Our Family Blog

End Of School Year

2009-06-14T14:33:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Can't believe it has been a whole school year since I wrote on our blog. Things were pretty busy this year and once I got onto facebook, that pretty much took over my computer time. But I thought it would be time for an update. We have 3 full days of school and 2 1/2 days of school left before summer. Miranda will be completing 5th grade and CJ will be completing 1st grade. So in less than a week I will have a 6th grader & a 2nd grader. Just took Miranda shopping for sneakers yesterday and she has now officially passed me in shoe size. We had to get her a ladies size 9. I'v still got her about 2 inches in height, but I am sure that's not for long. She is becoming a young women very quickly....still such a little girl emotionally, but physically growing up fast. We are talking about contacts this fall before she enters 6th grade. She really wants them, so we told her we need to see how responsible she will be during the summer, and if she can be responsible
with putting her items away in her room...then she will be allowed to get them. CJ has grown a lot this year too. I think he's grown about 3 inches this school year. I had to go out and buy all new pants for him a few months ago, because he all his pants had gotten too short. I survived my first year working with Kindergarten. My class will graduate on Thursday 6/18 and I must say I really enjoyed working with the kindergarten. I had an old ACL injury that was bothering me, so I went to the Dr. in March and ended up having Reconstructive ACL Surgery on April 23rd. It's been pretty good since the operation...my range of motion came back in 18 days which is really fast and now we're just working to get it stronger. We are all excited about school being over. We don't really have anything planned, but the days will go by fast. I have to get to the store and get their summer bridge workbooks so I can keep them fresh over the summer. Hey if you are not on facebook, then get with it. Thats where most of my updates will be, but I will update here as well. God bless everyone...........

A New School Year For Everyone!!!

2008-09-27T22:51:00.003-04:00

Yes, summer has come and gone and I can't believe I didn't blog all summer. We were busy, but not so much that I couldn't blog. I think I just didn't have a long period of time to sit and write. So I'm finally writing now.
We started the New School year and things seem to be going along smoothly. Miranda is now in 5th grade and joined the volleyball team this year. She had her first game last week and she did really well. She was able to serve well and even help her team get some points. I think she was very encouraged. I'm hoping this is something she really likes, so far it is! I think this might be a challenging year for her academically though. Math seems to be hard for her this year, I'm hoping it's just this first semester....it's all about decimals which somehow confuses her. I think it will eventually click, I just hope it's not too late. CJ is in 1st grade this year and doing great. It's so cute, because he has real tests this year and he has to study for them. He has spelling words that he has to write in a sentence. He's got all 100's on his tests so far and he really likes school. I got moved up this year and am working with the Kindergarten (what I asked for) and I am loving it. I'm a lot busier working but it's more enjoyable for me then working with 3 year olds. So I am really enjoying this year as well. I also joined the youth group team as a high school youth leader and I am so excited about that. I really felt that God was leading me back into service, but I just couldn't tell where for a while. Then when I realized it was Youth, a peace came over me and I am enjoying it so much. The Youth Ministry at our church is really starting to thrive (your word PK) and it's so exciting to watch where it's heading. I also finally have a facebook account. Everyone was telling me to get it and when I tried I had trouble so I just said forget it. But this weekend I finally did it. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it. It was great though because I got to talk to two of my dear friends from the past, one from high school and one from college. And I got to catch up with some of the past youth group kids who are grown up and in college now. I'm so happy I joined. Now if I can just figure out some more stuff with it. Cowboys are 3 - 0 this season and I'm hoping tomorrow they'll go to 4 -0, but they have to make it by the Redskins. We'll see......love to you all!

Pool Parties & Two Wheelers

2008-06-30T07:49:00.004-04:00

Summer has begun.....with lots of excitement. We haven't made it to the beach yet, but the kids still seem to be having a fun start to the summer. Miranda had two pool parties last week, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The first was on Friday night and was the with the youth group at our church. Now that she is entering the 5th grade she can join the Youth Group. We are so thrilled and so is she. It was really great for her to be out with kids her age and older and to not have her little brother around. The party was for the kids and their families, but I left CJ home with Chris, so Miranda could have some time without him. She is excited because now she gets to go to Youth Group on Wednesday & Fridays. Wednesdays they have teaching and Fridays are the outings. They've got miniature golf coming up and another pool party next week. Then on Saturday, she had a pool party at one of her friends house. We actually dropped her off and didn't stay, a first for me. She had a good time there as well. And so starts the social life of a 5th grader. Yesterday we were at the park and the kids were riding bikes and I had that moment where I was like "CJ is 6 years old and he's never going to learn to ride a two wheeler" (his bike still had training wheels). It was such a random thought because I had never attempted to teach him, so I don't know where the thought came from. Anyway, Chris was at the park umpiring and had his work van there, which luckily had a wrench in it, so I decided to take the training wheels off CJ's bike. To my amazement (seriously) CJ rode it right away with no problem. I couldn't believe it. I was planning on holding him up, running along side him, breaking my back..lol, but nope I didn't need to do that. He had amazing balance and was fine. We just have to work on the turning a stopping a little more, but my son can now ride a two wheeler!!! Our friends came over yesterday and the kids had a nice water gun & water baloon fight outside. Somehow the parents managed to get wet too, not sure how that happened. Anyway, we had a nice night of dinner, smores, and cards. My friend's three children ended up sleeping over, so I was up at 7:00am this morning. They are actually doing really well though, a little loud this morning, but now they are all sitting and playing games. Not sure what's on the agenda for today, I know we are planning on going to the lake this week and fourth of July and also the beach and the movies. All of you in NJ know about this, but in the summer there are two movie theatres here that have free movies on Wed & Thurs mornings. They are children's movies, that usually the kids have seen before, but it is a nice free outing and the kids love it. Last week we saw Evan Almighty, we brought our own popcorn, candy, and water and we were all set. So when there is a good movie we make sure to go. I imagine they have this in other states as well...it's the Clearview Cinemas & AMC Theatres. It's worth a check. I'm all for free fun in the summer. Okay, well I'm off to get everyone dressed and clean and ready for the day!! Have a great day!!

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!

