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!

Corrie stole my thunder

2005-11-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

So, if you've read Corrie's blog, then you already know about my youngest's new 'do. I could not believe, after telling other moms "None of my kids have cut their hair" with a big smile on my face, that now I had joined their ranks. Yep...my youngest decided to cut his hair. And not just in the front. Nooooo. Couldn't be that easy to fix. He had to cut patches into his hair, so I had to buzz it completely off. I think I used a #2 on the clippers...usually reserved for the back of his head. No more spikes for Joe. And, Melissa, I agree with you...I think I would've KILLED him if he'd have cut Micaela's hair. Her's is almost down to her waist now, and she doesn't want it cut. Needless to say, his new scissors have been taken away, and so have his brother's & sister's.

I thought you'd might like to see the new 'do.

Zachary William

2005-11-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, at 1:00 a.m., we got the call. Lori was on the phone saying she was headed to the hospital. We couldn't call anyone, with my mom still gone, so Michael said, "Her last labor took soo long, we'll still make it if we go in the morning after dropping the kids off at school." Being the stupid wife that I am, I said, "ok" and rolled over and went back to sleep.

At 4:15 a.m., the phone rang again. This time it was my mother-in-law..."Jill, you're a new auntie!" HOLY COW! That was quick! So, for the next 2 hours, I laid in bed feeling guilty for not being there! I MISSED IT!!!! was all that was running thru my head! So, I got up, got dressed, and went to see them first thing...after stopping to get Lori her Iced Blended Mocha. :) Zachary William Chronister was born at 4:04 a.m., on Monday, November 7, 2005, after his mommy only being at the hospital for 2 hours! He is beautiful! But please pray for him. He has a broken clavical, so you have to hold/move him very gently...poor little guy! And today is his mommy's birthday...as she sits in the hospital. At least she got an awesome early birthday present! :)

See how cute he is?!?!?! :)
Don't I look like a proud Auntie ?!?!?! hehe

My date with Mikey

2005-11-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been asking...and those of you who haven't...I took Michael to The Gondola Getaway for his surprise. It was a beautiful, clear evening. We had a really nice time. Our gondolier sang to us in Italian and in English. He had a great voice! And he had a fun sense of humor. Michael actually proposed to me on the Gondolas 12 years ago (in August, but o well), and we haven't been back since then. We are going with our small group for our Christmas Party, but I wanted to go with just the 2 of us for a nice, romantic evening. It was truly relaxing and.....imagine this...... QUIET! No kids yelling!!!
I highly recommend it. It's a little pricey, but well worth the money for the time you get to spend together, doing something you don't do all that often.

I'm know I'm retarded :)

2005-11-04T23:46:00.000-08:00

How is it that I can list the blogs that I read on my blog? So I can direct my friends to other friends' blogs? Just a thought cuz I've seen it on almost everyone else's blogs, but I can't figure it out. HELP PLEASE!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!

2005-11-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

Yipee! Mikey has finally fixed my computer, so I am once again able to post and read from home. Now I don't have to do it at work...hehe. This week has been an ok one. Mom is in Branson, Missouri, so it's quiet...haha. Michael's sis, Lori, is going to give birth to our new nephew, Zachary, any day now. She's dialeted to 4 and that was a couple days ago, so any time now. I'm just waiting for the middle of the night call, with Mikey at work, and me here all alone with the kids. I'll just make them put on sweats and drag them with me to the hospital. Call me crazy, but I like to be there, in the waiting room, when Daddy comes out to say "He's here!" Ok, enough for now. I'm gonna go to bed. According to Laura, I shouldn't be up this late anyways...not that I don't wholeheartedly agree with her. It's just hard to sleep sometimes when your husband is not in bed with you, and you are solely responsible for 3 kiddos. I always have thoughts running thru my head of what to do if there's an earthquake, or a break-in...lovely thoughts like that. :)

Good night, all! Hope you all have an awesome weekend. I'm taking Mikey out on a surprise date tomorrow night. We haven't been on a true date, other than our Wednesday night dinners in a REALLY LONG TIME, so it should be lots of fun!

Halloween with the Blatts

2005-11-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

This first picture is from when we went to California Adventure to the Employee night for Trick-or-treating. We had a lot of fun running around the park to the different stations they had set up. One thing I thought was pretty cool was the kids ticket in...they each had to bring a school supply to donate to a local public school. Pretty neat if you ask me. It's not like Disney needs the money, and it helps the kids see the "giving to others" part of life.

This next picture is from Halloween night.
Notice Josh's costume change...the Spiderman costume was actually last years, but he hadn't put together the one for this year yet. That's my dad they are standing with. Before Grandpa would give them their treats, he made them each do a trick...hehe. He was actually enjoying sitting on the front porch and passing out candy. (For those of you who've never met my dad, that is SOOOO not him!) After we trick-or-treated at his house, we went to our church for the evening. We had a great time at our church's Family Fall Festival. The kids got lots of candy for me and Mikey to enjoy :) hehe
At the end of the night, we headed home and fell into bed, exhausted!

My Joe turns 4

2005-11-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

So, here they are...pictures of Josiah's 4th birthday party. Sorry it took so long...2 extra weeks, but with my computer at home not working, I had to download them on my computer at work. He had such a GREAT time! He loved all his presents...too many to count, mostly trains and Buzz stuff. Can you believe how big he's getting?!?

My precious little boy

2005-10-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, as Josiah was going to sleep, he said his prayers...which he does every night and it has to be with me, not with Daddy. So, I'm laying on his bed, praying for him...thanking God for him, and listening to what he's saying. Then WHAM! He starts praying like this...

"Thank you, God, for this day. Please keep my Daddy safe at work tonight and help him drive home safe tomorrow. Help Joshy to have a good night at Dillon's (where Josh was spending the night). Help Sissy to not have any bad dreams. Help Mommy to sleep good too. Help me to not have any bad dreams. I love you, Jesus. Amen."

I was barely able to give him a kiss before I went in to where Mikey was getting ready for work, with tears streaming down my face. He asked what happened. Did Laura get hurt again? (I was watching Little House on the Prairie and I cry easily with that too.) Then I told him about Josiah's prayer. Mikey's comment...

"He's gonna be a pastor someday!"

Thank you, Jesus, for my precious little boy, and for reminding me of how truly precious he is, even tho it's sometimes hard to see.

I know, I stink!

2005-10-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Our computer at home is not working, so the only computer I have is at work, and I can't always find time at work to update this thing. Anyways, since I last posted, my youngest turned 4! Holy Cow! How time flies!!! Other than that, not much exciting has happened. We are going to a pretty cool employee/family thing at Disneyland tonight for Halloween, so that should be fun. I'll write more about that and post pics as soon as I can. Hope everyone is well!!!

