally.  trying to figure out how to do everything that is supposed to be done.  Bah Humbug.  Oh wait, wrong season for that, I don't care, it is how I feel.  Well, I don't remember if I have posted since my last weigh in at Curves, but I lost 13 lbs and 11 inches since I joined.  I bounce between being happy that it is a loss and wishing it was more.  When I am happy that it was a loss, I exercise even more, when I am depressed because it isn't more, I eat.  Then I feel guilty, because here I am trying to loose weight and I am eating more than I should, then I feel even more guilty.  I guess I am good at guilt.  I don't remember anyone ever trying to make me feel guilty.  Wonder why that is such a strong emotion for me.  Will have to think on that one some more.
On a happier note, we got our tax refund back, and with it paid the money we have due to the state and ordered a new fridge and then had a nice family night out on Saturday.  Went out to eat and then spent some time at a local carnival.  The kids each played two games and got some cheesy little stuffed animals, but it is part of going to carnivals.  I had many of them from when I was younger.  We also have a bit left over so now I decide what bills get paid early or paid off.  I wish, well as my grandmother says, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."  So no good wishing.  Just keep going the best we can.  I thought this would be a long post since I haven't posted for a while, but I am too tired to think very much right now.
Tomorrow is another day. Night.

Life after the storm

Well, Easter has come and gone along with 12 people in my house for the majority of the day.  I spent a good part of yesterday just sort of hiding in my room to decompress from all the drama.  Today was back to more of a "normal" day. 
Got weighed in at Curves and they took my measurements.  I have lost 13 lbs and 11 inches since I started at the end of January.  All in all pretty good.  Not what they were hoping, but I am satisfied with it.  I am heading in the correct direction.  I have also started better eating habits that I am working on making permanent.  I still have days when I slip into the old habits, but they are becoming fewer and farther between. 
This is going to be a short one, because I am very tired and keep yawning and when I blink too long, I almost fall asleep at the computer.  Not the most comfortable place to sleep.  So for now, I think I will take my tired self to bed and I will be back another day.

Bit of a reality check from a reader

In a good way, I got a bit of a reality check.  She reminded me that it doesn't really matter if Jesus was crucified on Thursday, Friday or even Wednesday as some others say, the important thing is he was crucified, and was resurrected.  When doesn't matter, that it happened matters.  So I guess I need to remember that not everything that bugs me is important and that is something that I need to remember in a lot of things in life.  Some things that bug me are important, people who make snap judgments about people without all the details, bullying, and those who believe that some people are not worth spending the time to get to know.  Those are important things to try to change, especially when I see them in myself and to point out when I see them in my kids. 
I am a little bit bummed today, I was planning to take the kids bowling with a free bowling program, then I remembered that our printer is out of ink and I can't print the coupons.  Bah, Humbug.  Well, Friday is close and that is payday so I can hopefully print them for next week.  This program is really great, kids can bowl two games a day for no cost other than shoe rental (and some lanes have a deal on shoes, the whole summer for $10 or $15.)  it is called Kids Bowl Free if you want to check it out.  There are centers all over the US and 4 or 5 near where I live. 
Wondering what I should do today.  Laundry and dishes and cooking of course, throw some school in there and Curves.  Well I don't know what is going through my mind at the moment other than that. 
I am being invaded by ants.  the little critters are everywhere and they are annoying me.  I just found one crawling on my arm as I type.  Gack!!!
Well it is time to go get something done for the day.  Should soon be just my 3 as my extra (nephew Fred 10) is soon being picked up.  Hope everyone had a nice Easter and is enjoying this sunny weather.  If you are in an area where it isn't sunny, I am sorry.  Your turn will come.

The quiet after the storm

Well, Easter is almost over, Dinner was a success, and the kids all had a great time hunting eggs. 
Then 8:00 came around and Red threw up twice, once in the kitchen sink and once in the bathroom.  At least he hit something other than the floor both times.  I think it was a combination of too much candy and sinus drainage from playing outside most of the day and not taking any allergy medication.  He seems to be recovering OK, so we now wait to see how he feels in the morning. 
I have an extra kid for the night.  My niece's boyfriend made some really bad choices and ended up very ill.  So she was in the ER with him most of the night and my Mother-in_law was with her, so they asked if my nephew could stay here for the night so that they could go to bed early.  So he is here.  Sometimes I don't realize he is here, but then other times it is like he is a brier patch and annoys the living daylights out of everyone.  I guess he is just like my kids. 
I enjoyed our church service this morning.  It was nice seeing the church pretty full.  Or at least it looked full to me.  I am looking forward to the next sermon series that pastor is doing.  It will be interesting to see what questions are asked. 
I really am not sure what I am feeling right now, relief that the day went well (with a few minor issues), frustration that I didn't "enjoy" the day more, I think that is the big one.  I wasn't really "present" emotionally today and I wish I had been.  I love my extended family, but they can be a bit much and cause me to shut down.  Not sure where to go with this thought, but realizing it this soon after the event has got to be progress. 
Well, I think that I am going to end this for now and go to bed.  The kids are in bed, hubby is in bed, the pets are all set for the night, I should go to bed also. 
Tomorrow is another day and I will try to allow some feelings into it.  Won't be easy, but it will be good.
Night all.

Easter thoughts

Well, tomorrow is Easter.  The day the Christ rose from the grave to conquer death and pay for our sins, so that we can spend eternity with God in Heaven.  This is probably blasphemy in most Christian circles, but based on my readings, I don't think Christ was crucified on Friday.  I believe he was crucified on Thursday.  My reasoning, 3 days and 3 nights in the grave.  He was only there for two nights and one day really.  If he is crucified on Friday, placed in the grave just before night fall, then Friday night is one night, Saturday is one day and Saturday night is two nights then he rises on Sunday.  Not 3 of anything.  But crucified on Thursday, placed in Thursday night (1) there Friday (1 d), Friday night (2N), Saturday (2D) Saturday night (3N) rises on Sunday (third day).  I know that I am in the minority in this, I also am frustrated by Christmas pageants that present the wise men as being at the manger scene.  They weren't, they showed up later; as much as two years later.  But I am only one person, I can't change the world.  It just bugs me and I needed to vent on it a bit. 
Now that I have that out of my system, I can get on with other things and thoughts about Easter.  What do you think about egg hunts?  Personally I don't have an issue with them.  Sort of like the Christmas Tree.  No they don't really have anything to do with the true meaning of the holiday, but they do provide a path for presenting the true meaning of the holiday. 
Plus I like the fact that the candy the egg hunts provide supplies me with snacks for the kids for quite a while afterwards.  So they help with my budget.  Rather selfish I know, but it is fact. 
Also Easter baskets.  These I actually have more problems with than egg hunts.  Santa is bad enough (a strange person coming into my house, really) At least Santa does have roots in a factual figure in Christian history (St Nicholas).  I dont' know the full story, but I do know that he was a pastor who tried to help families in need through leaving goodies in the shoes that the families left on the doorstep (as was customary in that place and time).  He did it to give help without making the families feel belittled or like they were getting hand outs.  To a starving family, a bundle of beans for soup or a couple of hard rolls would have seemed like Manna from heaven. But the Easter Bunny, where did that story come from?  No idea. 

Well my mother-in-law will be here soon to take me to a bridal shower for one of the hubby's cousins and I have laundry to hang before she gets here.  So I will have to continue my thoughts another time. Have a good Easter and enjoy the lovely weather we are having here in South Central PA if you are here.  If not hope your weather is to your liking.