2008-06-23T16:29:00.007-04:00

It's official, school is out for the summer!!! Thank you, Jesus!!! CJ graduated Kindergarten and is now an official 1st grader. You can see the pictures of graduation at www.pixagogo.com/1726954109. He had a great day! Miranda is now officially a 5th grader. She will actually be switching classes now and have a different teacher for each subject. Also, we say goodbye to the plaid jumpers and hello to gray skirts (which she is very excited about). It was a tough year for me with my class, so I'm happy to have the summer to recooperate. I asked to be moved to an older classroom next year, so hopefully that will happen and it'll be a better year. Today was our first official day of summer vacation. The kids and I have a routine planned and so far it's started off great. We get up and read a devotional together, the kids each read a verse from the bible, and then we pray together. After that, they start their summer workbooks (1 page a day, plus reading) and I do my workout. Today it started off great. The kids are excited about it and seem to enjoy doing the workbook, it will definitely keep them on task this summer. There's a reward after they complete each series. The first series is 15 days and they decided for their reward they would like a Webkin. The next is 20 days, when they complete that we will go bowling & to a movie, then when they complete the last 15 days we will all take a family trip to Hershey Park. I'm hoping by the time this summer is over, we all will be in good shape spiritually and they will be in good shape academically, and I will be in good shape physically. I'm still at my same weight loss, but I really would like to lose some more and definitely tone up. The kids have a couple of weeks of vacation bible schools, we'll do some library trips, as well as beach & lake trips, so it should be a great summer. The one goal we are shooting for this summer is to get a car. Please keep that in your prayers when you think of us. I should be able to update the blog more now that school is over. Hope you all have a great summer. Love you!!

Long time No blogging....Miranda got Baptized

2008-05-26T08:36:00.003-04:00

Hey all. Yeah, I know it's been a while since I wrote, but things have been pretty busy here. As I write this I'm sitting in my friend's kitchen in Boston, Ma while she is in her room sleeping. Yep, this weekend I came to Boston to visit my friend Ann. She has been my friend for over 25 years, since we were kids. We don't get to see each other that often or even talk all that much, but it's that kind of true friendship, that no matter where you are or when the last time you talked was...you can just pick up right where you left off. I came here last year for a visit with Miranda and we had a great time. I love Boston! So, I wanted to come back and have a girls weekend. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful. I got here on Saturday and we went for lunch, then we walked over to Boylston Street and did some window shopping. The streets in Boston are soo pretty. Yesterday we took a drive up to Newberry Port (outside of Boston) and went to the beach. The weather was beautiful, but a little windy on the beach, but it was just really nice to be at the beach again. Then we spent the afternoon walking around Newberry Port, which is a beautiful town with all these cute little shops. We got home about 8pm and were exhausted so we just ordered in some food and watched a movie. We watched "Atonement" which I really loved! Today I'm heading back to NJ and I'm excited to see my family. I think it was really good for me to get away and enjoy some grown up time with my friend, but I did miss my family and am glad to be going home today. The only problem is, I'd like to be able to sleep in when I don't have the kids, but no matter where I am I always wake up early. And for me, once I'm awake, I'm up for the day. So, that's my trip to Boston. Let's see, what else....Well as of tomorrow there is only 17 days of school left!!!!! Thank You Jesus!!!! It has been a long year for me. I think the kids are ready for summer as well. CJ will be graduating Kindergarten on June 17th, so that's a big day for us all. He has made so much progress acedemically this year. He is reading so well. But, sometimes he forgets that he can read. He'll ask me to read something and I'll remind him that he can read and he's like "oh yeah". It's so amazing to see it all come together. On May 17th, Miranda decided to get baptised. This is a big step in her Christian faith. It's a public declaration of her faith in Christ and her decision to follow him. It was all her decision. She saw that there was going to be a baptism and told me she wanted to get baptised, so we talked about it and I asked her if she knew what that meant and she did, so she decided to do it. We are so happy for her. I have some pictures if you want to see them the website is: http://www.pixagogo.com/2897364391. She was a little nervous about saying something in front of everyone, but she did great and she said the water was really cold!! She will be going in to 5th grade next year, so she'll actually be able to join the youth group at our church which we're all so happy about. Our church hired a new Youth Pastor, Pastor Korey, so we're looking forward to getting to know him and his family and seeing what he has in store for the youth. My friend Stephanie had some minor surgery about 5 weeks ago and is having some problems, not from the surgery, but from how they positioned her & for how long so we have been back and forth at her house helping out. They believe that some nerves in her back got "squooshed" during the surgery, from the way she was positioned, so they have to get "unsquooshed", but meanwhile she's in major pain and basically confined to her bed. So, please pray for her when you think of it. Well, that's about all I got for now......I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. Please pray for the soldiers that are overseas fighthing for Freedom. Love you all!!!!

1 Month Later

2008-04-22T07:46:00.003-04:00

Hey All, Well I just realized it's been almost a month since I blogged. Not much really new. It's just been busy with work and school and friends. This week is our much needed Spring Break. I don't know if the kids needed it, but I sure did!! We're pretty much just laying low and relaxing. Yesterday we went to Chuck E. Cheese with our friends and the kids had a great time. It's really a nice play when it's not too crowded, because the kids can pretty much play on their own, so the moms can sit and chat. Today Steph's bringing her kids by and I'm gonna take them to the park. The weather here has been great. Last week we were actually able to wear shorts towards the end of the week. This week not so much, it's back down to the 60's, but still nice to be outside. I started this great new bible study on Monday nights. It's called "Discerning the voice of God", How to recognize when God speaks. The author is Priscilla Shirer and I really like her. I'm glad to finally be back in a bible study....I love it!! When school starts back up I will be assisting one of the teachers with putting together a Softball Team. It's really hard to do for our school, because getting fields to play on is tough. But we were invited to play in a tournament and a scrimmage, so we're going to try to get a team organized. We'll start practicing next week on Monday, Wed, & Fridays. I'm looking forward to it. We'll have a scrimmage on May 19th and then a tournamenton May 31st. The kids got their report cards last week and both made the honor roll. They really are doing well in school. Miranda just started working with fractions, so that will be a challenge (for both of us). It's funny how things come back to you, it takes a minute, but they do. Speaking of that, I need to practice with her over the break. I guess I'd better get to it. Anyway, just wanted to get a quick blog in. I'm going to Boston over Memorial Day weekend to see my friend. It'll be a great girls weekend, I love Boston. Hope you all have a great day!!!

