The Blatt Clan

Wow!

2006-09-19T16:33:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...it's been like FOREVER since I've been on this thing! But I do still read everyone else's! :) We are doing really well. Summer was great for us. I got to go to St. Louis for my PartyLite conference, with was truly awesome! That's a picture of me with the president of the company on the US side. My business is going really well. I'm even starting to build my team [hint hint... Jamie Smith...makes more money than Michaels :) as you well know ] I was able to switch to an earlier schedule just this week, meaning I only have to work 8:30 - 3!! YIPEE!!! I get to pick up the kids from school every day now and spend some time with them before I go to my shows.

Once back from St. Louis, we decided to go camping, just us 5. We went and spent a very relaxing, although story-filled week at Lake Cachuma, which is up in Santa Barbara County. We were blessed to get to spend time with just our kids. We even rented a fishing boat and went fishing on the lake for a few hours...didn't catch a thing except for a few cases of the giggles. :)

We also were blessed this summer, right after we got home from vacation, with a new sister-in-law, and nephew. That's right! My brother FINALLY got married! They had the wedding in their backyard, then went away for a week cruise, with Donald staying with us, and then Robert moved in as soon as they got back.

And while they were gone, school started for the kids! So, now do you see why I haven't been on in a while?!?!?!? I'll try to get better now that I have a little more time, although my evenings are pretty full. Hope you all are doing well!

Update on Steve & please see below prayer request

2006-06-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

First off, I wanna thank you for praying for Steve. God is hearing our prayers! They still have not had to do any surgery and are hoping to not have too. Steve was able to eat a little bit. He was able to do simple math. AMEN! He still can't speak and will have problems communicating possibly forever, but I have faith that God is an awesome God and is in the business of doing miraculous things!

On a side note, I did keep my promise and do an update. I had started it back in the beginning of May, so it posted before the prayer request for Steve, so you'll just have to scroll down to see what the Blatt's have been up to. But I think it's worth the scroll ;)

Thanks again for your prayers. They are truly appreciated, by more people than you know! Have a great day!

MAJOR prayer needed!

2006-06-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know that I haven't updated in forever, and really need to, and I promise I will, just not tonight, other that to ask you all for prayer.

My boss, Steve Meltzer, who also happens to be my friend, kinda like a brother/dad/uncle actually, fell last night, and hit his head and is in ICU with massive bleeding on the brain. He has bleeding in about 5 different spots. It has affected his communication skills. The are not sure at this point if he has had a stroke, which is a possibility. They are waiting til the morning to run more tests and decide what the next steps will be.

As some of you may remember, but some of you may not know, Steve is Jewish. Which of course means that he doesn't believe that Jesus is God's Son. Please pray that God would heal him miraculously and that I would be able to say to him and the family and the friends (me being the ONLY Christian) "See what prayer does!" They all talk about prayer. Even the agnostic one in the office, and the atheist say, "We need to say lots of prayers." Don't they get that you have to believe in the one you are praying to? So they ask me to intercede on their behalf. And I obviously answer them with an, "Of course I will! I'd be happy to!" At least I have been able to witness to them in that manner. But I am being selfish in my prayers, in that, I don't feel like my time of witnessing is done in that office, and if he doesn't make it, it will be done. So, that's my selfish part of my prayer request.

I will update this with info on his condition as I know more. And I'll update mine as I find the time. Obviously our lives have been a "little" busy. If you live here and are around me lots, you know what I mean. :)

Thanks in advance for your prayers. It's nice to know that I can post something here, and know that there are people praying in California, New Jersey, South Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and anywhere else you may be reading this from! Thanks again! I love you and God bless!

There really is a reason...

2006-05-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Even tho it may not seem like I have an interesting life cuz I don't blog about it very much anymore...that would be because I'M TOO DOG-GONE BUSY TO DO SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Cow! Where should I even start with what has happened in the past two months? Let's see.......as the song goes..."let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." [from The Sound of Music, for those of you not cool enough to know ;) ]

The beginning of April brought Mikey and Micaela's birthdays. Followed by the very busy end of a very busy tax season. YAHOOSY!!!! And Women's Retreat was at the end of the month. We had a great time learning about how we are daughters of the King of kings.

