Proud Moment

I had to take a moment to say I am proud of myself. I have lost a total of 15.2 pounds. It feels great to feel great again. I hope I don't mess up this week. We are leaving Wed. to go camping with friends. I tried to plan our meals to be good for me. I also know there will be many tempting desserts there. My friend is fixing chocolate chip cookies, and Oatmeal. Oh my mouth is watering now just thinking about it. Maybe I can walk or do some extra hiking to keep the weight off. I can still have a cookie, but not many.
Oreo's is one of favorite cookies. I can eat tons of them. I love to dip them in milk. I have made myself not buy them for like 7 weeks now. The girls wanted some the other day and I thought it was not fair to keep those yummy cookies from them.
My mouth was watering as they ate their cookies. I looked up the points for the cookies and found that two cookies was 3 points. I was not sure I could stop with two cookies, but guess what? I did. I was so proud that I only ate the two, when I really felt like eating about 6 or more. LOL
Anyway I had to take a brag moment for me. I might not report in next week. After this week, I might gain some back. I am going to try very hard not to.

Better Late than Never

Erica, Alicyn, Haley, Lauren, and Courtney

Make a Wish

Happy Birthday Courtney

Courtney had a really nice birthday. She has many many friends that she wanted to come over for her special day, but I told her only four. There is about 14 girls from church that are close in age. I have had them all at our house before, and I just did not feel I could handle 14 of them spending the night. She picked out 4 and really wanted more, but I had to just say no. I know I am a mean mom. The girls had fun. They came over and we went to my parents for hot dogs and cake. The girls then hunted Easter Eggs. My dad hooked his trailer up and took the girls for a ride on some trails that night. I went with them and they got scared. My dad had one of his friends lined up to scare the girls. We went by this deer stand and my dad's friend was there hid. The friend and his wife had a white sheet that they rigged to fly. Then they had chains to rattle in this old building. Even though they got scared and two cried they had fun. The girls then came to our house and spent the night.

BEAUTIFUL

Check out the slide show of Brooke and tell me which picture you like the best. I am having a really hard time deciding. The number for each picture is at the bottom of the picture. Cindy did a excellent job.

Click Here
Once on this site click enter site. Then click client. The pass word is Brooke. I hope this works. Leave me a comment on your two favorite ones. I love them all, but I know I can't get them all.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Courtney. I am so thankful that God blessed us with you 10 years ago. We love and appreciate you very much.
Mommy, and Daddy.

Friends

Thinking

Brooke is still thinking.

These are some pictures of when Annie stayed at our house. I have tons more, but Brooke had a runny nose and I did not realize when I was taking the pictures that she needed her nose wiped. She is still cute with a dirty nose, but did not think you all would want to see it.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Bro. Cornwell. We love and appreciate you. You and your wife have been a great encouragement to our congregation.

I am so thankful for our pastor and his wife. Bro. Cornwell loves his people and he has so much compassion for them. My children adore Bro. Cornwell. In fact most children do. Bro. Cornwell always takes time for the little children. Before he was our pastor I was always impressed at the love he had for the children. He always has took time to speak to them, and he always knew their names. Nothing has changed since he has became our pastor. He still takes time for the children. We have tons of children in our congregation. There is always new babies being born. Bro. Cornwell can always remember their names. It is so amazing. I can't even keep up with all the little children's names. Bro. Cornwell reminds me of Jesus. Before he became our pastor, I thought that many times. Now that he is our pastor I can see that even more. I am truly amazed at how God has helped him and our congregation. Our former pastor retired about three years ago. We still love and miss him. God has been so good to us, by blessing us with a good pastor and pastor's wife. God is still doing GREAT things for our congregation and I feel truly blessed.

I just want to take this day wish Bro. Cornwell a Happy Birthday.

Computer Girl

Playing Dora

Brooke is really into this game.

Dora The Explorer

Just when I thought I was computer Free Brooke takes a interest in the computer. Courtney, Kevin and I would all race to the computer. Courtney was worse than any of us. Courtney loves to listen to Adventures in Odyssey. She would be on my Computer and I would be about to die to check my email and look at my friends blog. My computer had some small issues, so Kevin bought me another one awhile back. We gave Courtney ours and we also bought a router so she could have her own computer and not be on mine. ( Don't Freak, she is limited to only certain things) This was great for me. I could get on my computer anytime and not have somebody rushing me to get off. Miss Brooke has took a HUGE interest in the computer so this has became a problem. LOL
Brooke wants on my computer all the time to play her favorite game. (DORA) Brooke is getting better with the mouse, but she still needs some help. I took these pictures to show you how Brooke really gets into playing this.