Happy Easter!!!

2008-03-24T09:07:00.004-04:00

Happy Easter everyone!!!! I know Easter was yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to write so I wanted to make sure I acknowledge it today. What a great day we had yesterday. Church was really good!! The music was great and the message was great as well. Pastor talked about "The God of the Third Day". How the first day was very dark, because it was when Jesus died, and day two was spent waiting, not sure what was going to happen, but DAY THREE....that's when He rose and gave us hope and a new life!!! It was so easy to relate to our lives, we all have those days that are really dark (been there plenty), then the days spent waiting and not knowing what's going on, but then there's always that day when Hope comes in and things look up....that's the God of the Third Day. Thank you Jesus, for raising yourself from the dead and giving me HOPE!!! Hallelujah!!! So anyway, we had a nice day. We went to our friend Steph's (well really they're family)house after church and had a nice dinner and played some games. We met some new friends, Krista & Jima and their family who came to dinner as well. It was a beautiful day. What is even more beautiful, is that the kids and I are off from school today!! Easter Monday....just one of the many benefits of going to a Christian School!! So, I got up made breakfast for the kids, downloaded some pictures, sent some email and I'm about to get on the treadmill when I finish this. On another note....The 21 days of no complaining challenge finished today!! Miranda passed with flying colors, I am not so sure about myself, I may need to add a few more days for me LOL. Actually, as I told Miranda, it's not an attitude we should have for only 21 days, but an ongoing process that we should be working on. So, that's what we're going to do.....be aware of our complaining and stop ourselves before we start. Miranda still gets her reward though....she settled for a new Webkinz rather than a trip to American Girl Doll. Easier and less expensive for me! I'm really proud of her though, she really rose up to the challenge. Maybe she is becoming mature....is that a good thing or a bad thing....I'll have to let you know. Okay...well have an AWESOME day everyone!!

21 Days

2008-03-15T08:09:00.002-04:00

So they say it takes 21 Days to either break an old habit or start a new one. I was reading about this Pastor who challenged his congregation to go 21 days without complaining and I thought that was a challenge. I don't think most of my friends would say that I'm a complainer, but if you ask my husband I think he would say I am. I do tend to complain a lot at home, so I thought it would be a good challenge for me. I decide to include Miranda in this challenge, because she too is quite the complainer. It's been 12 days so far and I must say, she's been doing much better than I have. I'm trying, but it's pretty hard. I do find myself catching myself when I start to complain and then I stop myself. I'm much more aware of it now, but it may take me longer than 21 days. Miranda however will get a trip to American Girl Place once her 21 days is up because she has done great. I'll keep you posted how that's going, keep me in your prayers. Well, it's been a couple weeks since I wrote but there's really not much going on. School, work, church, etc. I did update the blog a little though, under the "Songs that I'm feeling" I added a new song and I realized that I could add the link as well. So all you have to do is click on the link and it will play the song from you.tube. How cool is that. So, that's about it for now. I hope you all enjoy the day! Love you.

It's too early to be up on a Saturday!!!!

2008-03-01T06:06:00.007-05:00

Hello my friends. Yes, it is too early to be up. I've actually been up since 5:00am when Chris' alarm clock went off. We got a little bit of snow last night and he had to go in to work early this morning to take care of it!! But I have this problem that once I'm awake, I can't get back to sleep!!!! So, here I am on the computer. It's actually nice though, because it's quiet and there are no interuptions. Let's fill you in on what's going on..........................
Well, since my last entry, CJ had his birthday and turned 6 years old. We had a little party at the house and 2 of his friends stayed for a sleepover!! It turned out really nice and the boys were great! They really had a lot of fun. You can see pictures at www.pixagogo.com/2717654221. He has also lost his two front teeth since then. He's getting so big. Last night he went to his grandma's house to stay, because we had plans with Miranda. Miranda & I went into the city and went to The American Girl Place!! It was supposed to be Me & Chris & Miranda, but with the weather Chris ended up being on call :(. We still had a great time though. She got a doll for Christmas and a gift certificate for the store, so we finally went in last night. She got the doll's hair styled at their doll hair salon and she also got a couple of outfits and a book. It took us forever to get in there because of the traffic, but once we got there it was great. The store was not that busy and neither were the streets in Manhattan. After American Girl Place, we walked to Rockefeller Center and saw some people ice skating, then we walked around and looked at all the cool clothes in the windows and we ate at this place called "Goodburger". OMG it really was soooo good. Miranda had a burger and fries and a milkshake and I had the "Texas Steak Chili". The food was really good. It was so much fun being in the city just my daughter and me. This is one thing I really like about living in this area. The city is so close and accessible and so much fun. I'm looking forward to being able to share it with her even more as she gets older. We drove by the theatre district of course and there were so many shows that she'd like to see, so I guess I better get my act together and start looking into some tickets. Now, as for my weight loss efforts. I'm sure last night's food did not help. But this week when I weighed myself I was down 3 oz. But I just weighed myself right now and it says I'm down another 1.3lbs, which is great after the food I ate last night. So let's go with the weight today (I know it's morning and you weigh your least first thing in the morning, but I'm going to use it) That would mean I've lost a total of 28.4lbs. Not too bad!! I'm still losing, not as fast as I would like, but I'm really excited about my size right now. Now, I just really have to start toning up. I know I really need to start sit ups, but we'll see. Let's see what else is there. Oh, I was told last night that I'm getting a new refrigerator this morning. I guess my landlord wants one to match the other appliance. Cool!! Things are going better here. Our family is really happy right now and I feel things are really looking up, so thank you all for your prayers!! Time to hit the treadmill.....Love you guys!

