Lakeshore Learning Center

                                                

                                                                   ~ I'll take one of each...Thanks!~


Oh my WORD!!! I thought there would never be a store in the world that could top my love of Kohl's...I have just discovered it today!!! Lakeshore Learning Center is a teacher's store that's full of all kinds of goodies!! I was salivating the moment I walked through the door! I wanted EVERYTHING in sight! It was so very awesome!!!

There were a few things I didn't want...YEA RIGHT, I wanted it ALL!!!!!

 I was having a severe struggle with my flesh in there. I had just finished a great shopping trip at Kohl's where I had purchased presents for Rachel, Mary, Jonathan, Bailey, and Brandt, as well as new flip flops for me and an Easter tie for Jimmy and I spent only $65 and received a $10 Kohl's cash coupon for next week! That was some GREAT savings (my savings totaled $350!!) and I was riding high on my Cheap-o-meter, until I walked through THAT door...Oh my...It was all the colors, all the workbooks, all the manipulatives, all the learning games, the pencils, the paper, the stickers, the glue, the glitter, the little chachkey incentive prizes...oh dear, my head is spinning at the remembrance of it all! I had to calm myself down and I even managed to talk myself out of purchasing the $19 pizza pie game that helps to teach addition and subtraction. I didn't need it...I also talked myself out of buying special boxes for buttons. I mean, really April, you have all those awesome buttons in that Ziploc bag. Don't you think they are really happy there? Do you really need to spend $3 on a box that says BUTTONS just so you can put them in there and pull them out 2x a year??

 I settled on buying a new colorful calendar, because I am in desperate need of one, as well as some Ticonderoga pencils (because, hey, they ARE the best!). I also picked up some clearance crayons and glue sticks since we were out...

I also signed up for the Lakeshore Club and received a free welcome bag...They may have sucked me into their world for good now...

I can handle it...Jimmy's in BIG trouble!!!!

My Secrets

I'd like to take this opportunity to just kind of word vomit all over my blog. I just have so many things going on in my head that I feel like if I could just get them out they wouldn't be jammed in there so annoyingly!
Here we go: Totally random!

- I want to move so badly! I really do not like being at Tabernacle Church. I feel very limited in what I can do there. There are several people in authoritative positions there that should NOT be because they do not display the love of Christ. They are back biters, users, gossips, and drama queens and/or kings...sometimes I go on Realtor.com and look at other places to live and pretend that I'm moving soon.

- I struggle in my prayer life. I have the worst wandering mind and I get side tracked so easily and it frustrates me

-I hate putting laundry away! I'll wash it, fold it, sort it, and put it in baskets, but I hate, hate, HATE putting it away! It usually sits near my dresser, Anya's dresser, and Jimmy's dresser in baskets and we just take from it. I know this is an area I need to work on. I mean, really, how long would it really take if I just out it away when it's done?? Prob 10 min!...and yet....

- I want to live in a trailer. I know, weird...I used to HATE trailers. In fact, I told Jimmy when we began dating that trailers were not for me, I only wanted a house. Now, I'm in a house, that doesn't belong to me, and I just hope and pray for a time when Jimmy and I can own a trailer. A double wide...with 3 or 4 bedrooms and 2 bath...with a cute little kitchen and a little dining room with fake wooden floors and one of those little sheds on the side of it...It's amazing how much your perspective can change when you realize how much you really DON'T need in life.

- I compare myself to people...but not in the "I should be more like them" way, but in the "I'm so glad I'm not like them" way. It's very conceited and not very nice at all. Even if the person (usually another woman) is thinner than me, neater than me, or prettier than me, I always find a way to be better than them in my mind. I don't even try hard, something just usually pops into my mind without any effort at all. This is something I need to be more mindful of and be careful to not dwell on. GOD needs to change this in me...

-Facebook is annoyingly addictive...I like FarmTown A lot...too much, in fact...

-I deactivated my FB account because I felt very harassed yesterday and sometimes you just need to step away from the drama of it all and leave it behind!

- There are times in my life when I wake up and just want to lay on the couch all day and watch TV...