My 3 Lil Bruisers

2005-10-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

After we left the family reunion, we went to Menifee to visit our friends, Shawns & Rob. It's been a few months since we've seen them, so it was nice to get to visit. Rob is a boxer. He's fought in a few professional fights, and has an area to work out in the garage. While Shawna, Michael and I were visiting, Rob and the kids disappeared. When the came back in, this is how they looked. They had gone out to the garage and suited up to box. hehe. They were pretty cute looking. The cool thing about it was that Rob was actually teaching Josh how to box...how to protect his face and how to punch the correct way. Josh totally enjoyed it, as did Josiah and Micaela. And, it's nice that this guy of Shawna's actually likes us. Her past 2 husbands have been major losers and wouldn't even come around. He even enjoys it! Anyways, just thought you'd like to see my cute Lil Bruisers :)

The Guessford Family Reunion

2005-10-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a family reunion for Michael's Grandma's family. There were 5 sisters, with only 2 alive still today. We've not gotten together with all the cousins in one place at one time since I've been in the family. I've met the second cousins who live here in California and Michael's cousins who live back east, but now I've met them all. HOLY COW! Were there a lot of people there! The pic on the left is only Michael's Grandma's kids and their families. There were 30 of us there, and not even all of us were able to be there. With all 5 sisters families there were over 90 people. We had a nice time visiting with family we don't see often enough and the kids had fun in the Kids Korral, doing crafts and playing games. The California Cousins had been planning this for a year. We even had a photographer come out to take pics. I would've posted one with all the family, but there were so many that several people got cut off. I'll have to scan and post the one from the photographer when we get it. Anyways, it was great. I feel blessed (for the most part) to be part of this family. [There are always exceptions to the rule ;)]

One more...

2005-10-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

I took this pic of Riley and Josiah with my mom's new phone to be here wallpaper. But I thought it was soooo cute that I needed to email it to myself and then post it for all of you to see. I told you, they are the best of friends! Of course, this was only about 2 minutes before they were pushing each other off the seat. See, worst of enemies too :) Good thing we all know that they "love each other with all their hearts". Their words, not mine.

I know...I know...I've lost it!

2005-10-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

I know I'm gonna hear from Tim that I need to spread out my posting so it doesn't look like I've had such a busy day. But to be honest with you, yesterday was a very busy day. BUT these pictures are from our trip last week. I just thought they were soooo cute with them sitting by birthday cakes, and thought you all might like to see the birthday kids. Riley's is actually today...HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, RILEY GIRL! And Josiah's is in 10 days, but I wanted to post both of these pics together. Enjoy!

So I was thinking...

2005-10-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

maybe I should've posted some pics of both Josiah and Riley, since I was talking about them both, and they both were there yesterday. So, here they are...the 2 of them...the best buds, and the worst enemies. Boy, do they love each other!

Fun times with Joe

2005-10-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, to celebrate the upcoming birthdays of Josiah and Riley, my sister and I decided to have a day full of surprises for them. First, me and Joe did our Target trip. But I was a good girl and only got the 5 things on my list. We were actually in and out of Target in 30 minutes, which included doing a return and going potty (which HAS to happen no matter where we are). Then, we went and picked up Riley and Auntie. Once we got them, it was off to Party City to pick out birthday party stuffs for both of their parties...Buzz Lightyear for him, Cinderella for her. Then to lunch with Grandma and Auntie Betty (my mom's sis). After threatening to not go to our next surprise because of table manners, Josiah shaped up at the table and we got to go to THE PONY RIDES!!! They were SO excited! They each got to ride twice. It was lots of fun for them, and for us to see their giggling faces. :) When we were tired out and having to go potty again (no way to outhouses!) we headed back to Auntie's house for Josiah to get to ride Riley's motorcycle. It's one of those Powerwheels Quads. They had a great time all day. Or course, with all that fun going on, that meant no nap for Mommy, but o well. There's always next week Wednesday. O wait, that's gonna be another Disneyland day...for more birthday celebrating...maybe I'll never catch up on my sleep :( O, the joys of being a mom.

Finally!

2005-10-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got to talk to my friend, Shawna, on Friday afternoon. Of course, shortly after the conversation started, her work called thru and she had to call me back. O well, at least she did! hehe Anyways...we've been friends since Kindergarten...literally 25 years! And we hardly ever talk anymore. It's sad. Our lives have taken totally different paths. She's 31, single but living in Murrieta with her boyfriend who will probably become husband number 3, working 40 hours in Corona, then driving to Fountain Valley to run the restaurant that she and her boyfriend now own, working for about another 60 hours a week there. O ya, and no kids yet. Me, I'm 31, happily married to my first husband, with 3 kids, working only about 30 hours a week and very involved in our church. She why we've drifted? A little different than it used to be when we talked all the time and did stuff together all the time. I guess that's what happens when you grow up. Hopefully this will be her last husband, and he's a great guy. Maybe I can get them to come out on a Sunday, the only day their restaurant is closed, to just hang out. We'll see...maybe we wouldn't have anything to talk about.......

Phone Tag

2005-09-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I hate Phone Tag. I've been playing the game since Tuesday with my friend who I haven't talked to in a few months. It's soooo frustrating!!!! argh!!!!!

Oh ya

2005-09-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

And, Debbie is feeling better! Thank you all for your prayers! She may even come home from her parents this week. She's had 2 good days in a row, so keep praying that they'll remain that way!

Our lastest PROJECT

2005-09-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Ok. Here goes. About a month ago, a friend from church, Rafael, asked Mikey to help with the nursery project at our church. It hadn't been done in about 20 years and really needed an update. IT IS A BRAND NEW NURSERY NOW!!! What Rafael asked Mikey to do was the molding around the room and doors. What Mikey ended up doing was the molding, and painting, and patching, and and and. It took FOREVER! Plus, I was asked to help with sorting toys and things from the cupboards...deciding what stays and what goes. fun fun. :)- I also decided to take it upon myself to make the curtains for the windows. Now, to a seasoned seamstress, that would be no problem...But...to a "McGyver Seamstress"...let's just say it takes a little longer.

The nursery had to be ready by today for Back to School Sunday. So...we were there ALL DAY yesterday, with our friend, Ryan, who we asked to help. And when I left there, it was on to home to finish the curtains. Well, curtains for one of the rooms anyways...the other room will just have to wait til hopefully next week.

All that to say this...I AM SOOOOO GLAD THIS PROJECT IS DONE! We have not had a normal life in a while. Now, I'll actually be able to see my husband in the evening before he goes to work, instead of him being down at the nursery. :)

Our friends, Ryan and Debbie

2005-09-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

Our friends from church, Ryan and Debbie, are awesome! They have the biggest hearts and give to whoever or whatever project they possible can. Right now, we are working on redoing the nursery at church, and Ryan has stepped up to help Mikey with all the yucky sanding and painting. Even after Magic Mountain, he came down with only a few hours of sleep cuz he knew Mike was down there working alone. Debbie is pregnant, and is REALLY REALLY REALLY sick! She could really use any and all prayers you could possible send on their behalf. She's staying with her parents right now to get spoiled by her mom, but I talk to her a couple times a week and she can't see the end of this sickness. I know that God is doing a miracle inside of her, but she's having a hard time. So please, if you could remember them, I'd really appreciate it, and I know they would too. We love you, Ryan and Debbie! Thanks for being the awesome friends that you are!!!

