Brandon Singing at Church

Brandon's pre-school sang at our church today, during the Contemporary Service. They sang 3 songs, but you know I suck when it comes to the camera and didn't have enough room to video
tape all of them, but I go this one and part of the second one on my camera and the other one on my cell...


Enjoy!

Something My Readers Don't Know About Me

Participating in FireWife's Not Just Another Blog Challenge...

Something You Guys (aka My Readers) Don't Know About Me:

Ok, here goes:

First, I had a job at the local Pic N Save...go ahead start laughing, but hey it was a job, right??? I did lots of zoning ( for those of you who never had a chance to work retail, it is what we called "cleaning up after customers who dump stuff all over the store in the wrong places") and I did run

the register and got so good, I decided to apply for a job at the local Wal-Mart...are you done laughing yet?? LOL

So, I got a job at Wal-mart working nights, from 6 PM to 2 AM, I chose these hours so I would be home with my kids during the day when their dad worked...I made $6.25 an hour...that doesn't make me laugh, but makes me kinda sad, when you think about it. Minimum wage now is what 7.25 or maybe even 8. 25.

I quit that job to make 8 bucks an hour when my marriage ended and I needed a better paying

job and well hours that they were in school or pre-school as the case was for my youngest.

There you have it, something you may not have known about me, rather 2 things, the first job

and the Wal-mart job.

What is the best about being a parent?

Well, here is another post from FireWife's list of Blog Challenges:

The Best About Being a Parent? Oh do I have all the time in the world to answer this?? Do I have only a certain amount I can write, like how many pages???

First, I love being a parent! That being said, I love being a Mom, Mother, Mommy....whatever term of endearment they want to call me, Highness Mommy or Angel Mommy or Mother Nature. No matter what they say I love it!

ok so here goes about the BEST about being a parent:

1. To hear your children say the words, I love you! No matter the age, or where we are, it always warms my heart.

2. To listen to them talk about their day, what they did with their friends and what they learned.

3. To see them learn things, like getting dressed and doing chores.

4. I love it when they can act goofy and play and just be themselves.

5. When they say things to others and you can do nothing but smile and think, yeah that kid is mine!

6. Kissing owies and putting band-aids on them and making them feel better.

7. Knowing that they know they can come in my room in the middle of the night and come in to my bed if they have had a bad dream.

8. Knowing there are resources out there for children who are deaf and that they are FREE.

9. When they say, "No mom, your not old even if you do pluck out gray hairs."

10. When they think they can't do any better at something and you encourage them to do better and guess what? They ROCK!

11. Being the parent that trusts her 16 yr old daughter to go to party's, football games and concerts.

12. Playing and teaching them games.

13. Watching cartoons and animated movies with them.

14. Taking them to Universal Studios or Disneyland and just seeing the look of pure amazement on their faces.

15. The pure innocence of them.

16. Being able to talk with other parents about children things.

17. Teaching them to drive.

18. Going out and getting a bite to eat with them.

19. Taking them to the first day of school and making sure they don't see me cry.

20. Teaching them to swim, tie their shoes and ride a bike, I love it all!

I could go on and on and on, but I won't...lol I really do love being a Mother to all my children

and I could ask for nothing more, well ok I do want my kids to be happy when they are all grown up and out on their own, to be successful in whatever they choose to do with their lives.

What do you like BEST about being a parent?

Not Just Another Blog Challenge #2

Ok, so here I am again, doing another "blog challenge", I think this is a good forum for me.

This topic is What is the worst thing about being a parent?

1. Kids eventually learn to talk back and are nasty too!

2. Blatant disrespect (sometimes they don't realize this, like they do it, but don't understand how disrespectful they are)

3. When they lie

4. When they are hurt and you can't "make it better" not always an owie but maybe emotionally hurt

5. When they don't listen ( and I mean when they ask you about something and you tell them what to do or not do and they do what they want anyways)

6. When they fight with their siblings and someone gets hurt

7. Putting them to bed crying (but we have worked on this and it is no more!)

8. When they get up time after time after time, after you have put them to bed (again we have worked on this and that doesn't happen any more)

9. When they make life changing decisions without consulting you

Ok. Now that I have done this one, I want to do the next one: What is the best thing about being a parent?