MY BIRTHDAY

2008-02-17T07:35:00.002-05:00

Yes, it is. Today is my 39th Birthday!!!! I feel great!! I'm glad I started weight watchers when I did, because now I'm getting in shape and losing weight and feeling better about myself. I didn't get weighed in last week because I was at the doctor's so I figured their scale was good enough. According to their scale (and my new one at home) I have lost a total of 27.4lbs!!! How cool is that. I bought my first pair of size 12 jeans the other day. They we're $50 at Kohls, but they we're half price so I got them for $25.00. I was so excited from a size 16 down to a size 12. I wanted to get in shape before I turned 40, so I'm on my way. I am actually in Albany, NY right now on the hotel computer. I got up early this morning to work out and just finished. Chris had a football league meeting yesterday so we came up for the weekend. It's been a nice relaxing weekend. Stephanie has my kids and they have been trading fevers, throwing up, and just feeling crummy so I'm gonna owe her big time. We have vacation this week so at least they'll have some time to recover. I'm hoping they'll be better by the time I get home so we can actually enjoy the vacation. We were out of our house for almost all of last week because my landlord was redoing our kitchen. I wasn't to thrilled about it at first because I was going to be losing cabinet space, but I actually was able to fit my stuff back in the cabinets and it looks great. I have a dishwasher now....I haven't had a chance to use it yet, because the electrician was finishing up when we left on Friday. So when I get home today I will be able to actually use it. Thanks Stephanie for taking care of us this week!!!! Have a great day everyone!!! I love ya!!!

Battle Cry (continued)

2008-02-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

So we went back to Battle Cry today and were there until the end tonight about 9:30pm. We got to meet Kirk Franklin, he even hugged us and Miranda got to meet and take pictures with this band "Unhindered" which was Amazing. They were really great. Chris got to meet David Tyree and get his autograph. We all had an amazing time. You can check out the pictures at www.pixagogo.com/5749664125. Have a great day!!!

BattleCry

2008-02-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. It's been a while since the last blog, so I apologize. I've had a lot of stuff going on. Well, first note when I went to weight watchers on last Tues they said I gained 8 ounces. Which I'm not suprised because I had been eating like crazy, especially at the Super Bowl Party. But I've actually gone down since then, so I'm still doing okay. My friend Stephanie bought me a scale for an early birthday present and I'm so thrilled. She is so good to me. Don't know what I'll do without her when she moves to Texas. Guess I'll just have to move too. :) Not any time soon though, but maybe eventually. So anyways, I'm not sure if I will go to WW anymore or just weigh myself at home on Tuesday nights. I guess I'll have to see. Steph's husband's new job is with TeenMania Ministries and they put on the youth ralley BattleCry this weekend at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. Todd got us all access passes, so Chris & I went last night and we had an awesome time. We got to meat TD Jakes and Chris even had TD Jakes pray over him. It was amazing. There were lots of bands too and we are going back today. Kirk Franklin, Mariano Rivera, David Tyree, Ron Luce and many others are going to be there today. We're going to bring Miranda with us today, I know she will really love it. It's so amazing to see all those youth committing their lives to Christ. Not to mention the bands!!!!! I love loud Bands!!! Cross Movement, David Crowder and some other bands are there....very cool. They'll have some drama today too, which I'm really looking forward too. So, that's what's going on here. We still need your prayers when you think of us, but things are looking up. Well, at least I am!!! Looking up to God for my strength. Love to you all.

Weight Watcher Weigh-in

2008-01-29T17:48:00.000-05:00

Hello. Well today is Tuesday, which means weight watcher weigh in. I haven't been for a couple of weeks, so I was hoping I lost some weight. I didn't lose as much as I wanted but I did lose 1.8lbs. Which puts my total at exactly 25lbs!!!!! I'm so excited. If I want to and I keep going I could hit 50lbs by the summer. Wouldn't that be something. Not sure if I can or will want to lose that much, but it would be pretty cool. I guess we'll see. Now that I have the treadmill, the weight should come off faster. My mother in law has lost 26lbs, so she's really excited too. That's about all there is to say today. I just wanted to do my weekly update that I hadn't done in a few weeks. Have a great day everyone!!!

Kindness

2008-01-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone! So I thought I'd write about kindness today. At our school we have something called "The Law of Kindness" which the kids are taught from the moment they arrive at school. It pretty much speaks for itself, it's means being kind to your fellow students, teachers, friends, etc. Well for the month of February we have "The Kindness Challenge". The children get points for acts of kindness that they demonstrate throughout the month. We get stickers for every point and have to fill up the letters A L A with stickers throughout the month. Once the letters are filled up we have a Kindness Pizza Party and an assembly. Well, the day of the assembly the classes have to vote for the student in their class whom they think is the kindest. That student then gets recognized with a trophy during the Kindness Assembly. Well.....the kindness assembly was on Friday and CJ was voted the kindest in his Kindergarten class by his classmates. The picture is above. He was so excited and mom was very proud. Now, speaking of kindness, my friend Stephanie was very kind and gave me her treadmill. I am so excited. I've started doing 30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening. I am running for 5 min and walking for 5min. However, my neighbor downstairs informed me that in the morning the treadmill is really loud, so I may only be able to walk in the morning...which I guess I'll have to do. Chris is going to see if he can get some mats from his work, so it won't make so much noise. I was really bummed when she said that, because running on the treadmill finally gave me something to be excited about. I'm hoping if I walk in the morning it won't make so much noise. Well, that's about it for now. Continue to keep us in prayer when you think of us. Love ya.

Hellooooooooooooooooo

2008-01-22T16:06:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! It's been a while since I wrote on my blog, so I figured I'd better update it. Today is Weight Watcher Weigh-in, but I'm not really sure if I'm going or not. I think I've stayed about the same and I don't really feel like paying $13 to hear that I weigh the same. So I'll probably wait until next week. I've been trying to figure out what to write on the blog, because I'm really going through some trying times and I don't want to get into it on the blog. So, all I can really say is God is Good and He is on the throne!!! I've given it all to Him, so I have to just wait and trust in Him to deliver me. That's one positive thing though, I do still have so much faith in the God I serve!! He has provided for my needs above and beyond and he has seen me through so many trials....my prayer life has never been better. So, I do know that God is with me and I feel his presence around me daily. It's hard though going through this, so please keep me in prayer when you think about me. Actually, keep my whole family in prayer, because even though the kids have no idea that we're going through this, I'm sure they will be affected. I love you all and I'll let you know when things turn around. Which I know they will!!

