Random Mutterings

2012-01-19T07:50:00.000-09:00

So Many People

2012-01-17T08:59:00.002-09:00

The Author of this post is Kory Dotson
So many people in my area stop over without calling, I don’t know what it is. One minute I’ll be watching my stories on my direct tv brownsville and the doorbell will ring and it will be Sandy with a pie or Julie wanting to take a walk. I guess I should be flattered that so many of my lady friends like to spend time with me but for now it’s just a hassle since I’ve been recovering from a long illness and really just want to take some time to heal. I really need to veg outat home with the TV on and a good book and not think too much about whether or not I’m letting anyone down or being rude and when I have to play host it really makes me think about whether or not I’m doing a good job keeping up my face. It’s just hard right now with the recovery and I don’t want anyone to think I don’t like them because of my illness!

Being Healthy

2012-01-17T08:56:00.000-09:00

The Author of this post is Freddy Savage
Living at home has been good for me because it’s forced me to really take a long hard look at what my passions are in life. As it turns out I get a lot out of working out and being healthyso that’s what I think I want to do with the rest of my life. It actually doesn’t take that long to train and become a licensed personal trainer and you can make really good money if you’re hooked up with the right gym and some clients off the bat. I love being into fitness and I even went to http://www.satellitetvfamily.com/satellite-tv-shreveport-la to get some extra fitness channels at home so when I couldn’t make it to the gym I could learn some at home techniques to teach my clients. My parents don’t really understand my love for this stuff but when I’m doing well and maybe even have a gym of my own I think they will. There’s something to be said for having faith in people around you and I have faith in myself!

The Jersey Shore

2011-10-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

The Jersey Shore
Posted by Von Battle

I went to http://www.SATELLITETVFAMILY.com/ since I needed a new tv package and heard great things. My all-time favorite guilty pleasure is (not the Kardashians, American Idol, Project Runway, or Real Housewives) the Jersey Shore! If that is not pure comedy gold, I don't know what is! Have you seen the episodes when they go to Italy? I swear. Those people make me feel like a genius. That has to be the best tv show MTV has had in the past 15 years (and it's not even that old)! I kind of can't believe how much money the cast makes, but MTV caved into their demands. It makes sense. They know they have magic with that cast, and they are right!

Car insurance

2009-10-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Im always checking out different sites online for the cheapest insurance rates out there. Its so expensive to insure our truck with Tony having a few tickets in his past. so not only do we have to deal with higher rates, but we also have to deal with full coverage.
As you can imagine, with three kids, that gets super expensive! And i want to make sure i can buy them everything i want to! and one of the ways i can be sure i can always afford to buy them things is to cut expenses where i can, and one of those ways is to continue to look for cheaper insurance rates.
Here is another great site to check your insurance rates. Weather you need just liability, or full coberage or something in between, be sure you are getting the best rates possible!

Random

2009-10-05T09:50:00.001-08:00

Bad blogger, bad!
Ok not bad, i just have like 3 blogs! I tend to update my wordpress much more often.

So whats new. I had baby Chase, August 8th. He will be 2 months old in a couple of days. And he just started to smile.

Brennan started kindergarten and is doign great and Coner is typical 2 year old. Ill try to update more often.

The prospect of three sons

2009-05-23T11:35:00.002-08:00

Its no secret that my third baby is another boy. While i havent been shouting it from the rooftops due to some minor sadness over the lack of girly bits. I havent been hiding it either.
The baby dosent have a name. I have a really hard time naming my sons, Im not too sure why. But i cant settle on anything i like really.

Im scared of having three kids. Wouldent any mother be? Its always scarry to add another one to the bunch and i dont quite know how its going to go over with overly clingy MamasBoy. But im hopeful, ever hopeful. Wonderboy is excited at least. :D

Personally i know that eventually they will be great friends. I see the way the two of them interact, so i know that a third is going to be great for them. But even so. Im worried all the same.
Im sure its just something that time will heal, and him actually being here.

2009-05-21T10:20:00.001-08:00

I found out that our new baby is a boy!
My little boys are going to be a big brother.

Hopefully soon i can figure out a nice name for this little guy. We only have 12 weeks left to figure it out lol!
Ideas Ideas anyone!

Making Mothers day

2009-05-17T15:54:00.001-08:00

Happy Mothers day to the grandmothers

Camera Lenses

2009-05-16T10:04:00.003-08:00

Ive picked out an 85mm prime for my next camera lens. I also want to get a bit of a zoom lens for a walk around lens. But im concerned with the reviews im seeing on the lens ive been looking at. The 17-85 mm zoom. Every review says that the images are really soft around the edges on the 17 mm. So i dont know. I wish there was a place i could test them out, then upload them and see how they trn out for myself. Sadly there arent any kind of camera stores that would let us do that.
I might go ahead and get it anyway, even if its soft at 17mm. I can still use it for general photos of the kids.
I just cant justify spending more money on a camera lens, seeing its just a hobby. But in any event, we will see later this summer when i can afford to buy a new camera lens.

Alive

2009-05-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Im alive, if only a little. Things are stressful, going to try to start this back up again. Wish me luck.

Its not over till its over.

2008-11-10T10:23:00.001-09:00

I just may be resurecting this blog. Keep an eye out for me.

2008-07-11T10:50:00.002-08:00

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

I love to wrap and use carriers, how about you?

2008-07-11T10:50:00.001-08:00

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

2008-05-06T09:49:00.001-08:00

Click Here for Answers

So the tax rebate is coming out soon. We are expecting back about $1800, between having two kids and my husband and myself, its kinda exciting. I really want to get myself a new camera lens, but i dont see that happening. As we need to pay our rent, but i might be able to get something. Im not too sure yet. At least at this point, i dont have to worry about using it to buy the boys birthday gifts.

So tell me, what are you planning on doing with your tax rebate? Click the link above and fill out my poll!

2008-05-04T00:15:00.001-08:00

My 10 month old has learned to fake laugh. It has to be the funniest thing ever. Seriously. Its Ah ha ha ha, VERY mechanical. And he does it over and over. And when you laugh, because you cant help but laugh, he does it more. Thats a baby for you.

2008-04-30T21:35:00.001-08:00

Ive been slacking in this blog. I have a real diary i keep and a blog so this one tends to fall on the back burner lol.
Lets see,
Brennan will be 4 in less then 3 weeks! Oh god he is growing so fast. Im not sure, but i think we are going to get him into school, pre school or something this fall. We might, i dont know how we stand on the schooling as of yet. Plus the districts we are in. UGH, Tony and I need to discuss which elementry we want him to start in and move accordingly. He is doing so well. What child his age says the things he says. He has his own set of cuss words that are approved. including shitke mushrooms, shucky mushrooms and tarner sause. Its quite funny to hear him say them. He is also so funny, while taking a short drive today he shouts out. Oh no, we are doom all of us DOOOOOMED. Its amazing that he understood the word and the context. Hes jsut a hoot and a half. Loves his new bike ( early birthday preasent) and riding it with the neighbors.
Conner... sigh, almost 11 months old. And that isnt far from a whole year old. He has some attitude on him. That child. You KNOW when he is happy, you KNOW when he isnt, he is sure to tell you. Hes been walking now for a month. He even starts to run, He calles everything with 4 legs kiii, ( kitty) loves to say Hi, (HAI) and talk to everyone, on the phone, in the halls, to everyone he sees. His smile is infectious. If you are in a bad mood, you cant help but smile back its too darned cute.

Everyone keeps asking, when do Tony and I want to have another one. NOT untill Conner is 3 at least. I have that damn inplant to keep me from getting pregnant for a minimum of 3 years. And no, im not going to buckle. Yes i do want another baby, just ONE more and im done. But i dont want them right on top of another. Brennan potty trained really easy before he was 2, night trained... well i was lazy because i was pregnant lol. But still, i want Conner potty trained, which will be next summer. I wont have a child past 2 in diapers, that is pure laziness on the parents part in my opinion. But yes, one more baby, in about 3 years, i hope its a girl because i really want one, i need that girly stuff in my life, if its another boy... then thats the way it goes. But i still want a girl. lol. But again. NOT For 3 more years.

Tony and I... well we are stressed with his work situation. He is working this week, 4 out of 5 days, well 3.5 due to weather, and a few days next week. Which will be enough to pay our bills. All our money has to go to rent, and even so we are going to be late, there is no getting around it. First time here. :( we have 5 more months on our lease and we dont even know if we are going to stay, we are really talking about finding a better place before summer is over. There is no place to play out here. Everoyne lets their dogs shit everywhere, its nasty i hate my kids walking in that crap. There are cigg butts everywhere, plus some of the people around here really make me uncomfortable. Of course i have a stick up my ass apperently, but even so. Thats my right. Back to the living situation, Tony will have some more time off work, its looking at half of next week and the whole week after that. THEN he should be going back to work, 10 hr days, 6 days a week for the rest of the summer. I really cant wait for summer to REALLY hit. It actually snowed AGAIN today. Talk about a pain in the ass!

Anyway i should get going, its getting late and Conner really needs to go to sleep. Even though he says no.

2008-04-26T18:27:00.001-08:00

2008-04-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

This past week, the weather has been fantastic, we have been seeing the mid 60s. Its so warm right now! We took the kids to various events and goings on. We even mangaged to get into the city and go to the zoo, the kids adored it! The baby slept or laid there out of it the whole time, but the boy was beyond excited. Bears, lots of bears, otters, lynx, and the foxes were just so exciting for him. We also went to a duck pond, filled with geese, mallards and two peacocks. Beautiful fellas.
The busyness of life has been overwhelming this week. I havent had much time to do anything. But my husband should be going back to work tomarrow, so that will mean life will go back to normal. things will slow down, and all will be well again.

2008-04-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

Im going through seperation Anxiety with my youngest. I have to go to classes twice a day for an hour (+ driving time) each and im really worried about leaving him with my mom. He is only 10 months old. Sigh. Im really worried about it. He will probably do better then I will though. :(

Ill be leaving both boys with my mom. Though my almost 4 year old is driving me mad this morning. Non stop whining all morning. If i didnt allready have a headache.
Maybe thease silly classes will help me enjoy getting away from the children once in a while... Maybe?

2008-04-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

Post deleted

2008-04-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

Someone made a mention of why dont I take pictures and put them on a disk for like a small amount of money. Well my neighbor ( with the newborn girl) asked me if i could take some pictures of her and Abigail in the next couple of days ( shes almost a month old) before i could answer she said ill even give you some money. Because ( her words) im way better then WalMart. ( HELL YEAH BABY) So i said $20 and ill put them all on CD so she can have them printed wherever and Ill do all the editing. Fuck its just 20 bucks. BUT its something for the hours i would spend working on the pictures. And its getting me some kind of experience. Specially seeing mommy and me with an infant isnt something i have done before. I have with children and toddlers. Not a newborn.

Wordless Wensday.

2008-04-09T13:57:00.001-08:00

Ashop Commerce

2008-04-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

In keeping with the looking for shopping cart software, i found Ashop Commerce. Another online shopping cart software. ecommerce software is another program that will allow me to put a shopping cart on my blog for relatively inexpensive. And this one works all over the country.

It has customer service, inventory control, product reports, discounts, and so much more. It even has traffic reports in it, so you can see how popular your shopping cart is. Also it has search engine traffic, meaning you will get to find out exactly what keywords bring people to your shopping cart.Pretty much it will do exactly as you want it to do. You can even use Google checkout with it. How lucky is that. The price isn't too bad, again its not something that is super cheap, but is much of anything that is cheap, actually worth buying? I don't think so.