I bet I have a much longer list then this one! So stay tuned!

Not Just Another Blog Challenge

I follow this blog FireWife and she recently did a blog Not Just Another Blog Challenge and I wanted to participate.

One of the questions was: what's so great about your place of worship?

I love my church. They have Sunday School which is hard for me to get the kids to, but they do have it and that is a great thing for me. Just knowing they have it is comfort.

My church has 3 services, one at 8:00AM for those early risers, like my parents. One at 9:30 which is a Contemporary Service (not traditional by any means) which I think is more geared to the younger members, as they put the words to the music on huge screens for you to follow along and the music is piano, guitar and drums not just an organ. And my favorite: 11:00 service which is perfect for me!

My church has a "cry room" which is located near the front of the church. I used this room a lot when Brandon and Serena were babies, I would take them there when they were fussy and nurse them or change their diaper and then back to church we went. They also have a nursery you can drop your kids off so you can go to church.

My church has many bible studies, all different days and times, and some for men only and some for women only. My church also has Confirmation classes for the youth.

My church has a youth minister who is wonderful and is always doing trips for our youth. My church has an awesome Pastor, who is easy to talk to and always has great sermons to listen to. He is down to earth and has a great sense of humor.

My church has a wonderful organist, she rocks! She is also Kylie's piano teacher and she plays beautifully and I love hearing her on Sundays.

I think I could go on and on, but the best thing about my place of worship is the people who attend: they are all nice, genuine, warm and we all go because we want to learn more about God, pray and just take that 1 hour a week to dedicate to our worship, and to me, that is awesome!

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Brandon's Pre-school Art

This is a turtle, he finger-painted

This turtle is Franklin, he finger-painted him, too

This cool thing is called a Bio-color Print and they used paint that would not mix and they used plexy-glass and pushed it on the paper. I think the figure in the middle looks like Jesus. My 16 yr old thinks it looks like lungs...go figure. What do you think it looks like?

Here is my big boy on the first day! He is such a clown! He loves going to pre-school. He goes 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9-12. So, I am hoping to be on here more and post more during these times. Stay tuned for more pics oh and he is going to sing at church later this month.

Hi There!

I don't know where to start. I stopped posting on here originally because of computer problems, which have been fixed for some time, and then it evolved into no time to blog with a houseful of children for the summer to not really wanting to write.

I have not written a single thing in a long time, and I have thought about posting lots of things but just have not made the time to write.

Summer came and went. The kids are back in school and I am so happy! Well, it is a nice balance now. Brandon and my Ginger Boy are in pre-school two days a week. I finally have time to go to a bible study with my mom and walking with my mom, or coming home and just being in a quiet house! Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, babysitting, but towards the end of summer I was spent. I am pretty sure I am going thru peri-menopause, you know, where it starts. Your periods are different and for me they are worse and they became farther apart then normal. Night sweats and hot flashes during the day. Not to mention I was very moody and that is just not like me...

So, I am going to start writing again about all the things going on in my small nook...LOL hopefully you will enjoy some of what is to come: Brandon's art! I just love it all. I have some stuff to share about Serena and her 1st grade class. Lots to write about and I do have the time, it is just actually sitting down and doing it.

I have missed reading all my blogs I follow. I feel a void.

Hopefully, it will disappear in time.

Old Stuff

This post was started on June 22nd and I finally found the time to finish it today, July 11th.

I have not been able to write for a while. Lots of things going on here, at my wonderful playhouse.


Lots of playing outside, going on walks everyday and seeing a movie or two is how we roll around here.