I'M SO DISGUSTED!!!!!

2008-01-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

They lost!!!!!! The Cowboys lost!!!!! This really stinks. They played horrible in the 2nd half. It really makes me disgusted at how they played. I can't believe it. A 13 - 3 season and we lose in our first playoff appearance. And to the NY GIANTS...auggghhh!!! Ridiculous!! It's just sad, sad, sad.......... We better have a snow day tomorrow!!!! I'll need it to recuperate from this loss!!!

What a beautiful day!!

2008-01-12T10:48:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful day it is outside! They say the temperature will be about 50 degrees today. Which is crazy for January. I think I will take the kids out to the park, because I think it's supposed to get cold tonight and snow tomorrow. Which is more like the january weather. I'm hoping for a snow day Monday. So I'm at Stephanie's with her 3 kids and my 2 kids for 5 days!!!!! So far we're doing good. Everyone got up, had breakfast, got dressed and playing pretty nicely. A little trouble sharing, but easily rectified. We'll probably head out to the park in a little while. I'll let them run out all there energy, then we'll come home for lunch and naps!! Well, we'll try for naps. I'm hoping the rest of the days go this smoothly. It'll be interesting to see how things work on Monday & Tuesday when I have to be out of the house by 7:15am to get to work. Getting 5 kids breakfast and ready for school by then should be fun!!! :) That's one reason why I'm hoping for a snow day on Monday!! But we'll see. I must say, Stephanie's bed is sooooooooo comfortable!!!! That's about it here! There's a lot of football to watch this weekend and I'm excited about tomorrow's game between my Cowboys and those NY Giants. We beat them twice in the regular season, but now it's playoffs and anything can happen. If the Cowboys come ready to play, we shouldn't have a problem. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Have a great day everyone!! Get outside and play! Talk to you soon....Love ya!

Weight Watchers Weigh-In Tuesday (Finally!!)

2008-01-08T19:50:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone,
How are you all? Happy New Year again. My daughter did a good job on the New Year's post didn't she? She's growing up so fast. Anyway.....I finally got weighed in today and I lost 2lbs. That brings my total loss today to 23.2lbs!!! I still have a ways to go, but I was so thrilled. They say (who they are I don't know) people usually gain 5-7 lbs over the holidays, so to have lost 2 pounds over the holidays makes me very happy. Especially with all the eating we've done at our friend's house. I'm so glad tomorrow is Wednesday and the week is 1/2 over. This weekend I will be staying at my friend's house and watching her 3 children while she and her husband are away. The kids are very excited, they have so much fun when they are all together. It's very loud, but they have fun. I saw the movie "PS. I Love You" this weekend. I thought it was such a great movie, especially if you need a good cry!!! My friend and I cried pretty much throughout the whole movie, there were a lot of laughs too. I definitely reccomend it for you romantics out there. How about this weather huh??? It's been so warm this week. I believe it's supposed to get up to 61 degrees tomorrow. I'm loving it.....but I hope winter comes back by February. We're going to the poconos over February break and I need there to be snow then.....all the fun stuff to do there requires snow!! Okay, well it's time for me to put CJ to bed. Hope you all are doing great. God bless! Love ya.

Happy New Year !!!!!

2008-01-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

Hey, Miranda here!! My mom is doing the dishes so I'll be doing the blog today. Last night I was at my Aunt Stephenie's house and the parents were having fun by playing poker and I was watching tv with the kids but CJ and Brandon were on the computer. When we got home it was 11:00pm and I was trying to stay up until 12:00 but o well. This morning me and my mom were going to go for a walk but it was raining really bad but not any more. Tomorrow were going back to school BORING!!!!!!!!!! But I'm kind of happy because I could see my friends again so I guess schools ok. Today were not really going to do anything so this is really fun but I gotta go so bye. O YEAH HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2007-12-31T08:07:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! How are you? Yes, I know it's been a while since I've blogged but you all know how the holidays go. Let's see......Christmas was great. My mom came down from Vermont on December 22nd and stayed through December 26th. We were on the go a lot. She wanted to finish her Christmas shopping, so we were out til midnight on Saturday night and at the store by 7:00am Sunday before church. It was fun though. The kids were very pleased this Christmas, thanks to Grandma & Grandpa. They got pretty much everything on their list. Favorites were Miranda - American Girl doll (Julie), Be Bratz computer doll, Pixel Chix, Purse pal and for CJ - Transformers, transformers and more transformers (Bumbleee, Power Ranger,Star Wars) oh and an Avatar Gameboy game that he only stopped playing when Mommy wanted to play Super Mario Bros. We went to my friend Steph's for Christmas Eve dinner and then to church after, then we came home and opened one present (pajamas of course) and watched The Nativity Story. Christmas day my mother-in-law came over and our friends Gaby & Naida and we had a wonderful Christmas Dinner. The food was great and I managed not to overeat. Then mom left the next day and we all got sick!! The kids just for one night...they threw up and that was it they were all better. I on the other hand, didn't throw up but have had a weak & uneasy stomach since Wednesday. I think I'm on the mend now. Chris took the kids to see National Treasure while I was home sleeping and then we went to see Alvin & the Chipmunks with a couple of CJ's friend. It was actually a pretty cute movie. I wasn't looking forward to seeing it, but was pleasantly surprised. We have two more days before we go back to school and we're going to try to make the most of them. Miranda went to Gaby's after church yesterday for a sleepover and CJ went to his Grandma's to sleepover, so Chris and I got a day (and night) of football to ourselves. We watched our Cowboys play sooooo POORLY!!!! It was really discouraging. They better get into shape in this bye week. I made some homemade soup yesterday, the first time I ever did that. I used the ham bone from Christmas. I think it came out really good. I'm by myself today until the kids come home, so I decided to blog. I woke up when Chris left and I'm not really a sleep in kind of gal, so I've been up since then. I read & prayed and now I've blogged, so I think I'm going to head out for a walk. I have a loop that I do around my neighborhood and it ends up being about 4 miles, so I'm going to do that this morning. Then I guess I'll come home and clean and do laundry. I won't weigh in again until Jan. 8th, but I'll let you know how that goes as soon as I do. We're heading to our friend's house for dinner and to ring in the New Year tonight. Can you believe it's 2008 tomorrow? I can't. I pray that this is a BLESSED New Year for all of you. My resolution this year is to serve God better than I did last year. I love you all!!!