- There are times in my life when I feel so overwhelmed by the amount of people that want to visit me, talk to me, text with me, and ask my advice on things. Sometimes I just want to run away so my mind can just be still and I don't have to make plans with ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- It hurts my feelings when someone texts me and asks if they can visit, or I can come visit them, and I have to tell them "no" for one reason or another and they swing a "text 'tude" on me and reply "k" or "oh" or worse, don't answer. It makes me feel that I'm only good enough when I'm at their beck and call...

- It hurts my feelings when I express myself in a sad way in a status and I'm told to "suck it up" or "get over it", especially because it's not all that often, and it's usually about my dead parents

- I hate being an orphan

-I'm sorry if those last three sounded whiny. They really weren't meant to be and since you can't see or hear the emotion behind this I can see how one would think that was me being a whiny baby

- Sometimes I cancel plans because I have legitimately made myself sick over the prospect of having to go out and do something. Yes, I'm an extrovert, but sometimes, sometimes I am indeed introverted.

- I hate answering my cell phone

-I hate answering my door

- Well, I guess that's it...

                                         ~Just an ordinary girl, with things on her mind~

Grocery Shopping

Why is it that grocery shopping is so tiresome and boring?

I am sooooo not one of those people that enjoys it. I get no pleasure from it, whatsoever! I am not really into couponing. I've watched the Extreme Coupon shows and while they are entertaining I have no interest in stockpiling enough deodorant for Anya and my next 6 children to use from the time they get smelly armpits until their 57th birthdays. It's just not me...plus all that sorting, clipping, list making, running to different stores...To quote the "famous" noteworthy woman, Sweetie Brown: " AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!!
Honestly, I do use a couple of coupons here and there but I am in no way a coupon-aholic! haha!
I do need to come up with a better system for my meals. I don't need to plan a month in advance, but I do need to have some sort of idea each day what to make that evening. That will help me to eliminate the urge to order a pizza or pop over to Wendy's because I'm too tired to think up a recipe...

Meanwhile, I have to go to Shop Rite tonight...I'm tired and bored at the thought of it already...UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Groan...double groan.....sigh...

Time For Another??

Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaa, it's time for another baby!

I got to hold, love, kiss, snuggle, and feed my friend's baby today at church and it is definitely time for another one!! There is nothing like holding a small baby and just feeling their warmth and cuteness!! Don't get me wrong, I still love hold my Anya, snuggling her and yes, I still nurse her even though she almost 16 months. I love my girl so very much, but I also think she will make a wonderful big sister! She was so very sweet with little Grayson today! She touched his toes and patted his head!! She even gave him two gentle kisses on top of his head while Jess was holding him! So sweet I almost melted right then and there! How wonderful would it be to have another little baby to hold and love?!?!?! So wonderful!!! Time to get to work ;o] haha!

People may think I'm crazy, afterall Jimmy is still in school, he's working full time at a job that, although it's wonderful, does not pay very well and the house that we live in for free is up for sale. BUT, I have enough faith that if GOD were to bless us with another child, He will surely provide for all of us! If I were to live my life making sure I have all my "ducks" in a row before starting or growing our family then I'm afraid I would be an old woman with no ducks to waddle behind me. My life is here and now, no use putting off in fear, what the LORD may want to bless us with!

Dear Judah David or Amara Jo-Hannah,
    Mommy and Daddy hope to hear news that you are coming soon! We love you even though you don't even exist yet <3

                                                      ~Holding Grayson in church <3 ~

One year...

 -One year ago today, Anya was 3 months old

-One year ago today, I was laying in bed severely sick thinking that I just had a stomach bug

-One year ago today, Jimmy was working and Paula came up to watch Anya for me so that I could stay in bed

- One year ago today, when I walked to the bathroom I was bent over at the waist in terrible pain

-One year ago today, all I wanted to eat was ice pops and drink Gatorade because I felt so horrible!

-One year ago today, I spoke aloud into the monitor that Paula had placed by my head so that she could listen for me and asked, "What does appendicitis feel like?"

- One year ago today, Paula came rushing up the stairs and told me I needed to go to the ER immediately

-One year ago today, something told me not to waste any time and since Jimmy had just walked in the door from work I asked him to take me

-One year ago today, I arrived at the hospital screaming with pain

-One year ago today, I was admitted into the hospital where I was given several shots of morphine that continued to wear off and I writhed in pain, even breaking a hospital bed because I shook the rail so hard trying to somehow alleviate the pain

-One year ago today, it was discovered that I had a ruptured appendix and I was prepped for emergency surgery

-One year ago today, I almost died...