Anyway i just wanted to update you all on my quest for a shopping cart online!

Published

2008-04-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

Right now im actually having a series of articles i have written published online at a site.
All about photography, the how too's, the in and outs and my own tips and techniques that i have learned or tried out.
Right now THIS one is doing awesome. Its all about macro or close up photography.
Do me a HUGE favor and click the link? Read through it, enjoy it,
Love to all.

Shopping online?

2008-04-06T17:31:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of putting a shopping cart on my blog. I make alot of jewelry and i was thinking about selling some of it. Do you know how many different companies make online shopping carts out there? There are tons of them. But i did find one that i rather liked. ecommerce software. They have some really nice features. I get to choose which of their programs work best for me. Different prices per program. Its hosted online so i dont have to download anything. You can use a credit card through them, and they have 24 hour a day life support for anyone who has a problem.

I cant say that its cheap, its not too expensive, but its not cheap either. But then again, you get what you pay for. They have alot of really nice features like easy to use, nothing to download, many different reports on what you are selling, how well you are doing. Even as in depth as the brands of things you are selling.

I like them in any event, Ecommerse software is very well rounded with gift certificates, discounts and other fun little features for you to turn on or off. It it is great shopping cart software and check them out if you are in need of a online shopping cart of whatever little craft items you make.

2008-04-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

My camera died today, Or last night im not sure when. I just know i left it on the back of the table. Near the wall before i went to bed. And found it on the floor this morning and it no longer works.
My camera is like a part of myself. Part of who I am. and i dont have that anymore .I have my point and shoot which my 3 year old has been using for a year. Its very banged up. Frankly i dont know what to do anymore. I cant get a new one. We dont have the money, even for a point and shoot. Im just so freaking depressed over the loss of my camera. Ive been crying all night over it. This suck so much. I dont know what to do. I have all this equiptment for my camera, all the extras like lenses and flash, tripods and cases. And its all expensive worthless crap now. Without the brain, the features do not function....
I am so so sad.

2008-04-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

I just had something i wrote put to the front of the line. The people i wrote it for told me it was amazingly well written and very imformative. That they would be feturing my article when it was published!
I am SOOO excited about this. I write articles on the side every now and then. I just wrote 4, and one of them is considered VERY good. Its SOOOO exciting for me. Even my husband thinks its great I need to start doing it more often. I do enjoy writing so much, its just finding time...
And making excuses. NO MORE excuses. So i will FIND the time every day to write a little bit .Something that isnt for a blog. or journal or wahatever. Something else.

Have a good Thursday everyone.

The First The First!

2008-04-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Its April First. Yay. April fools day?? We dont do that around here. Our kids are 3 and 9 months lol. However it means that today is food shopping day. It means that tonys birthday is in 2 weeks, it means that B will be 4 in 1 month 2 weeks and Conner will be one in 2 months 2 weeks.

OH MY GOD, my BABY will be 1 in 2 and a half months? That is so wrong.
But there it is. He says mama whenever he cries. He never just says it. Like he never just laughs, You have to tickle him to get a laugh, but then most of the time its a scream. He takes steps, up to 4-6 at a time, mostly its one then he goes to his knees, but he will be walking in no time. He is about to cut 2 more teeth, bringing his total to 6...
Sigh my baby.

Im feeling kinda crappy this morning. Had a bad migrane all night that i couldent sleep off. What is up with that. So i got up and took a shot of pepsi with some ibprofin and tylanol in it. That is helping.
Anyway its getting on in the morning and my kids are going crazy for Dora.
L

Smorty

2008-03-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

I came across a very neat site the other day and decided to try it out. Its called Smorty. What makes this site so neat is that you can use it to get paid for blogging. Its interesting in the way that you are given opportunities from advertisers and then you have the right to say, yeah i like this idea, i can write about it, or no i don't like that, i don't have anything to say so i wont write about it. Its your blog, you can decide what goes in it, and if you can get paid to blog

What makes this site neat, is that you can be an advertiser as well. Say you have a small at home business, you want to promote it, help sales along. Well then you can use Smorty too. Join and then set up an advertisers account. Seeing i don't have any kind of product to sell, i don't have one. Its pretty easy to get approved for Smorty. Basically you have to have people coming to your blog, and you have to write at least semi often. Ill start doing better about that by the way.

You get paid about every week through paypal. Making it very friendly and easy. If you don't have a pay pal account, just set one up at their site. Its fast, easy and free. So what you are doing is advertising on your blog. and you get paid for it. Not bad for writing a small article that can take just a few minutes of your time.

Anyway I'm liking this new site. Its great, and they pay me for blogging. For writing. Its easy, its fun, and its friendly. So if you have some spare time, or if you want to try and get paid for blogging, even if you all ready blog for money, you can sign up for Smorty too. Give them a shot, doesn't everyone like a bit extra in their pockets?

Photo Scavenger Hunts

2008-03-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ive been doing quite a few photo scavenger hunts on one of my other photography blogs. I figured i would post some of the pictures here for fun! Hope you enjoyed!

Bed Wetting

2008-03-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

B has been wetting the bed of late. I am really notl iking it. I take him to the bathroom 3 hours after he goes to bed, and T takes him before he leaves for work. An HOUR later he wets the bed. Every day this week. I have no idea how to stop it, just that it is really frustrating me big time. Sigh. Anyone have any great ideas on how to get this bed wetting thing to slow down?

Renting movies

2008-03-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well its friday again. Its kinda nice that its a weekend, if a weekend was any different then any other day for me lol. But i did manage to get to the stores and rent a few movies to the eening. I rented I am Legend. Tony really wanted to see it. I also got Beowolf. It looks kinda cheesy, but it should still be fun. I also got atonement. Im kinda in the mood to watch it lol. My mom however got No reservations. Im hoping to snag it and watch it this weekend too. I enjoy renting movies so much. It really gives me time to kick back and relax even with the kids around.

Oh Baby

2008-03-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Steph had her baby. 7 lbs 13 oz of baby Abagail. She had issues and was moved to a hospital where she had the traditional interventions. But it all ended with a happy baby girl. They are still at the hospital, She was born on the 16th, so i havent had a chance ot see her yet. Im excited to see her and take some baby pictures :)
Plus im sure when the pain wears off, Steph will be happy shes no longer pregnant :)

Bomerman

2008-03-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

So tony downloaded this free trial game on his xbox 360 called Bomberman. I didnt think i would like it all that much. Im more into a single player game. My arcade games consist of bejeweled and luxor. Anyway i sat down and watched him play for a while, then i got out the second controller and joined in.
I never thought i would have so much fun. It was literally a blast hanging out with my husband and playing a game. The game itself is great. you go around laying bombs, trying to kjill off the other team members, or turn all the squares your color. And they can be recolored by other team members bombs. It was simple. but alot of fun.Apperently it used to run on the origional nintendo. Hey whatever it was fun!
Try it out!

WW- Thrusday edition. Splish Splash

2008-03-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

Alaska Blues

2008-03-10T11:36:00.001-08:00

Ive got the blues lol. There is just something about an amazing blue sky that really gets me going! Its like an amazing thing. But consider the image above. Even in black and white, those clouds make a striking image. Something that evokes feeling, emotion. Something that i enjoy sharing.

High in the mountains i got this shot yesterday. The blue skies are almost unreal, and yet there they are.

Looking out over the ice fields on the inlet i got this shot. You can see the two mountain ranges in teh background, and the clouds coming up over the mountain.

Hello from up in the mountains!

Another amazing Alaska blues mountain shot.

Frustrations

2008-03-03T19:17:00.000-09:00

I went to the dentist today. Again. The same two teeth. But now they are done. They were the back 2 molars on my right side. At my next appointment they will be working on the two teeth after that. Once a month, ill be going in to get some more teeth done untill closer to july when my medical starts its new fiscal year, right before then ill be getting 2 partial root canals. Ill get both teeth drilled. Then at the second appointment (after july) ill have the crowns fitted and a third appointment to have them put in. Basicly a whole lot of dental work will be done on my teeth :( God, every time i get pregnant my teeth get worse. After B was born i saw the dentist several times to get fillings and corrections. I brush twice a day and wash my mouth out probably 3 times, sometimes more often. Its not fun.... but im trying. And nothing is helping. I need to go on a liquid diet and wash my mouth out after every meal lol. Maybe then it would help? Probably not, but its a fancy idea....

Oh Tony put his hand through our bedroom window last night. Some people were (AGAIN!) Smoking in the halls. And i was getting really pissed off, opening up windows and turning on my air purifier. But no matter what i can still smell it seeping in. Even my neighbor noticed that it seaps in here. Anyway. I yelled at tony to open our bedroom window. It was around midnight or 1 or something. And he pushed on it to open it and his hand went through it. He was bleeding, has some jagged cuts. And i had to clean up shattered glass. Oh i was even more pissed.
Dont people freaking understand it? Ive talked to EVERYONE who lives in my complex AT LEAST once! I say, when you smoke with the door open the smoke DOES NOT go outside, it blows inside, It floats UPSTAIRS to my house, then when i open the door it vaccume sucks it into my house, Even without me opening the door, the door is so broken that it comes inside.
I have KIDS, I have athsma. My husband smokes. OUTSIDE, even when its 20 below and blowing. He goes outside! He never would consider smoking in the halls, No more then he would burst into someone elses house and light up. Every time someone sits in the hall its like them sitting in my house and smoking. Exposing my sons. Brennan who has weak lungs since birth, and Conner who has a very small and weak immune system. All my fucking neighbors are welcome to poision themselves. But im getting SOOOO pissed off with them Poisioning ME and MY kids.

I dont ingest that poisionous shit. I dont like to inhail rat poision, pesticides, and asbestos. I dont want that crap in my body, if i did, i would grab a cig and smoke. You are WELCOME to do it. Just NOT where it gets in my kids lungs. Would you hold a cig up to your childs mouth? My neighbors are pregnant, have kids, are a bit older. And they all smoke. And thats FINE for them! But not for ME! There are kids on the top floor, there is a pregnant girl on the top floor, WE DONT SMOKE. and we dont want to.

Why the hell are people so freaking rude and uncaring as to keep smoking. This isnt a personal attack, this is me getting so fucking frustrated. Because ive asked. I have said PLEASE, nicely. and EVERYONE has said, no problem, ill go outside. Yet people still sit in the halls and smoke, sit in the hall with the door open and smoke. Im just so tired of people not being considerate.
I know i bitch about it alot. But im thankful ill be moving soon, and i will be moving into a place where the no smoking rule is ENFORCED

.
Anyway ive bitched enough, time to go do something productive in my house. Clean the kiddos room or something lol.

Wordless Wensday

2008-02-27T10:18:00.001-09:00

Ultimate Paintball

2008-02-26T12:01:00.000-09:00

Tony really wants to get into paintball again this summer. He used to play it all the time before we were married. As evidenced by the mess of spatters on his mothers sheds.Up untill now money has been a big problem with that. What with having the kids and everything. But that's changing fast and I was thinking about getting him some paintball gear for his birthday and fathers day.

Me, being the happy little internet loving mama that I am, started to search for some paintball gear online. I figure i could order it, have it shipped here. And he would never even know about it. After all, he works and i'm home all day. So i found this site, paintball, which has free shipping on orders over $100. To me that is like icing on the cake. The guns plus accessories can easily add up very fast. Sadly when reading the terms, they dont ship to Alaska for free, go figure. BUT they ship to the 48 states for free. Which means most likely, your state is included and you can get free shipping. Even though I cant get the free shipping, this site has me so excited.