Last week, my father-in-law was in the hospital. He is ok. He takes different medication for different things, and that is what the problem ended up being,


While my husband was in with his dad, I took a short walk to the front of the hospital and saw the cutest little girl with curly hair walking in with a man and woman. They were not her parents I learned later, but her Aunt and Uncle. Well, they were the Aunt and Uncle of her mother...so they were going to the second floor, too. We all rode in the elevator together.

I left the room again, later, when my fil was having a shower. I walked up and down many different hallways in the hospital and ran into the Aunt and the little one with curls. We started to chat, first about kids. I learned she had 3: a 24 yr old, a 22 yr old and an 18 yr old ( I think those were the ages, it has been so long, my memory is failing) anyways, just to make a point she was a little older then me and actually had a grandchild...from her youngest.

We ended up walking together for about 20-30 minutes up and down the hallways of the hospital. I learned why she was there. Her mother had emphysema and this was her 17th day there. Her mother was a smoker she told me and so was her dad. Neither one of them quit when she was diagnosed only a few short months ago. She had been going to the hospital every day to see her mother...well to be with her when she died. My heart aches for her and her family. I told her I would pray for her and the situation.

I wonder now how long her mother stayed in the hospital and how everything else she had shared with me is going.

I Survived The First Day of Summer!

Well, it was the first day of summer in my Playhouse, since school is out. The Real first day of summer is on the 21st, I think.

So, with a house full of kids (Serena 5, Ginger Girl 6, Brandon 3 and Ginger Boy 3 and Kylie 16) we managed to have a great day!

First, the girls colored and cut out dresses all morning while the boys played...Oh and Kylie was busy playing a game. I had the wonderful task of getting Hayden registered for his classes for college, which was no easy task, let me tell you.

Then, after Ginger Boy napped for 2 hours, we went outside to play for the next 2 hours!

I read to the girls. We all played soccer. We all did summer-saults and tried standing on our heads! I showed them how to do a kart-wheel, yes, me! I am just that BA (bad-ass) at my age to be doing kart-wheels! We also had a water gun fight and got soaked. We had snacks and water to drink, all in all it was a great first day of Summer!

Going to the Dark Side

Going to the dark side for me would be eating meat, fish or poultry...yes I am a vegetarian for those of you who don't know...now you know.


It all started many years ago, when I was about 13 and had braces and couldn't eat ribs anymore...


That lasted all of a year or 2 and I was back at eating a little meat, not a whole lot. In fact, I can remember as a kid, we (my sister and I) would take a huge bite of steak and chew and chew and chew and then when our parents weren't looking, we would put it in our glass of milk or in our napkin, LOL

Then, I was about 17 and met this guy, whom I wanted to impress. Since he was vegetarian, I wanted to be one, too! He read labels on candy and different things that I never thought of to check for "animal by-products". Well, I never even dated this guy but the vegetarian thing stuck.

I got married and had my first child and continued to be vegetarian. I didn't raise my first baby vegetarian. I didn't think I knew enough about it to try and raise a baby one. I had my second child 2 yrs later and continued being a vegetarian and did not raise that one vegetarian either.

I do eat eggs (but I have to be in the mood for them or I gross out) and I drink milk and love cheese! Now, some folks out there are Vegan, meaning no meat and nothing from animals, so no dairy. My husband like to say I am a Cheese-atarian, LOL

I have continued to be a vegetarian. I divorced and later re-married and had 2 more kids. These last 2 I have decided to raise vegetarian, with the blessing of my ped of course.

The reason for this choice for the last 2 was this: They have a different father who has a bad digestive system. He is lactose intolerant, he can't have milk, certain cheeses (like ricotta) but he can have yogurts and cottage cheese, but not sour creme. He shouldn't have red meat as it really screws him up as does anything hot, spicy hot that is...and well let's face it, he is Mexican and has a pallet for spicy things.

So, fast forward: Serena 5 will turn 6 in July and Brandon 3 will turn 4 in August. They both know they are vegetarian and so far are ok with it.