O ya, and Ry, you are more than welcome to eat and hang out at our house whenever you want. Maybe next time I'll actually cook you a meal. ;)

Joey's excited too :)

2005-09-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Josiah decided that he needed to dress like the big kids...in a school uniform too. Just cuz he's got 2 more years til he starts :) Isn't he too cute?!?!?

Summer's Over...School Started

2005-09-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, our kids started school again. This first pic is of Joshua walking into his classroom. He's in Fourth Grade this year...HOKEY PETE! He really likes his new teacher. This is the first year he's had a male teacher, so that'll be good for him I think. The thing that stinks about this teacher is that there are field trips every month (or so I'm told by past parents) and they are on Saturdays. STINK! He also is the new Treasurer for the Fourth Grade...taking after his mom. hehe :) His homework is gonna be tough for us all, but we'll work thru it. Last night, he had to read an 8 page article to me and then I had to write what was MY favortie article and why. I thought I was done with school! :

This second one is a pic of Micaela in her new classroom...Second Grade...Jiminy Crickets! I can't believe how old they are getting! She really likes her teacher too. She's not too sure about having to be working in books all day every day. She's used to having things switched up, like in Kinder and First Grade. Guess she'll get used to it..hehe...That's a part of Second Grade.

I'm truly proud of my kids!

HOLY COW!

2005-09-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have a HUGE favor to ask of all of my friends who read this blog. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray with us and for us. We got notice that we have a new property management company for our house. Because of that, I know that they are going to jack up the rent, if not kick us out because we pay so little. Also, they said that their policy as a company is no pets. Doesn't matter what the property owner says...which is ya, cats are ok, just not dogs. We have 2 cats. I'm NOT getting rid of them! They said they will decide if we can keep them or not in the next couple of weeks. Ya right. Asking us to get rid of them would be like asking us to get rid of a kid. Mikey would be ok with it, but not the rest of us. So, needless to say, I am REALLY stressed out about the situation. I know that we have at least 60 days before we would have to be out, but I'm not ready to move...ok, maybe...we do have a bad ant problem right now, but that'll be anywhere. So I ask you again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for us and this situation. It's a pretty scary one for me. Especially since Mikey works nights. I gotta be in a home and neighborhood that I feel safe being left alone in. Thanks in advance for your prayers and thoughts.

Trying something new :)

2005-09-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

So, I just saw that I can add photos with just using the regular blogger. So cool! Now I don't have to have Corrie come show me how to use Hello :)- This is a pic from when we were camping and I thought it was beautiful and that you all might like to see it.

Hope you all had an awesome holiday weekend! Our's was busy. We had our church picnic-in-the-park on Sunday, with a short play. Josh had a speaking part and Micaela a solo. Then a bbq at our house with Michael's family. One of his cousins was here before shipping out to Iraq in October, so that was nice to see her. Then shopping on Monday. O ya, and Mikey got a new guitar...and has an electric one on the way from Ebay. Then Monday night, our small group came over for another bbq. That was fun. It's such a blessing to have a group of friends at church who are all about the same age and get along as well as our small group does. We truly have a great time together and I really do feel blessed to have them in my life. They were there late last night and then off to work today. Back to the daily grind. :( O well...that about sums it up! Hope everyone has a great week!

I just don't get it

2005-08-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

I just don't get how someone can be so selfish as to take ones life. How can life be that bad that you are willing to put all those you love thru the grief of losing you so tragically. I just don't get it. How can you think "this will be better for my family if I'm not around." Any thoughts of anyone who even remotely gets it would be wonderful.

Yahoosy!

2005-08-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

I went to my Jenny appointment today after work. I thought that I would have gained weight since I was on vacation this past week and eating junk the whole time. I stepped on the scale, and HOLY COW! I'd lost 5.5 lbs in the past 2 weeks! I've now hit 16.5 in total since May. :) I'm into the 20s now, so I'm very excited! hehe YAHOOSY!!!!!

I didn't abandon you!

2005-08-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

I promise I didn't mean to not post for soooo long. The whole funeral thing was kinda weird for me. Put me in a little bit of a funk...with me and my friends, family, and church family praying for her and then her being taken so quickly. Anyways, then we had friends come from Oregon and then I went camping.

Ok, wait, lemme try again...Saturday was Margaret's funeral. I went in the morning and was gone allll day. I helped out at the house with the food so Shirley didn't have to worry about that. Got home at 4, and had our friend Jeff and his mom and son over for a bbq at 4:30. (I know, I cut it kinda close.) They stayed until 10:30, and Mikey and I still had to pack the truck and finish getting ready to go on vacation. Then, Sunday morning at 8:15 we left for a quick vacation. We went up the coast to Lake Lopez. It's by Arroyo Grande or Pismo Beach...about 10 miles inland. Got there about 2:00, got the camp set up and went for a quick boat ride before dinner at 8:30 that night. Monday, we put in Seadoos that we had borrowed from some friends. (Thanks Carl & Cassie! ) We rode those, and did more boat rides and tubing. Tuesday, as Mikey was packing up to leave, my family convinced me to stay for the rest of the week with them. I had brought enough clothes just in case, but hadn't decided what to do. The deciding factor was Mikey's comment that went something like this..."Your brother wants you to stay. You don't get to spend much time with him these days, and he's a differrent brother than you've ever had before. Plus, you'll spend great quality time with the kids while I'll just be at home working or sleeping." So, my brother won out, and I stayed. (For those who may not know, my brother is an ex-drug addict who is an awesome Christian now, so he is a totally different person than he ever was before...Praise God!) We did more tubing/skiing/wakeboarding/swimming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (on a 4-seater called Big Mable!) and then packed up this morning and came home. My cousin's motorhome broke down right as we got on the freeway, so we left my brother with him to fix it and took my cousin's kids with me, my mom, and my 3 kids and hit the road home. Boy, was it a loooooong drive home! We finally made it home at 6:45 tonight, after leaving the campgrounds at 12:00! But we are homw safe, and my cousin and brother were able to fix the truck fast and make it home safely too! I'll have to post some pics in the next couple of days. That way you can enjoy some of my vacation thru them! :) Glad to be home and I can't wait to sleep in my own bed! I'm going there now! Good Night!

She's Gone...

2005-08-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

That's the call I got this evening. In just a few months, Shirley's mom went from feeling just fine and going on trips to dead. Wow. What a huge change. Now they are going to have to come to grips with reality and deal with this death. On the one hand, she's no longer suffering...but on the other hand, now the family is. Please pray for the family as they are dealing with the grief. Thanks, my friends, for your prayers. I truly love you all for keeping me and my friends in your prayers.