One year later, as I played happily on the floor with my 15 month old Anya, I thanked GOD for the opportunity to be here to see her. I would've been so happy to be with my Jesus at last, but it's nice to be here with my Jimmy and Anya, too!

~Memory~

~There are nights when you just have to sit back and look up old toys from the 80's on Pintrest while you watch Beethoven's 2nd.

~ I remember seeing Beethoven's 2nd in theaters with my Mom and Dad. It was one of my favorite movies for a long time!

~I found the blue penguin refrigerator on Pintrest that we used to have as little children. I don't remember the Christmas we received it (1980) but I do remember playing with it

~Now I'm watching Pillow Talk with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. This was Grandpa Beans' favorite movie. I think I'm going to pretend to be sleeping over their house. I just need a pullout couch, Grandma's yellow sheets, a can of Sprite, and the smell of their apartment...love them and miss them!!!


~~~~~Each day I live, I pray I am making good memories for my Seth, Gracie, and Anya~~~~~~~

                                           ~~ Me and Grandpa Beans at my 7th birthday~~

Sing, Spell, Read & Write

Seth and Gracie have a new curriculum! We are now officially on the path to learning to read! Aunt Dorothy purchased this special program for us because she used it for her and children and she knows how well it works...she also purchased it because she's a kind, generous and WONDERFUL person!! <3

Day 1: We learned Letter "Aa" and the sound it makes. Seth enjoyed cutting the "A" pictures out and gluing them to his worksheet and Gracie enjoyed being finished with everything... That's right, I have discovered that Gracie does NOT enjoy school very much. She doesn't like to work and she really doesn't like to have to actually accomplish what is put in front of her. I don't think she is too young, or not smart enough, I think she just has a smidge of a lazy bone that needs to be worked out. I think once we get into a groove she will be better at going with the flow...

Day 2: We did letter "Bb". Things went smoother than yesterday. I think both Seth and Gracie knew what to expect and they seemed to work faster than yesterday... I learned some more about Gracie today as well. She is an honest to goodness perfectionist!!!! She wants to write perfectly, cut in a perfectly straight line, she wants her glue stick to run over her small triangle just perfectly and heaven's to Betsy if that triangle doesn't fit into it's spot on the worksheet just right. I believe Gracie is going to be my challenge. It's very hard to have a 4 year old that wants every letter she writes to be PERFECT when her hand doesn't have ability to do such a thing yet. I am going to learn ways to talk to her about it without getting annoyed and telling her, "It's good enough, Gracie, let's go!!". I don't think that will help her at all. She will do amazing things one day, and it's my job to help her to get to that point =]

~ Also, I really must find some better system for Anya than what's in place right now. She gets into her booster seat when school starts, eats about 20 animal crackers, eats a crayon, yells, and cries. I'm going to look into other things that hopefully don't involve me stuffing her in front of the TV.~

All in all, I am enjoying our new school program and my goal is to have Seth and Gracie reading at Level 1 by Sept/Oct!

Anya Jo-Ella at 15 months:

-Words: Dada; LaLa, for Aunt Paula; Set for Seth; DeeDee, for Gracie; Caca, for poop or anything she's not supposed to touch; Cack-a, for cracker; Nigh-nigh, for night-night; and others that I can't think of right now because it's 10:30 at night! haha!

-Favorite things: Eating, drinking boobie, watching Barney, anything with Seth or Gracie~Preferably Seth AND Gracie, dragging her Barney chair to the couch to use it to climb up, Eating, drinking boobie, pulling all the books off the shelf, pulling every single toy out of the toy box, sitting IN the toybox, Eating, drinking boobie, carrying around her American flag basket full of her Little People princesses and princes, getting her shoes on to go bye-bye, seeing Dada, Eating, drinking boobie...

Cute things: Her eye flutter and close when she's being dramatic, her little jive she does to her potty song, the way she RUNS to the gate when she hears Seth and Gracie arrive in the mornings, the way she whispers "Dada" when she hears the back door open in the evening, the way she HAS to sit on Aunt Susie's lap when she comes in after work to eat dinner...

You are my love-cuppie!! My Anya Jo-Jah!!! Ani-Jo-Love!!! <3 <3 <3