the new blog & more

I have officially started my new blog to sell my kiddos outgrown clothes! Check it out http://bearcubtreasures.blogspot.com/!!

Also I am proud to say that my Tad has passed the TAKS & will get to move up to the 4th grade next year - WOOHOO!

the Spring Break Thursday

Yesterday was a yucky, cold, rainy day so Theo & I took the kids to the Discovery Science Place. Here's some pictures..........

the JCPenney deal

You can get $10 off $10+ purchase when you use coupon code: BUDDING online.

Get an additional $5 off $5+ for signing up with JcPenney Rewards HERE. Use source code: 3008. Registering your credit card is required to get the $5.

These two offers can be used together on a purchase of $15+, since the $10 is a promotional code and the $5 is a rewards certificate. Thanks Moms By Heart!

the Spring Break Tuesday

It was such a beautiful day today! I took the kiddos +1 neighbor kiddo to the Caldwell Zoo where we had a blast! Here are some pictures.......

the Blackberry Storm

Here are some good websites with good informations, cool apps to download, & some tips I've learned or figured out...........

Websites
http://the-blackberry-storm.net/
http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrystorm/
http://crackberry.com/
http://www.blackberryforums.com/
http://www.blackberryfaq.com/index.php/BlackBerry_FAQ
http://blackberry-planet.com/

Cool Free Applications
These are all OTA link (stands for Over the Air link which means you can download it by clicking this link on your Blackberry Storm browser)
Storm Piano
StormSketch like etch-a-sketch
Slacker internet radio
Weather Bug get weather updates
Flycast another internet radio
TalkLock (not OTA link) locks the screen during phone calls to prevent accidental key presses
Twitterberry Twitter updates
YouTube


Tips & Tricks

• When typing on the touch keyboard, use both thumbs
• When using the keyboard, to get the number screen to stay up hold the button down for a few seconds until you see a lock on it. The same works for the capital letter button.
• When using the menu, whatever selection is highlighted you can press the menu key again to go there
• To keep battery charged longer on your phone, make sure your GPS & Bluetooth are turned off when not in use

That's all I've got for now!

the bloggity blog

Sorry I haven't felt very "bloggy" lately, but here goes........

I had a meeting with Tad's speech teacher this week & he will get to graduate from speech at the end of the year - HOORAY! He still has a slight lisp when he doesn't think about it, but if he tries he can control it. So I just need to be more diligent in reminding him & the speech teachers are going to send me a packet home with sentences so I can continue working with him at home this summer. Tad isn't as happy as I though he would be about graduating - he says he likes being able to get out of class!

I am thinking about starting another blog to sell some of my kiddos clothes they have outgrown. I got this idea from my friend's blog Crew's Closet. Not sure how it will work, but hopefully I can get it started this month sometime & see how it goes!

We got our tax return last week so I got a Blackberry Storm! I love it! (sorry about the blurry picture!) Verizon Wireless had a buy 1 get 1 free sale, so Theo got one too! He picked out my pinkish-purple cover & he got one with tire tread. It was a little hard to get used to at first, especially typing on the touch screen or accidentally pushing buttons with my face when talking on the phone. I learn something new about it everyday! There are alot of good websites I've found with good information, so I will post another blog later with some links in case someone out there has a Storm already or is thinking of getting one.

I am very proud of Theo. He deals with the food banks with his job & has to go check on them several times a week. He has been most impressed with The King's Store House near downtown Tyler. They had some shelving that was falling down, so he built them a couple of new shelves & donated them. He is quite a shelf builder, I was very impressed. I went to visit them there the other day & they took me on a tour. It is pretty cool & they help alot of people.