Weight Watcher Update

2007-12-19T16:23:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! I got weighed in last night and lost .6lbs. That brings my weight loss total to 21.2lbs. I'm really excited about that. The next two Tuesdays are Christmas & New Year's Day so my Weight Watcher meeting will not be open. So that means I can either wait 3 weeks to weigh in or I can go to the Thursday meetings. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. I like to get weighed on the same day and on the same scale so I can be consistant on the numbers, but I'm not sure if I want to wait 3 weeks................we'll see! Anyways, Christmas is 6 days away! Can you believe it????? My mom is coming down from Vermont and she will arrive Saturday night and stay through Wednesday. I'm going to pick her up at the train on Saturday evening and then head out for some last minute late night shopping. We're thinking of having an early Christmas dinner on the 25th and then heading into the city to see the tree. I'm thinking it probably won't be too busy on Christmas day!! I have 1 1/2 days more of school and I'm so excited. I think I definitely need the Christmas vacation. I'm hoping for lots of snow so the kids and I can go sledding and build a snowman. Did I mention I love the snow? Oh yeah, I mentioned it in a previous blog...well I do. Sorry for you "snow haters" out there!! Yes, my Cowboys lost last weekend to the Eagles :(. It was so boring and discouraging to watch, they could just not get anything going offensively. I think Tony Romo was too busy thinking about Jessica Simpson in the stands!!!! That's just my opinion. Anyway, we have Carolina this Saturday so I hope we'll be able to do better then. Okay..well I'm off to figure out what to do for dinner....talk to you all later. Love you!!

Weight Watchers Weigh - In Tuesday

2007-12-12T06:51:00.000-05:00

Hey All!! Sorry I didn't get a chance to write yesterday, the night was kind of busy. I only have a few minutes because I have to get to school, but wanted to let you know how I did at my weigh-in. I lost 1.6lbs, which puts my total at 20.6lbs!!!!
I was so excited!! I'm praying that I can keep it up (actually down :)) over the holidays. I managed to survive Thanksgiving & the buffet at The Manor so I have hope. My Christmas cards came in today, so you should all be getting the cards by the end of the week. Oh...and the cowboys pulled it out this weekend and they are now 12 -1....Super Bowl here we come!!! Anyway, Have a great day!! Love you!

2007-12-09T08:17:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!!! It seems like afternoon already because I've been up since about 5:45am. We had a sleepover last night with my friend's 3 children and they like to get up very early. So, we had 5 kids in the house from last night until today. It was pretty smooth I must say. Everyone seemed to have a fun time and I managed to remain pretty calm. LOL. I made pancakes and eggs this morning and they all seemed to have big appetites. I've done the dishes and we should be getting ready for church, but it's still too early, so I decided to write on my blog. I don't really have a lot to say though. We're thinking about getting the Christmas tree today, but not sure. The Cowboys are 11 - 1 and they play today at 1:00pm. The younger kids have there little singing thing at church today. Oh....I know....have you all seen this website called www.elfyourself.com ?? It has to be the funniest thing I've seen in a while. You go to the site and you can insert pictures of yourselves on elf's bodies and then they do a little dance. I thought it was so cool. I'm elfing everyone. Okay well that's about it for now. If anything else exciting happens I will post it, but if not I'll give you my weekly update on Tuesday. God Bless.

Weight Watchers Weigh-In

2007-12-05T06:18:00.000-05:00

Well last night was Weight Watcher Weigh-in Tuesday! I lost another pound which puts my total weight loss to 19lbs. I was hoping to hit 20lbs this week, but it didn't happen. I should definitely hit it next week though. It's good though, as long as I keep losing. Tommorrow night Chris and I have a Christmas Party @ The Manor in West Orange. It's fun because we get to get all dressed up and the food is really good too. I'm excited because I can wear a dress that I love, but haven't been able to fit in for some time. We went last year and I wasn't crazy about my outfit, but this year I am. I have pictures from last year so it will be interesting to compare them to this year's pictures. We have 13 official school days until Christmas break (not counting weekends) so we're all counting down. Maybe a snow day in between.....:). Alright, gotta get ready for school. Hope you all have an excellent day!!!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.....

2007-12-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

It's SNOWING!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the snow. We woke up this morning to a beautiful blanket of snow covering the ground. Only about 3 inches, but very exciting. The kids and I headed out early to play. We had so much fun. I took some pictures and you can view them at http://www.pixagogo.com/8781684131. By the time we came in it stopped snowing, but now it's started again and even harder. I don't think I appreciated the snow when I was growing up (except for school closings), but now I just love it. I love to get up and get all bundled up, get the kids all bundled up and go outside. I hope we get a lot of snow this year. I still appreciate the school closings, although I don't think we'll get one tomorrow. Here's hoping though!!! I'm off to my friend's house to bake today. We're continuing our cooking baking and what a great day for it. Hope you all enjoy the snow!!!!!

Weight Watcher Weigh-in Tuesday

2007-11-27T19:07:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!!!! Well, once again it's a Weight Watcher Weigh-In Day!!! This was a scary one leading up to today.....with all the eating I did over the Thanksgiving weekend. Especially since with our family and our extended family, Thanksgiving is not just one day but actually the whole weekend. LOL. Not to help matters, my friend and I started our holiday cookie baking on Sunday. We started off with two kinds of cookies, and we'll do a little bit each week, so by Christmas we'll have a nice variety. I've already taken a few out of the freezer though, so hopefully I'll have some left by Christmas. Anyway, I went tonight to get weighed in and I lost another 1.2lbs. That puts my grand total today at exactly 18lbs!!! I was so surprised. I did do a couple of 3 to 4 mile walks over the weekend, but I was still pleasantly surprised to have lost weight. I'm hoping I can get 2 more off this week then I'll be at 20lbs....that will be great. I don't really have a goal weight yet, but I think I'd like to lose a total of about 35lbs. Hey, that means I'm half way there!! Cool!! I just took down the Christmas decorations from the attic. I never start putting up the decorations yet, but I'm thinking I might start a little earlier this year. It's so pretty with the lights and the garland up. I'll let you know next time if I did it or not. Right now I'm off to do dishes...........pretty exciting huh? The kids are bathed and in their pajamas and Chris is out helping a friend....so that means I can catch up on some DVR TV. I have "Desperate Housewives" and "October Road" recorded and I can't wait to watch them. Somehow I think that's going to take precedent over the Christmas decorations. Let's see......straining and stretching to put up the decorations or sitting on the couch watching some guilty TV....hmm, what would you choose?? Have a great night everyone!! Barb if you read this, thanks for dropping off my Bible :). Love to you all!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

