Psalm 116:6-8
 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.  Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.  For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 

Isaiah 41:13
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you."

 John 16:33
"These things I have spoken unto you , that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." 

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WhatEva

If you would like to make a comment about something I have written...please send me a message...I would love to hear from you.

Please E-Mail me @ ecm1980@gmail.com
 

A Daily Journal

By: Eva Moore

 

  


      Quote of the Day    
The problem with the designated driver program, it's not
a desirable job, but if you ever get sucked into doing it,
have fun with it. At the end of the night,
 drop them off at the wrong house.

  - Jeff Foxworthy


10/31/06

     Well, it was another good, no...great day!  First of all we were able to get Isaiah on the bus with no trouble at all.  He was so excited and I was even more happy to find out that although he would have a long bus ride to school, he would be the first one dropped off on the way home.  Cool.  Isaiah was so jazzed about getting on the bus though that he didn't even say good bye...I had to get up in the bus and say it.  I took some pictures too.  Having him gone for so long was so odd.  Evelyn was very bored.  I don't think she really knew what to do with herself.  She just laid around, and took naps sooner than usual.  I will try to be more playful with her tomorrow I think.  When Isaiah came home today from school I was surprised at how in a hurry he was to get off the bus.  After the bus left Isaiah started going on and on about how he didn't like the bus and he didn't want to go on it anymore.  I was shocked to say the least, so we went inside so we could talk about it to figure out what was going on.  Turns out...Isaiah doesn't like how bumpy the bus is!  lol  Now, I couldn't help but laugh a little bit when he told me this.  I mean of all the reasons to not like it, I was not expecting that.  I had a talk with him though about how a bumpy ride was really not a very good reason for not riding the bus, and that it would really help mommy out when it comes to the Evelyn if he would ride the bus.  Well, after that talk, he agreed that he would still ride it.  I think it will be good for him.  He still loves school though.  Today the brought home candy so that really went over well.  He brought home other things to like drawings and a little book.  It was nice to see what he is working on.  It is even better though to see that he has grown up so much since we first got here.  When he was going to that other place we sent him to when we first moved here, KC Childcare and Pre-School, so he could meet new kids, he hated it.   He would always cry and cry when I had to leave and always complained about not wanting to go to school.  Now, he is excited though and it just really shows me how much he has grown...and not just physically. He really is such a mature little boy.

     Halloween was great too!  Much better than last years.  Actually, last years was pretty lame as I recall.  Our neighborhood ROCKS for Halloween though.  I mean almost all the houses were doing candy, and there were SO MANY kids out.  Isaiah got through almost two blocks of walking when he announced that he only wanted to do on more house and then go home.  It was very cold outside so I can't blame him.  My hands were frozen.  He did so great though, walking up to all the houses himself, saying trick-or-treat as best he could, and saying thank you as well.  When we came back to the house I took over handing out candy so my mom could do her own thing.  Some of the teenagers that came to the door didn't have costumes on at all...I hassled them a little bit for it, even asked a few of them why I should give them candy at all.  But in the end I handed everyone candy...I don't want my house to get egged!  Duh.  lol  So anyway, it was a great day and lots of candy has been eaten.  I am not even going to look at the scale for a while.  At least not until I have been on my diet very strictly for 4-5 days in a row.  So...tomorrow is another day...and I have a feeling it will be good...bumpy...but good.  lol  Talk to you all later.  Bye.

Food For Thought:

2 Corinthians 4:8-18

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[a]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal

10/30/06

     Today I spent a good amount of time talking with Pastor Rob.  Lots of different things discussed, but one thing talked about was the past...memories from years ago of church and how we have all grown and changed.  In example...I met Pastor Rob when I was 16 years old.  16!  I remember people being very excited about having a new Pastor and everyone wondering what things were going to change and what weren't.  The best change for me was that I didn't fall asleep during the sermon anymore.  The previous pastor simply couldn't keep my attention for very long.  One of the changes that occurred for me was the music.  Before Pastor Rob came along, we only sang hymns.  I always enjoyed them...but when we started doing the praise and worship songs that was something different all together.  I had never heard that kind of music and so for a young woman like myself, that was nice.  It made me more interested.  Which also reminds me of coming here to Michigan.  Being in a church that is comprised only of college students ages 18-29 the music is once again very different.  The students do all the worship...and they pick the songs.  I was very surprised that just about every song they do is new to me.  At the moment the only one I can remember the name to is one called Facedown.  Of course I guess it isn't a coincidence that it was one that really hit home for me.  Here are the lyrics for this song.

Facedown

Welcomed in to the courts of the King
I've been ushered in to Your presence
Lord, I stand on Your merciful ground
Yet with every step tread with reverence

And I'll fall facedown
As Your glory shines around
Yes, I'll fall facedown
As Your glory shines around

Who is there in the heavens like You?
And upon the earth, who's Your equal?
You are far above, You're the highest of heights
We are bowing down to exalt You

So let Your glory shine around
Let Your glory shine around
King of glory, here be found
King of glory

By: Matt Redman

     Anyway, so music was one new thing for sure...but there were others of course.  One of which was that I felt like "here is a Pastor I can get to know!"  Sounds silly, but Pastor Rob was just the kind of guy that I felt like I could be friends with.  I like having a pastor that isn't just a pastor.  Someone you can actually be yourself with.  So many times when you are at church people put on their Sunday mask.  I do it too.  I change little parts of me here and there to better accommodate everyone.  You know, you just don't want to be your complete self when you are pretty sure doing that will most likely offend someone.  So...whenever I feel like that, I just hold stuff back.  But when it was just me hanging out with Pastor Rob, at his house, or somewhere.  I always felt more laid back...let myself speak more like myself...yes...sometimes I let a small cuss word slip here and there. lol  The point is...I was comfortable to be me.  I am still working on that here.  Being around so many people my own age makes it hard.  You feel like you are back in high school trying to impress all the kids you think are popular.  It will be a process...I can handle it.  I am trying to think of anything else, any other memories that stand out...there are lots more, but the one that stands out the most would be when we were at Rob and Cathy's house one night and we ended up playing the card game Spoons.  Best game ever by the way.  Anyway, basically, when you play this game fighting happens...you fight over the spoon, grabbing at it and what not...well, I remember that James bit Pastor Rob to get the spoon!  I know!!!!  Who does that!!!???  Let me tell you, on the way home I let him have it for that.  But Pastor Rob, although shocked, laughed it off with the rest of us and continued on.  As bad as it was, it really is funny now.  lol  So...there you have it, some great memories. 

     Of course I have more to say though, I guess this will be a LONG journal tonight.  Isaiah had his first day of school.  It was so exciting to get him ready and take him to a place where great things where going to be happening for him.  Even though he had told me that he didn't need me there, and would be fine without me, I was still worried that when I left, he would get upset and cry.  But off we went and when we got there we were early, so we went to the bus stop where his bus arrives and met the bus driver and he even let Isaiah honk the horn.  He liked that.  His teacher, Ms. Lyn, was very nice and took good care of Isaiah.  He had his own locker and everything where he could put his backpack.  When it came time to leave he could have cared less that I was going.  I said bye to him, and he said bye back.  That was it.  I was so shocked.  But I was also very glad.  When I went to pick him up later his teacher told me that he had a great first day and besides asking once if he could go home...he didn't have a problem. 

     While we were home I got a phone call from the school about the bus to see if I wanted him picked up...and to tell me what time.  I had planned on letting him take the bus only because he really wanted to.  But when I found out what time it was that he would get picked up...I wasn't too excited.  Turns out that he will be on the bus for a little bit over an hour.  AGH.  Not only would that make me have to feed Isaiah lunch a whole lot earlier, but he would be gone for 5 hours, spending a large portion of time on a bus.  I wasn't sure about that.  The lady who called me, her name is Althea and she is a helper on the bus, explained to me that although some of the kids will end up being on the bus for a while since they are the first picked up (Isaiah being one of those), she makes sure that the kids are entertained and that they have fun.  She said they aren't bored just sitting there.  So, I told her that we would try it out tomorrow, and see how it works out.  If Isaiah likes it, then we will keep doing it, and if he doesn't, then we will stop.  So now all that I worried about is what would happen if he suddenly had to use the bathroom during that hour drive.  I hope they have a back up plan for that kind of thing.  I am sure kids have that problem sometimes.  So anyway...that is that.  It was a great day and Isaiah cant wait to go back to school.  I am really hoping that in a few months we will start to see some changes in his speech.  I am so excited.  Talk to you all later...I am gonna go clean up.  Bye.