Hope everyone is doing well! God bless!!

the free samples

Get free sample of Tide total care here (thanks Attention Target Shoppers)
Get free sample of Always here
Get free sample Huggies baby wipes here
Get free sample Prilosec OTC here
Get free sample Quaker true delights here (thanks Moms by Heart)
Free tacos @ Jack in the Box 2/24 coupon here
Get free sample Viva paper towels here
Get free scissors here
Get free potty training DVD from Pull-Ups here
Get free sample Selsun Bluehere
Get free Eat Better America booklet packed with coupons here

the pigtails

the Valentine's Day 2009 & more

I didn't post anything about Valentine's Day because not much happened. I had switched nights at work planning to go to the kids' valentine parties at school, but Sophie had a stomach virus so we weren't able to go. I had to work on Valentine's day, so I gave the kid's their gifts, hugs, & kisses & that's about it. The only really cool thing was Zoe's teacher sent home a construction paper hershey's kiss for the parents to write something to their child to let them know how much you loved them & how special they were to you. Then each child got to read it in front of the class at the valentine party. Here's what I wrote to Zoe from Theo & I:

From the moment we first laid eyes on you and held you in our arms, we knew you truly were a gift from God and that we had never loved anything this much
before. We have watched you grow up to be such a beautiful, smart, and
special girl and we are so proud of you! No matter what happens, you will
always have a special place in our hearts.

We love you so much Zoe!

Love, Mom & Dad

Awwwww! How sweet!

I did finally get a picture of Miss Sophie in her pigtails! What a cutie-patootie! We met Theo for lunch at the Jalapeno Tree. Talk about "Terrible Twos"! Every little thing that didn't go exactly her way she would scream "Wah-hah-hah", put her hands over her eyes, and arch herself backwards in her chair in order to be as dramatic as possible without actually crying tears. Then to make her happy after she ate about 3 bites of her lunch, we went to look at their cool saltwater fishtank. This went great until a little boy probably not even a year old was brought over to look at the fish & that was it! Sophie screamed no & started over towards him to push him away, but thankfully I grabbed her up in time! Uggggh! The boy's mother looked over at me with disgust & I just wanted to shout at her, "Just you wait! Your time is coming soon!" LOL! Afterwards Sophie & I had a nice one-sided talk about sharing, it was great! She also started another great new thing - when she asks for something & I say no, she repeats it in a devil voice! Seriously you can almost see her eyes glowing red & everything! But doesn't she just look so sweet & innocent in her picture?

the prayer request for Braden

I found out last month that a friend of mine I used to work with @ ETMC, her little boy was diagnosed with leukemia in December. I'm sure she won't mind me posting a link to her blog, they are thankful for all the prayers they can get. They are living in the Dallas area, but she & Braden are in Tennessee for the next several months for treatment, away from the other members of their family. Here is the link to their site:

http://caringbridge.org/visit/bradenallard

the first week of February

Well, work is sucking more & more every time I go. I guess the economy is affecting hospitals too so we have to do the jobs of 2-3 people while we are there! The worst, I mean absolute worst thing that happened at work this week was they say we have to use the revolving doors at the front of the hospital instead of the side door because it screws up the temperature in the lobby - whatever! I have a phobia of the revolving door, don't know if it has a name but I like to call it revolvadooraphobia! I've heard stories about people getting killed in these things & I'm not planning to be the next one! I am going to break the rules & use the side door & no one better try to stop me - HAHA!

Sophie has enough hair to put little pigtails on top! SO CUTE!! I wish I could have gotten a pic, but she pulled them out before I could!

Yesterday I had a parent/teacher conference with Kalli's teacher. She wants to refer her to the gifted/talent (GT) program at her school. Our older 2 have gotten similar referrals, but we have not put them in because we had not heard good things about the program for example they would have the kids do such outrageous projects that the parents would pretty much have to do the whole thing. Their teachers have still been good about encouraging them to read more advanced books, etc. She said they have changed the program where there are about 5 GT children in a class that are given more advanced work & then they go to a different class like 1 afternoon a week to do some more advanced study. Sounds good, so she is putting in the referral & we will have to fill out more paperwork later. I'm not trying to be braggy, I am just so proud of her!