2007-11-22T06:11:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Thanksgiving morning and I am up this early waiting to put the turkey in the oven. I got up a little earlier than expected, so I have to wait til about 6:30am to put the turkey in the oven. We have had fried turkey for about the past 5 years, which only takes 3 min per pound to cook, but this year I wanted to bake a turkey. It's been so long since I baked one and I really wanted to have stuffing from in the bird....so we decided to bake this year. We will be going over to our friends' (who really are like family) house later for dinner & football. My Cowboys play the Jets today at 4:00 and you know we have to watch that. They are 9 - 1 baby!!!!! So we will be watching enthusiastically today to see if they can make it 10 - 1. Of course this day is about more than turkey & football, so I need to take a minute to give thanks to our Father in heaven. Thank you, God for all my many blessings...for a wonderful husband, beautiful children, loving family & friends, and for your provision for my family. Thank you, for loving me and calling me to you, for gently speaking to my heart and encouraging me. Thank you, for allowing your son to die on the cross, so that I (and everyone who chooses) can have eternal life with you!! I pray this day for those who do not know you, that you would speak to there hearts Lord and invite them to a relationship with you. You are an amazing God and I love you! Amen! Have a wonderful & blessed Thanksgiving everyone.

Weight Watcher Weigh-In Tuesday

2007-11-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! Well, the weekly weigh in was tonight. I didn't lose any weight, but I did stay exactly the same as last week. I was a little discouraged about that, but I should be thankful with all the eating out I did this weekend. On Saturday we had Panera Bread for lunch and P F Chang's for dinner....that alone took about all my extra weekly points. Anyway, that's it for today. It snowed yesterday, didn't last but it did snow for half the day so I'm getting excited. I love the snow. Bye for now!!!

Beyond Measure

2007-11-19T06:38:00.001-05:00

"Everything that I have has been given so unselfishly and shown that even when I don't deserve you always show the fullness of your love......I know that I've been given more than beyond measure". These are the lyrics to a Jeremy Camp song "Beyond Measure" off his latest CD. I just had to start with them, because I (We) have been truly blessed WAY Beyond Measure. As most of you know, Chris and I attended the "Weekend To Remember" Marriage Conference this weekend and we had a wonderful time. The speakers were fabulous and we learned some really helpful things to apply to our marriage. #1 thing we took away "Your Spouse is not your enemy!!", there are outside forces that are at work here trying to destroy your marriage (Ephesians 6:12). #2 "We must choose to receive our spouse as God's perfect provision for us". #3 "Receiving your spouse is NOT based on our spouse's performance". There were many good points and a lot of information that we hope to apply in our marriage. We were able to talk and spend quality time together which is always needed and we were able to focus on us! It was truly a blessing. But, I need to bring you back to before we left on Friday and let you know about another amazing way God blessed us. We have been struggling for awhile now with our finances, without going in to detail we were way behind in our bills. The cable had just been turned off on Wednesday, our Electric bill was a week past the shut off date (and it was still on - thank you God),our car insurance had just expired, our rent was overdue and we were supposed to go away this weekend and we had no money for gas or food.............that can kind of get you down :(. Chris and I were both down about that all week and we really could not think or figure out a way to get any money to take care of these bills. Chris has money owed to him from customers, but they have 90 days to pay so you never know when that is going to come in. Well, we both were just kind of on edge, praying and trying to trust God, but really discouraged. Friday morning I woke up and I just started my morning prayer and I said "Lord, I don't know how you are going to do it, but I believe you are going to make a way for us to go to this conference" , I believed it when I prayed and just went about my day. I got off work at 12:30, went to pick Chris up at work, and came home to get ready to leave (how we were going to eat over the weekend, I didn't know), Chris went to the garage to get his clothes out of the dryer, I grabbed the mail and came upstairs. I passed through the junk mail, and the overdue bills, and then a letter addressed to Chris was there. I opened it (of course, because I'm nosy) and it was a Check for the amount of exactly what we needed to pay for all our past due bills, with a little extra to spend this weekend. I could not believe it, I kept checking it over & over to see if it was real, I called Chris on his cell phone and said you have to come up here right now! It was real!! We had gotten a letter a few months back about someone suing a company that we had previously worked with and they needed us to be on the name for the lawsuit, we didn't have to do anything but if they won we would get a settlement. Well, this was a settlement check for that!! We were able to pay all our past due bills before we left for our weekend. And, we were able to go away this weekend and focus on us, God, and our marriage without the weight of 'how are we going to pay the bills'.....I know that I've been given more than Beyond Measure!!!! I love you all.