Zoo Fun

We had a nice time at the Zoo. I was so glad to get to see Susan and her family again. Brooke and Luci have became great friends. They seem to love each other so much. Brooke talks about Luci all the time. I wish so bad we lived closer. If we did, those two would be getting together a good bit.
Brooke loves her little Chinese friends. It seems like every one of Brooke's Chinese friends that she has met lives a good distance from us.
We missed seeing all you other bloggers at the zoo, but honestly it was so crowded that we would not have got to be together any way. I guess with Spring Break it made it worse. The parking lot was so full that people was having to park outside the park and in a wooded area next to the park.
Brooke was so tired that she fell asleep. When she woke up, she started looking around saying, "Luci, Where is Luci.?"
Here is some pictures from our day.

Brooke and Luci

Ready to see the animals

Sweet Friends

Courtney

Brooke, Taking it easy.

The end of the day, when Brooke fell asleep. This was suppose to been at the end of the pictures, but sometimes it is hard to figure out blogger.

SWEET

Looking for Ants. ( The last time the girls was together they stepped into a ant bed. OUCH )

Me with my Two Little Darlings

Brooke with her serious look.

Sisters

Beautiful Birds

Daddy with his Two Little Darlings

Courtney, Luci and Brooke.

Healthier Choices

I have to say I am proud of myself. About 5 week ago, I was inspired by my friend Kelly, to start trying to loose weight. Kelly was doing Weight Watchers, so I thought I would give it a try. I hated the thoughts of saying I was on a diet, because I just don't like that word. Something about that word makes me feel like I can't eat anything except salads, or grilled things.
After much thought, I decided to join Weight Watchers. I have to say it was a great move on my part. It has not been easy, but the results are paying off. I weighed in today and have lost 12.8 pounds. I think I am loosing more inches than pounds, because my skirts are way to big in the waist now. I feel better than I have in a while.
I know I still have a good ways to go, but I am proud of the pounds I have lost. I don't want to say I am on a diet, so I will just say I try to make healthier choices. I try to watch my portion size also.
I was so afraid that it would be hard to do WW because I love chocolate and I could not stand not having some. I have not missed it that bad. I still eat chocolate, but I count the points. I also worried about how I would do when Kevin was off and we was with our friends playing games. That has not been bad either. One night Kelly and Chris came over to play games, and Kelly and I just counted our points and got through the night. I made Chicken chili. We ate baked chips instead of regular chips. I fixed brownies for the children and our husbands, and Kelly fixed a WW dessert for us.
I was very good about exercising the first two weeks, but then I slacked off because I had a good bit going on, and it made my back hurt. I think walking is the best for me because of my herniated disk. With the weather getting pretty it will be easier to go for walks.
I had to take a moment to brag on myself. I know almost 13 pounds don't seem like much, but to me it does. My WW leader thinks I am doing good. She says it is better for weight to come off slow than fast, because it is easier to keep off.

New Names

The past month Brooke has gave us all new names. This started when we was playing house one day. Courtney, Brooke and I was playing and we all had pretend names. Mine was Ashley, Brooke's name was Amy, and Courtney's name was Elizabeth.
Many days after that Brooke would be talking to me and she would say, " hey Ashley, lets play babies."
The funniest name is what Brooke gave Kevin. She wanted him to play one day so she told him that she was going to be Amy and that he was going to be Carlos. CARLOS. LOL
Brooke calls us mommy and daddy, but many times she will say "Come on Carlos, lets go out side." Or she will call me Ashley. It is funny.

Chinese New Year

I am very late on posting this, but things have been crazy around here. We had a nice time at our Chinese New Year Celebration. Brooke totally shocked us. Brooke is normally shy and don't want anybody to look at her. She was going up to the Chinese Children and wanting to hug them and tell them hi. When Some of the girls performed Brooke was wanting to go up where they was at. I did let her go up with one of her little friends so she could see better. This video is so funny. It is not like Brooke at all. I missed the first bit of her action because I was laughing so hard.
Enjoy!!!!!