2005-08-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

11th Wedding Anniversary

This is a pic of Mikey and I from our balcony. I put the camera on the table in the room...don't you love timers! :) We had a lovely time. Ate dinner at a nice, but crowded restaurant, went back to the hotel and went to bed. When we woke up, we watched a free movie...Hitch. It was pretty good. Then we tried to go to Seaport Village...but we couldn't find a parking spot, so we went to my favorite restaurant in all of San Diego for lunch...Adalberto's. Yum yum! After lunch, we drove home and met the rest of the family at Disneyland. We were there the perfect amount of time. Not too long, not too short. All in all, we had a pretty fabulous weekend, just being 2 young kids in love...hehe!

2005-08-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Scared Josiah

This is a pic of Josiah on Big Thunder Mountain. I held out the camera to take it while the ride was going. I'm not quite sure if that is a look of amazement/joy/i can't wait to do this again...or holy cow! get me outta here! hehe...it was quite fun. We joined the kids at Disneyland with Michael's sister and her husband and kids. It was lots of fun and a great way to end an awesome weekend!

11 years!

2005-08-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our 11th anniversary. Holy cow! I can't believe that it's been that long already. I know it has to be cuz Josh is 9 1/2, but still. Some things still seem so new and exciting. I honestly think it helps my mental well-being that I am losing weight. It makes me feel younger and cuter...like when Mikey and I were first dating and our early years of dating...just with the kids thrown in the mix. ;)

We are going to beautiful San Diego tomorrow for a romantic weekend get-away. We are staying at the Sheraton on Harbor Island. It's actually a hotel we considered for our honeymoon. All the rooms have an ocean view (or so says hotels.com) and are suites, so it should be pretty nice. And I made us dinner reservations at The Boathouse at Hotel Del Coronado. But Mikey says we gotta eat fast cuz we can't be in that hotel after dark. You know, there are many reports that it's haunted. :)

Please say a quick pray of thanks for our surviving 11 years, for a blessed year to come and a wonderfully relaxing and fun weekend. I hope to take some pics, so I'll have to have Corrie help me post them when I get back.

Still hurting, but...

2005-08-02T22:54:00.000-07:00

So, today I left work early to go to the doctors. He thought that my foot may be broken as well and sent me over to the hospital to get an xray. Luckily, my sister was there working and came to my rescue. She wheeled me in a wheelchair down the hall to xray and took me right back and told the tech to see me next. (It helps to have connections ;) especially ones who have worked there as long as she has.) They took the pics and luckily, my foot is not broken, just jammed really good. Now, there is both a good side and a bad side to this...The good side: it's not broken, no cast. :) The bad side: if it was broken at least I wouldn't look so stupid hobbling around! I can honestly hardly walk on it! My sister's reaction: "Does that mean no Target shopping trip tomorrow?" Gee, thanks Shell!

My foot hurts :(

2005-08-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, after our small group (which is at our house while the kids are being watched at my parents' house next door) I ran next door to get the kids. Mind you, it's late and dark, and I have no shoes on and am walking rather fast to get back to my friends. Wouldn't ya know it...there is a very heavy/sturdy/black stool sitting in the dark between my mom's van and our flower bed. Needless to say, I couldn't & didn't see it. All of a sudden WHAMMO! I kicked the stool SO STINKIN HARD! I was immediately in tears. I continued to get the kids, once I could kinda walk. On my way back to my house, Mikey had to come out and carry me cuz it was hurting so bad. My little Josiah says to me "Mommy, I'll pray for your foot when I go to bed." To which I replied "It's ok, Joe, you can pray right now. You don't have to wait to talk to God." So he stopped what he was doing and prayed for my foot. This morning, he was disappointed that God didn't answer his prayer and that I still hurt. I gotta suck it up around him and tell him God eased the pain, even tho it's not yet eased. In his small, young mind, he doesn't understand the "sometimes God makes us wait" concept yet. So today, I can hardly walk! My friends at work think it may be a foot bone that's broken, not my toes. Great. Hope Mikey hurries with getting the insurance signed up! And to think we were worried the kids would get hurt in this past month that we gambled without insurance. Nope! It was dummy me!

Swimming & Kareoke

2005-08-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

I love our small group from church! As stated in a previous post, we spent time Tuesday night with most of them at the Orange County Fair and Concert. Yesterday, after church, we went over to the Merkley's house for a bbq and swimming. We had SO MUCH FUN! Everyone except Cassie swam, which is surprising considering some of our group. What that shows is that our group is growing closer and closer. An awesome sign if you ask me. We are becoming more and more friends than just a small group from church to meet with. Anyways, there were LOTS of cannonballs, and water going EVERYWHERE! The kids had a great time too. Then, after most of the group left, we were told we couldn't leave until we did kareoke. Great. Man, did we have fun! I got some video. The guys just thought I was taking pictures...hehe :) We ended the night at about 8:30, which I know, for some of you that's really early, but for those of us who had to get up early for work today and still had kids to get to bed, it was late enough. Thanks Dave and Shelly for having us over! We had a blast!

Growing up Part 2

2005-07-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

I went to pick up Joshua today from a week up at church camp. I left work a little bit early so I was there when his vehicle pulled up. I walked to the truck, opened the door, and was greeted with, "move please, I gotta pee." So much for "Hi mom, I missed you!"

Bummer

2005-07-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

What would you think if your sister told you that her good friend went to the same concert you did, only she sat in the VERY FRONT ROW!?!?! And, as if that wasn't bad enough, we paid $45 a ticket...she got in FREE!!!! She stinks! :)-

Massages are good!

2005-07-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Went to get a massage on my way home from work yesterday. Just a back, neck, and shoulders one. Boy, did it feel good! It actually helped my headache! So today, it's there, but just a little bit. That's much better than it has been all week! Thanks for the prayers. Thank you Jesus for touching me. Please keep Your hand on me.

Headaches Suck!

2005-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

All week I've been suffering from HORRIBLE headaches. I had to leave church because it was coming on, and it's been there ever since...even when I was at the concert. Most of the time, I feel like no one gets it. No one understands how I feel. They are not normal migraines. What I get is called Tension Headaches. Not necessarily due to stress or tension in my life, but tension in my neck and shoulders. So not only does my head hurt, but my neck and shoulders too. And NOTHING seems to help. The doctors have tried my on multiple things, none of which works. Right now, I am taking Soma and Vicodin. Please pray that God's touch would be on me and my aches. It is honestly hard to function a lot of the time. And since I get them ALL THE TIME, I have no choice but to try and work around them. I need a healing touch. And I know that with God, that is possible!