May proved to be just about as busy of a month. I had LOTS of Partylite parties going on...which is a great thing! I bonused for the 3rd month in a row, and received an extra $300 in gift certificates from Partylite! hehe :)

Steve and Laura left our church, which has been hard on us personally due to our friendship, and due to the fact that now, with Michael being the Church Board Secretary, he is literally in charge of the church. And with us being the praise team, we are the ones people naturally look to for alot of things anyways. But God is blessing us, and we are growing, and that is an AWESOME thing!

We also made it up to our "time share" over Memorial Day weekend, with our good friends, Carl, Cassie, Karli & Calista Thigpen. What a wonderful time we had! We made models, did rubberstamping, the kids made their Father's Day cards, we watch movies at night, went on a hike, had church on Sunday morning~complete with singing, and testimonies from the kids, and a sermon from Mikey~...as I said, all in all a wonderful time! Here's our kinda annual pic that we take........ So, as you can see, we have had a very busy couple of months, so please forgive the lack of updates. I'm barely home long enough to catch my breath, let alone update my blog ;) Thanks for your patience, to those of you who are reading this...it means you still believe that I would come back eventually...hehe

I did it!

2006-04-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it I completed my first month as a PartyLite consultant. Not only did I "qualify" by selling $1200 worth of stuff so that I get to keep my kit for free, but I did what's called "BONUS qualify". That means I sold $1800 worth of stuff and I get a 7% bonus on top of the commission I was already making! Plus an extra gift from PartyLite! hehe...I was sooooo excited when I realized it!!! I added the numbers up like 4 times just to be sure! So now I start month #2!

Sorry it's been so long :(

2006-03-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

I'm sooo sorry that it's been so long since I've last posted. Not much exciting has been happening. Just really busy with...life. My first Partylite show was awesome...thanks Becky! It was $505!!! Then, my second one was $325 so far, with more orders coming in, so we'll see, and I have a third one tomorrow, and 2 more next week. Plus it's still tax season so work is still ridiculously busy.......see. At least I have a good excuse for not posting. :)

Plus, we had science projects due this week, so there was that going on too. Joshua won Grand Prize for the Fourth grade. Just in case you can't see it, I'm smiling from ear to ear...hehe

Ok, I think that about covers it. O wait, and I was really sick...lost my voice for a few days, of course the kids liked that cause I couldn't yell at them to pick up their clothes and toys :)

Ok, now, that covers it. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Just because

2006-02-16T19:50:00.000-08:00

Let's see...what's been going on in my life...well...it's tax season, which means, for me, VERY BUSY at work and home, since I tend to take work home at this time of year. For those of you who don't know, I work in an accounting office. I mostly do the books for 12 different McDonald Restaurants, but during Tax Season, I GET to do all of my boss's booking of appointments, and sending out letters to tell people of when their appointment is, and taking calls to reschedule those appointments, and sending out letters to remind people of when their appointments are. Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it! All that on top of my regular stuff. Which means I do lots of extra late hours and lots of hours at home. Of course, I'm salary, so... :( O well.

Ok, enough about that. There have been lots of praises among my small group from church. Things I can't talk about, other than saying that GOD IS TRULY AWESOME AND WORKING IN MIGHTY WAYS!!!!!!!!! We had an powerful time of sharing and praying last week Monday, and then, all throughout this past week and a half, God has truly been moving. It's been a true blessing to be a part of it and getting to see it all first-hand! Thank you, Lord!

O ya, and I was wrong with my total from my Partylite party. It was actually $792.45! :) Good mistake, huh?!? That's another blessing from God. See, even the small things count. ;)

I think that's about it for now. Hope that updates you ok, Laura...hehe...Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Talk to you all soon!!

You are looking at the newest Partylite Consultant!