 

10/27/06

     Ok, so here it goes. We went to the appointment as scheduled.  It took a very long time.  They talked to us for about two hours.  There is so much that got said that there is no way that I can repeat it all here.  But, the basics of it all is that Isaiah has severe speech problems.  He also has other problems that stem from the speech problems.  I am going to write down for you his test scores so you can see where he falls in each category

Communication: (This is what age level these skills are at for Isaiah)
Receptiveness:  2 Years and 11 months
Expressiveness:  2 Years
Written Skills:  2 years 1 month

Daily Living Skills:
Personal:  3 Years and 11 months
Domestic:  5 years and 5 months
Community:  3 years and 11 months

Socialization: 
Interpersonal Re. :  2 years and 10 months
Play and Leisure:  3 years and 5 months 
Coping Skills:  3 years and 7 months

Motor Skills:
Gross:  3 years and 9 months
Fine:  3 years 10 months

     As you can see, he is very far behind in many many skills.  Pretty good in his Motor Skills, and beyond excellent in his Domestic skills.  What are domestic skills??  It basically means helping around the house, cleaning, wanting to help cook, helping with his sister, careful around sharp objects, and can clear the table with out breaking things.  They also said that they were very surprised to see how mature Isaiah was for his age.  They said Isaiah pretty much had the maturity level of a 6-7 year old.  That made me really happy.  But I was very saddened to hear just how bad everything else was.  I almost started crying.  But then again, after going over what services they wanted to do for him, what the goals would be, and then learning that he will start school THIS Monday!!....I almost started crying from being overjoyed.  I got to meet his teacher, and see his classroom.  It was wonderful.  If we want he can even ride a bus that will only have students from his class on it and there isn't just a bus driver on there, there will be someone who helps out and watch's  the kids.  Also, when the kids get to the school, the teachers are right there where the bus pulls up to help the kids inside.  It all makes me feel very safe.  We don't know yet if we will have him take the bus or not, but Isaiah does want to.  He will be going to school four days a week.  Mon-Thurs.  From 12:35pm - 3:20pm.  And then one Friday a month also.  It is all so exciting.  All the kids in his class have a learning or speech problem also, so Isaiah won't feel like he is the odd one out.  I am very hopeful that this will all help him a lot.  Praise Jesus!!  :-)

     So, from that point on though the day just flew by.  I can't believe it is already night time, all the kids have been in bed for a while now, and the house is all cleaned up.  Nothing is on TV tonight either, I could just go to bed right now if I wanted.  lol  That's a crazy thought.  lol  Anyway, so I guess I will end this now.  Tomorrow I have a few errands to run, and it might snow!  Should be a good day.  Yah Saturday!!!  Bye.
Food For Thought:
Mark 13:5-13
5Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

 9"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

 12"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

 

10/26/06

     Well, I was sort of disappointed tonight because Survivor, although not a rerun, did it's "here is us showing you all kinds of extra stuff we haven't shown you yet" thing.  I hate that.  I don't care about seeing extra scenes or whatever, I just want to see the show.  So....I turned it off.  At least I still have CSI and ER.  I feel so tired.  And I have felt tired all day.  I don't know why really, I got an ok amount of sleep.  I just keep yawning and closing my eyes, I even have a headache.  I didn't even want to take the kids to the playgroup today, but James reminded me about how important it is for me to take him.  So, I took them both, and they had a great time.  After that we came home for lunch and then I had Evelyn nap.  After that it was off to the grocery store.  Somehow we ran out of food very early. One exciting thing though is that tomorrow is our appointment with the people who evaluated/observed Isaiah.  We will be going in, just me and James, and we will be listening to them about what they observed and what they think should be done to help Isaiah progress so he can be ready for kindergarten when the time comes.  I am a little bit nervous though.  I think it is natural to want to defend your child when things are being said about them that aren't in a good light, and so I worry that I will start interrupting them and saying things like, "Well he doesn't always do that", or "Sometimes he does things different than what you saw".  I have to try to stop myself from doing that.  I am so glad that James is there, he always helps to keep me in check in those situations. 

     So anyway, now I am sitting here having been horribly defeated by James at Backgammon and we are baking cookies.  I know...it's like 11:43pm right now and we are baking cookies???  But I ask...why not?  If you can you should.  The annoying thing is that I really want to continue spending time with him, but he won't let me watch my shows in here with him...he wants to play video games!  Now, I could go to the other living room and watch them...but I want to be around him.  After all, he worked all day.  Odds are though after the cookies are all done I will though.  I don't want to watch these tomorrow.  Oh, and I talked to Tiffany.  She made it safely to CA.  Well, semi safely, her son almost got hit by a car if it weren't for a landscaper rushing out and grabbing him out of the way.  They were at a rest stop and....well, it doesn't matter what the whole story is, the point is he is ok...and although Tiffany was mad at herself, everything is ok.  So...I guess that's it from here.  I will try to give a good review to you all tomorrow about the appointment we have.   I am gonna take notes.  lol

 

10/25/06

     Good evening everyone.  What a day.  Emotionally it was much better, completely lacking in drama.  I did however spend almost all day today in the bathroom.....painting.
Since we had so much paint left over from the kitchen ceiling, I decided to use that, and another color that I bought, in the bathroom here on the first floor.    I decided to cut the bathroom in half basically, and I painted the top half the one color, and the bottom the other.  Where the colors meet, I am going to put a paper border.  I went out tonight to LOWES and my mom went with me.  We found a pretty good one.  I think that it will look nice, but I won't be sure until tomorrow when the paint is all dry and I can really put it up to the wall and see how things look.  It only cost me $7.84 anyway.  So if I don't think it will look good, it's no big loss.  When I have it all done, I will take a picture and let you all see how it looks. 

     Tonight Tiffany and her family will be driving to California.  I wish that I could also be going.  I would love to be able to go and surprise her and just show up.  On a happy note, when James goes to Ca next month he will be there during the time of our nephew Jordon's 3rd birthday party.  I am so excited.  At least one of us will be able to see everyone and will get to be there for a family event.  I hate the thought of missing so many birthdays.  Well, that is all I am going to write today.  Really, all I did was paint today.  lol  My life is seriously exciting.  Anyway, so I will talk to you all tomorrow.  Later.

Food For Thought:
2 Timothy 4:16-18 
16At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.


10/24/06

     Ok...first of all, I took this fun test to see "How Normal Are You"...here are my results.  I think they are pretty accurate actually.  lol

 
You Are 35% Normal
You sure do march to your own beat...
But you're so weird, people wonder if it's a beat at all
You think on a totally different wavelength
And it's often a chore to get people to understand you

 
     Ok....so now that we have that out of the way and you have all had a good laugh from my test and hopefully the video I posted, I will begin with my day.
Drama...I usually have no big drama in my life.  Like really, hardly ever.  But today was the exception as I had lots of it.  I won't go into it all, because there is no reason to bring it all back to the front burner, especially since everything is all settled.  My only reason for mentioning it at all is that I was reminded of the fact that all drama...all fights, come down to a lack of communication.  I can not stress this FACT enough.  Things that go unspoken, feelings that are kept bottled up or are not expressed, not being specific when talking to someone, and then being afraid to go back and confront the issue just due to pride.  PRIDE!  That is such a bad thing to have.  Anytime you know you should attempt to fix a bad situation, and don't just because you don't want to be the first one to give in, well, that is your pride talking...and tonight I shoved it out of the way and made the call.  Turns out that the other person was gonna call too...so that was nice.  Can you imagine how many conflicts went on too long because of pride? I bet the number is staggering.  Anyway, enough of that.

     So besides that drama in my day, everything else was calm.  I took Isaiah by himself to the play group and that was much better than taking both kids.  I have decided that I will try to do that as often as possible.  So...that means that I will be taking just Evelyn tomorrow.  Which will be good since my mom was thinking about taking Isaiah to the movies tomorrow anyway.   James spent a lot of time in the office today working.  He has really been working so hard lately, lots of problems that he has been having, some get fixed, some are waiting for the solution.  Either way...we haven't been seeing him as much as usual.  But that is ok, I don't let that bother me much because I know it won't last forever.  Anyway....I think that is all for now.  I will have more to talk about tomorrow.  Till next time.  Bye.