Afterwards we met my friend London for lunch at Chick-fil-a. Her son Joshua is 2 & daughter Atalie is 4 months & weighs 17lbs - she is such a cute little butterball! Sophie doesn't play well with others since she thinks she is the princess of the whole Chick-fil-a, so she & Joshua didn't really play too much together, but I had fun seeing them anyway!

the time for the next Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

• I didn't not have a clue who was playing in the Superbowl until today when I saw it on my homepage when I got on the Internet, & didn't choose to watch other shows like House instead!
• I definitely have not watched all the episodes of the OC & didn't actually enjoy every single episode because I am a 33-year old woman & no longer a teenager!
• I certainly haven't been going through withdrawals the last few days because my email is messed up & I'm not getting any of my very important hundred emails I usually get every day!I also didn't dread calling my internet company because I thought they would not be helpful (which they weren't) & I would feel like an idiot (which I did)!
• My 8-year old son did not come in the house smelling like a campfire yesterday because he watched the neighbor catch various things in the yard on fire with a lighter because we have definitely taught him better than that!
• I really didn't not get any laundry done this weekend & am not praying that I have enough undergarments to get me through the next 3 nights I have to work!

What did you not do this week?

the last week of January

I'm thinking I'm not enjoying 2009 very much! Much to my dismay, a few of our lice friends decided to stick around, so we're still working on that issue. We've also had colds & pink-eye. I'm training to be charge nurse at work & am definitely not enjoying that very much. The rules change every day, so I'm having trouble knowing what I'm supposed to do! I also have assertiveness issues, so I tend to get walked all over alot of times. I'm also a little freaked out by the recession because we have alot of debt & have not been very good at getting out. I think both of our jobs are safe, but the ability to get any extra hours/overtime is becoming limited. Lastly, I am not getting any of my emails, which is driving my a little crazy because I just know there is something important in one of them I am missing, even though I rarely receive anything that important!

Now for some less dreary talk. I have officially watched every episode of the OC! I started watching episodes when I worked @ ETMC my friend Tracy's daughter had all the seasons on DVD so we watched them on slow nights. When I quit there, I was happy to find all the episodes airing on SoapNet, so thanks to the DVR I began watching where I had left off & finished this week. I have also gotten caught up on Lost & Grey's Anatomy. I guess there is a perk to not getting extra hours at work after all ;)!

I bought a purse on eBay this week. I have been looking for a new one for awhile because the lockers at my new job are 1/3 the size of the lockers at my old job & I'm having trouble squeezing my giant purse in there. I looked on Fossil.com & loved many of the purses on there, but not the price, so I searched eBay & was able to find NWT Fossil purses for much cheaper! This is the purse I chose - a Fossil black & white tote. I'm very excited, I hope it comes soon & I hope my friend Camillia approves! I also hope it fits better in the locker & I can fit all my stuff in it, all of which I assure you is necessary that I have - LOL!!

Cute Sophie talk of the week - when she is watching Dora the Explorer on TV, if you ask her what she is watching she says "Du-du-du-du-du-Dora" like in the theme song. She is such a cutie-pie! But she won't even think about sitting on the potty, so potty-training isn't going too well!

I bought a study guide for the MAT which is the test I need to take to get into graduate school. If I can take this test in the next couple of weeks, I may have time to try to get accepted for the fall, otherwise it will be next spring.

I bought a couple of other books to read for fun. I've not had an interest in reading very much since nursing school, but I'm trying to get back into it. My friend Jamie got me interesting in the Shopaholic series which I have read the 1st two, so I bought the 3rd one now. I'm also excited that they have made the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic! The other book I got is The boy in the Striped Pajamas which I started reading one night at work I was sitting in the nursery with a baby & the mom had left the book on the crib so I picked it up & before I knew it I had read 6 chapters so I just had to buy it & finish it. I've heard this book also has a movie coming out. These may be the 1st 2 movies where I have actually read the book 1st!

That's all for now, hope everyone is having a good 2009 so far!

the not so good Monday

I was hesitant to post about this because, even thought I know it's not true, I feel like we are the only people who have ever had this & it means we are not a hygienically acceptable family, but here goes. (whispering) we have lice. I would like to post about this not only so that we can have laughter in this not so funny time, but also to offer some words of advice to anyone that this may happen to in the future.