2006-02-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

Holy Moly! I had my Partylite Starter Show tonight. I had been praying that God would either open or close the door for me and truly show me what His will was for me. I had asked Him to clarify this by my letting the sales for my show be at least $350 if He wanted me to become a Consultant. (cuz that's the amount that I needed to have to get the Starter Kit for free) WELL...boy did He open this door BIG time! My sales were...........

$751.55!!!!!!!!! I could hardly believe it! More than twice what I needed! And I got 3 bookings, with a possible 4th one on the way! Anyone else wanna book a show from this newbe and earn some free stuff??? ;)

Thank You, God, for an AWESOME answer to prayer!

New Toys for some of us

2006-02-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

In the Blatt Family, there are a couple new toys. Some of you have probably already heard about them. Some of you may have even seen them. I thought I'd better put up some pics so the rest of you could too. :)

The first one pictured is my DAD'S new dog, MAX. He is a little Chihuahua. He is one of the cutest things I think I have ever seen. Even cuter than my kids were...wait, I meant to say my kittens...hehe. He is such a sweetheart. We go and see him every day, whether or not the kids have to go stay with Grandma and Grandpa.

The next toy is Mikey's "NEW" 1966 Chevy Pick-up. Doesn't he look like a proud owner? Wait til you see more pictures as he gets working on it! This one was taken the night Carl dropped it off...yep...that's right...Michael bought off one of Carl's auctions for only $450, but IT DOESN'T RUN so Carl had to bring it home ON A FLATBED TOW TRUCK!!! Right now, it's sitting in the driveway with the hood off and half of the insides out of it. And a great big tarp covering it up. Cuz you know we don't want it to get messed up...hehe.

Anyways, that's an update on our new toys. We'll keep you updated with more pics as the progress comes along. So that's a sign...no new pics = no new progress.

A Way to Pay for 3 Tuitions

2006-01-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

Next week, Thursday night, I am having a Partylite Party at my house at 7:00. I am doing it as a "Starter Party". What that means is that dollar for dollar, what people spend will go directly towards my kit for becoming a Partylite Consultant. I've been praying about our finances, especially with Josiah possibly starting kindergarten at NCS in the fall and this opportunity presented itself, and so I'm going for it. We'll see how God opens or closes this door. So if any of you want to come to my party, feel free, or if you wanna book a party lemme know and I'd be happy to do that for ya!

Thanks Guys!

2006-01-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the well wishes for my birthday! I really did have a happy one :)

This is one of the only pics that I was able to download from my birthday. There was an error on the card as I was downloading them, and now I can't see any of them. But at least I got one with me and my three peanuts! Too bad I didn't get the one with me and my whole family, including Goofy :(

Thanks again! Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2006-01-12T00:14:00.000-08:00

So, today was my birthday. I woke up with Josh in bed with me, then Micaela climbed in, then Josiah climbed over me and Micaela to lay between me and Josh. He sweetly & sleepily looked up at me and said, "Mommy, is TODAY your birthday?" To which, I of course answered, "Yep! Thanks for remembering! And the best gift you could give me is to promise to me a really good boy today."

Then, my oldest 2 got up to get ready for school. Michael had ironed their clothes last night so I could sleep in a little bit. My mom came and took them to school so I didn't have to get moving quite so early. When she got home, we went to brunch with my sister and niece to Schooner or Laters, which is down in the Los Alamitos Bay. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! After we ate, we drove down to "the rocks", a place where we used to go fishing when I was really little. My mom & dad would fish, and my brother & sister would catch spider-crabs and chase me with them.hehe. We took some pictures there (but with a disposable camera so I can't post them.)

About 1:00 they dropped me off at home, and Michael woke up and we went to pick up Josh & Micaela from school at 2:00. Then it was off to Downtown Disney to buy me some new sunglasses I'd been eyeing, and to California Adventure to ride the new Monsters Inc. ride. It was AWESOME! I'll post pics from that later. I don't have them downloaded yet, and I'm laying in bed typing this...the joys of a laptop...hehe!