Food For Thought:
Psalm 41:9-13 
9 Even my close friend, whom I trusted,
       he who shared my bread,
       has lifted up his heel against me.

 10 But you, O LORD, have mercy on me;
       raise me up, that I may repay them.

 11 I know that you are pleased with me,
       for my enemy does not triumph over me.

 12 In my integrity you uphold me
       and set me in your presence forever.

 13 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
       from everlasting to everlasting.
       Amen and Amen.

 

10/23/06

     So I know that I didn't write this weekend, and that was done on purpose.  I have decided to give myself a break on the weekends.  It can take a very long time for me to write this journal (even though it shouldn't) and I would like to have a couple days a week when I don't have to take time to write it out.  I figure the weekend was as good a time as any.  And this way I should have more to write about on Monday's.  For instance...this weekend went by so fast!  I hardly even remember what we did on Saturday.  Yesterday though we had fun.  We went to church and Isaiah made a picture frame in Children's Church that was really cute.  Next week is my turn to do Children's Church and I still plan on buying some smaller sized pumpkins for the kids to cut and clean after the lesson.  Maybe I can go somewhere like Wal-Mart too and buy some kind of little candles for them.  Anyway, so church was good yesterday and while Isaiah was in class service was good.  Nino only spoke for a little bit because another girl in church named Katie was speaking about some things that she had been experiencing.  It was ok, I mainly paid attention to Evelyn and read some of my bible.  I just wasn't too interested in what she was talking about.  That is not to say that what she was saying wasn't good, it was, and it was also important...it's just that it was something that I have heard many, many times, and always think about...so it just couldn't keep my attention. 

     But after that we were headed for home and then James had a thought.  He decided to go a head and buy Isaiah the new Lego Star Wars Trilogy game for the X-Box 360.  Isaiah has been really loving playing the demo, and he is good at it too, so he figured that since we are doing so well this month with money, and since my mom gave us some money, that it was a good time to buy it.  James is also hoping that we can afford to go out for one night...have dinner, hang out...maybe see a movie.  I love doing that with him.  I enjoy being with him as a friend, as my husband, just us with no kids...talking and being ourselves.  It feels like it used to back when we were first dating...of course now the discussions that we have are about more important things...it used to be we discussed things that when you look back on it, were pointless. 

     But here I stand with this laptop on the kitchen counter and the kids are busy having a snack.  I too am hungry, but I don't really want to eat anything just yet, since we are having spaghetti tonight and I know spaghetti is a lot of points.  Well, not as many as it would be, since I use ground chicken instead of beef or turkey, and I use whole grain noodles, and Barilla Spaghetti sauce which is a lot lower in points for me that Prego.  Prego tastes much better though, just so you know.  James however just came down and is having a bowl of cereal as a snack...that doesn't help me any...now I really want some.  lol

     Last night I pulled out my personal journal and re-read some of my old entries from years ago...like back in the year 1999.  It brought a smile to my face to read them.  It is funny to read my thoughts back then, read about what I was doing, what problems I was having, and who was getting on my nerves at the time.  I only mention this because recently I had contemplated getting rid of them all.  I had thought about this only because I would hate for someone to read it one day and have their feelings hurt if there was something in there about them that wasn't very pleasant.  I mean it's my journal, so when I am mad at someone, or just annoyed...I write about it.  I had talked to James about it though and he said that it is MY journal, and it should be expected that everything in it will not be nice all the time.  I agreed, and then after reading some last night I definitely agree, I wouldn't want to lose all those memories.  Plus....how is a movie going to be made about my life if my journals are all gone???  lol

     Anyway, so James went to a bible study tonight.  I think I told you all before that they are called Fusion Cells. There are like 5 cells and  I think there are five of the students that are the leaders.  James went two weeks ago and said he had an ok time, he was going to try one of the other cells, but I think that he didn't ask where they were in time so he didn't have directions...so he went back to the same one.  He has been gone now for an hour and a half.  I love it actually.  After the kids were in bed and asleep I came down stairs, cleaned up the little bit of a mess that was left, and now I am sitting in the family room typing this out and watching my soap operas.  It's nice to have peace and quiet.  Literally...since I am the only adult home.  Everyone is working right now, or at least was...my mom will be home soon. 

     Well there you have it.  I am just gonna sit here and enjoy the silence for as long as is possible.  However long that may be.  lol  Talk to you all later.  Bye.

Food For Thought:
Psalm 34:4
I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
 

10/20/06

     Hi.  Well, taking the kids grocery shopping was not a good idea.  Let's see, where to begin.  First of all, before I even left the house, I asked Isaiah if he needed to use the bathroom before we left.  He said no, and I accepted that since I had seen him go 10 minutes prior (even though he had been drinking a lot).  We get to Meijer and right as I am about to grab my first item Isaiah announces, "Mama, I gotta go pee now!"  I couldn't believe it, but since we just got in the store it was fine...sadly, the bathroom was on the other side of the store, so I had to walk them quickly.  After that we began again....Evelyn wanted to get down and walk, she likes to push the cart from the bar that is on the bottom where you can put things.  I let her get down and do it, but it was getting too difficult.  The store was more crowded than usual and whenever I had to stop the cart, she would start crying, then when she would stop she would start trying to put things in the cart.  Isaiah was being a big help...putting things back that she would grab and stuff, but it was just making it harder with him walking everywhere since there were so many people.  I put Evelyn back in the cart, but after a little while she would just want out again and she would stand up quickly, and wrap her arms around my neck hanging on for dear life.  I would then give it another try at her being down, but it didn't work out.  Usually it is fine, the store is less crowded and it doesn't matter if she walks around, but today, at 4pm, that was not happening.  So that was happening with her and then halfway through the store Isaiah announced again, "Mama, I gotta go pee again....now."  I could not believe it!  I mean how many times in an hour can one kid go???  So, luckily I asked someone if the store had a closer by bathroom than the other one, and they did.  So I grabbed Evelyn off the ground really quick (she didn't like that, she wanted to keep pushing the cart) and off we went.  After that I told him I had better not hear him say he needed to use the bathroom again.  lol  So...after that, I go back to the aisle we were at, and I realize that I am only still have like 5 more aisles to go through, and I am not gonna have enough money.  You see, we allow $120.00 per week for groceries...that is always fine, I hardly ever have a problem with that.  But for some reason today, and I don't know why, I did not have enough.  Even after taking things away, I didn't have enough.  I figured when I got to the register, I would let her add everything up, and then I would see if I had enough for the other things that I needed, but didn't really HAVE to have.  Turns out that I didn't have enough.  I don't know why though, I didn't buy anything I shouldn't have, almost everything I did buy was on sale.  It just makes no sense to me.  So, I paid for everything though and when we came home I was just in the mood to cook.  James was still at the coffee shop working (He ended up being there for over 7 hours!) and so I let the kids enjoy a very healthy meal of Very Berry Lucky Charms.  It's a limited edition you know.  lol  Then it was off to the bath, then an hour of them playing and me painting Evelyn's room, and then BAM...bedtime!  I love that part.  :-)  Ever since then I have been feeling much better.  I had gotten a headache, but that is now gone.  And even better, I have finished writing this out in record time...so now I can go to bed.  YA!!!!  lol  Talk to you all later.
 