I bought a 3-step lice ridding kit: step 1 - lice killing shampoo, step 2 - lice & egg comb-out gel with comb, step 3 - home lice control spray. We started the delousing process by having the girls wash their hair with the lice killing shampoo (step 1) - you apply thoroughly to dry hair, let it sit for 10 minutes, then lather & rinse it out. Then onto step 2 - I found a place with good light which in our house is our desk lamp. I sat in the desk chair & had Zoe sit on a pillow on the floor. She has thick hair like her mommy so I knew she would be the hardest so I wanted to get her out of the way 1st. I separated a small piece of hair out, coated it with the gel, & proceeded to comb through it with the little plastic comb that came in the kit. Guess what I began to notice at this point - THE LICE ARE NOT DEAD! So step 1 was pretty much a waste of time & money - we found out during some reading on the Internet that the lice are becoming resistant to the pesticides in the shampoo! That's OK because I was determined to make step 2 work. By the way, Theo did step 3 during this time, washing the kids bedding & spraying their beds, pillows, etc. I look at my comb & all that is on there is the gel that I put in her hair. So I go on to another strand & I can see a louse (I guess that's the singular form of lice). So I comb through that strand, but cannot seem to get the little guy onto the comb. I keep working for several minutes & finally get it - YEA! one down, one million to go. I go to put it in a plastic baggie, since this is how the kit suggested we do so we can throw them out, but I can't get it off the comb. I tried using a tissue, but Theo brought me a brush that I used to finally get it off the comb & into the bag. So now after maybe 10 minutes I have 1 louse in the bag. Still OK because now I've gotten some practice & it's going to go faster! I repeat this for several more strands & was going a little faster & had about 4-5 lice in the bag. Then I noticed a louse on the strands I've already done. This is when I began to LOSE IT! (Theo says I had already lost it at this point). Theo found a video on the Internet with instructions on how to comb the lice out of the hair - it had a few good points, one thing I noticed was they were using a metal comb instead of a plastic comb, so Theo went to the store to see if they had any different combs (& to pick up McDonald's because I sure the heck was not going to make dinner tonight)! While he was gone, I continued the combing out process & by the time he got back I had like a dozen lice in the bag! We took a break to eat, but I was feeling a little nauseous from looking a crawling lice so I didn't eat too much.
At the store, Theo did find a comb kit Acu-Life Ultimate Lice Comb. It has 2 sizes of metal combs that you can interchange on a handle with a magnifying glass on it, tweezers, & a brush. He also bought some hair clips to separate the hair. I tried the metal comb on Zoe's hair & it definitely worked better. It actually got more than 1 lice at a time with the eggs - hooray & the clips worked great too! We also tried another thing they did on the video which was to use a cup of hot water to dip the brush in to get the lice off. It worked better than the Kleenex-plastic bag plan. Theo also decided to try brushing through Kalli's hair with the long brush & see what he got, no separating into strands or clipping. He got tons of lice out of her hair after brushing through it several times. So we decided to try that on Zoe's hair, while I did the separating, combing, & clipping routine on Kalli's hair to make sure to get the rest. We had also seen on the video to use olive or vegetable oil to coat the hair (instead of the gel), we tried olive oil which worked so much better! I decided to use the smaller comb to comb through Kalli's hair. There were only 2 lice left on her hair after Theo combed through it. Some nits, but no more lice jumping back onto the parts I had already done. Theo also tried heating the water to boiling in the microwave with a little soap to cut the olive oil, which made it easier to get the lice & nits off the comb & kill the lice. We had finally found a plan that worked after more than 2 hours of trial & error, it was almost the kids bedtime but it was definitely moving faster now. Kalli is completely done after a mere 30 minutes. Then I did Zoe, which took a little longer because she has so much more hair, but to my pleasant surprise there were no live lice left in her hair! Theo did Tad's because Theo had already shaved his head down to 1 inch long to try to make it easier. Next we had to wash out the olive oil. Last we put bedding back on beds & tucked them in hopefully lice free.
Now we had to do Sophie, mom, & dad. Luckily Sophie thought what I had been doing to the girls looked pretty interesting, so she didn't fight us too much. 1 of us entertained her while the other 1 combed & then we switched. She didn't have too many lice in her hair so it was easy. Theo did mine & I only had a few, then Theo only had a couple - WE WERE DONE!
I should have taken pictures of our adventures, but I was too stressed out to think of it.