I have been thinking I should start eating chicken...I don't even really know why I think this. It has been over 20 years since I have eaten any chicken, pork, red meats any kind of meat, so why would I want to start now? It has been so long, that I don't even really know what I am missing, LOL

I eat lots of different vegetables. So does Serena...Brandon not so much. But, they both take a vitamin daily and they are healthy and growing. Except for all the colds and junk they have gotten this year.

Do any of you have some advice for me? Just askin' what you all think!

Friday Fragments ~ Wedding, Swim Class and Laundry

Welcome to another addition of Friday Fragments!


Thanks to our wonderful host, Mrs. 4444's, you can get your weekly dose of randomness.





So, let me begin by saying: I really hate it when I have done a load of laundry....left it in the washer too long, come back and start the water before removing the load...thinking I had already removed it to the dryer, oops. Then I have to wash it again...This happened to me only 1 time and I vow it will never happen again...I hope!

Graduation: what a wonderful milestone to all the grads this year...Now they can start their lives...their young lives. They can write their story any way they want.

I just have to vent: that I really don't like crossing the streets in certain areas where I live. To get to our pet store, you have to park in the parking lot and then cross the parking lot and there is no Stop sign for cars coming into the lot and they go fast. So fast so, when I was crossing the last time, I had to swing my bag in front of me in hopes that the car booking in would see it before me and not hit me, as I was carrying Brandon because he had fallen asleep in the car.

Here is my friend Caty and her new husband Eric. They got married last month in Hawaii where they both live. I had the honor of going to one of the many parties they had to celebrate their wedding. This party was in California, real close to me. I was so thrilled to go and see my friend.

To meet her new husband was a joy. He is a keeper and I am so glad she has married him. He is military, and will be stationed in Guam in the next few months...sadly taking his new bride with him. Well, of course he should, duh! But, now that she will be that far away, I am not sure how our Christmas will go...see she usually will fly out here for a week or so during the holidays to see her parents and family and well, me! So, keep your fingers crossed she will again be able to come and visit me!

Here is Brandon. He started swimming classes as a Turtle I think. This was a Mommy and Me type class, where I got to go in the water, too...such fun. Not. So, the instructor said he should move up to the Guppy class, the one where I don't have to go in the water, yay! So, he is a Guppy and Serena is a Dolphin.

Did you love my page dividers??? I sure did!

Oh and today is the last day of school for my girls. Yay! Next week: jury duty, yuck, and then we can start to enjoy our summer!

Be sure to head on over to Mrs. 4444's blog and read on every one's random thoughts!

My Graduate Part 2

ok, I promised more so here goes:

Here is Hayden and his Aunt Lisa

Hayden and Lewis again

Hayden and his cake

The entire fam damily

with Whiskey's butt, the dog that is!

Hayden's cake from Coldstones

Hayden and his Grandma Dee and Pop and Blake (I think)

Hayden and his Uncle Marshall

Hayden and his dad and Serena

Hayden and his mom!

We had a wonderful time yesterday...a day I will remember forever!

I know my pictures are out of order, but this time I just don't care!

as promised, My Graduate, Part 2

My Graduate!

My son, Hayden, graduated today, he is the class of 2011.

Here is the cake they had at graduation.

Here he is, getting his diploma.

Afterwords, with Ponch

...and Lewis

and Aunt Karen

...and his sister, Kylie

He was also awarded a scholarship for $500.00 to continue his education!

The actual ceremony was wonderfully done. They had a part where they showed pictures of the graduates that the family's gave...of course I cried like a baby when they showed Hayden's pics.

I have more pics to post, but these will have to do for now, I am tired!

I will post My Graduate part 2 tomorrow, promise!

Student of the Month

Here is Serena and her teacher. Can you tell Serena is just bursting with happiness???


Here is my big girl, with her Student of The Month Award. She is so happy! I am so proud!

Serena, her teacher and 3 other boys who got awards for Most Improved. They are all so proud.

She received her award, a sticker for my van, a pencil with her school's name on it and a bracelet that says Student of the Month! YAY for Serena!