10/19/06

     I feel very saddened this morning.  Last night, very late last night, I briefly read an article about a child pornography arrest.  A massive arrest actually.  This morning I read the entire article and quite frankly I just don't know what to say or think about it.  Here is the link, but be warned it will affect you.  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/19/national/main2104578.shtml
I immediately prayed after reading this, but I was stuck when it came to praying for the men/woman who are the actual perpetrators in the pictures.  You see, they have not been arrested as for as the article goes.  What do you pray for then for people like these.  I mean these people were doing depraved things...children, even babies, being so badly hurt.  All I could think was to ask that Gods will be done in these peoples lives.  I try to remember that as much as I want them punished, God will deal with each person as he sees fit.  What I really prayed for was the children though, all these kids who have been affected, hurt, whose lives are forever changed.  I just hope that God is with each of them....holding them tight and helping them through this.  It just makes me so scared for my kids.  Some of the people arrested were not people who lived a life you would suspect...I think a few mentioned had very good jobs even. One was a bible camp counselor, another a boy scout leader.   I feel like no matter how good you think you know someone, you just have to be very careful when you leave your kids with them.  The fact of the matter is that people are always only going to show you their good sides, no one is going to tell you about their deep dark hidden secrets.  You could send your child to a friends house to play, and never know what that kids parent is really truly like until it is too late.  I just want to cry.  This all breaks my heart.  I look at Evelyn, and Isaiah, and I know that if someone were to do to them, what is described in that article, well...I would really be in need of Gods forgiveness.  Please take a moment of your time right now, to pray for these children.  Just sit for a minute and take the time to think of them and ask for which ever God you believe in to help them.  It can only help.  I just feel so helpless.  I need to take a break from this whole thing right now, I am gonna go play with Isaiah. 
     Well, I feel somewhat better now.  I went upstairs, got in bed, and prayed.  During all of that I started to cry, just all the feelings that come with praying for something like that.  And then of course praying for my own kids.  So I laid there for about 5 minutes or more doing that, then got in the shower where I thought some more of God and how good he is.  I remembered that in the bible it says..."And we know that all things (this means good and bad things) work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.   Romans 8:28.  What does this mean?  It means that if you believe that Jesus died for you, to save you from your sin, and you have accepted him as your personal savior,  then all things that happen to you, good or bad, God will make those things work toward something good in the end.   It also applies for those who WILL be saved. (God knows how they are)  Why am I saying it is for those who accepted Christ as their savior?  Well, quite simply that's what the part "to them who are the called according to his purpose" means.  And listen, if you are reading this and you don't believe in what I believe, that is ok...this is just my journal, this is what I believe to be true.   I am not trying to force my beliefs on anyone. 
     Anyway, so I have now written all of this in the first 3 hours that I have been awake.  I asked Isaiah if he wanted to go to school today, and he said no.  So instead we will just be hanging out here today I guess.  Evelyn is cracking me up right now.  We have Blue's Clues on TV right now and she is just standing in front of it stomping her feet and clapping.  She is so happy, she loves the music and loves to dance.  I think she will most likely do something when she is older that involves music.  Whether it is playing the drums, dancing, clapping, watching music videos in the morning, she just loves it all and it makes her smile.  So I think this will be all for me.  I got this done WAY too early, so if you think this is last nights it's not, just scroll down for that.  I guess this will save me LOTS of time for later on.  TTYL.  Bye.
 

10/18/06

     This morning is shaping up to be good.  I have decided to risk embarrassment and I am going to take BOTH kids to the movies later.  1:20pm to be exact.  The last time we took Evelyn James was with me, she didn't want to sit for that long, and so we took turns taking her out.  This time though it will be just me, and I am hopeful that now that she seems to like watching cartoons that she will be somewhat good.  Especially since I won't have James there, Isaiah would have to walk outside with me, I am not leaving him in there alone.  James just got back from recycling all of our cans and got over nine dollars for it all.  So I will be using that money and maybe I can get the kids some popcorn with it too.  After the movie, if they are up to it, I will let them play in the play area they have there.  I want to try to take them more places you know that won't cost a lot of money.  We are doing so good this month.  I want to keep them occupied, while saving cash.  James loves that.
     My mom and dads house will hopefully be officially sold and out of their hands by tomorrow.  They have all the final papers here right now and they are supposed to sign them and mail them back by FedEx over night.  Hopefully it will get there over night because it HAS to be back to James' dad tomorrow so it all can close.  James' dad has been great about helping my mom and dad with their home.  I will be so glad when all of  this is done and it is one less thing that they need to worry about.  Ok...so now it is 6:43pm...and my mom and dad have long ago sent off all those papers...they should arrive in Sacramento around 10:30am tomorrow.  Whew!  That is a relief. 
     In other news, we have decided to have the guy who installed our sump pump come back and see if he can instead have the water drain into an actual drain that is in the same room, which leads to the sewer.  The reason for this is that we realized that the water that is in the pipe leading outside, will eventually freeze, and then when new water from below the house needs to pump out it won't be able to...making the basement then flood again.  I don't know for sure of course that this would happen...but it sure seems to me that it could.  I was telling our neighbor though about it and he said that if we would like he can do it for us and we could just pay him a cheaper amount.  He said he may even be able to do it in a way that wouldn't require us having to dig up the cement.   I think it would be better to have him (Jeremy) do it...at least we can fully trust him and if anything ever happens he is our next door neighbor and he would be right there to ask.  Anyway...the guy (Dave) is coming out tomorrow to take a look at things, but before we commit to anything, James is going to talk to Jeremy too.  Either way I think this is something that needs to be done. 
     The bad thing of course is that all of this does cost money.  Where would we get this money?  Who knows.  We will figure that out later.  We can get it...technically, we have it in the savings account, but would rather not use that.  Anyway...so now the kids are hanging out with my mom downstairs and the kitchen is all clean except the table which needs to be wiped down.  I am trying to get this done though and watch all my shows that I already have recorded, before even more start recording.  I watch TV too much you know.  I can't help myself.  I love losing myself in fictional shows.  They are great.  Anyway, that is all for now...I will talk to you all later.  Bye.
 

10/17/06

     So far most of the house is clean.  I still haven't cleaned the kids bathroom, and right now I am putting off the dishes until after dinner, I just don't see any point in cleaning that part up until I finish the whole mess that will be dinner.  Why is it that the kitchen is always the one room in a home that is the messiest?  Why can't people and animals and kids just clean up after themselves and ensure that I then don't have to do any of the cleaning.  In my dreams right?  lol  I thought it would be in my dreams to see the gas prices go down too, but over here we are now paying $2.09 for regular unleaded.  Pretty cool huh?  I had driven into the gas station a couple days ago to put gas in James' Mustang, he wasn't on empty, but it was less than a quarter tank...I only wanted to put in twenty bucks, so I stopped it at $19.99.  When I started up the car though I was kind of shocked to see that it had given me a full tank of gas!  Awesome. 
     So I have my laptop up here on the kitchen counter now, I am trying to cook dinner and write in here once in a while.  Even keeps crying though, she wants me to hold her but I can't at the moment...I keep having to go check on the food and it is hot on the stove.  Isaiah is currently down by my legs because that is where one of the dogs is hiding and he keeps trying to wrestle with her.  This is my life folks!  Great huh?  It is sure entertaining, no doubt about that.  Isaiah can be such a spaz.  Take today at playgroup for instance...he was everywhere.  I must have been spinning him in circles on a tire swing for at least 10 minutes but he wasn't tired of it at all and even though you would think he would get a sick feeling from being that dizzy, he just kept laughing and having fun.  The kid is relentless. 
     At the play group today some of the ladies started talking about how they wanted to lose some weight and how to go about it.  I shared with them how I have been losing weight and they were very impressed.  I explained a little bit about the diet to them and that was the end of that.  Speaking of endings though, I have been having bad endings to my pc games of backgammon.  I keep playing the computer and losing.  I have only won 1 game out of 10 or more.  It's quite sad.  James keeps mocking me in the background.  Jerk.  lol  I will have to play him a game of speed tonight so that way I can win...he is horrible at that game.  Horrible. 
     Anyway so now my day is almost at an end.  The kids are in bed, and I have begun the dishes...the only other thing that I plan on doing when I am done with that is doing what my little sign says and spending some time with God.  I am gonna read through my bible some and do a study guide.  No, I don't make time everyday like I wanted, but I do make time WAY more than before.  I am so glad that I found a way to remind myself everyday to be with God.  So...I hope you all have a great day/night, and I will talk to you later.  Bye.