Now to summarize what worked for us:

Supplies:

• lice-killing shampoo
• metal lice comb, 2 sizes preferred
• olive oil
• cup of hot water, with a small amount of dish soap
• Kleenex or towel
• hair clips or bobby pins
• plastic Ziploc bags (optional)
• home lice control spray

Instructions:

• even thought it didn't seem to work, I still recommend using some kind of lice-killing shampoo to start - you can only use this once then repeat in 7-10 days
• coat the hair at the scalp with olive oil, as you comb through the hair it will bring the oil down to the ends of the hair
• comb through the hair several time with the long comb to get the bulk of the lice out, dip the comb in warm water, then wipe the comb on a Kleenex or towel
• in a bright lighted environment, separate the hair into small portions approximately the size of the comb, comb through the hair, dip the comb in warm water them wipe it on a Kleenex or towel, clip or pin the hair out of the way
• shampoo the hair twice to wash out the olive oil
• wash all bed linens & recently worn clothing
• spray any bedding that can't be washed, pillows, mattresses, furniture, etc.
• wash all lice removal equipment in hot water or soak in cup of hot water & dispose of any Kleenexes or disposable cups in plastic bags or outside trash can
• check affected family members daily, if any lice or nits seen repeat above steps excluding the 1st step

Hope this is helpful to someone! Have a great lice-free day!

the fun Saturday night

Hubby & I went out on the town tonight, did some shopping, some eating, some more shopping! The kiddos were having a sleepover @ Nana & Pawpaw's. I know I definitely had more fun than he did!

First we went to Target. We browsed the clearance racks & endcaps and found a few good deals. They had alot of 75% off, but most of the stuff we found was 30% or 50% off. I was very proud of my Christmas panties for 75% off that I can wear year-round & no one will know - teehee!

Next we went to the Children's Place. I had a $10 coupon from my Place Perks, 15% off my entire purchase coupon, shopped the monster sale 30% off already reduced merchandise & save a bunch! They are having a $1000 sweepstakes here, you can enter once daily & you can join the birthday club where they will send you coupons on your birthday & your children's' birthday.

Then we had dinner @ On the Border where we threw caution to the wind & saved absolutely no money, I even got a grande margarita! & they didn't even card me, I guess I look so old now with my gray hairs!

Last we went to CVS where they have their bonus deals such as double packs of Cheerios, Cheez-its, Mrs. Fields cookies, etc. with some coupons & extra care bucks so we saved bunches!

Want a free sample of Quaker True Delights? Go here. Enjoy!

Just to throw in a funny about Miss Sophie - a car was coming towards our road, but turned before it got to our house. Sophie said "That was close - whew!" rubbing her had across her forehead! What a cutie-patootie!

the dr. appointment

Miss Sophie had her 2-year check-up with Dr. M last Tuesday. We had a long wait in the waiting room in which I had to deal with the antics of my very spoiled daughter. She told children that were trying to play in the vicinity of her that this was her toy or to "Go away!" If any children or adults tried to sit by me or talk to me she would yell out "That's my mommy!" I of course got onto her many times using her full name "Sophia Noelle", but have wondered how I have let her become so bad! I, along with the other members of my family, have created a monster! I do keep telling myself we have also created a little girl who is so darn cute & smart!

She weighed 26 lbs which in in the 50th percentile, I can't remember her height but it was in the 75th percentile. I am actually relieved that she is in the 50th percentile because she eats like a bird! She only had to get 1 shot, the Hepatitis A vaccine.

the time for another Not Me! Monday!