Third Day

2005-07-27T00:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I went to an AWESOME concert at the Orange County Fair. It started with Chris Tomlin. At one point he had the entire crowd holding hands and dancing...the jumping kind... it was pretty funny. He was realllllly good. He ended his portion with singing a song with the crowd and then just fading off into the background. Then came MercyMe. They did a great job too, singing both old and new school songs. The main group was Third Day. They didn't come on until 9:30, so Michael had to leave before they started, which was sad for me. Mac is an awesome guy! At one point, he had a guy and girl from the audience come up and sing kareokee with the group. It was pretty cool. During another song, he told everybody to get out their cell phones and hold them up. It was a new twist on the lighter aspect of a concert. The cool thing about going to a Christian concert is that it is not about the artist. No one did encores...it's all about God. Both MercyMe and Third Day prayed and read their Bibles at some point. very cool. You never know who might be there with their Christian friends, who this might be the first time they actually listen to the Word. All in all, it was a wonderful 3 1/2 hour worship service, with the audience getting to sing with amazing bands, not just the normal Sunday morning worship teams. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to go to this great service!

O ya, and my friend Ryan was on the jumbo screen! :)

Growing up

2005-07-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

My little boy is growing up. This morning, I sent Joshua on his first trip to Church Camp. He was excited to go at first, then scared/nervous, then excited. This morning, he was the most talkative one of the bunch! Pray for the kids that they all have an awesome experience up on the mountain and that they bring that experience home and keep it going. It's so easy to loose the fire once you come home.

O ya, the kicker...when I tried to give Josh a kiss in front of the other boys, he pulled away from me. Ya, he's growing up! :(

My hair

2005-07-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Laura was wondering what my hair looks like now...

I opted for the darker brown on the bottom, with blonde highlights and dark brown lowlights throughout the top. Plus, it's a razor cut, so lots of little layers all over. Hopefully that part won't drive me crazy! :)

Still ok :)

2005-07-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, I after waking up to the wonderful news from Josiah, I went to work. Had an ok day there. Nothing exciting. Last night I went and got my hair cut and colored. I think it looks really cute. It makes me feel like I look more my age, yet not like a fuddy-dud. Anyways, went home, Michael actually liked it. (I was a little concerned about that cuz it's a stretch for me how I now have it styled.) He left for work, got the kids in bed, stayed up late messing around. It's still hard to get used to sleeping at home without him there so I tend to stay up much later than I should, then wake up in the morning much later than I should. O well. Woke up a couple times throughout the night, so since I was up thought, "May as well put Josiah on the toilet." Woke up this morning to Josiah saying, "Mommy, I was a big boy, and didn't wet the bed!" O well...at least he thinks he's doing better! Michael thinks I'm crazy for putting Joe on the toilet in the middle of the night, but let me tell you, that's MUCH better than waking up to a little boy with a wet bed and having to change the sheets in the middle of the night!

So Far So Good

2005-07-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

This week has been a pretty good week...so far. Sunday night, Michael and I went on a triple date with friends from church. We went to the OC Fair. We had a great time! Nothing extravagant or super cool...just good friends hanging out and doing fun fair stuffs. Monday was a good day. I came to work and people were actually here. Then, after work I went to my Jenny Craig appointment. I've been doing it for about 2 months now. I haven't been near as dedicated as I should be, so the losing has been slow. BUT...On Monday, I got on the scale and my consultant says "Where were you last time?" I said "I don't know, but higher than that." He grabbed my file and says..."You lost more than you thought. 4.4 lbs! You've hit the 10 lb mark!" YIPEE!!! Now, only 15 more to go. The thing that stinks about that is that it's usually the early lbs that are easier to lose, and that hasn't been so easy for me. O well.

Let's see...Monday night, small group. We had hardly anyone there, but we still had a great Bible study. We are studying Character and it was on Having Vision. So that was a good one.
Tuesday, nothing much. Wednesday, fun with my sister and her girls. We did our 2 hour Target run and then home to swim in our backyard. My sister and I joined the kids, so that was fun. Then, last night Michael took me out to dinner and when we went to pick up the kids at church, Laura commented to Corrie that I looked skinny! YIPEE!!!!! That makes me happy! I don't feel like you can tell that I've lost, but I guess you can :)

So today, Thursday, I woke up to Josiah saying "Mommy, I wet the bed again." :( Let's hope today goes better than it started so that my whole week will be a good one!

Terminal

2005-07-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

That's the word my friend received about her mother today. A couple of months ago, my friend started to notice her mom didn't seem the same. She's 81, and that can happen, but it was weird. Then, about 1 month ago, she took her to the dr. only to find out that her mother had a brain tumor...not just any brain tumor, but a fast growing one. Today, the did a biopsy and tried to remove the tumor in the process. No such luck. It was too close to nerve endings. From the biopsy they determined that it is the kind of tumor they were afraid it was. So now, my friend, her brother, and her mother have to decide what course of action to take...do they try chemo or radiation (which will weaken her and give her a poor quality of life, and only extend her life a few months), or do they do nothing, and let this thing ride out...just deal with the ups and downs of life with a massive brain tumor. If they choose that option, she only has a few months left. But even with the chemo/radiation, it'd only be 12 - 18 months, possibly really sick the whole time. What would YOU advise YOUR friend to do? What would YOU do if it was YOUR mother? I can't imagine having to face those decisions. Please please please pray for them. And please pray specifically for them by name. My friend's name is Shirley and her mom is Margaret. Also, please pray for Shirley's husband, Steve, daughters, Sarah & Megann, and brother, Richard. They are going to need God's awesome strength to get thru the next little while. Please pray that God's will would be done, and that He would direct their decision making.

As I sit here typing this, tears are running down my face...thinking about what I would do if it was my mom or dad or husband. I don't know that I would be able to make that decision. Thank you all in advance for your awesome prayers for my friend and her family.

Work stinks!

2005-07-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

Can I just tell you...I don't like to be by myself at work alllllllll day! It seems like that is happening ALL THE TIME lately! We have 2 ladies who have serious medical problems right now, so they are always gone dealing with that, and I know that they need to do that, but it would be nice if someone else in the office would then step up to the plate and actually come to work so I don't always have to be alone! ARGH!!!!! Please pray for me as I'm dealing with a few more weeks/months of this, and I truly hate it!

Comments to Tim

2005-07-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hehe Tim! I know it looks like yesterday was really busy, it's just that Corried has yet to come and teach this illeterate one how to post pics thru Hello. Also, about moving, I'd be ok with it...I just don't think our extended family would be ok with it. We've already discussed moving to Iowa or South Dakota. I already even had it worked out with my boss to still work for him, just to do so from half-way across the US. Of course, Michael did just start a new job here. :)

Campland Playground

2005-07-07T15:30:00.001-07:00

Family in the sand.

This is us at the Campland Playground. I just thought it was a cool pic and wanted to share it :)

Campland on the Bay

2005-07-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

Camping with the family

For those of you who asked, here is a picture of us while we were camping in San Diego. It was beautiful down there! The sites were small and close to each other, but there were a few empty ones between us and other campers, so it worked out great! This was taken right after we roasted hot dogs and were about to roast marshmallows to make smores. yummy :)-

I know crown you...