I know he likes the brand Spyder, but they also carry alot of other top name brand gear, such as Tippmann, Smart Parts,Draxxus and more. I can pick out just a gun and some accessories or i can get everything in one happy little package. They have some of the most popular guns and sets for pretty cheap and with free shipping.

Now i wont pretend i'm overly knowlageable about paintball supplies But thease guys are fantastic. You can just search around for a gun that fits into your budget. Because i have some extra spending money, I can afford to go out a bit, but not everyone can. Ultimate Paintball has package deals for cheap too. While i saw some for upwords of $400, that's a bit far out of my budget range. I also saw them for under$100. So no matter where your budget, you could get a full kit.

Even ifyou are a person like my husband, and dont want to buy a kit with everything included, then you can build your own paintball set. Ultimate Paintball has the air systems, harnesses, gun cases, sights, the painballs themselves, even things like cleaning kits and clothes to wear. Its one stop paintball shopping. They even have upgrade kits for your older guns. Frankly even for the paintball illerterate like me, this stuff is pretty neat.

I'm having fun writing down everything I want to get my husband. Now if only his birthday would come a bit sooner so that I can get him some of this paintball gear we would be set. Funny how even things you dont do can get you all excited. Hey i guess i'm just excited for him.

I <3 Baby wearing

2008-02-25T12:55:00.000-09:00

I dont do it often because C is such a great big boy, but dosent hang on with his legs yet, But i really do love using a wrap to carry him. Its so comfortable, and amazingly easy to do. For all it looks complicated :) BUT I do so enjoy babywearing.

Fur Rondy

2008-02-24T11:39:00.000-09:00

Went to the fur rondy festiful in the city yesterday. Twas fun, saw a parade, some ice sculptures, and walked a few malls with my family. Managed to not spend any more. That was nice.
Actually spending the day just with my family was very nice. We very rarely do anything together. So getting out and walking around somewhere was very nice. I really hope that we get to do it more often.

Conner Update

2008-02-22T20:37:00.000-09:00

Well the lil man did have an infection in his penis. I have NO idea how on earth he got one as i change him within minutes of him pooing. The doctors said not to stress, buteven so. While at the doctor, actually a pediatric urologist, they discovered that he had two un decended testicles...
They made him an Appointment? For surgery. So those should be corrected next month.
It terrifies me, the idea that they are going to cut my 8 month old baby open. But he has to have the operation. If not, there is a huge risk he could be steral and a high risk of testiclure cancer... So it has to be done. But even so, cut open my baby... its scarry. Very scarry.
I dont know... i guess my mind is still reeling from the information... So i wont write much, i just wanted to say...

Infection

2008-02-21T11:07:00.000-09:00

I think, no im pretty sure that my baby has an infection in his penis. He is oozing foul smelling liquid from the tip. I feel so bad for him, he is hurting pretty bad. I gave him some motrin for it, and he is falling asleep. Side effect of motrin. But im about to go to the doctor. Then B has a dentist appointment today. His frist ever.
Hopefully the doctor i see has some knowlage of intact babies. Because he is too young to have his foreskin retracted and i they reccomend circumsision for this, ill be making an appointment with another doctor. Preferably my Ped who is against circumsision. He just cant get us in today.
Anyway im a bit worried so im going to nurse him to sleep.

Wordless Wensday

2008-02-20T12:52:00.000-09:00

WordlessWensday Here

2008-02-19T10:10:00.001-09:00

So im going to show you a beautiful picture. Of the more beautiful lady i have EVER seen!And yes, i took the photos!
BUT FIRST.
BRennan is running around ( after said lady) and asking her to make him purple cupcakes. I tried telling him we dont have any purple cupcakes or even the stuff to make it, but he said make me some. Think you if i put a few drops of consentrated grate juice it will make white frosting purple without ruining the flavor too much?
Its SOOOO windy here. I went outside to get a stick ( dont ask) And the wind nearly blew me over. Did i tell you about the last time we went to home depot? Tony was holding brennans hand, all of a sudden a gust hit us, and tony said brennans feet went out from under him. All i saw was brennan fly up. He was fine, but still it was funny. It wasnt however funny trying to buckle conner into his carseatwith its 5 point harness that isnt the easiest to use.
Damn it, i NEED to get ahold of my mom. Its too early to call over there, but i really need too. Bah. Just look at my pretty lady,

So the story goes.

A few days ago, the neighbor below me caught her boyfriend cheating. Not only was he with the girl, but he had their one year old daughter, and the other girl was holding the baby as if they were very well accustomed. So the neighbor A. Flew off the handle. I suppose she has a huge right to be angry. They got in a near fist fight, (A and her now ex D.) in the hospital where she found them. Then this weekend a fight happened again, this time with the cops coming. In the end both of the parents went to jail and no one is sure where the little baby is. ANyway they were gone for a few days when everyone realized they had a 6 week old puppy and a cat in their apartment. So yesterday, A comes up and askes me if i could take the cat for her, She was leaving and she didnt know where her daughter was and couldent deal with pets. I dont know what happened to the puppy. So i said yes. So i have this cat. I dont have any money untill wensday ( unless you count paypal, but i cant use that at the store) no food and no litter pan. :P She piddled in my bathroom sink... Could be worse i guess. Could have been my basket of clean clothes.
So now i need to get a hold of my mom and see if she gill give me a hand full of cat food and a small bag of litter so i can put it in a plastic drawer ( i can bleach the fuck outta that) so that she has something of a litter pan and some food untill i can go to the store.
So far brennan has been calling her limbo ( WTF?) and catto, and Pharo, so i dont know what her name is, i just call her pretty lady. lol.

Cold Weather

2008-02-15T15:16:00.001-09:00

We are having some cold weather right now. Not fridged cold like we have had before. But the nice kind of cold. Where you can go outside and let your kids loose. The flouds are clearing, its a lovely blue sky. It snowed over last night, so we have a few inches, and it was just lovely. I think when spring starts im going to throw some wildflower seeds out on the hill out back. That way i have plenty of things to take pictures of this summer :) But thats besides the point. The boys and I went outside. It was fun actually. Brennan went up and down the big hill, and i pulled conner all over the driveway so that we could stay warm. At least for me.
Then we come inside andhave some hot cocoa with marshmellows.
What a nice way to end our sunny day.

Sick tips

2008-02-13T12:45:00.000-09:00

Conner is sick again, i have no idea where he got sick, but he did. For a baby who rarely leaves his house, and a mama who cleans every day, it is rather surprising.
Anyway i decided to put together a list of things you can do when your child is sick to help them feel better.

1. A Wash Rag. This is so simple, but it works fantastic. Get a rag damp with cold water. Make sure its well rung out. It does double duty. One it can cool your childs forehead, the other is for them to suck on, giving them little bits of water to keep their lips wet and help with hydration.

2. Home made popcycles. Another simple almost given thing for your child. Keeping hydrated while ill is a daunting task. Children often dont want to drink. But freeze the drink and they might be more tempted. Pedialyte, gatoraide, poweraide and even breast milk make great popcycles. Plain juice such as apple or grape should be watered down before given to a sick child.

3. Cold or warm mist humidifyer. Both of them work well to put moisture back in the air which can help with congestion. You can get a warm and/or cold mist humidfyer for under $10 dollers at Walmart. For an added boost, add some vix vapor rub or mentholatum into the water. It will steam into the air which will farther aid with the clearing of congestion.

4. Home made chicken broth. When a child is ill they need to be putting some calories into their system to help fight the cold. One of the best ways is a simple chicken broth. Put a chicken breast in a small pot of water and boil it with a bit of salt. You can, of course, make real chicken soup and feed them just the broth, however if you arent susie homemaker with a recipie for chicken soup in your back pocket. Then simple broth made from boiled chicken and water will do wonders for the child. There is something about chicken soup that really helps you feel better.

5. Saline drops are your friend. A child cant breathe through a congested nose. And babies such as mine, dont like to breathe through their mouths if they can help it. So saline drops in their nose will loosen up and break up the mucous in their nose. Making it easier to suction out with a bulb syringe. You can make saline drops as well. 1 cup of water to 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt will create a saline mixture that is just as useful.

6. Eucalyptus oil can be your friend. I have a bottle of eucalyptus oil for when my children get sick. I drip a few drops into a container with a sponge. I then put it near the heater or on top of the warm mist humidifyer, The scent helps clear up congestion.

All in all, i hope that your child starts feeling better. Hopefully it wont take too long.

Beef Stew

2008-02-09T16:12:00.000-09:00

I have been trying to do Beef stew for ... gosh years now. Im good with chicken soups, turkey soups, no problem. But when it came to beef.... my soup ended up just blah. It frustrated me to no end because there isnt anything else that i cant cook and make taste good. At least of the things that i do cook. But today i made another attempt, and what do you know. Its fantastic!

So here is how i made it.

*You will notice i dont use any exact measurements. This is because i like to season everything to taste. Many people do not like some of the stronger flavors that the seaonings i use in my soups can produce. If you dont like the way a season tastes or smells, omit or use less of that seasoning.

Ingredients

Bok Choy

Celery

Potatos

Carrots

Barley

Seasons to taste, i used

Celery Salt

Oregano

Basil

Parsley

Thyme

Sage

Garlic

Onion

Bay leaf

Now for the beef i used some cubed roast meat. However you can use any kind of meat you want, including london broil, roast, steaks, even left over meat. I love to reuse leftover chicken for soups. I floured and browned the deef, then set it aside.

I filled my largest pot with water about 2/3rds the way full and added in my seasonings. I use lots of celery salt, garlic and onion. With probably around a half a teaspoon of all other seasonings. I then added about a half a cup of barley. Which i later found was too much for my taste. Probably a quarter cup would be enough for a regular pot of soup. I like lots of bay and used 4 leaves, my mother dosent and only uses 1 leaf. Its up to the user.

While that simmered and seeped the herbs i cut up my veggies. I use about 3 stalks each of celery and bok choy. About a cup of carrots and 4 medium potatos. When everything was chopped, i added it to the pot.

Then i used a gravy packate to start my beef flavoring. I then added flour and water to make a paste and added a tablespoon of beef stock flavoring. Not beef broth. Actualy beef stock. I mixed it all together and put it in my beef. Between it and the barley, and potatos, the soup thickened up nicely. You might need more flour and beed flavoring. Again, use to taste. I then added in the meat and put a lid on it, and turned the heat to low.

I then simmered untill ready to serve. About 5 hours on my end, the beef so so tender and good! Made a fantastic meal on a cold windy winter day.

2008-02-07T20:12:00.000-09:00

Tonys new job is going fantastic. Its been about 2 weeks now. He was paid this past wensday for a few days. He made more in 24 hours then he did in a 40 hour work week at his previous job. Its fantastic. We are going to be making so much more moeny now. We can afford to get some nicer things that ive been eyeing. Get a niver place, one where NO SMOKING, actually MEANS, No smoking! I hate smokers in the halls, its so nasty and because im on the top of the tower, the smoke goes right into my home.

The kids are doing great. Next week conner will be 8 months old. Where the hell did the time go? Its insanity! Brennan has learned his alphabet seemingly overnight! Its due to a toy we got conner that actually sings the alphabet. But it finally clicked for him and now he sings it. He is so funny too, every time we go up and down the stairs he has to count them. Its very cute. In any event the boys are doing fantastic.