When we were at Downtown Disney, we went to Build-a-Bear and the kids stuffed me a Bearthday Bear named Cinnamon. They all helped stuff it. She has 3 hearts in her, which they all did the little dance with, and they all helped fluff her up. That's my present from them. I love her! :)

We took the kids to church at 6:00 and then me and Mikey went to BJs for dinner. We had a very nice time, enjoying pizza and pizookie. yummy!

Then I came home and watched my wonderful shows that were finally on with new shows. And now I'm in bed typing this, and letting some medicine take effect and now, I'm going to sleep.

That was my birthday. Very busy, but VERY nice! I really enjoyed all of it. Thanks to my mom and sis and niece and son for lunch, for my husband and kids for Disneyland and my husband for dinner. I love you all with my whole heart!

Happy 2006!

2006-01-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all! We ended 2005 with a little get-together at our house. We had a few friends from church and our families over. We played Cranium, sang Karaoke, and watched the ball drop. I think this is the first year that the kids did NOT go outside and bang pans and yell and run around the yard. Then. after most people had left, we got out 3 of Michael's guitars, and Michael, Ryan (from church) and our brother-in-law, Greg, had a jam session til 1:00 a.m. It was fun! It stunk that it was so late, so they didn't get to play as long as they would've liked to, but we'll just have to have them over to do it again! :) We had to be at church at 9:00 the next morning, so getting to bed at 2:30 (after cleaning up the kitchen) was late enough for me!

O ya, and we bought a new laptop computer! YEAH! Now I have a big enough hard drive to not worry about my pictures, and it has a DVD burner, not only CD, so that'll help with storage of my pictures. It's really nice, and we got a great deal on it at Costco. We had to have a little bit more expense for MJ Solutions in 2005, and really needed a new computer, so that's what we did. I love it! I must say, wireless internet is awesome! I can sit on the couch with Michael as he watches tv, and I can check our email and read everyone's blogs. I really love it! hehe

Ok, enough for now! Hope all of you had a great end of 2005 and beginning of 2006! May God bless you in awesome ways in this coming year!

From our house to yours...Merry Christmas!

2005-12-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

We took this pic this morning. Notice the hint of a piano behind me...that was Joshua's musical gift from us. Micaela got a flute, with lessons from her Auntie Krista, and Josiah got a tamborine (he really does have great rhythm for a 4 year old) and a guitar, and Mikey got a guitar too. I got (from a different part of the family) a kareoke machine, so now, we are officially "The Family Von Blatt's". hehe

(that's from Sound of Music for those of you who didn't catch it) ;)

Merry Christmas to you all!

2005-12-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already! Our entire household has been really sick all week. Mikey only worked 1 1/2 nights! So Christmas has really snuck up on us. But luckily ALL the presents are wrapped, which we usually are finishing at 3:00 Christmas morning! But with church in the morning, and us being sick, we can't afford to stay up so late tonight. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and that our Lord and Saviour makes Himself so evident in all your family gatherings! I love you all!

Christmastime is busytime

2005-12-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been too busy to blog lately. Our schedule has been PACKED!!! We did have the kids Musical at Church on Sunday night. Here are some pics from the musical. It was really cute. Nothing much else has been going on exciting enough to write about...just getting our family ready for Christmas...which, by the way, is in ONLY 5 DAY!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Ok, I'll relax about that now, and wrap some presents, but here are some pics for you to enjoy.

This is Josh as Sam the Donkey at the church play.

This is Josiah dancing during 1 of the 2 songs he was part of.

This is Micaela before her dance during the same musical.

This pic is of Micaela during her school musical. Yep, that's right...2 Christmas musicals in 1 week for Micaela! That one was called "What in the World is Christmas" and explored the different traditions in different countries. It was pretty cute.