2005-07-07T15:29:00.001-07:00

Micaela the Princess!

Before the Merlin Show, all 3 of my darlings tried there hardest to pull the sword from the stone...you know, good picture opp. So, as we were watching the Merlin Show, Merlin's rod told him that Micaela was the worthy child to pull the sword from the stone. Of course, Josh didn't think that was very fair. He REALLY wanted to be picked! But the ROD picked Micaela!!! Talk about an excited little girl! She thought she was really hot stuff as she tugged on the sword and it came out! Then Merlin crowned her and gave her a medalion and certificate. Too cool, let me tell you!

A day of fun with Mommy

2005-07-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

At Disneyland

Last week, on my day off, I braved Disneyland with the kids ALL BY MYSELF! When we got there, Michael was leaving, so we were able to say "Good morning...good bye!" We thought it'd be really crowded, but I wanted to take them on a Wednesday (my day off each week) before it got to be too much of summer vacation and thus, really busy. We went on Storybook Land, Casey Jr., and the Train...each with only about a 10 minute wait! I was shocked! Then we watched Merlin and The Sword in the Stone...more on the later...Then we went and listened to Sleeping Beauty tell her story in the Princess Shop. The younger 2 loved it...my older one, not so much. ;) Then we went over to California Adventure. Call me stupid, but I never knew the "Flik's Fun Fair" even existed! It was sooo cute! That's where this pic was taken...by the Tuck and Roll Bumper Cars. Joe thought it was pretty cool that he could drive the car, even if Mommy had to ride with him. And of course, we had to go on Hemlicks Chew Chew train...cuz it's a train, of course! But it was pretty cool that you could actually smell the different foods you rode thru. Then we watched the Madame Butterfly's School of Dance show. The kids thought that was pretty cool. All in all, we had a fun, relaxing day. Yeah for Disney Passes!

Sicky

2005-06-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Last night at dinner, my Josiah decided he was gonna be sick. Joshua (my 9 year old) comes running into the living room saying "Joe is gonna...letter after A, arf". Me, of course, forgetting all I'd learned in my code-breaking course, said "huh? what's going on?" So I ran in the bathroom to check on him. He thought he was gonna be sick, but wasn't, so we went on with dinner and sent him on to Grandma so we could have our Small Group Bible Study.

About 15 minutes into our study, we get a call, and Michael walks next door to my parents house. Then Josh comes running in, "Mom, Joe's sick. He's throwing up." Great! Good thing Daddy already went next door. So Michael comes back, without Josiah and says, "He feels fine and wants to stay." SOOOOO, about 45 mintues later, the phone rings again. This time, I get to go. Again, he wants to stay with Grandma...just wants Mommy when he's getting sick. Ok, whatever. So we finish our Bible Study (which had 5 couples at, praise God!) and when I go to get Josiah, HE'S SICK AGAIN! ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

All of that to say, I'm so glad Michael didn't have to work last night! He stayed up with him so I could sleep since I had to work today, and he can sleep this afternoon to prepare for work tonight.

For those of you concerned about Josiah, he's feeling better today. Still not quite up to par, but not sick sick, at least not at the moment ;)

Our upside-down world

2005-06-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Michael started working nights this week. Do you know that it stinks to sleep at home when you know your husband is working? And it stinks to be at work working when you know your husband is home sleeping? Michael says it's weird to have to be at work twice in a day...once at night at the beginning of his shift, and then once in the morning at the end of his shift. And the kids don't like it too much that Daddy's not there in the morning. He has to go next door to Grandma's (where they are) and kiss them when he gets home...he got in trouble for not doing that yesterday. :)

Anyways, please pray for this adjustment time for us. They were nice and switched his nights, so now he doesn't have to work Saturday nights and go straight to church dog-tired on Sunday, so that's a HUGE plus!

Camping with the fam

2005-06-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went camping with our caravan group. Friday thru Sunday with 50 from our church, including our whole small group. We had a BLAST! We had all the tents circled around the campfire, with our motorhome, my mom's, and the director's completing the circle. We made smores on Saturday night...not such a good idea at night with a bunch of kids! The kids were tested on Bible memory and they all did pretty well, with the exception of one...my Micaela...she did AWESOME! She was the only one from our church to get 100% and she got a medal and everything! Boy was she excited!

After leaving the Round-up, we headed down to Campland on the Bay in San Diego. This is upperclass camping. There are complete hook-ups for the motorhome, parks for the kids to play in, a really nice market, an arcade, 2 pools with 2 jacuzzis, a restaurant, an ice cream parlor, and it sits right on the bay in beautiful San Diego, across from Sea World. The sites were too close for comfort if the place was totally packed, but since it was still slow, we were fine. We had a really nice time. Too bad we had to come home and get back to the real world.

O, and Mikey started at Disneyland on Saturday and is in training all week and so far likes it a lot. :)

To clear a couple things up...

2005-05-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

This week Wednesday was Mikey last day at Oce...YAHOO! So, to celebrate, he and I went to Disneyland (without the kids, hehe) to watch the fireworks from the front of the castle. HOLY COW! What a difference! If you have a chance, seriously, go see it and wait it out with the masses to sit in front of the castle. It's totally worth the wait! Then Mikey enjoyed a couple days off, with 2 more weeks off to come...lucky duck!

Anyways, to answer Melissa Mae's question, Michael will be working behind the scenes, fixing pretty much anything that needs to be fixed...popcorn machines, fast pass machines, cash registers, video games, turnstiles, things like that. He starts out on the 3 rd shift, which is 10:30 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. So I'll have to get used to him not being there at night or in the morning, but at least he'll be there in the evenings.

To answer Gabriela's question, YES we are Christians. We are very involved in our Church. Actually, Michael is the Worship Leader, and I serve on the team with him. We were Melissa Mae's youth pastors when she first started going to church with some of her high school friends. And if you read any of the other blogs she reads, Corrie Diane, and Cassy Williams were in the same group. :) We are pretty proud of the girls and how God touched their lives. It's awesome to see sooooo many kids we had even the slightest influence on serving the Lord.

Well, I'm off to a birthday party now, so I'll be talking to you all at some later time.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend! Don't eat too much at the bbqs! :)

Friday with the Blatts

2005-05-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, we decided to go visit Mikey's new job. First we did Muppets in 3D Vision...that was a lot of fun! It was our first time, and I was a little nervous about Josiah, but he just laughed and laughed! Then we went and did some other random things at California Adventure. After that we went over to Disneyland to try to catch the parade. The little bit that was did see was pretty cool. We're gonna have to go back soon to see it again. Instead of watching that we went on Astroblasters and captured Zurg. To finish the night off we watched the fireworks show. We were between Alice in Wonderland and the Matterhorn. Lemme just say...REALLY COOL, but Mikey and I are gonna go back and watch them from the front of the castle so we get the whole effect. We had to keep swinging our head back and forth cuz there was soooooo much going on...even a real Tinkerbell doing acrobatics in the air! Anyways, all in all, the Blatt Clan had a great Friday nite!

hehe

2005-05-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

So, instead of having to wait the weekend, Michael heard from Disneyland 2 hours after they said they were working on an offer. hehe I'm so excited and he is so excited! I can hardly stand it...of course the hours will stink, but o well, his foot will be in the door and it'll just be a matter of time till he gets onto days. YAHOO!