Tony and I are doing decent on a personal level. With this new job and the promise of lots of hours of steady, well paying work for this summer, im so excited to think that we might be able to do something for our anniversary for the first time. We have been married nearly 3 years, but we have been together for over 6 now. In all that time, we have done nothing. By the time our anniversary does hit, Conner will be 16 months old, perhaps we will leave him overnight, if he has stopped nursing by that time. Or maybe just dinner would be nice. But even so. Just the thought of doing something nice. Or being able to get something every nwo and then just tickles me. Im so used to living on 300 dollars more then what we need for rent, so maybe 150 more then rent and bills that the idea of making so much more is just exciting for me.

2008-01-30T18:59:00.000-09:00

On Monday Tony was fired. That fast. He left for work, and came home less then 2 hours later. So he called on a job opp. he saw online on the state job site. At 3 he had an interview, at 5 he was hired. At 7 we went shopping to get the things he needed for the job. So far so good. its construction, which he likes, but its outside right now. And Alaska... outside... and winter are words you dont like to say all at the same time. However the pay is better and the hours are better. And its a job he wants. So hes roughing it out for the next few weeks. They are the hardest part of winter, the next couple of weeks. Very cold, clear, lots of ice fog. That sort of thing. Its rough. Hopefully it will pass soon.
In the meantime, im getting our house cleaned. We wee able to get our tax return, and with that we got a new 46 inch TV ( its huge) a new computer, and some clothes for everyone, mostly the baby who is outgrowing everything at an alarming rate, and some house hold nessessities.
The kids are doing great. Conner is crawling wonderfully. He loves being mobile, he also cruises along furnature. He even stood alone for a few seconds one time. Hes growing up too fast! Brennan is doing great too. He gets a bit of cabin fever from being stuck inside. But we can only be out for about a half hour untill Im too cold. And im the one without good winter gear. At least the kids are warm right.
Anyway i just had to post our news. New job, tv computer and a few other odds and ends. Its been a good year so far.
L

2008-01-23T15:11:00.000-09:00

Im so slacking in the writing department. Its just that i have nothing really to say. I dont go many places. the kids and I dont do much at all.
The kids are doing well. C is crawling so well, getting into everything. B is as onery as ever, as much as any typical 3 year old exserting his independence. :) I guess thats just the way things go.
Im doing all right, a bit bored by daily living but what more can i say? T is doing well, looking for a better job, hopefully he finds one, doing grea in our personal life, well thats about everyhting.

2008-01-14T09:20:00.000-09:00

We have been so sick here. Both boys had the flu. B first, then the day after he felt better C came down with it. Even I have been feeling sick for the last couple of hours. Its just been misrable here. But im on the mend thankfully. My parents took B while I was sick, so that i wouldent have to worry about him. Because C is sick too, i just slept all the time like he did. Thankfully it did the trick. Minus a bit of a fever, im better. C hopefully will be on the mend in a few days.
C is 7 months old today. How exciting!

Snow

2008-01-09T15:59:00.000-09:00

It finally started snowing here in Alaska. Its so pretty isnt it? Its been slowly, ever so slowly snowing since yesterday. While it looks great, we have only accumulated about an inch. Fantastic, but i wish it was more. Late last night my Husband, Children and I went for a drive. Farther up the highway it was snowing a great deal more. We knew of this neat old trial. Through an abandoned military base. So we decided to go and check it out. With about a foot of snow and unbroken trails to drive on it was a fun drive. Pitch black, but we have great headlights. Its a beautiful thing to see. The snow falling silently, reflecting just off of our head lights, covering the trees. I cant wait to get up there during the day.

2008-01-08T20:59:00.000-09:00

So my boy has strep. I let a sick little baby in my house a week ago. I was later told she had strep and pink eye.
After B running a fever of 103- 104 for 2 days, i took him to the doctor and was told it is strep. Poor boy.
So now im treating him, thankfully with fever reducers, he is feeling MUCH better. :) And EATING!
Yay!

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T21:23:00.000-09:00

Happy new year to everyone out there. I saw lots of fireworks and spent time with my family. Since then i have been cleaning, ever more cleaning. I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy 2008.

2007-12-31T14:35:00.000-09:00

My son actually thinks he is Harry Potter. He loves watching the movies and seeing all the neat stunts they watch. I was afraid it would be too scarry for him to see, but he dosent even seem phased. I suppose its because he has seen movies such as Jurassic Park and whatnot. But he adores Harry Potter.
So much that i bought him a cape at halloween time and he uses a hair stick of mine for a wand. The imagination of children just astounds me. I dont remember playing pretend like he does, but my mother says i was huge with ideas and imagination. I still have a decent imagination in the fact that I love to write stories, blog, and yes, photograph. I hope to remember everything about my boy at this age and stage. All the things he comes up with, the things he thinks of, says and does.
Hes growing up far too fast.

2007-12-29T20:46:00.000-09:00

I keep waiting for winter to actually start for a while now. Here it is, december at a close and i can still see cold bare earth outside. Lots of dirt with a smattering of snow. Sigh. I just wish that winter would be something like those of my youth. When we had several feet of snow by christmas and more soon after, rather then this... Its sad....

2007-12-29T14:01:00.000-09:00

Pay Per Post

2007-12-28T13:43:00.000-09:00

Did Christmas hit you as hard as it hit me? I totally blew my budget buying gifts for my two sons. While I tried to get just about everything my older son asked for. That wasn't possible. He wants everything he sees. So while its not possible to get him everything he wants... I at least got him the things he really wanted, plus a few i thought he would like. My younger son got a few toys, but at 6 months old, Christmas just isn't so big for him. He was far more interested in the wrapping paper.
Its hard explaining to my older son about money.... He thinks i can get anything. Frankly i wish i had half as much money as he thinks I do.

But i did find a site online where I can make some extra money by writing. At Pay Per Post you can get paid to blog While i make a few extra bucks, i can save it up in my paypal account to buy a few more things. And even smarter, save up for my sons 4th birthday. Or splurge on myself.
Anyway back to what i was saying. The site i was talking about is called Pay Per Post. Its so easy to use. I go through their site, find something I want to write about. And use their included instructions to write a blog entry and submit it to them. Then 30 days after the post is live, i get paid for it. While it doesn't happen right away, its great to build up some extra pay pal money. For whatever you are saving for.
Give it a shot!

2007-12-26T13:10:00.000-09:00

Christmas was a huge busy time for us. Family get togethers and all. Busy busy.
C got this little piano, it was alot of fun actually. Ive been playing with it, with all 6 notes it playes, i can tink out mary had a little lamb and a few other nursery rhymes.
C keeps trying to play it when im playing with it! What is wrong with my 6 month old, doesnt he know that mommy wants to play with his toy!! hehe silly boy.

Pizza

2007-12-21T22:03:00.000-09:00

Did you know you could order Pizza online from Pizza Hut? I just did it and i cant believe how easy it is. They have the entire order online, plus online only coupons. I could order one of the traditional pizzas, like meat lovers. Or i could build my own pizza with whatever toppings i wanted. Oh man, the joy!
Its really nice, you get the option of paying in cash, or paying by credit card. Plus because you sign up for an account. You can save your information. Like your name and address. Even your credit card information. But that isnt reccomended online. You know. You can do delivery or pick up. There is a charge for delivery, but hey thats allright. It covers the delivery tip.
When all was said and done. They sent me an email confirming my address and giving me an estimated time. Which should be arriving any minute now!
Say yes to PIZZA from Pizza hut!
L

Stolen

2007-12-20T12:58:00.000-09:00

NOT WRITTEN BY ME! I JUST SHARE THE VIEWS!

1) Vaccines have never been tested

The gold standard of medical science is the double blind crossover placebo study. This test has never been performed on any vaccine currently licensed in America. In an astounding leap of logic, contrary to all rules of science, vaccines are assumed to be safe and effective and therefore, it is considered to be unethical to withhold vaccinations for the purposes of testing them.

2) Vaccines contain toxic additives and heavy metals

The list of vaccine ingredients includes toxins such as formaldehyde, a substance which the Queensland Poisons Control Centre has said was “unsafe at any level if injected into the human body”; carbolic acid, also a strong poison which was implicated in deaths and serious injuries in a recent Sydney hospital mishap; aluminium which is linked with the development of Alzheimer’s disease and allergies; and Thiomersal, a mercury-based preservative which is a known neurotoxin and whose inclusion in vaccination sparked a series of Congressional hearings which saw the US Government and the AAP (American Academy of Paediatrics) call for its immediate withdrawal from any vaccine product and which was withdrawn over two years ago in the USA from any over-the-counter medicines. It was also withdrawn from the American Hepatatis B vaccines, Engerix and HB Vax II, though their Australian counterparts which are still being injected into children here today, are only just being made mercury free or mercury reduced (though the old, mercury-laced stocks will be used up rather than being withdrawn from use).

3) Vaccines are contaminated with human and animal viruses and bacteria

All childhood vaccines, apart from the Hepatitis B (which is genetically engineered and carries with it a different set of problems,) are cultured on either animal tissue, a broth of animal and/or human blood and blood products or the cell lines from aborted human foetuses. None of these culturing methods is able to guarantee an uncontaminated vaccine. In fact, it is well known that many foreign viruses and bacteria can and do contaminate vaccines. Almost none of these contaminants have been studied. The few which have been leave many parents concerned about the long-term effects of injecting these substances into their children. For instance, SV 40 (simian or monkey virus 40 – just one of 60 monkey viruses known to contaminate the polio vaccines) has been linked with cancers in humans; there is a chicken retrovirus which contaminates the measles and mumps vaccines called Reverse Transcriptase. This substance, an ancient non-human DNA code, is thought to switch on the HIV virus and cause it to become AIDS in humans; AIDS itself has been linked with a virus called SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) which contaminated both the polio and smallpox vaccines; the current MMR (measles mumps rubella) and other vaccines which contain bovine (cow) blood products are thought to be able to spread the human and always fatal form of mad cow disease, Creutzfeld-Jacobs disease, more readily than eating contaminated meat.

4) Vaccines can cause serious immediate side effects

As long as there have been vaccines, there have been reports of serious side effects following their administration. These side effects include (but are not limited to) convulsions and epilepsy, permanent brain damage, anaphylactic (life threatening allergic) reactions, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), retinal and brain haemorrhages (now being confused with Shaken Baby Syndrome) and death.

5) Vaccines can cause serious long-term side effects

According to medical reports, children are now less healthy than they have ever been before. More than 40% of all children now suffer from chronic conditions , something that was unheard of prior to mass vaccination. Vaccines have been associated with such conditions as Asthma, Eczema, Food Allergies, Chronic Ear Infections, Insulin Dependent Diabetes, Arthritis, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Hyperactivity, Schizophrenia, Multiple Sclerosis, Cancer and a raft of other chronic and auto-immune conditions which are experiencing dramatic rises in incidence.
6) Vaccines do not necessarily protect against infectious diseases
For many years, parents were told that once a child was fully vaccinated, they would be protected for life. That has now turned into a series of life-long boosters that are still not able to protect either children or adults from infectious diseases. For the very real risk of both short and long-term side effects from vaccines, parents are asked to allow their children to be given vaccines that at best, will provide a temporary sensitisation to illnesses and at worst, can make their children more susceptible to both opportunistic and infectious illness. As evidenced by the recent whooping cough outbreak in SA, the only Australian state which actually records vaccination status in cases of infectious illness, 87% of all those who contracted whooping cough and whose vaccination status was known were fully and appropriately vaccinated. In fact, Australian government statistics have shown that the majority of outbreaks in Australia occur in those who have been either fully vaccinated or were too young to be fully vaccinated.