Ok, that about catches you all up. Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas Joy

2005-12-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

Last week Sunday, was our CHRISMAS JOY at church. Our small group was in charge of putting it on this year. Instead of doing just one scene, we decided to do 5 different scenes, starting with Angel Gabriel speaking to Mary then Joseph. That's what this first pic is of. Then, the narrator lead the group past the Roman Centurion, telling them to go to Bethlehem for the census. That's this second pic.

The third pic is Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem done as a shadow puppet. We weren't sure how it was going to turn out, but I think it turned out pretty cool. We couldn't find a real donkey to use for the scene...hehe

The fourth scene was Saydee being the Innkeeper telling Mary and Joseph there was no room in the Inn and pointing out back to the stable. Which leads us to the final scene. After the narrator read about the birth, I sang the first verse and chorus of "What Child is This". We had the shepherds come to the stable, which were mostly the kids of those who worked on the whole thing, so we didn't have to worry about them that night.

This last pic is of the stage that we had set up. We had a group from Huntington Park Church who played and sang. We also had Debbie (from church) and her 2 sisters sing in a trio, the ladies of the church sang carols, and the kids performed a few songs from the program they are performing on the 18th at 6:30...hint hint...come and see if you are around ;)
Anyways, all in all, I think it was an AWESOME night! We did A LOT of REALLY HARD work before, during, and after, but it was all worth it. We have decided that we are NOT IT for heading it up next year, but I can honestly speak for my whole group when I say that we were all truly blessed by this experience, and feel lucky to have been part of the whole thing. Thank You, Jesus, for helping us thru it all! We love You and Happy Birthday!!!

Christmas at Disneyland

2005-12-09T20:56:00.000-08:00

On Monday night, we got to go to a private night at Disneyland for employees and their families only. It started at 7:30 and ended at 12:30. It was fun...we were a little grumpy being as tired as we were, but it was nice to be there when it wasn't very crowded. We took our picture with Jesse, which we'll get later, and we gave the Marine a baby doll for Toys for Tots. We also got to see THE REAL SANTA!!!!! He was just an amazing guy! Micaela and Josiah are convinced that he's the real one. He made sure they knew to leave him cookies and CHOCOLATE milk for him when he stops at our house. We spent most of the evening with Stephen and Kelly Garis and their girls. Stephen is the guy who got Mikey the job. So this is our pic with Santa. Jus thought you'd enhoy it. :)

One of the scariest things I've ever experienced!

2005-12-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

Last night, for Joshua' birthday dinner, we went to Downtown Disney to go to The Rainforest Cafe. It was pretty busy, and Josiah was running around while we waited for our table. A couple of times I told him, "If you can't see Mommy or Daddy, you're too far." Michael asked me to go in and see if they'd seat us without our whole party there. As I came out of the restaurant, I looked around, then asked Michael, "Where's Joe?" He gave me a quizzical look. I told him, "I'm not kidding. Where's Joe?" His response..."I don't know."

Ok, so now, I'm starting to FREAK OUT! Here we are, at the very busy Downtown Disney, and my little boy is missing. And we are right by the monorail, and the parking lot, so if he's been taken, he's gone for sure. I started running around, yelling his name, looking for him and a police officer. By this time I am absolutely HYSTERICAL! Tears are streaming down my face. As I'm just about to ask where the officer is, my brother calls out my name. "Jill, we've got him." Thank you, Jesus! He had decided he wanted to go back in the store to the talking tree. Needless to say, Daddy gave him a stern talking to...about how "anybody could've taken him and he wouldn't be with us anymore. And look how upset Mommy is. You really scared us." I don't know that Michael spanked him. All I know is that I sat there for a long time, still crying because I was so relieved he was back.

My friends at work assured me that even if someone had taken him, they probably would've brought him back after just a few minutes because of what a stinker he is. I agree with that, but I still don't think I EVER want to go thru anything even remotely as scary as that EVER again!

Thank you, Jesus, for keeping my little booger safe and bringing him back to me!

How much does this stink?