    

10/16/06

     I am sitting here on the couch and I just hung up the phone with Lorenda, she is supposed to call me back in a second because she is picking her kids up and I am currently filling out her myspace info for her.  Right now we are on the Interests tab...to which she had no idea what to write.  I figured that if I didn't force her to complete her sections she would just never do it though, so I am making it happen.  lol  Aren't I a good friend?  Speaking of good friends, Tiffany had to go to the hospital again yesterday.  They called the ambulance because she passed out and her face was very swollen, plus her throat was starting to swell.  In the end she was ok, but I guess she is having a bad reaction to something there in Oregon that wasn't in California, and so now she is going to try to see an allergist who will hopefully be able to figure out what she is allergic to and help prevent these symptoms...also, stress helps to trigger it, so she needs to stop stressing and be calm more.  At first she was going to be going to Ca for a week or so, her parents were going to fly over and drive back with her, but I guess they couldn't come up with the money...so she is going to do this instead.  I hope everything works out, I am worried about her.
     In other news ever since we have been putting Isaiah to bed at 8pm now with Evelyn he has been going to sleep a lot easier.  I don't really know why that is...could it be because he is going to bed with Evelyn...could it be because it is dark now at 8pm so he doesn't notice the difference?  I have no idea really, but it is soooo very nice to have an extra hour without kids that I can spend doing whatever I want to do.  Last night for instance, we were able to start that movie very early, and it ended at 10pm which then allowed us to actually head up to bed at a very early hour.  It's really cool to just have the extra time. 
     Today was such a BLAH day though.  I mean the whole time I was just sitting/standing around thinking to myself that I really needed to be doing something, should maybe be cleaning something, or spending time with the kids, but the blahness of the day just got to me and I didn't know what to do...even Isaiah and Evelyn seemed overly bored and we all just mingled around the house aimlessly trying to figure out what to do.  Eventually I just had to buckle down and decide that I was indeed going to clean up the house and I did a good job, except for the fact that I still need to be more proactive about cleaning the kids bathroom.  The tub is very dirty still from the bath I gave our big dog Dusty, I need to spray it down and clean it.  In all honesty though the odds of that happening are slim to none.  lol  Anyway, that is all for now.  I will talk to you all later.  Bye.

    

10/15/06

     Ok...so at some point everyday, for like the last month...James and I have had Justin Timberlake's new song stuck in our head.  Now, I think the song is pretty good because it is so catchy...James hates it and wishes that it would go away.  I think it's so funny though when it gets in his head and he starts singing it without realizing it.  Cracks me up.   If you know what song I am talking about, you know how funny it really is.  Anyway, so right now we are sitting here on the couch watching a movie.  It's and oldie but a goodie.  Adventures in Babysitting.   It's from back in the 80's and I have always loved it...oddly James has never seen it.  After this the next one I want to watch that we rented is Ferris Buellers Day Off.  Another classic.  Anyway...that is what we are doing right now...but let's get into what we did earlier today. 
     Today was one of those cold wanna be inside all day and do nothing kind of days.  Because of this...Isaiah was really bored.  And as usual...we tried to call some friends for him to hang out with...but also as usual...everyone we called was either busy, or was gone.  I am not kidding, this happens EVERY SINGLE TIME!  Anyway, so I decided that I would at least get Isaiah out of the house so I told him we would go and get his hair cut.  Instead of the usual getting his hair just buzzed down, I decided to leave the top long and just cut the sides because he has been really enjoying putting gel in his hair and spiking it up.  So we did that and it turned out really good.  The lady showed me a good way to spike up his hair that made it stay up.  It was a pain in the butt though to just find a hair place that was open on a Sunday here.  Every time I went somewhere it was closed, but Isaiah wanted to keep looking.  Finally I found one but it was after 15 minutes of driving.  I didn't mind though, I like when it's just me and Isaiah.   I have noticed though that more often than not stores here close on the weekend, or at least on Sunday.  Remember how I told you about how the Ford dealerships service department is closed every weekend?  Crazy huh?  Like we are back in the 50's.  Anyway, I am gonna end this for now since basically that was the most exciting thing that happened here today.  Well, unless you count the fact that James let me sleep for a while because I was so tired...I think that's exciting.  At least for me.  lol  Anyway, I will talk to you all later.  Bye.
 

10/14/06

     Jeff is hanging out today. It all started when James left here with Isaiah to go meet up with Jeff so he could show them their new house. After that they came back here around 3pm and Jeff announced that he would be staying here until 11pm which is when he picks up Jenn (his wife) from the airport. She was back in Ca. So...here we sit, they just finished a video game and now we are sitting down to play the game Scene it......ok, lol...we just finished playing and sadly, James won.  For the winning questions he got asked questions that all had cartoons for the answers!!!  What the heck is that about?  Of course he is going to get all of those right.  So annoying.  Oh well, next time I will make a comeback.  lol  Now though Jeff is just hanging out till a little after 11pm then he will go get Jenn.  Maybe if I am done writing this by that time I will either go to bed (which would be the best thing) or I will see if James wants to play another board game.  Bring my self esteem way down when I lose again.  lol  Today was another cold cold day though...all because of the strong wind that we have had.  I only went outside once today and it was to go to the pet store and buy some water purifier for the turtle tank.  I bought some more medium sized gold fish for them to eat too...I am sure by tomorrow we will have some fishy guts in the tank.  yuck!  I'll make James clean it out.  Speaking of cleaning...I also cleaned the tank today and I am getting very quick at it.  It doesn't even bother me anymore to have to do it.  I clean it more often that they say to because we have it in the kitchen and I don't want it to start smelling. 
     Tomorrow there is no church.  I guess it's because it is Fall Break for the college kids and last week when Nino asked how many people would be showing up this week for church only two people raised their hand.   I don't know if that included James though since I had taken Evelyn out of the room already.  So I guess they decided to just skip church this week.  I will just have to make it a point tomorrow to read my bible.  Oh, and that sign that I put on my fridge has been very helpful too.  I can't help but look at it all the time and read it over and over again...it is a constant reminder.  Which is good.  Oh...and tonight was a good night for Isaiah.  When he saw the dinner I made put down he immediately said he didn't like it...and after 2 minutes of talking he made the choice to go to bed instead of eat.  That was fine with me...but then, like 5 minutes later, he came back down and apologized, and said he was ready to eat.  I was so proud of him.  He did however explain to me that he didn't want to eat the potatoes, only the ham and corn...that was fine, but I did make him try the potatoes, which he still didn't like.  Either way though I was so proud of him.  Although he made the bad choice at first, he came back and did the right thing.  He is trying hard...and hopefully this will be the start of a trend. 
     Well, it is now 11:30pm, and Jeff just left.  I don't really know what James had planned.  I do feel like I should go to bed, but I want to wait and see what he wants to do.  He never seems to care though.  Anyway, so my mom seems to be doing better.  She is going to be looking for another job now...so hopefully she will find something that she likes, and fast.  The management there is really going to hate her going though because she does A LOT of stuff there.  She is good at her job.  But it is their loss anyway so oh well.  She needs to do what is best for her, not them.  Anyway, just wanted to update you on that...I am gonna go now.  I will chat with you all tomorrow.  Bye.
    

10/13/06

     Well, I did have some stuff written earlier, but James decided to be annoying and made my computer turn off...so I lost it.  Now I have to start over again, which is ok, just annoying.  So today I had a good day with the kids.  After Evelyn's first (and only) nap I fed her lunch (a very late lunch...2pm) and then we headed off to start our day together.  It was very very windy outside, and cold, so we bundled up and off we went to the library.  Isaiah and I read 3 books and the whole time Evelyn just played.  She was busy climbing on the little benches and attempting (badly) to climb onto the table.  I was letting her continue to do it because she was happy, and not in any danger.  But this old lady with what looked to be her daughter was watching Evelyn I guess and I over heard her say something to the affect of, "Oh my gosh look at that little one!"  I saw the concern in her face and so I went and got Evelyn down...but I swear that the rest of the time in there she was watching me and her like a hawk...would give me looks like she couldn't believe that I was letting Evelyn stand on the little kid chairs and what not.  Really bugged me.   I mean it's not like I don't know how to watch my own kid.  And...even if she did fall...it's ok, that is all part of her learning what to do and what not to do.  Why are people so afraid to let kids explore their surroundings? 
     Tonight my mom had a really bad day.  I won't get into it all of course, it's not my place to say...but when she came home she went straight down to the basement without saying a word.  I only know what happened because I was in the room when she called my dad from work earlier.  Agghh...I wish that she could find the perfect job.   She has been trying to apply at other places but has yet to hear anything.  Maybe I will go online and look for some for her too.  Sometimes I can't help but think it would be easier for me to just get a job myself.  That way she could just watch the kids all day and I would give her the money.  But that isn't realistic...first of all I am way too picky of a person to have someone else watching my kids all day...I like things to be done a certain way and if it wasn't I would just be annoyed.  Second, I know that as much as I want to just help people all the time, and make their problems easier, that isn't always good.  I know that people have to deal with things themselves and not have other bail them out all the time.  I just can't help but want to ease everyone's burdens though. 
     So anyway...back to my day...after the library I went grocery shopping.   Isaiah fell asleep on the way there which always makes it harder to get from the car to the store.  This time though I just picked him up out of the car and set him on the trunk.  He thought that was really cool though and woke up almost right a way.  In the store they had tons, and tons, of Halloween candy.  We were at Meijer by the way.  They just had it everywhere though, so I told Isaiah that if I had enough money by the time I had gotten everything that I needed that I would get him one bag of candy...his choice.  I came in way under budget it turned out and so I let him pick out his bag.  Now, this is good for him, bad for me.  I am going to have a hard time not eating that candy.  I almost wish he had picked out something that I don't like.  I have now lost 23 pounds and I really want to lose 2 more pounds so I can say I have lost 25.   Of course my goal right now is to lose 7 pounds...so I can be down by 30.  I wonder if Kevin will be able to tell the difference when he comes to visit? 
     Anyway, so after all that shopping I drove home and for the first time since last winter I parked in the garage.  I just didn't feel like bringing in all the groceries in the strong wind.  So anyway, that was my day...nothing exciting but still good for me.  I enjoyed it.  Actually...tomorrow is Saturday!  It doesn't even feel like it should be.  It will be nice to have the day with James...maybe I will try to work on Evelyn's mural tomorrow...I really need to get that thing done.  So...that's all for me...good night all. TTYL.
 