7) Doctors, as paid salesmen for vaccine products, are no longer considered to be trustworthy arbiters of their safety and effectiveness

Doctors are currently receiving several payments from the government to push vaccines. These include $6 for reporting vaccinations to the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), a national database which tracks vaccination status in our children and which has been called “a back-door Australia Card”; $18.50 on top of their Medicare rebate for vaccinating a child on time; and a bulk payment at the end of each year based upon them having a practice vaccination rate in excess of 80%. These payments can add up to many tens of thousands of dollars in a busy inner-city practice.
As a result of this grossly unethical situation, doctors can no longer be thought of as objective when it comes to this issue. Parents no longer trust that their doctors will recommend that they vaccinate simply because it is the best thing for their child rather than the best thing for the doctor’s bottom line.

8) Pharmaceutical companies have paid for almost all vaccine research to date

Just as the tobacco companies paid for corrupt and incorrect research which purported to show that tobacco and tobacco products were safe for human consumption, so too the pharmaceutical companies have paid for and produced almost all of the research into vaccines. While the Australian government continues to spend literally hundreds of millions of dollars a year in promoting and implementing vaccination campaigns (an example is the $292 million earmarked for vaccination against Meningococcal this year alone!) and little or no money on independent research, parents will continue to mistrust the research that has been performed by vested interests. After all, companies are by their very definition commercial concerns which are motivated by profit. There is nothing that would make a pharmaceutical company intrinsically more ethical and therefore more trustworthy than a tobacco company. In addition, it is a little-known fact that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the government body which licenses and registers vaccines and other medical products, does not perform any tests whatsoever to verify pharmaceutical company claims of safety or effectiveness.

9) Doctors and health professionals rarely if ever report vaccine reactions

In discussions with representatives of both ADRAC (The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee) and the SAEFVSS (Serious Adverse Events Following Vaccination Surveillance Scheme), the two government bodies charged with keeping track of reactions to vaccines and other drugs, the AVN’s representatives were informed that less than 10% of all adverse reactions are ever reported. This means that the government’s claims of vaccine safety are admittedly 90% incorrect. In addition, the AVN’s adverse reactions database currently contains details on more than 800 serious adverse vaccine reactions. Not one of these reactions was ever reported by the doctors or health professionals involved. Parents cannot rely .. with that wide a margin of error when they are dealing with the health and well-being of their children.

10) Some childhood illnesses have beneficial aspects and therefore, prevention may not necessarily be in the best interests of the child

Measles, for example, has been used in Scandinavian countries to successfully treat such autoimmune conditions as eczema and many studies have performed which show that children who do not contract measles naturally as a child are more likely to suffer from certain cancers later in life. In addition, recent studies have shown that contracting the common childhood illnesses help to prime and strengthen the immune system in a way that vaccinations just cannot do. This priming means that children are much less likely to suffer from the now common allergic and autoimmune conditions that plague them today. Conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer. In addition, vaccinated mothers cannot confer passive immunity to their children even if they have contracted the wild form of the disease. This immunity used to protect all children during their vulnerable first months and years. Now, a vaccinated mother will give birth to a child who will be susceptible to these infections when, prior to vaccines, they would normally have been immune.
Vaccination is a medical procedure. It should never, ever be mandated. Nor should there ever be any coercion, financial or social penalties for those parents who have chosen, as is their right under the law, not to take the above risks on behalf of their children.
Unvaccinated children continue to be among the healthiest children in our society. They are no more the carriers of disease than any other healthy person. It is the government’s responsibility to do the necessary research to ensure that procedures they are recommending for all Australian families are as safe and effective as they possibly can be. It is also their responsibility to keep vested interests honest. On both counts, this government has failed in its duty of care to our most vulnerable resource – our children.

2007-12-19T13:59:00.000-09:00

Well its 2 pm, and in a few minutes Desiree will be wandering in from school and come knocking on the door. She comes to visit every day. Its nice to have company even if shes just 14 ( 15 in like 4 days lol) Then after a while Stephanie will come in, shes 17 and pregnant. She likes to play with the baby and talk about being pregnant.
Actually i feel live i do most of the talking when they come to visit,
We had some new people move in under me. They are 19 and have a 1 year old. Trying for another baby. At least with them having kids they understand that i cant always keep my 3 year old from being a PITA and noisy.
I really hate living in an apartment. I wish we could afford to live in a little duplex or house. But not untill this summer when we will probably start making more money. Sigh. Money just isnt a fun thing at all....

Anyway i need to get going, i can hear C waking up.

2007-12-18T22:45:00.000-09:00

C is 6 months old. Gosh thats huge! Its passed by so fast!!
At his well baby today we finally got him weighed and measured. He is 20 lbs 8 oz and 27 and 5/8 inches long. Hes doing great, meeting all of his milestones, and is even ahead in the whole crawling department. Its so exciting. And yet so sad. my littlest boy is growing up so fast.

Lady Issues

2007-12-15T23:15:00.001-09:00

I must say, not having a period due to being pregnant and then breastfeeding is quite nice. The day Conner turned 6 months old was the day my period came back. I suppose i should have expected it. He has been eating mashed up baby food for about 2 weeks now. Meaning he is breastfeeding a bit less. Even though he eats after he nurses, he dosent nurse quite as soon after the meal. In any event its back to the lady issue. I hate this bloated feeling, i dont cramp any more, thankfully. But i do bloat. Not comfortable.
So perhaps in 3 days ill feel more like myself again. Less grumpy, and less uncomfortable.

Hotel Reservations dot com

2007-12-14T14:28:00.002-09:00

I was looking into the prices for my fantasy trip to Hawaii online and ran across this neat site. I wanted to know the prices for Hotels over in Hawaii so i can convince my husband to take me there in March with our tax returns. So while i was looking around this site i found Hotel Reservations and then i was really excited, I also found vacation rentals, and even better there were some vacation packages! Because i thought my husband would respond better to the vacation packages, i searched for one from the nearest AirPort to Hawaii. I have to admit the prices are quite a bit higher then i expected, So i revised my search for 5 days rather then 7 and that brought the prices down to a more manageable price. Something my husband should go for without too much grumbling. Another great feature was that they have discounts when you combine your reservations together. So some of the price is shaved off of each family member if you book them all together. Little things that might make the trip a bit cheaper. In any event im happy to have found Hotel Reservations dot com. Im going to use is when we get to finally go to Hawaii.

Pay Per Post

2007-12-14T11:51:00.000-09:00

Well Christmas is coming up here soon. This year its not going to be as tight as usual. Generally in years past, Christmas has been a strained time of year for my family. Trying to make sure we have enough money for our growing electric bill and other utility's, much less presents for our sons. But this year I found a really awesome website that allows me to write paid advertisements.

Its called get paid to blog PayPerPost or PPP. They are great, I got this blog approved there, and then I can browse their marketplace, where I can find paying jobs for writing. They say in general what kind of writing they want done. What kind of links they want in your article. You just give it a voice and put it out there for you guys, the readers. I thought, hey what an awesome way to earn a bit of extra money in the pay pal account so that I can get the boys some extra things for Christmas.

I'm just happy that I found something that works great for me. Maybe you should try it out, it will probably work for you. After all, you have a blog right? You have an opinion of things? You know how to type and hit spell check right? Then there inst an issue. So give it a shot. Couldent hurt right

Sponsered Post

2007-12-13T17:57:00.000-09:00

This policy is valid from 13 December 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Lina @ Silvermoonmyst@gmail.com.

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The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

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Pictures

2007-12-13T09:29:00.000-09:00

Another week just flying by. Its amazing how fast it passes...
We finally got a bit of snow. About 2 inches. Where is this fabled snow we keep hearing about?
Anyway i did a bit of a photoshoot with a couple of girls that live next door. We have to do it after they are out of snow which means the lighting is bad suns almost down but i still managed to get some cute pictures IMO. And theirs.

And for fun. I was trying out a new filter Pretty interesting no?

2007-12-11T09:38:00.000-09:00

Its actually snowing! After weeks of high winds and 40 degree temps, we had huge doubts we woul ever get snow for Christmas. Itsn ot much yet. Enough so i can still see the rocks but the clouds are low and heavy. Maybe we will get som real snow!
Poor C is still sick. We were up half the night with him coughing and crying. It was misrable, he would nurse and then scream for 20 minutes at least afterwords just crying coughing and gagging. Makes me feel so badly.
B is in the bath being B lol.

2007-12-07T14:04:00.000-09:00

B is at Jeris for a while. She dosent know if she is keeping him or not. No bother, at least i have a few hours of quiet! Especially right now seeing C is napping. Its nice.
Its funny though, i went to change the channel from Bs tv shows, and i didnt know what to change it to. I didnt know anything that was on. It was quite funny.

Sometimes its strange being alone.

The who can dance

2007-11-29T10:48:00.000-09:00

Oh this is just like the who did it dance.
It starts with my brother calling my mother. And he asks, Do you think L would let B and C come with me to get their pictures taken?
My mom says. I dont know, call your sister and ask her, but i doubt she will let them go without her.
* insert me talking, Umm helllloooo C is nursing, hes 5 months old, he cant be away from me for more then 20 minutes, before he wants to nurse*
My brother tells my mom to leave the car-seats for the boys at her place, he will pick them up before coming to mine. My mom has her own car-seats for the boys.
She then calls me. And lets me know that my brother wants to take the boys to get their pictures done. Well all fine and well. Ill get them ready for pictures. But they cant go without me.
A has NO idea how to deal with a high needs child like B. Hes hyper-active, with a touch of ADD. Much less a nursing infant who always wants mom. Not to mention B acts terrified of my brother each time he sees him. Literally runs and screams.

Anyway my brother finally calls me, and askes me if the kids have dark blue shirts. Im going ***** thats about the one color i cant match to one another. He said its the only nice sweater he has. Ugh. So i rumble around and find a two piece shirt for B. Took off the patterned overshirt, it looks strange without it, but oh well. Then found a dark and light blue striped shirt for C with some navy cord overalls. Its gonna have to wrok, unless A wants to buy something else for C. Up to him, i dont have any money to spend.
Anyway i have to go, B is dressed but wont eat. C is fed but happy in the jumper and late on his nap. Im half dressed and have a towel of wet hair on my head. Me thinkith i need to hurrt.

2007-11-28T12:21:00.000-09:00

C is quite Mobile now. He does an army crawl, and while its so adorable, he is getting into EVERYTHING. Big messes. The tree is now open game!The coffee table is his enemy. He gets stuck underneath it. Im looking to get some corner protectors like thease, as well as ones to protect him from the sharp edges of the legs. It also looks like im going to need to raise the Christmas tree onto a small coffee table. Need to keep it out of little palms.
Now if only i could keep B out of it too! No such luck i think.