Cheers to Disneyland!

2005-05-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Michael went for an interview with Disney. He had already quit his job that he's been so miserable at and was offered a job somewhere else...but really wanted the job at Disney. Anyways, he had an interview yesterday at 4:00 and today at about 11:30 they called and told him they are putting together an offer for him! YAHOO! Finally, he can be happy and proud about where he works and what he does for a living. He'll finally feel like he's providing well for his family (not like he doesn't already provide, you know what I mean). So we'll find out next week when he'll start and all that good stuff. He was told a little bit about benefits and found out they're really good. :) So thanks to all of you who have prayed for him as he's been going thru this miserable time of his life. Hopefully you'll be seeing more smiles of his face! He'll have to be happy working at the Happiest Place on Earth ;)

HOLY ROCKS!

2005-05-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

For my Mother's Day gift from my husband, he gave me a mini-vacation...without him or the kids. So, last week Wednesday nite, my sister, 3 friends and I headed out to the Colorado River. My sister has a boat and we made the LONG drive to Laughlin late at nite to miss the traffic. We got there, checked in, and went to sleep. On Thursday, we hit the river. Yahoo! Here we are...cruising along for about 45 minutes...having a great time...and all of a sudden, with no warning at all...ROCKS! Luckily, Michelle is the one who was driving and she quickly cut the motor. We decided to drive back up the river the 5 miles we'd just come down, only now we have a chewed up prop and can barely go more than idling. And, as if that wasn't hard enough, they (whoever "they" are) decided to let water out of Lake Mojave into the river, making it harder to go UP the river. Needless to say, it took up about 4 1/2 hours to go 5 miles! Luckily no one was hurt cuz we weren't going too fast and we were able to get it fixed the next morning and go out again. Only this time, we decided to hit Lake Mojave instead of the river, so we didn't chance hitting more rocks. Sorry Bruce :(

My Joe

2005-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Josiah, my 3 1/2 year old, can be very trying, as those who know me or have read my blog can attest to. But he can also be a source of many smiles :) One of the new things he has started is having to pray for us for EVERY meal. That's ok and cute and all and he's been doing that for a little while now...The new thing is that it is now a song. It goes something like this : "Thank you for our bless-ings- A-men. Thank you for our bless-ings - A-men. A-men. " It sounds very Altar-boyish. SOOOO one night his Uncle Bruce told him that on the end he needed to add and "Ahhhhhhhh" (with inflections in his voice.) The first time I heard it I about fell off my chair laughing! Even now, every time he prays and ends that way, I can't help but smile, and most of the time giggle just a bit. If you know me, you'll have to call so you can hear it sometime :) I love you Josiah! Thanks for the smiles and beautiful prayers! :)

Hello Again

2005-04-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there. I was wondering, why is it that after I decided to stop blogging people decide to tell me they read my blog? I literally had 3 different people tell me in one day that they read my blog, but can't comment because of not remembering their password. And they all said that I had to keep it up. The nerve of some people!!! hehe

Anyways, everyone is doing well in the fam right now. Tax season is done! Yipee!!! My office celebrated Taxmas at Tantalum's. (My boss is Jewish, so we celebrate Taxmas-April 15th- instead of Christmas.) Joshua and Micaela both brought home straight-A report cards, those little stinkers. :) Josiah is getting better and better at being Josiah...I promise you that one day I'm gonna see horns poking out of his head! He is as sweet as every with his kisses and random "I love you Mommy", but then he'll go and swipe something from his brother or sister, or touch the dvd disks or not stay sitting at the table. I know, I know, he's just being a normal 3 year old, but he is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO exhausting!

My mom gave us a scare this past week. She told me she had been sick in the night, but when she talked to my sister and told her all the symptoms, my sister thought "heart attack". So I had to take her to the Emergency Room with chest pressure. We have horrible family history on her side of heart attacks, so she ended up spending the night and having an e.k.g., ultrasound, xray, and stress e.k.g.... all to find out that, due to the POWER OF PRAYER, she was just fine! Sorry you had to miss Micaela's program, Mom. :)

Ok, I guess I've updated you on all that's happening in my life right now. I promise I'll try to blog more often so it's not a novel you are reading. :)

Bye for now

HMM

2005-03-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

So, I think I've decided that my life is pretty boring, and not worth blogging about. It seems that most of the time it's only Corrie who reads it anyways, and I tell her all the good stuff when we talk. So, I don't think I'm gonna be doing this anymore, at least not for a while. Don't get me wrong...I've become addicted to reading and commenting on everyone else's blogs, but that's part of the problem...it doesn't seem like anyone reads mine, so why waste my time?

We're in the money

2005-03-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's official...I'm going to the bank to deposit OUR FIRST CHECK FOR MJ SOLUTIONS! :) My boss took delivery of his new unit today. I told him I was going to make a copy of the check he gave me and frame it. hehe

A great start

2005-03-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

Today I got our first customer!!!!! And actually, it was 2!!!!!!!!! I was talking to one of my McDonalds clients (she is REALLY rich!) and suggested that she purchase one because her daughter suffers from allergies. She already owns 2 Ionic Breezes, but said she'd buy one of my units and if they like how it works, she'll buy another one. Her house is about 7000 square feet, so she'll need 2. Anyways, my boss also said "And don't forget mine!" YIPEE! That's an awesome way to start our new business! :) I am very happy, needless to say! :)

Our New Adventure - MJ Solutions

2005-03-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it! We started our own business! Today, Michael and I spent ALL day jumping thru hoops...first the "Fictious Name Filing", then off to the State Board of Equalization for a seller's permit, then to City Hall to apply for a Home Occupation Permit and Business License...only to find out that our landlord had to sign off showing knowledge of use of her home. So then it was on to Downey for her signature and back to City Hall to file. After all that we went to the bank to open a Business account. Holy cow! There's a lot that goes in to trying to run a business, even if it's a small one! But now, we are ready to go and we've received our first shipment of Air Purifiers by Ecoquest...SOOOO if you or anyone you know would like to try one out, or purchase one from us, we have a 3 day trial available. We really are excited about this and hope and pray that God will provide us with enough customers to subsidize our income enough for Michael to be able to truly do something he enjoys. Wish us luck and let us know when you'd like to receive yours ;)!

I hate this time of year!