10/12/06

     Good evening.  Tonight is Thursday and that means that it is another big TV night.  Not as bad as usual though because I already got my soap operas out of the way.  I have the kitchen all clean and even though I should probably clean up the living room right now and my bedroom I would rather not.  I would rather sit here and wait for Survivor to come on.  I have been thinking a lot about the fact that I had made a decision to make more time for God, and although I did follow through really well with that for a while, I later fell back into my old routine of putting family things and cleaning ahead of God.  It has been bothering me ever since I noticed it again, and today I did something about it.  This morning I went upstairs and designed a message.  I typed the words "Have You Spent Time With God Today??"  I made the font really large, and made the words You and God in the color red so they stood out even more.  Then of course I printed it up and put it in the one place where I knew I would see it all the time.  The refrigerator!!  lol  Basically what ended up happening was I kept seeing it all day, and reading it over and over again...until I finally made myself go and sit on the couch and read through my bible along with a study guide.  It felt so good to sit down and read, it was the perfect time to do it since Evelyn was napping, and Isaiah was occupied.  I am going to do my best to make time everyday...and now everyday I will be reminded too. 
     So I had planned on putting Isaiah to bed earlier for now, at 8pm, the same time that Evelyn does.  This way I could have a little more time to get things done...and he gets to have more sleep.  But tonight my moms show Smallville is on...the one about Superman, and Isaiah enjoys watching it with her so I am letting him stay up tonight for that.  Should be fine, but I am sure that he will not want to go to bed once it is time.  Hopefully he will not throw any kind of a fit.  In other news...my dad got a new job today!  Ya I know....cool huh?  What happened was he got a call for an interview from a company that he had had an interview with before but turned down...I guess they told another company about him though that they are partnered with and thought he would be good for.  Well my dad really didn't want to do maintenance anymore...installing all the heavy ranges, air conditioners, heaters, painting the apartments, installing carpet...it is all too much for his body now that he is older.  Also, he doesn't want to have to shovel snow.  He told them all of this...and they didn't care.  They said that they hire contractors to do all of those things and that they also use plows to get rid of the snow.  They want to pay my dad $12.00 an hour, and they give full benefits.  A bonus is that they have a full gym there that employees get to use.  So...he took the job, but he is also going to keep his current one since it is only in the late evenings and it starts an hour after he gets off the other.  It will be good to keep it just for the extra money, and just incase he decides that this new job isn't as good as he hoped...but he really thinks it will be great.  I am happy for them just because having more money will really be good for them, and they will be able to start helping us with the bills more.  It's good all around. 
     Some other exciting stuff happened today also.  We had our first snow of the season!  It was beautiful...and even though I missed the beginning of it since I was in the shower, James took a video of it for me and luckily it was still snowing when I was done.  It was so gorgeous.  After it was all done the snow melted it though and the wind really kicked up making the 45 degree weather feel like 20.  COLD!  I was wearing long john pajamas all day under my pants and a sweat shirt.  That is the one thing I love about winter, the warm clothes, the big blankets...it's all great.  I would always rather be cold than too hot.  However when I mentioned the first snow to Kevin...well, he has no desire to live anywhere that has rain in the summer and snows in the fall.  lol  Oh well, it's his loss.  Anyway, I guess that is all for now.  I still have two more shows to watch.  Have a good night everyone and I will talk to you tomorrow.  Bye.
 

10/11/06

     Today was the day that James came with us to the playgroup.  I guess they are trying to make Wednesdays be more of a music/movement day because we ended up doing lots of music and singing.  Isaiah wasn't as into it, but Evelyn loved it all.  She stood in the middle of the whole circle and clapped her hands, stomped her feet, and walked in circles.  It was very cute to watch and everyone else thought so too.  Not to mention the fact that she is just a good little baby.  Although I won't say it was really great fun for James, he did agree that the kids like it a lot and so I guess he will probably take the kids every Wednesday now.  It will give me some time to relax here to with out the kids around.  Yesterday I really wanted to take a nap...and Evelyn had been asleep for an hour, but since it was her only nap I figured that I had another hour at least that she would be down, so I convinced Isaiah to lay down with me and as I thought he fell asleep.  Well...I went in to my room after that to lay down and of course all of 10 seconds after I did, Evelyn started crying.  AGH.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so disappointed.  I really really wanted to lay down.  But instead I went and got her and came back downstairs.  Oh well.  I had even planned on going to bed early last night and getting a good nights sleep.  That didn't happen...but then again when does it huh?
     Whoa!  All of a sudden the wind just picked up a lot and the rain came pouring down.  And I mean like the rain is getting tossed sideways and is smacking against the windows.  I was talking with Lorenda at the same time on the phone and we both agreed that it would be a very hard job to be the weather man here in Michigan.  The weather is just so random and crazy...you know they have a stressful job.  I was talking to James about the fact that sometime when the weather is sort of nice again and my mom has a couple days off, I would like for him to take a day off from work and we could just go on a drive around Michigan.  I mean go for an ALL DAY trip where we see places here and get to explore and take pictures, go to cute little restaurants.  And of course...we could even stay the night somewhere and make a two day trip.  Anyway, I mentioned all of this to James and he said it sounds like a great idea.  So hopefully that will happen soon, assuming that the weather cooperates.  lol  Which it probably won't till next year.  lol
     Right now Isaiah is out with my mom and dad seeing the movie Barnyard.  I imagine they will probably let him play for a while at the play area that is inside the mall for kids before they come home...if anything just to wait out the rain.  It is nice though right now to just have Evelyn here.  I feel tired again.  I just finished sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor, which might have something to do with it.  It's a big area.  Either way though I am tired and I could really go for a nap.  I am thinking that when Evelyn does go down for her last nap, I might lay down here on the couch, just so I can be woken up when Isaiah does get home.  I often think it would be nice to go on a trip by myself, maybe a camping trip, and just sleep in everyday for as long as I want, read, write, lay in the sun, and have someone else do all the cooking for me.  I would like to have no responsibilities for a while.  But, that will probably never happen.  lol  Oh well.  Anyway, I know I wrote this super early...but I wanted to get it done so I could rest the remainder of the day without the computer on.  I might write more later though if something happens.  lol  ttyl.  Bye.
 