2007-11-27T10:12:00.003-09:00

I am feeling better this morning. I guess a couple of nights sleep and tony not around every corner trying to prod me to talk which always makes me cry harder is helping. Plus we bit the bullet and went out to eat even though it destroyed our budget and now hes gonna have to work some overtime. Oh well. I decorated as much as i could last night. I opened the box of lights and almost every strain was burned out! I was so mad. I finally grabbed one if the nicer looking ones, plugged it in and grabbed an crummy looking one. I took a light bulb from the spare box and pluged it in in EVERY hole untill the damn thing turned on. Repeat for 3 strands. I have a small 6 foot tree ( though it dosent stand taller then me?? Whats up with that? WITH the angel its 6 foot lol) Its fiber-optics ( ugh tony again lol, i wanted a 7.5 fir... i got fiber-optics) After 3 strands, plus the fiber optics it looks good. Added silver garland ( tony again,) and some gold ribbon. And thats it. I have some paper pinwheel ornaments i made, but i still need to add ribbon, i need a small hole punch or something to put the ribbon on. We had ornaments, but 3 years of hard use between Brennan who is hard on most anything, and the animals we used to have.... they are pretty thrashed. So i just tossed them. My mom has all thease beautiful handmade ornaments, she dosent really like to use them, so im gonna see if i can have them. They are really amazing. Very old looking.
Im all for traditional Christmas. Tony wants everything clashing and harsh. Black ornaments with silver garland and lights. I like the colors and green and red. :P We have to compromise smewhere. Oh being stuck in an apartment means i cant decorate the outside of my house this year. So i hung my ice cycle lights on the inside of my windows hanging down in them :) So THERE, it looks pretty from the outside, you can see the ice cycles and the tree. Plus all our candles. I cant light the ones in the left window because of the tree, i just added more to the right window. Im a sucker for candles.

Sick

2007-11-25T00:36:00.000-09:00

Just so you know. Eating 4 tablespoons of chocolate fudge frosting WILL make you sick to your stomach.
Damn comfort foods!

Co sleeping.

2007-11-19T14:00:00.001-09:00

I love co-sleeping with my son. I co-slept with my first son so when my baby was born it was natural to put him in bed with me. Its so much easier on a new mother or a new again mother, to just lay back down with the baby. A baby wakes up many times a night, even now, at five months, my son wakes up 3 times a night to nurse. If he slept in his own bed, i would have to get up, get him, find a place to nurse, be it in bed or in a chair. Wait for him to eat, that could take any amount of time from 10 minutes to an hour. Then put him back in bed and pat his back until he fell asleep. With co sleeping, i just get him into position to nurse and then stay in a semi sleeping state until he is done.

My first son was formula fed, and having him in bed with me was much easier too. He slept in a crib for the first two months. The process was the same as if he had been breastfed. I had to get up, get the bottle, get him, feed him, put him back, put his bottle away and then go back to bed. When he was co sleeping, i kept prepared bottles in a mini fridge next to my bed. I would grab a bottle, feed him, he prefered his formula cold, then put it back in the fridge and go to sleep.
My children were never distrubd from their sleep. They simply started to make their hungry sounds and i would wake up to feed them.

While i would never co sleep if my husband had done any kind of drinking, we are generally light sleepers. Our babies always slept in between us with their own blankets. They are happy and healthy. For a sleep deprived mom, it is so nice to eliminate the extra steps of getting out of bed, getting the baby, feeing the baby, putting away and feeding supplies, put the baby back in bed and then going to bed. I couldent do it any other way.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

2007-11-12T15:03:00.001-09:00

Easy to make Christmas tree decorations,

You can buy some pretty fantastical Christmas tree decorations and ornaments. But its so much more fun to actually make them yourself. It adds a touch of personalization to your tree, and can provide hours of entertainment for yourself and children. Many objects can be found around the home, and the rest can be bought for relatively inexpensive.

Wooden Ornaments.

We found some really cute Christmas ornaments made out of wood at Michaels Craft Stores. They came with markers and some glitter-glue. It cost $1 for 3 ornaments, 5 pens and 2 different colored glitter glue. My son, sister and her friend spent hours coloring and glittering the ornaments. We added the children's names to some and set out to dry. They will be hung on the tree.

* You can also find plain wooden ornaments in most craft stores. You can add your own decorations as desired.

Wire Ornaments.

Take some craft wire and shape it into traditional Christmas shapes, the tree, the wreath, the candy cane, angels and more. String large beads such as pony beads on the wires and hang with string.

Bead Garland.

To make a pretty string of bead garland you will need some holiday yarn and sparky pony beads. String the pony beads on the yarn. Tie a knot in between each bead to prevent them from all falling off. You can string them one after another, or space them apart. You can do the string a solid color, or a pattern of Christmas colors.

Crochet Yarn Garland.

Even if you don't know how to crochet you can make loose weave yarn garland. Take several colors of yarn that go well together and do a simple chain. Make sure you use a large hook, its often easiest to do this by hand.

* To finger crochet. Take the yarn and make a loop out of it. Put the cut edge OVER the other side. It needs to be in front. Put 2 fingers and your thumb inside the loop from the back side. You want the severed edge of your yarn to be in front of everything else. Grab the piece of yarn that is connected to your skein. Pull it through the loop loosely. And repeat. If you tighten it all the way you will create a tight chain. Loosely with several pieces of yarn will create a nice loose braid like chain that can be hung on your Christmas tree, or used to frame a window.

Polymer Clay

Have children make Christmas ornaments out of polymer clay. You can make any decoration out of the clay. However polymer clay requires you to bake it to set the clay. You need to bake it at 275 degrees for 15 minutes per ¼ inch thickness. When its baked or cured, the clay becomes hard enough that it shouldest break when dropped. You can paint and decorate your fired clay as desired. You can even make beads out of it. This is not just a holiday craft, you can make anything you can imagine with polymer clay.

Felt Ornaments.

You can make ornaments out of felt by cutting out the shapes. You can sew or glue decorations such as pom poms and sequence on them for a bit of added posh. You can buy all sorts of colored felt including starkly pieces at craft stores. You can make the traditional Christmas characters.

Snowflakes.

Go back to basics and make paper snowflakes. I use construction paper and copy paper. Fold in hand and in half again. Then cut a snowflake shape out of the paper. To decorate cut diamonds, triangles, rectangles and other shapes from the folded edge. They can be hung from the tree, in rows or from the ceiling.

Paper Trains.

Cut strips of colored paper in to strips. One inch wide and 6 inches long. Make a loop and glue it closed. Take a second strip and interlock it with the first making a chain. Glue or tape closed.

Personalized Ornaments.

Buy some clear ornaments from the store. Collect pictures of children and family members and cut small enough ti fit inside the ornament. Using a toothpick push the picture inside the ornament to create a personalized decoration. You can also put pictures of pets, holiday icons like Santa and frosty, and places you have been or want to go as ideas.

Clothespin Creations

This could be an ornament or a decoration. Find clothespins, either old fashioned clothespins, or the newer ones with springs. Using felt, pom poms, sequence, and beads you can create many different Christmas characters like Santa, Frosty, Reindeer, and gingerbread men. Use paint to define your decoration and add pizazz to it.

Apple Cinnamon Ornaments.

Mix 3 cups applesauce and 3 cups cinnamon together until you get a very thick paste. It will take quite a bit. Roll onto wax paper and cut out shapes. Pierce with a toothpick to make a hole. Allow to dry for several hours then hang. They will smell wonderful for years to come. If your ornaments happen to loose their scent. Just drop on a few drops of cinnamon essential oil.

Salt dough crafts.

You can made the same ornaments out of salt dough that you can with polymer clay and you will have the ingredients at home. You need 3 cups flour, 1 cup salt and 1 cup cold water. Mix together to make a dough. Hand knead for about 10 minutes then set in a covered container or bag for an hour. Then it can be rolled and shaped. Bake in the oven for a few minutes to harden.

Pine Cone creations.

Collect pine cones from outside and make into Christmas themed creations. You can make the normal Christmas characters, or you can just coat with glitter and hang up on the tree. You can also drop a few drops of scented oil on the pine cones to make them smell. Or you can buy scented or unscented pine cones in most craft stores.

Pipe Cleaner candy canes.

Twist red and white pipe cleaners together to make a candy cane. You can decorate with pony beads if you want for added decoration. Hang on your Christmas tree or place in plants or around the house for decoration.

Ribbon ornaments.

Take a ribbon fold it back and forth, making a stack about 1 inch long. When it gets the desired length use a needle and thread to pierce the stack and tie off. Use a small bit of ribbon to tie a loop on top to create a hanger. The ribbon decoration works best if you use a ribbon that is 1 inch or wider.

REAL snowflakes.

You need pipe-cleaners, 3 per snowflake. A mayonnaise or pickle jar, borax, and yarn. Some misc things you will need include scissors, spoon, water, and blue food coloring.

Start by making the basic snowflake shape with the white pipe cleaners. Twist the 3 pipe cleaner together to form six spokes. You want this to be able to fit inside your jar. side note If you want to make larger snowflakes, you can use a clean bucket, large pot, or some other larger holding container. Using the yarn, tie each pipe cleaner together making a circle around the pipe cleaners. Making a basic snowflake. You can do more then one string to vary your snowflakes.

Using string and a pencil, suspend the pipe cleaner in the jar or container of your choice. Boil some water in a pot. Mix the boiling water with the Borax. You will need 3 tablespoons borax to each cup of water. If you want your snowflakes to be colored you can add a few drops of food coloring. Blue would be the obvious choice, however you can do other colors as well. I think green and red snowflakes really make the season that much more fun.

Pour the water/borax mixture into the jar carefully. An adult should do this step. Then set aside. As the water cools the borax will stick to the snowflake, crystallizing it. Carefully pull your snowflakes from the jar and Hang.

side note You can do the same thing with sugar and water making rock candy but it will take longer to set.

Making your own holiday decorations is a fun activity for a cold winter day. Something that every member of your family can participate in, no matter their age.

2007-11-10T16:08:00.001-09:00

It finally started snowing here. And stupid me, i wasnt careful enough when i walked outside. I actually fell. I havent fallen in years.
I bruised my tailbone. I have bloodey bruises on my forearms near my elbows. I have bruises on my lower back and bum. I hit my head when i fell, but i had a hair clip in it broke the clip and saved me a freaking headwound. as is there is a crack.
It really hurts badly now.
I broke my diet and pulled another soda to down some ibprofin... but im really hurting. Im shaking so bad, and its been a half hour. I dont even wanna pick up the baby for fear im gonna fall again.
Can you een imagine how hard it is to walk up 4 flights of stairs after you take a fall like that?
I had stepped off the curb to get to the dumpsters. I stepped, took one more step and fell backwords. There was no slippage. Just a fall. I hit on my back. Ugh. Im lightheaded and really bad feeling..
So im gonna go, before i pass out or something.

2007-11-07T11:20:00.000-09:00

I hate cleaning. I really do.
Im sitting here, Pretending i dont have a million things to do. Hoping that the little house faeries will come and do them
:P
Yeah it dosent work that way does it?
Ok, so im trying to program myself not to hate cleaning os much. Just saying, its not so bad, i can do this ect. I might neverl ike to clean, i might hate to stop doing other things to clean, But i can get it done...

2007-11-06T19:53:00.001-09:00

Im not sure if im going to keep this blog up much longer... I have several others and i cant do it all....

Busy bee

2007-11-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well i wont be able to update tomarrow, SO im on late at night to write :)
I have several new informative articals in the works. One i wrote * gasp!* by hand. Talk about crazy. Ok i was stuck on the couch nursing my lil boy and i couldent get to the computer. Im actually quite sad about my handwriting, it has really gone down the toilet.
I bought my son several things for christmas.Including an animitronic dinosaur that walks on its own and makes dinosaur sounds. Hes going to love it.
I also decided on what to make my hubby for Christmas. Im going to make him a remote holder. He plays xbox 360, plus we have remotes for the tv, surround, dvd player ect. So im going to make him some kind of holder ( probably out of fleece seeing its no sew and i cant sew, and i have a bunch laying around) that will hold all the remotes and his 2 headsets for his game system. It might be kinda corney.. but he will like it. Besides he dosent need a new watch...
The baby, well he dosent need anything for chirstmas!
Anyway i have to get going. The baby is asleep, which means i want to take a baby free, child free shower!
L

I havent fallen off the face of the planet!