2005-02-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

To many, this time of year is a wonderful time...Valentine's Day, Easter, Tax Refunds. But to those of us who WORK in the tax field, IT SUCKS! I have been sooooo extremely busy at work, that I've been working late and bringing stuff home too. And of course, I'm still way too far behind for my own good! Plus, we are getting our kitchen cabinets redone, so the entire content of my kitchen is in my living room and dining room, making it hard to do my work at home (or anything else for that matter!). Of course, I look forward to April 15th. Not only does that mean that my workload will be lighter, but my checkbook will be heavier with my Taxmas Bonus! :) Please pray for me that I make it to April 15th without killing someone. My nerves can't take much more, and I know my family can't either. (Sorry guys :( I love you all!)

Our "Time-Share"

2005-02-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

Lake Gregory

So, lots of people buy into Timeshares at hotels...but not us! We jokeingly call this our Time Share because of how often we like to go and it's cheaper and nicer than a hotel. This is us in front of the cabin in Lake Gregory from last weekend (from my story below). Thanks Corrie for posting my picture for me :)!

SNOW TIME!

2005-01-30T20:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend Michael, the kids and I took my sister, her family, and my mom up to our favorite vacation spot (besides HAWAII, cuz I've never been!)...LAKE GREGORY! We had to go the back way up the mountain on a Friday evening, so it took us FOREVER to get there. When we arrived, it started raining...then hailing...then SNOWING! It was kinda just lots of hail that started collecting and when Joshua and I got up Saturday morning, everything was white! The kids had lots of fun playing in the snow on the patio of the cabin and after lunch at Josiah's favorite restaurant, The Loose Caboose, we were on a mission to find a sledding hill. We found an awesome hill and had lots of fun sledding. Micaela and Josiah went flying down the hill on the sled. Joshua even tried snowboarding! (Sorry Uncle Bruce for the bruised shins!) After a while of snow play, we were all FREEZING and headed back to the cabin and a wonderfully warm fire. We all had a great time! And look forward to going again soon! Sorry there's no pictures to show you...I don't know how to use "hello".

Another one down

2005-01-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, I turned 31. That kinda sounds weird to say! I'm trying to do more grown up things...but of course with the occasional still "childish" things thrown in. I went out on Wednesday and bought new every day dishes so that we have "grown-up" dishes...I've been drinking more coffee...I've been trying to stay up later...you know, not big things, but subtle, different things for me. I've also joined a gym to get rid of my tummy and am trying to eat better too. We'll see how things go! Wish me luck!

ok, i'm back

2005-01-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

So, here it is...January 4, 2005. Where has all the time gone? I looked at my blog and realized that I hadn't up posted in some time. It's been WONDERFUL having Michael back home with me! HE's been the one taking Joe to the potty every 3 minutes while we are out somewhere...and staying up late til they all fall asleep...and letting me take a shower without one of them coming in for SOME stupid reason. It's really been a nice thing! On Christmas Eve for dinner, he sat next to Josiah and even did it again on Christmas morning for breakfast! I should probably get used to this nice treatment since he'll be making it up to me for a LONG time to come! hehe

It's almost time!!!

2004-12-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't believe it! I must be dreaming! Michael comes home tonight! I think I'm gonna have a REALLY hard time concentrating today at work. Please pray for a safe flight home for him and that the kids behave themselves while at the airport getting Daddy. Thanks to you all for reading my rambling for the past 3 LONG weeks about me missing him and the trials with the kids. I DID IT!!!!! :)

Only a few days more!

2004-12-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

I can hardly wait for Friday! After 2 VERY stressful weeks, I am but a few days away from my love coming home. I don't think he'd better plan on going anywhere for a REALLY long time! He says that I'll probably disappear for awhile myself...I think he might be right! It really has been a difficult time with his being away. Not only do I have to work full-time and be mommy/daddy to my 3 "cherubs" with NOOOO time to myself (they even bug me when I shower!), but I honestly miss just being with Michael. (Of course, it doesn't help that Josiah has been naughty EVERY day...doing things like stuffing toilet paper into the toilet until it overflows all over the floor! Yesterday, Corrie asked him if he was naughty, and his response was "No, not today." I replied, "Let's keep it that way!") Sure, we talk every day on the phone, or over the internet, but it's just not the same as being able to look into each other's eyes, or hold each other's hands. So I am anticipating Friday much more than I am anticipating Christmas! Ya Mikey! Come on home!!!

1 Down, 2 to go

2004-12-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

So, I've finished Week 1 of this 3 weeks of torture that Michael's company has decided to put me thru. I've been doing ok, I suppose. But today I got a card in the mail from him and I lost it! I'd already been feeling really sad and frustrated with life, and then I get a card from the reason I'm sad. I cried for about 20 minutes, all the while Joshua trying to keep Josiah and Micaela quiet for me. That's what I call a good son/big brother. I don't know how I'm gonna handle the next 2 weeks by myself, as this one just about did me in. As I said in an earlier post, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for me and my sanity, cuz I am seriously on the edge of losing it.

I feel old

2004-11-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

By the way, for those of you who didn't realize it...JOSHUA IS NOW 9 YEARS OLD!!!! That makes me feel older than turning 30 did!

Keeping Busy

2004-11-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

So, here it is, the evening of November 28, 2004. My day started out by being all-consumed with the fact that Mikey was leaving that my birthday boy had to remind me that today was his birthday by asking a "since it's my birthday..." question. Of course, my senses went into high gear and I called him back into my room and his Daddy, brother, and I sang a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday". Then, it was off to take Michael to the airport...on the Sunday after Thanksgiving...the most busiest day of the year to travel! After checking him in and a few tears I made my way out to our truck for a few more tears. I then did what is most therapeutic for me...I went to Target to kill time before Joshua's birthday lunch at Chuck E. Cheese's. Once done there, we went to the skate shop to get Josh a new skateboard with his birthday money. Of course, then it was time for birthday ice cream with Grandma. All of this to show Joshua his birthday is important to me...and to keep my mind off of my beloved's being gone. I spent more money than I probably should have between all my different stops (some weren't listed as I thought you'd be bored be now with my rambling), but oh well, at least it worked!

The Most Awfulest Time of the Year

2004-11-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, the evening of November 27, 2004...Last night, my family and I decorated our Christmas tree and put up all the decorations around the house. You can definately tell that our Christmas tree was decorated mostly by short people...myself included;). But what can I say, other than that it has personality. Today we enjoyed a rainy day of running errands. Unfortnately most of them were to get Daddy ready to go to Chicago. He leaves in the morning. So tonight we gathered around the pizza and tv and watched "Garfield" as a family. I was doing just fine up until the time to start getting the kids showered and ready for bed. That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks...MIKEY LEAVES TOMORROW MORNING AND I GOTTA BE A SINGLE MOM FOR THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I cried a little. Not too much, only for a few minutes, but the kids saw and now they are trying to cheer me up. I really hope Oce realizes what a strain they are putting on the families by scheduling the Daddies to be gone at this most Memorable and Important time of year. Please pray for me and my kids as we go thru this time without Michael, and please pray for him to come home to us safely. If anyone feels like emailing, calling or visiting me during this time, I know I'll be up for the distraction!