10/10/06
12:05am

     Ok, so I just got home a little bit ago from the mall.   James and I went there to hang out and then we went to the dollar theatre that they have in there and we watched a movie.  Talladega Nights.  James hadn't seen it yet and since it is fifty cent Tuesday we figured why not...who doesn't want to spend only a dollar to see a movie on the big screen.  So that was cool and sadly we gave in to the pressure and had a Cinnabun.  Those things are so very good...sinful...it should be a crime to eat them.  I know that I just gained 2 pounds.  lol 
     Prior to our evening out though my day was pretty full.  I took the kids to playgroup this morning and it was quite entertaining.  Evelyn was so good and was just everywhere.  She especially loved the playhouse today.  She would just go in there in and then peek out the window and smile.  It was adorable.  Isaiah was also super good...playing with some different toys, even learning ones, and then being very helpful with Evelyn and just playing good with others.  I was really proud of him.  He is really getting better at talking...he said Evelyn's name recently, and today...well he remembered the number 4!!  I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is.  Isaiah has NEVER been able to remember that after 3 comes 4.  Even if we have him say the word 4 over and over again...as soon as we show him four fingers and as how many it is, he would always say 3.  But today he didn't do that...today he only messed up once, and then got it right.  I was so very happy.  I can't even tell you.  I am going to work on it even more with him tomorrow.
     Also today, James bought his plane tickets for his trip to Ca next month for work.  He is planning the trips himself now and then they (work) reimburse him.  He will be leaving on Nov 14th and will be returning on the 21st.  The cool thing is that he was able to get on the same flight as Kevin for when he comes to see us, and they both arranged their seats so they are by each other.  It will be fun for them to make the trip together.  I on the other hand will have a full week of no men here (well my dad will be but I don't see him a lot) and then all at once I will have my husband back +1 extra man.  And...I will have to worry about making a good Thanksgiving dinner.  AAHHH it's too much pressure!  lol  It is going to be great though to have Kevin with us.  Oh, and did I tell you that we will be having our first snow this week. Probably Thursday or Friday.  We are all so excited.  Everyone else around here though, neighbors and friends, keep saying that they aren't ready for the snow to be here so soon.  Fools!  It will be so much fun.  Anyway, it is super late now, and I think I better end this.  Have a great day people.  Bye.
 

10/9/06
11:18pm

     Ok, so we just finished watching a pretty good movie and I have been busy doing things on the computer.  Uploading my pictures, doing videos like the ones you can watch above.  I am really enjoying using Photobucket for videos.  I feel so much safer having them on a private url address that I can give to only the people I want.  Today I started trying Microsoft's new video sharing program called Soapbox.  They are of course hoping it will do as good if not better than YouTube.  After registering though and starting the uploading process, I realized that it was dumb to even do it.  I would still end up with the same problem as before...not wanting certain people to see the videos, and the security they have not being what I want.  I might as well stick with what works.  I don't want a bunch of weird people looking at my videos.  And the fact is that they do.  There are bad people everywhere...and they think and do bad things.
     So...my day was good.  I tried really hard to keep the TV off because I realized that James has been putting it on more.  I turned it off around 2pm and took the kids outside, did crafts, and other things.  While I was outside I realized that there were tons and tons of this one type of bug all over the front of the house.  I don't know why they are there or how long it will last...but it is gross, and one flew in my hair today.  That is one of the nastiest things...a bigger sized bug flying in your hair.  You can feel it and all I ever end up doing is yelling while trying to get it out.  Yuck! 
     Isaiah and I had fun though just hanging out together.  Evelyn was good for the most part and after she went to bed Isaiah and I did the crafts that I mentioned and then we did the thing that doesn't get done often enough....we cleaned his room.  I am sure that the cleanliness will not last very long though.  Hopefully he will keep it long enough for me to get the vacuum up there...we'll see, I am pretty lazy about carrying that thing upstairs.  lol  Anyway, I know it seems like I didn't write much tonight (maybe cause I didn't) but I don't feel like I have much else to say.  It is way too late now because I just kept watching TV when I should have been writing this out.  I need to go to bed...tomorrow I have to take Isaiah to the playgroup.  I'll tell you all about tomorrow...tomorrow.  Bye.
    
    

10/8/06
3:26pm

     Well, obviously I didn't write last night.  This is because I went to bed at like 5pm.  I was feeling really sick to my stomach and all I wanted to do was lay down.  So I went to bed and amazingly I stayed in bed till 7:30am this morning.  I feel much better though now.  James took care of the kids and although he didn't clean up last night, he did do it this morning.  The only pain I do have today is that my back hurts from being in bed for such a long time.  I don't know how people who have to stay in bed for long periods of time do it.  I imagine you end up with even more aches and pains just from being in the bed.  My mom is feeling sick also, but she is on her second day.  Right now she can't seem to get comfortable, so she is trying out our bed at the moment.  Hopefully she can get some sleep there and also feel better.  She called in sick to work today.  This morning we went to church.  Evelyn was really good up until the last 5-10 minutes when I took her out.  She desperately needed a nap, but since she slept in the car on the way home, I guess she decided that the car nap counted.  So now she is tired, but won't sleep.  All she would do was scream in her room.  I think we might just put her to bed at 7pm instead of the usual 8pm. 
     Speaking of going to bed, it is now 6pm (we went grocery shopping and had dinner) and Isaiah had to go to sleep because he refused to eat his dinner...which was homemade pizza.  He wouldn't even try it.  So...we told him to go up to bed, he started to have a fit...one of  those rare but bad ones, and then we had to take him up there.  I checked on him though and he is indeed asleep.  So that is good.  I almost feel like I should just make dinner for lunch...and then have lunch for dinner, at least then he would be eating something before he goes to bed at night.  I just don't understand how he can go from always eating his dinners, to not wanting to eat them at all.  Makes no sense.  But when do kids make sense huh?  All we can do is continue to punish him for it so he knows that this whole not even going to try it  things is not acceptable.  Eventually, he will figure it out.  I hope.
     So anyway, now that we have all eaten dinner, and I am full... I am just trying to finish this up and then do the clean up.  I would like to announce that I have now lost 23 pounds.  I am very excited about that.  I REALLY BADLY need to buy new pants.  But it just never seems like a good time to do it.  We always need the money for something else, and it is always something that seems more important.  Even though I generally hate getting money for Christmas (because it means you didn't put any genuine thought into a gift) I wouldn't mind getting money this year, just so I can go out and buy some pants.  I know most people love to get money as a gift, but I have just never liked it.  Even when I was younger, I always felt sad about it since it basically meant that they didn't even want to try to find me something I would like.  Instead, they just went the easy way and got a gift card.  I would rather someone took the time to pick out a hallmark card, then just give me money.  But, like I said, this year...I will make an exception.  lol 
     Well, I guess that is it.  I suppose I should finish up the rest of the house.  I will even have some time to call a couple friends.  I haven't talked to Lorenda in what seems like a couple days.  Tiffany is supposed to be busy all weekend helping her husband Eric do a side job.  So I will call her tomorrow.  Kitchen here I come!!!  lol  ttyl everyone.  Bye.

10/6/06
11:20pm

     Ok, so I had a pretty great day.  My dad asked us to try to keep the kids busy because he didn't sleep AT ALL last night and really wanted to try to get some.  When we walk up here they can hear it, so he just didn't want them running and jumping everywhere.   So...we took them outside to walks like 3 times today, played with them upstairs, I had Isaiah playing video games during Evelyn's naps...and in the end it was all good because my dad got plenty of sleep.  I was really glad.  The last walk that we took we went back to that same place again but this time we took Isaiah's friend Sam with us.  I just dropped by the house on our way to see if he could come along.  Luckily he could and the had such a good time.  He loved it and they ran around like crazy people the whole time.  lol  I got some video of it even and took some pictures too. I will be adding some new pictures very soon to all the websites I post these on...so don't worry about that.  I just don't like adding only a few you know, I like to have a whole bunch and just replace all of them.  Makes it more fun that way too. 
     I was almost going to sign up to post videos on Yahoo's thing that they have, but then I realized that I really prefer the way I am doing it right now.  I like using photobucket because I can just set the videos to PRIVATE, and then you just email the people you want the URL.  And it's a totally random url that no one else is going to be able to find out so only those people I email see the video.  I love that!  I am always so worried about the wrong people seeing my videos every since that thing happened on YouTube.  But then I started thinking about the fact that really, if a perfect stranger wanted to stalk me (which I don't know why they would want to anyway) they could, because I put WAY too much info in these blogs.  Like way too much.  Now, I think that it is a good thing when it comes to people I know who read it, but what if some psycho just happened upon my page from somewhere, who knows how, and decided to start going crazy on me?  Quite honestly they could just read this thing and they would know tons about me, and could fake knowing me even.  It's a scary thought to be honest.  I guess it ends up being the kind of thing that you just risk and hope that it doesn't happen, (especially since I am one little person in a world of millions) or you get overly worried and stop all together.  Personally though I enjoy writing...and I know that there are people who read it...so I don't think I would want to stop.  Even more so because I know for a FACT that I have written things at one point or another that have affected people in a big way...that is too important to just "stop" doing. 
     Speaking of important.  If you want to watch a good movie this Christmas, an important movie...The Nativity Story is the one for you.  Here is the link to watching the movie trailer.  I think this one will be a big hit.  http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=13337
Especially since this movie is about why we even have Christmas.   Did I tell you that to help make sure that my kids know why we have a Christmas I plan on making a birthday cake for Jesus every Christmas.  We will light a candle, and sing happy birthday to Jesus, then eat it. I think this will really help the kids to remember what Christmas is all about.  I don't want them to focus on what gifts they will get this year.  If my kids start doing that too much, there present count will greatly diminish. 
     I can't even stand the thought of my kids being greedy when it comes to gifts.  I always make sure that after Isaiah opens any gift, that he then goes over to that person and hugs them and says thank you.  I remember this one kid, who was like 7 years old I think...that was having a fit because he didn't get a lot of toys, he got gift cards.  He was acting like a baby...but his parents just left him there to cry about it, occasionally trying to comfort him.  If that had been my kid...I would have given back all the gift cards to everyone who gave them right in front of my kid...and told him that he didn't deserve to have them.  Because that would have been the truth.  I just can't stand it when kids don't appreciate what they get.  And it's not even all their fault...kids learn how to act and what to do from their parents, and some parents just don't ever teach these things.  But anyway...I better stop, I could go on about that forever.  I think I will end this for now.  It's almost midnight and I have Isaiah tonight, which means if I hurry, I can get a good nights sleep.  YA!!!!  lol  ttyl.  Bye.
 