2007-11-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

I swear i havent dissapeared. Though it might seem so.
Actually Connerface has been sick. Woke me up at 5 am throwing up all over me... Ahh the joys of co sleeping with your babe....
Hes doing ok, mostly coughing and a slight fever. Just generally not happy.
I ran a million errands today. Just got a bunch of things done. Things that cant be done when my husband is at work. But at least things are done.
Well i atually have to go. I need to give the bebe a bath and get him to bed. So everyone.
Hasta

New Wrap

2007-10-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

I really love babywearing. Its pretty darn comfortable :)
When it came i had to plop the baby into it to try it out :) So here is my new wrap :)
Dont mind me, I just threw it on. Before i even took my shower hehe.

Pretty Excited!

2007-10-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

Tony bought me a new printer today. Ok so i didnt have one before. But i do now!!!
Which means i can now print my pictures!!! Im very excited abut that.
( if you want to see my pictures visit my photoblog!)

Im so selfish

2007-10-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

God im so selfish.
All i want to do is blow several hundred dollers on camera stuff. New lenses. Get it cleaned.
Hell while your at it lina just buy another camera. After all the one you have isnt good enough.
Im mad at myself because i bought warrenty for it, and NOWHERE in alaska honors the warrenty. Its so stupid. Waste of money. But right now i need to get it cleaned and I want to get a new lens something different better. Not as big as my 300 persay, but something with a good range of options. Something that will do great for inside with the kids and outside with scenery...
GOd i need 500 dollers..
Im so selfish. I should be thinking of what to get my sons for chirstmas... and all i can think of is a camera lens.... i need a reality check.

25 things to scrapbook about baby

2007-10-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

I didnt write this, i found it, BUT i want to remember it. It has some ideas that I havent. SOOO here it is!
Tip number 1: Pregnancy pages Start from the beginning and show baby what life was like before she was born. You can begin with a picture of you holding the positive pregnancy test. Kristi West, a Raleigh, North Carolina mother of two suggests that you also include shots of mom's belly growing each month and ultrasound pictures. Scrapping idea: Write a letter to baby about how you are feeling, what life is like at the time, and your dreams for her. Tip number 2: The nurseryYou and your spouse worked so hard preparing the perfect nursery. Take several shots from different angles to someday show your little guy his first room. Scrapping idea: Save pieces of fabric from the crib bedding and a paint sample card to dress up the page. Tip number 3: Family treeIntroduce your baby to the family with a family tree page.Scrapping idea: Nora Parkman, a Plainfield, Illinois mother of two says, "I cut out a tree from brown paper then used leaf stencils. I cut all the pictures into leaf shapes and decorated with more paper leaves." Tip number 4: First dayTake plenty of photos of baby's first day in the world. Get shots of you and your spouse with the baby, the doctors and nurses, and all of the baby's visitors.Scrapping idea: Kristin Bratsch from Bountiful, Utah, said that she made a page with her daughter in the hospital bassinet and put the actual ID bracelets that she, her husband and the baby had to wear on the page with sticky glue dots. Tip number 5: Welcome homeTake shots of your baby's homecoming and first week at home. Try to get a shot of the baby first being carried into the house and any guests waiting there to greet him.Scrapping idea: Make a border across the top of the page with small pictures of all the flowers, stuffed animals, etc. that guests sent or brought to your baby. Tip number 6: Watch me growEach month, take a picture of your little one next to an object, like a favorite stuffed animal. With my one-year old daughter, we took a picture of her with roses at each month's "birthday." With each month that she grew older, we gave her an additional rose until she held a dozen on her first birthday.Scrapping idea: Trim closely around each picture so that you can fit all twelve pictures (one after another) on a page, and watch your baby grow. Tip number 7: Sleepy time Capture those precious moments when baby is snoozing. Get shots of him sleeping alone and those times he nods off with mommy or daddy.Scrapping idea: Embellish the page with moon and stars stickers. Tip number 8: Doctor's check-upsTake pictures of your baby at her doctor's appointments (at least the first one!).Scrapping idea: "I have all the checkup sheets my doctor gave us for her appointments," says Kristin of the 5x7 piece of paper with the baby's stats and progress. "I'm going to scrap them with a picture taken from that time frame." Kristin also suggests embellishments like medical equipment, stethoscopes, and band aid stickers for the page. Tip number 9: Rub-a-dub-dub in the baby tubTake shots of everything from baby's first sponge bath to his first bath in the baby tub, and finally his graduation to the regular bathtub.Scrapping idea: Use cute bubbles and rubber ducky embellishments for this page. Tip number 10: Grumpy and grouchyWe are always taking pictures of the baby when she is a little angel so for another view, take some when she is really ticked off.Scrapping idea: Try making an Oscar the Grouch or Grumpy Bear page for these shots. Or you can place the picture on blue paper and go with a "Feeling Blue" theme.Tip number 11: Body partsNora suggests that you take close-up shots of baby's various parts -- his nose, ears and eyes. You don't want to forget that precious rosebud of a mouth or his long dark eyelashes.Scrapping idea: Spread the pictures all around the page and put a typical full-face picture of the baby in the center. Tip number 12: First owie No one forgets that first bad scrape or big goose egg your baby gets. But, just in case you do, take a picture.Scrapping idea: Embellish the page with the first band-aid that she wore or the wrapper from the gauze pad. Tip number 13: First holidays Holiday pictures are of course a must. Capture everything from your baby sitting in a pumpkin patch at Halloween to her playing with a dreidl to her holding a lit pile of multi-color tree lights on her lap at Christmas.Scrapping idea: Embellish with themed holiday stickers, or do some fancy cutting with your pictures. For example, you could shape your holiday pictures like ornaments and hang them on a tree page. Likewise, you can shape pictures like eggs at Easter and put them in a large Easter basket on a page. Tip number 14: First trips and travelsWhether it is the first trip to the grocery store, grandma's or the children's museum, take lots of pictures and dedicate a page to each event.Scrapping idea: Use the ticket stubs, receipts or brochures you picked up on each trip to embellish the page. Tip number 15: Little piggiesBaby toes are one of the cutest things in the world, so take several shots of your baby's adorable feet. You also might want to use stamp pads or paint to make an impression of baby's footprints as well.Scrapping idea: Michelle Chronister, a mother of two from Woodridge, Illinois, suggests making cute little pink pigs out of card stock and using them to border a page. You can also cut out the letters "Little Piggies" for this page to top it off. Tip number 16: Messy eaterCapture your cutie taking his first bites of baby food.Scrapping idea: Save some labels from his favorite jars of food to make a border for your scrap page. Tip number 17: PlaytimeSnap shots of your baby playing with her favorite toys, such as her exersaucer, the kick and play, or a favorite stuffed toy. If you can set it up, a great shot would be a reflection of baby looking into a mirror on one of her toys.Scrapping idea: Accent the page with silly songs you sing and nicknames you call her. You'll forget them soon enough, so it is nice to document them here. Tip number 18: Reading timeGet pictures of you and your spouse taking turns reading to baby -- whether it is his favorite book or the Sunday paper.Scrapping idea: Finally, a use for junk mail! Cut out pictures of children's book covers from those kid's book club brochures that come in the mail and use them to embellish the page. Another nice edition is a book list of your little one's current favorite books. Tip number 19: Making cookies with mommyOk, so your baby may not be actually helping you make cookies quite yet, but you can still get a great picture. Prop her up in a bouncy chair and put a bowl of cookie dough on her lap and a wooden spoon in her hand.Scrapping idea: To embellish this page, make a paper cookie with a bite out of it, or use cardstock to create a bowl of dough with a spoon in it. Tip number 20: Peek-a-boo It's just about every baby's favorite game, so take some shots of baby playing peek-a-boo.Scrapping idea: Nora has a fabulous idea for a peek-a-boo page. She says, "I had captured lots of pictures of my daughter playing peek-a-boo around corners, under chairs, behind the couch, etc." So she made a spread with flaps that opened. "The flaps each had a letter and together they spelled out 'peek-a-boo.' When you lifted each flap, it was one of the pictures of her playing peek-a-boo." Tip number 21: On the goNow that your little guy is on the go, take plenty of shots of him crawling across the room. If possible, use time lapse to capture the shots every few seconds automatically.Scrapping idea: Trim very closely around babies body on a handful of action shots (maybe 5 to 7) and then spread them out on the paper so that it looks like he is crawling across the page. This can also be done for walking. Tip number 22: Arts and crafts When your baby is close to nine months or so, leave her in just a diaper and put her in her high chair with some finger paints and paper. Then start snapping pictures! She might have paint on her from head to toe but it will make for great shots. Scrapping idea: Use one of her completed finger paintings as the background for the page. Tip number 23: First haircutWhen your baby goes for his first haircut, make sure that you get before, during and after pictures for your scrapbook.Scrapping idea: Kristi suggests that you embellish the page with scissors or hair roller stickers. Also be sure to add a see-through envelope or bag to save a lock of your baby's hair. Tip number 24: My favorites Closer to when your baby is a year, take pictures of her with some of her favorite things. Maybe she has a stuffed teletubbie that she drags everywhere or a favorite blanket.Scrapping idea: Use ads from the Sunday paper to cut out pictures of the items your baby loves and glue them around the border of the page. Also make a detailed list of all of your baby's favorites at this time. Include everything from her favorite food to her favorite toy and favorite TV show. Tip number 25: The first birthday partyClose your scrapbook with lots of photos from his first birthday party. Get shots of him eating the cake, opening presents, and visiting with his guests.Scrapping idea: Use items from the party to embellish the page. For example, you may want to include an extra invitation, a balloon that didn't get blown up, or a napkin with "Happy First Birthday" printed on it. Hopefully these precious poses to use for photos and these scrapping techniques will inspire you to make your own special first year scrapbook for your baby.

Scrapbooking

2007-10-25T22:04:00.000-08:00

So one thing that people tend t forget is journaling when doing a scrapbook.
A photo can be a great focal point. But it can also be the embellishment. The journaling or quote could very well be the center of your piece.

If your child says something funny, the story could be the page, using some pictures as side decorations.

Adding quotes and sayings to your page can also bring in a bit of creative difference. Pick a picture and the find a quote to go with it. Or find a quote that fits or sounds great and match a picture to it. Sometiems i start with the quote and work my way backwords. I have a wonderful quote about boys and dirt. Im saving it for this summer when both of my boys will get muddy. A piture will be perfect and ill have my page.

You can often find little treasures in magazines. Sometimes a title is great, clip it and you have an embellishment to add to your page. Letters from people also make great scrapbook pages. Include a picture of them to remember what they looked like.

Remember to add a few words to every picture that you scrapbook. You might always remember the picture, but you might not remember the story behind it. Be sure to preserve that memory as well with words.

2007-10-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

I am hapy to report that we have SNOW. Yes SNOW.
Winter has started. Even though its still rather warm, we are seeing mid 30s during the day, high 20s at night. But there is still SNOW!
Just had to announce it!

Scrapbooking

2007-10-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well i FINALLY have new RAM in my computer. If you dont know what that is... basicly it is what makes you computer go faster, or slower. I didnt have enough RAM and my computer couldent run prgrams like photoshop or even games. But its in now, and thats fantasmic.
Now i can do my scrapbooking again!!
So excited.
So to celebrate, here are a few of my older ones, that i did before my computer really ran the programs.

This is the ONLY page i have made of Conner. More will come soon!