2005-11-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

So, Joshua came home a few weeks ago telling us he had a girlfriend. She's a nice girl, but not much parental support/guidance. I was a little leary and gave him the "if you kiss, you will get your butt whipped!" talk. (Remember, he's only in the 4th grade.) She's the one in the pic below from Disneyland. Cute girl, had a great time, pretty polite...and then, WHAM! ON HIS BIRTHDAY she breaks up with him! He's pretty sad about it! I told him, of course, there are plenty of other girls out there and he is much to young for a girlfriend anyways. We had been trying to get him to break up with her for that very reason...too young...but he didn't want to. And then, she does it AFTER we take her for a free day at Disneyland. I think I'm gonna smack her when I see her next (which will be on Wednesday). Couldn't she have waited til tomorrow, when it wasn't his birthday? She sucks!

My boy

2005-11-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, to you! Happy Birthday, to you!! Happy Birthday, dear Joshua!!!!!! Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!!

I love you, Joshua Michael! I can't believe you are now double digits! You make me feel sooooo old!!!!!!! hehe

One of my most frustrating Thanksgivings EVER!!!

2005-11-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

Today, we had our Thanksgiving dinner at my mom & dad's house. There were about 25 of us there. My mom & dad, my brother & his girlfriend, my sister & her family, my mother & father-in-law, my aunt & uncle, a few cousins and their families...needless to say, a pretty big and loud crowd. Mikey had to work last night and had to work tonight, so he did lots of sitting and relaxing, which was fine, and then came home to sleep, which again was fine. The most frustrating part came with one word...JOSIAH!!!!!!!!!!!! O MY GOSH!!!!! I don't think he has EVER got into more trouble than he did today! He was getting into candy, soda (spilling it all over), pies, coffee, more soda, more pies, more candy, and more coffee. And, all the "mores" came after getting in trouble for the first, second... fifteenth times! I ended up leaving abruptly because I had just had given him a spanking and put him in time out for drinking coffee again at 9:20 at night (decaf, but still) and I told him if he touched anymore food or drink we were leaving and going home and straight to bed. Not 3 minutes after getting up from time-out, he was in the kitchen grabbing at the pie! Help my, Jesus! I need way too much strength to deal with this kid!!!

Happy Turkey Day!

2005-11-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving! Fill up on yummy...lots of turkey, mashed tatoes & gravy, corn/green beans, sweet potatoes, and of course, you can't forget the pies!
Just thought I'd list some of what I'm thankful for :
~My God and His salvation of of me
~My wonderful, loving husband (I love you Mikey!)
~My wonderful, kooky kids
~My wonderful, forgiving, loving mom, dad, bro, sis, in-laws, nieces & nephews
~My friends...the ones near and far
~My awesome job...ya, I might complain sometimes, but it is pretty awesome
~My church family
~My warm house that I can truly call my home

ok, that's just some of the list. Hope you all are remembering what you are thankful for this year as well! Love to you all!!!

I love Mikey

2005-11-22T07:50:00.000-08:00

This is a pic of us yesterday on the Jungle Cruise. Aren't we cute? hehe

The Happiest Place with 3 4th graders :()

2005-11-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

Today, for Josh's 10th birthday (which is next week Monday), Mike and I took Josh and 2 friends to Disneyland & California Adventure for the day. We spent the day hanging out with Micah, Josh & Brittany. For the most part we had a great time. We had the occasional "ok guys" but mostly it was smooth sailing. Josh even went on Screamin', Maliboomer, and Tower of Terror for the first time. We couldn't get him to go on Indiana Jones, but at least he did the others. Most people would think us crazy for doing it, but I would honestly say that I'd do it again. I would NEVER have his whole class over for a party at once like I did when he was in 1st grade, but just a couple was ok, even at Disneyland. And it helped that his daddy could get the extra kids in for free...THANKS HONEY! :)

O ya, and notice their matching hats? I thought it'd be fun to have matching ones, so I bought them ones with Musu
(from Mulan) on them from Company D last week for only $4.12 each..whata deal! I honestly couldn't pass it up! That's almost cheaper than "goody bags" and will definately last longer!