Scary Moment

Last night I kept Lori's two girls. All of the children was having fun. Annie and Brooke had coughs and was ready for bed early. They changed their mind when they found out the big girls was getting brownies.
I have told my girls many times not to run in the house. They seem to forget that when they are wanting to play hide and seek and tag. The inside is not a place for running. Last night they was running. Everything happened so fast, that I really don't know what happened. I was at my computer. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this figure that looked like it was flying. Then I heard a terrible BAM. It sounded like a gun went off. At first I thought it was Annie, until I heard the cry. The cry was not the normal cry that I was used to hearing. This cry was like a child in terrible pain. This cry was so scary that it would have gave you chills. This was a cry I have never heard with Brooke. I grabbed her up. I did not know where she was hurt, but I knew she was hurt bad from the sound she was making. I felt her head. There was a HUGE knot on the back of it. It felt like the size of a golf ball. I totally freaked. I wish so bad I could stay more calm. I think being married to somebody in the medical field makes me get more upset about things. Kevin has told me so many scary things that has happened in the ER and Hospital that I always think the worse. My first thought was that Brooke was going to have a brain bleed. I was shaken so bad that I could not really look at the head. I called my parents to pray. I then called my Pastor to pray for Brooke. My Pastor could hear Brooke screaming. He prayed for Brooke. About a minute after he prayed, Brooke calmed down, and was very still. I was able to stop shaken and look at the head. I did not see any blood, but the knot was terrible. The knot did go down a little bit after my Pastor prayed. I called Kevin and he said to keep her awake for awhile. That was hard to do, because I had just gave Brooke and Annie cough medicine because of their cough. This all happened at 10:00. I was able to keep Brooke awake until about 12:00. She would cry from time to time and say her head hurt. I put her in my bed so I could check her during the night. I would reach over and touch her head and the knot did not seem to be going down any more. Brooke would cry out in her sleep and say "Ouch." I knew she was hurting. She woke up this morning crying with a headache. After she got up and played she has done better.
I did not hardly get any sleep. I was so worried about Brooke. Also the little girl,(Annie) that I was keeping was coughing so much that I was worried about her. She had almost 101 fever. I kept waking up and going to check on her to make sure she was breathing. She is four, but I was still so worried about her. I could not call Annie's parents because Lori was still in the hospital. I got up so many times last night that I lost count. I finally gave Annie some prescription cough syrup that we had here. She slept pretty good from 4:00 to about 7:00. I still could not sleep from worrying about Brooke and Annie.
I just took Annie to her grandmothers, so I think I am going to take a nap if Brooke will take one.

What a Day

I got up early this morning and went to the hospital. One of my best friends was having surgery. The surgery was suppose to be at 7:30. I got there at 7:05 and they had just took her back. I did not get to see her before the surgery. The surgery went well, but Lori is in terrible pain. I felt so bad for her. She thought this surgery would be like having a c-section, but it was not. Lori was hurting VERY bad. If you can pray, please pray that she will recovery quickly. Lori has four children so she needs her strength back quick. Two of her girls are at my house for the night. They seem to be having fun with my girls. My girls are loving it.
The other two children have went to Montana to visit relatives. Lori was so worried about the children flying. I know it helped her to know they made it to Montana safely. They will be there for over a week, so that will help Lori out some.
Lori's husband had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago and he has to still use his crutch some, so he is not much help right now.
If you think about it I know Lori would appreciate your prayers right now.

Bubbles are Fun

Blowing bubbles

I thought this was a pretty neat picture.

Look at that smile.

Sweet Brooke

Zoo Fun

Blogger friends, Susan and I are planning a trip to the zoo again. Mark your calenders and come join us. We really enjoyed our last trip with all of you. Join us on March 18 for Fun at the zoo. We will meet at the front gate at 10:00. We will eat lunch at 12:00. Hope you all can join us again. Spread the word. If the weather is bad, we will cancel.(rain or to cold)
If you can make it let me know so we can look for you.

Sleepy Girl

It is almost 11:30 and Brooke is still sleeping. I can not get her to wake up. She does not have fever. I checked that. She keeps crying out that she is hot. She came into the living room and I knew something was not right with her. She always says, "Good morning mommy. Did you sleep good?"
We always say that to each other. This morning she came to me and she looked like she was sleep walking. She got in my arms and went back to sleep. I then put her on the couch and she woke up saying she was hot. I tried to get her to wake up but she refused. She looked almost like she was drugged. I was able to get her to sit at the table and eat some cereal. She wanted me to feed her. SHE NEVER WANTS THAT. She wants to do everything by herself. Brooke finished her cereal. She went and got in her bed and is asleep again. I can not get her to wake up. I don't know if she is just wore out, or if she is getting sick. More later.

Sleeping Beauty

Sorry for the immodesty, but this was so funny. Brooke had been playing outside and she was so tired. We came in and she told me she wanted some crackers. I took her shirt off because it had gotten dirty outside. I never knew I was going to take a picture. Brooke was eating her crackers and I was busy doing something. Brooke had been in the chair for 5 minutes or longer. I noticed she was very quite. Courtney went to check on Brooke. Courtney started laughing and I knew Brooke had to be asleep. Bless her heart, she was so tired that she went to sleep eating her crackers. I can not believe she did not fall out of the chair. I grabbed the camera and took some pictures. She never knew.