Easy Chocolate Mousse

2007-10-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Ok so i know i missed a bunch of days, So here is a no fuss, simple dessert that anyone can make.
Chocolate Mousse.
Ingredients.
1 box chocolate pudding, instant
1 cup whipping cream.

Mix pudding making with 1.5 cups milk. When firming add in 1 cup whipping cream and beat untill firmed and mixed. Refridgerate for 2 hours.
Its a awsome simple dessert :)

Busy busy

2007-10-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have been ever so busy the last couple of days. Ive been unpacking my house, i spent a full day with my MIL and my kids. Then i was laid up with a migrane, that was terrible. Today im unpacking some more. But i figured i could take a break for at least a few minutes.

Ive been trying to get my youngest to take a bottle. He cant seem to figure out what to do. He sits there and lets the milk dribble into his mouth, then he chews on the nipple with his newly cut teeth. And just smiles about it. But he is so interested in the bottle. He sees it and goes crazy trying to get it in his mouth. Once its there, hes just happy to chew. Its so cute.

My older son hasnt put on clothes in 2 days. Just putting on new pajamas every day. He refuses to put clothes on. I made him the other night, so we could run to the store. Im not about to let my children go outside of my house without clothes on.

Its nearly winter here. ITs been chilly for days now. We never get above 40 degrees now. We have had it snw twice, but its melting off even as i write. But thats the way it goes. Soon it will be freezing and snowy. Nothing one can do about that.

Well I had better get back to unpacking. I have so much to go.

Fantastic Meal

2007-10-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday i was at a compleat loss at what to make for dinner. I mean a compleate loss. I had pork ribs, steak, a roast, chicken, and stew meat but nothing looked good. Ever feel like that? You have plenty of food and nothing looks tasty? So out came my wonderful recipe book. I have a cookbook collection that anyone could envy. A whole cupboard full of books, files and hand scribbled recipes that were my mothers, my grandmothers and beyond. Some even came over from england with my grammy.
Flipping through some cards i found a recipe that i havent tried ( not difficult) But looked good.
Popcorn chicken and onion rings.
Surprisingly it was so easy to make. And something i figured i would be forever doomed to pick up at places like hot delis and heaven forbid KFC.
But you can make it at home and know what, everything you need to make it, is allready in your kitchen.
While this recipe varies from the one i read, i prefer mine.
For the chicken mix.
You need.
1/2 cup four
1/2 cup breadcrumbs OR Crushed Ritz ( which i prefer! ) or a mix of the two to make 1/2 cup
The seasonings you regularly use to season chicken.
I used
Onion,
garlic
seasoning salts
mrs dash
salt and pepper
and a dash of hot pepper for kicks, some could be cayanne or chili powder.
butter

2 eggs
3 chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces.
about 2 cups hot oil in a deep sauce pan

to make.
Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium high heat. You want it to be very hot, but not too hot as to burn. Add 2 tablesppons butter. melt and mix in.
Dip each chicken piece into the egg, make sure its well coated, then dip into the four mixture. Then drop each piece one by one into the hot oil. do not let pieces touch one another or they will cook together. No harm just you wont have bite sized pieces.
Cook for about 10 minutes, turning as they change to golden brown.
Using tongs or a metal scoop spatula to pull he pieces out of the hot oil and place on a waiting plate. Your plate should be covered with a clean dishtowel. While you could use paper towels they do not absorb the extra hot oil as fast and as well as a cloth towl.
Every time you clear the pan of your popcorn chicken, add another tablespoon of butter. This keeps the chicken golden and adds a wonderful flavor.

When you finish all of your chicken pieces its time to start your onion rings!

To make the onion rings you will need.
1/4 cup fresh flour
salt and pepper
onion powder
1 egg

mix dry ingredients together

Cut your onion into rings, i like to cut mine about 1/4 inch thick.
Dip into egg and then in flour mixture. Drop into hot oil and allow to sizzle untill golden brown. Turning to brown both sides. The four mixture often slips off the onion rings. Place on towel and let drip dry.

Frankly it was a good meal, something i didnt think of before and somethign that is going to be added into my regular meals.

Picture Perfect

2007-10-17T16:03:00.000-08:00

I am a photographer at heart. I worked for a while with a studio, but their photo requirements for each session ate me. I was terrible at meeting them. I always over did it. So although i adored my job, the place just wasnt for me.
Course this was before Conner-face was born.
Now i have my own personal little baby to photograph. And photograph I do.
My goodness, i thought i over did it with Brennan, doing 2000 pictures in 2 months. With Conner, im much more excessive. But the quality of my photographs has really gotten much better.
Brennan hates it when i pull out my camera, but Conner... Conner is a big ole ham for it. He sees it and smiles. If hes crying, all i have to do is make the flash go off. He stops crying and starts talking. He loves my camera. Its a huge Canon Rebel. But he adores it.
In any event, my little baby just turned 4 months old! ( Time flies)
So i would like to post a couple of pictures to celabrate my beautiful little boy turning 4 months old.

October

2007-10-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

This month is speeding by. Literally, the time is just flying. Of course it was a very busy month for me thus far. I moved into my new house, and ive been spending so much of my time trying to get it set up and unpacked. While the house is livable, its no where near done. Mostly because i dont have any bookshelves anymore. Ugh. Well there is always Freecycle and Creigslist!
But again, Halloween is just around the corner. Thankfully both boys costumes have been stored at my mothers so i know just where they are.
Brennan is going to be Sully, from Monsters Inc. Its a really cute costume, and its really heavy. So its going to be nice and warm for our cold weather.
Conner is going to wear a glow in the dark, black fleece suit that has skeleton bones on it. Including matching mittens and a hood. It should keep him warm, even though he will spend most of the time in the truck with me while Tony takes Brennan house to house. I do the driving.

Well October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Which most of you know.
Show your support for womankind by wearing a pink ribbon.
Or donate to Breast Cancer research.
If you have a safeway locally, you can donate to Breast Cancer Research by buying products. I bought pink and purple teethers for my 4 month old. A portion of your purchace price goes to Breast Cancer Research ( and my son got some teethers) Or you can donate any amount of money at the cash register.
Just one way to support research for something that could be preventable.

Teething Monster

2007-10-16T09:58:00.000-08:00

My little man is teething so bad. He is utterly misrable. His hands are always in his mouth and hes crying half the day. I feel so bad for him. Ive been givingh im teething tablets, and they help for a bit.
The other night he was so misrable that i actually gave him 1/4 dose of tylanol to help him. It wasnt really enough, but it helped him fall asleep. It was right before i finally got him to bed. He cried for 2 hours after that, but hey whos counting.

Right now, he is happily sitting in the elbow of our couch, propped up on a pillow and singing along to the tv. Hes happiest in the morning. Thankfully, it gives me time to get online.
Anyway im sorry i didnt get any more ideas for meals up. I have several new ones that i wanna get out. I havent actually tried this one, but it sounds really good.

Maybe later when my boys are napping.
Hasta
Lina

Saterday and Sundays!

2007-10-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

I know i know. I forgot to get on yesterday.
So as a treat, ill do more then one recipe. Arent i nice?
Peach Cobbler
Cobbler filling: 4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches (blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds to remove the skins) 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon flour Cobbler crust: 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3 tablespoons brown sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon brown sugar, for topping Whipped cream
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently and spread evenly again. Bake for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and stir to form a soft dough.
Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of brown sugar and return to oven. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream.

And Peach Crisp
Peach Crisp6 cups sliced peaches, an be fresh or canned. If canned put peaches in strainer untill well drained.2 tbsp honey1/12 mined candied ginger2 tbs cornstarch1 c unbleached flour1/4 c rolled oats1/3 light brown sugar packed4 tbsp butter or margerine, cubed and chilled3 tbsp chopped pecans- optionalfrozen fat free vanilla yogurt or ice cream
DirectionsPreheat oven to 350
In large bowl, toss peahes and honey sprinkle with ginger and corstarch.In medium bowl, combine flour oats and brown sugar. Using a fork, cut in margerine. Spoon peahes into a 2 quart baking dish, sprink oat mixture on top. Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to ool 30 minutes before serving. As a bonus, top with yogurt or ice cream.*side note* Fresh peaches will loose their color, turning brown. To avoid this, coat slices with lemon juice right after cutting.

Friday Dessert Idea

2007-10-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well i dont know about you, BUT its freaking cold here. Its pushing 30 degrees F out there and the wind... Oh gosh, i feel bad for my husband, who is an Automotive driver. I wouldent want to be out on the roads while the weather is this terrible.
Anyhow, this chilly weather makes me think of delicious desserts that warm you from the inside out. And at the top of the list today is Maple Apple Crumble.

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoon lemon rind ( grated finely)
Pinch of salt
7 tablespoons chilled butter
5 granny smith or pippin apples
1 tablespoon maple syrup.

Directions.
In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, lemon rind and salt. Cut 5 tablespoons of butter into pieces and rub the butter pieces into the flour mixture with your fingertips to creae coarse rumbs. Freeze mixture for about 20 minutes.

Peel, core and chop the apples into bite sized piees. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Add apples and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes longer, untill tender. Add syrup, inrease heat and cook untill apples begin to armelize.

Place apples in bowl and keep warm. In a clean skillet pour in flour mixture and ook over medium heat untill mixture is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Top apples with the crumble and serve.

You can also add in 1 oz of walnuts to the crumble mixture and serve with french vanilla ice cream as a bonus treat.

Thursday Meal Idea

2007-10-11T15:55:00.001-08:00

Todays meal idea is Chicken Fried steak.
My husband loves chicken fried steak. Its the one thing he can be counted on getting when we go out to eat. So i had to find a recipie to make it myself.
Ingredients.
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 minute steaks
3 tablespoons oil
3/4 cup milk

Directions.

On a sheet of waxed paper combine 1/2 cup flour, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt garlic powder pepper and cayenne. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs an mix in water untill blended. Dip steaks in flour mixture, then in egg mixture, then in flour mixture again. Set aside.

IN 10 inch skillet, eat 1 1/2 teaspoon oil. Cook steaks 2at a time, turning once untill golden brown and cooked through. About 4 mnutes per side. Put steaks on a plate an keep warm. I place them in the microwave and close the door, it holds the heat well.

Whisk remaining 2 teaspoons flour into skillet and add in milk and salt. Cook, mixing continiously untill thickened and smooth. A dash of pepper can be added for exta flavor. Serve steaks with gravy.

Any kind of steaks can be used. Tenderize them by pounding them with a meat mallet to break down tough fibers.
Searve over mashed potatos flavored with chives and evaporated milk. Or As my husband likes french fries made fresh.

And that is the meal idea for today.

Thursday Meal Idea

2007-10-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

To continue with my meal idea. Today we have Chicken Fried Steak.

Ingredients.

1/2 cup plus 2 tsp Flour

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 eggs

1 tbs water

4 minute steaks

3 tbs vegetable oil

3/4 c milk

Directions.

On a sheet of waxed paper combine 1/2 c flour, thyme and 1/4 tsp salt. Garlic powder, pepper and cayenne. In bowl beet eggs and whisk in water. Dip steaks in egg mixture and then coat in flour mixture.

In heavy skillet, heat 1 1/2 tbs oil. Fry steaks 2 at a time, turning once untill golden brown and cooked through. About 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and keep warm.

Whisk remaining 2 tbs flour into skillet then add in milk and remaining salt. Cook. whisking untill thickened and smooth. Searve steaks with gravy on side.

This is wonderful over mashed potatos or french fries.