It's a Weight Watchers Weigh-in Day

2007-11-13T17:56:00.001-05:00

Yes, today is Tuesday my weekly weigh in day at weight watchers. I have lost another 1.6lbs, bringing my total this week to 16.8lbs!!! I am so happy. It's so exciting to see the weight come off. I mean I do notice it in my clothes and stuff, but to see the actual numbers makes me feel really good. I'm so glad my mother-in-law asked me to join with her. She's lost 18lbs by the way. I'm also very excited because I am going away with my husband this weekend. Family Life is doing a "Weekend to Remember" Marriage Conference in Pennsylvania and we are going. Our wonderful friends, so graciously blessed us by paying for us to go this weekend. What a blessing that will be for us. I know you read this blog, so thank you so much, we are really looking forward to it. We love you guys a lot. We will leave Friday around lunch time and come home Sunday around dinner time. It's a pretty intense schedule, but we do get to have a "date night" on Saturday night. I think we are going to P. F. Chang's for dinner. I found out there is one about 20 minutes from our hotel. I went there a few weekends ago with some of my girlfriends from work and it was so much fun. We had such a good time and the food was great!! I think Chris will love the food there (Chinese) so I thought it'd be a nice place to go for our date night. Just being away for the weekend by ourselves would be a blessing, but to add the teaching that we are going to receive, we could not be more blessed. I've heard it's a wonderful conference and we're both really looking forward to it. Chris is even missing his playoff game to go, so he must be really looking forward to it as well. Things have been really tight for us financially lately and I've been a little discouraged, but God really has been faithful. There's so many things that I want to do and get done with our bills and we just don't have the money to do them, but God is sustaining us. It's like in the Lord's prayer when we say "give us this day our daily bread"...God is really giving us each day our daily bread. Whatever needs to be done at the moment, God is making sure we have enough to get it done. Now me, I'd rather get everything done at once and have all the bills paid on time and in full, but I know there's something that God is teaching us through this time and he is providing for our daily needs. That doesn't mean I don't get discouraged or depressed a bit, but our blessings far out way my discomfort. I pray that this dry period in our lives will allow us to hear God's direction more clearly and teach us to be obedient to his prompting in our lives. It's like we tell the children in my class "Obedience brings blessings, Disobedience brings consequences"....it's that simple!!! I'm sure God is saying the same thing to us! Anyway, I'm going to go start packing. Yes it's only Tuesday, but I like to pack early. Have a great week. Love you all.

2007-11-11T08:04:00.000-05:00

Good Morning! We got school pictures the other day, so I'm enclosing the kids school pictures. Again, Miranda is in 4th grade & CJ is in Kindergarten. Not crazy about the background, but the smiles are priceless. Well, it's Sunday Morning here and we'll be getting ready for church in a few minutes. I was almost not going to go today because I'm feeling a little down, but then I was like what am I thinking.....That's even more of a reason to go. Church is the place I need to be when I'm feeling like this. It was a pretty relaxing weekend. The weather ended up being pretty nice. Miranda had guitar lessons which she loves, so she was happy about that. The expander thing seems to be going alright...so far I've been pretty successful turning it everyday. We had two movie nights with the kids this weekend, both Friday & Saturday night. We haven't done that in a while but it was fun. I of course have trouble staying awake during movie night, not sure if it's the movie or just me being tired...but I did pretty good this weekend. Today is the big day in our house...The Giants are playing the Cowboys at 4:00pm!!!!!! Should be a really good game....my prediction Cowboys 21 - Giants 7!!! We'll see how close I am tomorrow.....I just hope we get the win!!!!!! Have a blessed day!

What an awesome God we Serve

2007-11-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

So, I'm having fun playing around with the web page. I've added some songs that really speak to me these days and I wanted to share them with you all. I can not sing a note and I have absolutely no rhythm, but God really ministers to me through song. When I hear a song that speaks to my heart I just listen to it over and over. This one by Jeremy Camp "Give me Jesus" is just simply him and the guitar, and the words are so simple but it's very soothing.Here is the link... http://jeremycamp.com/tunes.html. I hope you can get the link from here. Let me know what you think. Okay, enough about the music.

I was so blessed today to hear that a friend of mine who had a stroke just this past Saturday was up and walking today. Our God is so awesome!!!!! I continue to be amazed by what He does and how He answers prayer. Even in my own life, He's answered my prayers so many times, but it still amazes me every time. I love it!!! Thank you God, for loving me and calling me to you!!!! Have a blessed evening everyone!!

My Second Day as a blogger

2007-11-07T15:36:00.000-05:00

So, it's my second day on the blog and so far so good. I'm still playing around with the set-up, but it's fun. Thanks to those of you who have commented...it's fun to read them. Today was a 12:00pm dismissal from school, so we were all happy about that. Miranda had her Orthodontist appt at 1:00....she was not too happy about that. For those of you who don't know, Miranda is starting the steps toward getting braces. Today she had to get her palat expander in. This is a lovely device that they brace in her mouth to expand her upper jaw. She was really nervous, but we prayed and she prayed while they were putting it in and it went very quickly and she said it was not painful...so praise God for that!! Now, the painful part for me, well not really painful, just annoying. The palat expander has this tiny little hole in the center of it and I'm supposed to take this tiny little sharp pointed key and put it in the hole (without putting it in too far, so as not to puncture her)and then push down on it to turn it and I get the pleasure of doing this twice a day. What a joy!!!!! It's actually not that bad...they even put the key on a string so if I drop it in her mouth it won't go down her throat...........isn't that funny? This is probably really gross for some of you...Sorry!!! Just to fill you in from yesterday, I went to Weight watchers and I had lost .8lbs, which brings my total to 15.4lbs and yes I got my third gold star. Very encouraging. That's it for today my friends....love you!!

My First Day as a Blogger

2007-11-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first official day doing this family blog. I guess it will be a good thing if I can keep it updated. I came home from school and checked my email and somehow ended up starting a blog page....not sure how that happened but it did. So, not much happening today...I'm getting ready to go to Weight Watchers for my weekly weigh in and hopefully I'll officially hit 15lbs (how much weight I've lost so far), I was at 14.5lbs last week and if I get to 15lbs today I get my third star. You get a gold star for every 5lbs you lose. I started on Sept 11th, so this week will be my 9th week...not going to tell you my weight, but I am happy (and I'm down one size in clothes). Cj just finished his homework...he's getting so mature now he doesn't even need my help. He just comes home and does it and then brings it to me to check. My big boy!! Miranda is finishing up her homework, she does need help every now and then.....that's if I can help her!! The way they learn things is so different now, but so far we're doing pretty good. Marking period ends this week and they get report cards next week, so we're excited to see the results. Chris is still at work. It's voting day in Bloomfield, not exactly sure what we're supposed to vote for, but he's been at the polls all day ( he had to open the building and stay there)....I guess I should go vote!! Well, I better get some work done before I have to leave, so this is it for now. I think this is pretty cool. Have an awesome and blessed day!!!