Let me try to remember some things I didn't do this week:

• I did not absolutely insist that I didn't want to get put on stand-by @ work (that means I have to stay home but can get called in if they need me), then when they told me I had to be put on stand-by actually get excited about it, only to get absolutely crushed when they called me back an hour later to tell me I had to go ahead & come in!
• I certainly did not sulk & whine at work because they told me I had to go ahead & come in & it was my 4th 12-hr night shift in a row & had a really crazy busy patient load acting like I was the only nurse EVER that this has happened to only to have many of the wonderful people I work with jump in & help me so I wouldn't have a panic attack or a nervous breakdown! I would not ever do these things because I am normally such a calm, cool, & collected person!
• I definitely have not spoiled my 2-year old to the point of her not letting any other children or even adults sit by me or talk to me without yelling out "That's my mommy!"
• I really did not just yesterday finally get my Christmas tree out of my house still having other Christmas decorations up when it's almost the middle of January!
• I really, really did not sleep almost 24 hours straight after the above mentioned horrible night at work & was STILL TIRED so had to take a long afternoon nap!
  

the time again for Not Me! Monday

It's that time again to blog about all the things I did, I mean did not do this week:

• I did not get really excited thinking about my older 3 kids going back to school today because they are driving me absolutely crazy!!
• I definitely did not tell my co-workers I would call & see if they needed any help last night, & then when I woke up did not call partly because I was not feeling very well but partly because I just really didn't want to go to work!
• I really did not contemplate leaving my Christmas decorations up for another week because I dread having to take it all down & try to make it all fit in the storage containers again!
• I certainly did not unsubscribe to a email newsletter like I resolved to do this year only to subscribe to 3 more in it's place!

What things did you not do this week?

the New Year's Resolutions

OK, so I do this every year & I don't think I actually keep any of them but I'm doing it again anyway!

2009 New Year's Resolutions

• Probably the #1 resolution everyone says: Lose Weight! I'm not really sure how I'm gonna do it, but I have a couple of ideas I'm gonna try - drink more (or actually any) water. I go through a 12-pack of diet coke in a couple of days, so I think I'm gonna have to cut back! I also need to cut back on sweets, & french fries. So that's a start I guess. Also I'm hoping this next resolution will help with this one......
• Exercise! I actually have a membership to Curves, so now I just have to go! See how easy that is......
• Next is Go To Church! I need to find a church home, drag myself out of bed on Sunday mornings, & go.......
• Another big one is Finances. With the economy questionable, my overtime hours @ work are questionable, I need to be frugal. I already do coupons & search out good deals, but I just need to cut back on some things like french fries (see above)......
• I have already mentioned on previous posts how many emails I have in my inbox, so I need a plan for this too. Unsubscribe to newsletters that I don't read......
• Get My House Organized! This is hard because it is SO disorganized I can't figure out where to start, I think I just need to try to do a little bit every day.........

So here's the daily plan: unsubscribe from newsletters, drink a glass of water, do some cleaning, , drink some water, cook some healthy food at home, drink some more water, go to Curves, followed by more water & some more cleaning unless it's Sunday then I need to add some church in there & picking up the Sunday paper to get the coupons.

That sounds a little overwhelming right now, but it's better than the news crews doing a story about the morbidly obese lady whose house has fast food bags all over the floor & then she has to file bankruptcy.................

the New Year's Eve party

Several years ago we started a family tradition at our house of an annual New Year's Eve party that includes staying up all night, lots of food, & movies. The kids absolutely love it & I have come to look forward to it myself every year! It is also better than having to get out on the road.

This year I let the kids each pick what snack food they wanted. Zoe picked cookies to bake, Tad wanted ice cream, & Kalli decided on M&Ms. I wanted chips & dip and threw in some baby carrots for good measure. We rented 3 movies - Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears a Hoo, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was a great party! We had pizza & chickenstrips (the kid's favorite) from Papa John's for dinner, then watched movies & snacked for hours! The carrots actually got finished off - Sophie insists they're beans, that girl sure can argue! We watched the New Year's Rockin' Eve countdown & blew bubbles @ midnight. As far as staying up all night - Kalli went to sleep @ 1am, Tad & Sophie @ 2am, I could have stayed up later since I am a night shift worker but I decided to go to bed @ 3am & left Zoe & Theo to duke it out to see who won (they are both still asleep right now so I'll have to let you know who won later)! I just love partying with my little party animals!