Kids Kloset

I went to the KidsKloset sale tonight. I got a good bit of clothes for Brooke. I worked drop off yesterday and saw several outfits I wanted, but did not know if I would be able to get them. I was the second group called and was able to get several of the
outfits I wanted.
Kids Kloset is so fun. I enjoy working so I can buy for the girls. Courtney is at the age that I can't get for her anymore. Brooke is at a great age. I wish I could have a camera at this sale, so you could see how people act. It is so funny. Tonight was the workers sale. The workers go before the public. People will line up to get through the doors. Once the doors open people are running to get to something they want. Especially the bigger items. (Little Tykes playhouses, Swings, wagons,) Toys is something many people want. I like the clothes best. I can get nice Gymboree outfits for cheap. I also can get Strasburg Dresses for cheap. Here is some pictures of the bargains I got.

I also sale my girls clothes at this sale, so normally I spend what I make.

Abeka Books

Here is some pictures of the free stuff I got. This don't show it all, but it shows a good bit.

Tornado

Yesterday my MIL had surgery on her knee. She got very sick after the surgery and was throwing up over and over. We decided we would stay at her house last night. The weather was suppose to get bad last night with possible tornado's. I was trying to get the girls clothes packed so we could spend the night at Kevin's moms house. I told the girls the weather was going to be bad with possible tornado's.

Brooke was going around all evening almost crying saying, " I'm scared of that tornado."

I tried to tell her that it was o.k that Jesus would protect us.

She talked about the tornado all evening. She talked about it so much that is was getting on my nerves. Nothing I said could convince her that there was no tornado. Finally I said, "Brooke do you even know what a tornado is?"

Brooke said, " I don't know." She thought about it for a minute and then she. " It is a storm."

I was finishing putting clothes in the suitcase when Brooke ran to where I was. She was in tears. She said, "Mom if that tornado comes, did you pack my toothpaste?" :)

I started laughing so hard. I could not help but laugh at her. Tooth paste???? Why would she even be worried about toothpaste. I told her that I had packed her toothpaste.

I thought that was the end of the tornadoes, but it was not.

All night long she would say. "Has the tornado came yet? When is the tornado coming? There is a tornado coming mommy."

I was ready to pull my hair out. We got ready for bed and we put Brooke on a little cot beside our bed. I was so sleepy. Brooke was wired. She would not be quite about the tornado's. She started all the same questions again. This time she added a question. "Why does tornado's come at night?"

We tried to tell her that they can come in the day time also, but that just because it rains does not mean a tornado is coming.

Every time we would start to dose, Brooke would say, "Is the tornado coming yet."

I don't think she really understands what one is. We finally had to warn her if she did not go to sleep and be quite that she was going to be in trouble. Brooke finally went to sleep.

We woke up before her and was talking. Suddenly Brooke woke up and the first thing out of her mouth was. "Did the tornado come yet?" :(

I think we are going to have to watch what we say around this child. She is scared to death over this and don't really know what it is.

A little Blessing

I had to share something really nice that happened today. It was about 5:30 this afternoon and I received a phone call. It was my neighbors mom calling. She ask me if I home schooled and I told her that I did. She then told me that she was on her way home when she passed by this really nice house and the people had several things at the road with a sign that said Free. She said that she stopped and looked and got several things and that there were two boxes of Abeka items. I got excited and decided I would go look. This was about 15 minutes from my house. I did not know if anything would be there when I got there and I also knew it was getting dark fast. I got there and just by passing by I would not have stopped because I would not of thought it would have been anything that I needed. Let me tell you it was wonderful. I got two boxes of Abeka items. There were readers in there that was like brand new. There were student books and test books. There is just to much to name. Several things was for 5th grade and 6th grade so that is very nice. I will try and take a picture and show you the stuff later. Some of the student books had some writing in them, but I can always erase that. Some only had like a couple of lesson done it them. I got a nice Abeka Art book for Courtney. I was so thankful that I got this stuff. It was truly a blessing to receive.
I feel bad for some of my friends that missed this. I heard that Riley had a birthday party and quite a few homeschool moms passed right by this house and did not stop. If they only knew the gold inside those boxes then they would have stopped. I also got a blue willow cup. There was still a few boxes with things in it, but it was getting dark and it was hard to see. I was just happy to get the Abeka stuff.