10/5/06
10:57pm

     Good evening.  I am starting this a lot later than I originally intended to because I got caught up watching The Diary of Ann Frank with James.  I don't know if I told you or not but I had rented it for him because it's a classic and I was shocked that he hadn't seen it.  Well, even though I have 5 shows to watch still and write this out...I couldn't help but watch the movie for the first half before I came in the other room to watch my shows.  It really is a great movie.  I know it's old, but the emotions are there...and that's all you need in a movie.  Maybe I will watch the rest of it myself later on or something. 
     Today I went onto my Cingular Wireless account online and I made a change.  I was now eligible for an upgrade!!!   I went a head and looked at which phones I could get for cheap.  There were two nice phones that were both better than the one I have that I could get for free, and another one that was also better, and the color black, that I could get at the discounted price of $9.99.  I was excited about them all but was more attracted to the black one only because it was black.  I decided to have James take a look at them and see what one he thought was best.  In the end he liked the first one that was silver.  Although I know it is the better one, I just wish it was black. But anyway I got that one and it will be delivered in a few days, and then James will use my old one.  Not that it is very old, barely a year actually.  But the phone he has for work right now isn't that great, it's new, but looks like it is 5-7 years old now.  No color on the screen or anything you know.  So that will be good for him because he can just switch the sim cards and keep using it with his same number.
     Also today Isaiah, who LOVES to take pictures...asked again to use our camera.  I used to let him, but he has been dropping it once in a while, he has been messing with the settings, and he always puts it down on the lens, which I know will eventually cause a scratch.  I don't want him using it anymore.  So when he asked for it I told him no and it was beyond obvious that he was upset.  Very disappointed.  But then there was a change...my mom offered to give Isaiah the small digital camera that we used to have that we gave to them.  It's only 3 mega pixels and we had bought it a few years back.  It can record audio, video, take pictures, and play mp3's.  The quality isn't that good for the pictures, you wouldn't want to print them at all.  Basically if you want the videos to look good and the pictures too, you wanna have lots of light.   Natural light is even better.  So...anyway, she gave him that and he was super happy.  I mean very happy.  I needed to charge it though and although I am charging it the way my mom said too...I don't recall this being how we used to charge it, and I don't think it is working.  I will figure something out.  Hopefully it is charging...we'll see.   The point is that Isaiah is a very happy boy.   Anyway, that is all for me tonight...I know I know, not very exciting huh? But nobody ever said a day in the life of a house wife was exciting.  Well...unless your a desperate housewife I guess.  Ok, stupid joke.  lol  I will talk to you all later.  Bye.
    

10/4/06
10:34pm

     Hello.  Well the day is basically over, and it was a good one.  James is sitting here beside me and watching one of my shows.  Dancing with the Stars.  Usually James doesn't watch my shows with me, but he decided to tonight.  Very sweet.  Before that we watched Lost which premiered tonight and I was very into it...when it ended I was SHOCKED!  I wasn't ready for the episode to be over.  I feel like it should have kept going and I am way too anxious for next week.  So many shows so little time.  lol  James is laughing at me as he reads this.  lol  It was another rainy day today, and it made me feel very tired.  So much so that my eyes were actually hurting from trying to keep them awake.  I don't know how I managed to not take a nap.  But I stayed awake and tried to hang with the kids.  We watched a movie together too.  Isaiah and I watched Poltergeist II and although he would get nervous and scared sometimes, he still loved it and wanted to keep watching it.  I still can watch the third movie too, the disc had both of them on there.  I am still waiting for James to watch The Diary of Ann Frank.  I had rented it for him because I was shocked that he had never watched it.  We watched it in school, and I always assumed that everyone had.  It is excellent and he said he would watch it, he just keeps forgetting.  I will just have to keep reminding him I guess.
     My mom and dad got some good new sort of in regards to one of their money issues, so that was good.  James has still not gotten his pay check.  It is very frustrating.  We know that they mailed it, and they mailed it priority class, but I just really want to get that thing.  I mean I don't enjoy having to use my savings account like I did today just so I can go to the grocery store and buy groceries.  OH...that reminds me...a lady was very rude to me today.  I was in the store and at one point I over heard a lady who was all of 3 feet away from me mention that she didn't know if she had passed up the Ziploc baggies isle.  I told her that she had and that it was just a couple isles back.  She said thank you and went on her way.  Then...when I was checking out she was in line in front of me...her stuff was done and the cashier was already scanning my stuff.  I went to move my cart forward as she was moving hers...but she got stuck...and had to back up,  but it was too fast and I ran my cart into the back of her foot/leg.  I right away apologized and said that I didn't see her and again said sorry...you know what she did???  Gave me a dirty, mean, rude look.  Didn't say anything, just gave me a nasty look.  I said sorry, but she continued to not speak and just gave me that dirty look and then walked away.  AGH!!!!  People like that drive me nuts!!  I mean I even helped her out before, she could have at least acknowledged my presence.  Even the cashier said, "Man, that was a cold look she gave you."  Ugh, I guess some people just don't know how to be nice anymore.  So anyway...that is all for me.  I need to get up and stretch my legs.  ttyl.  Bye.
 

 

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10/3/06
8:46pm

     Tonight, before it got dark, I took Evelyn and Isaiah for a walk.  Once again we had a great time.  We walked back to that one place again and the sprinklers were on.  Three of them were broken though and so the water was just shooting out all over the place.  There were big big puddles all over the court.  So I let Evelyn out of the stroller and her and Isaiah just went crazy running through all the water.  They did it until the sprinklers turned off.  It was so cute and I wish that I would have had my camera so I could have at least taken a picture.  The other thing that we did during that walk was collect things.  We collected rocks...leafs...flowers...and even a pretty weed.  I brought them home and took a picture of them to have as a memory.  It looked so pretty I made it my desktop picture for now.  I am going to try to keep taking them on walks whenever the weather is good enough.  Which I don't know how much longer that will be.  We have been having lots of thunder storms with rain lately.  I know tomorrow we will be again. 
     I wanted to go to the store today and spend the rest of the grocery money that I thought I had left, but because James has not received his pay check yet I can't. He is supposed to get paid on the first of the month, but to make sure that we receive it on time, they have been having James send in his invoice early...yet here we are October 3rd and we do not have it yet.  I have a few things that I need to buy still and can't.  Don't get me wrong, if I had to I could use our savings, I am just holding out for that check though.  Even though logic says that the mail must have come and we just didn't get any...I can't help but feel like they skipped us...since my parents and us received no mail...even though at a minimum we should have gotten a couple movies from Netflix.  Anyway...it just bugged me.
     I am just about done making all those movies for Tiffany.  I took a day off from it so it took a little longer, and then I decided to add a few extra too.  I guess her husband was feeling left out.  So I am adding some and hopefully he will enjoy those too.  I talked with Tiff though for awhile, and Lorenda earlier too.  Everyone was good.  Tiffany was feeling better.  Except a big headache that is.  It dawned on me though that I haven't had my bad headaches in a very long time.  I am so happy about that.  Oddly though if I start thinking about my headaches, I begin to get a twinge in my head, like one is ready to start.  Maybe that's the problem, it is all just in my head.  lol  Anyway, so I didn't do much else today, but sometimes that is really nice.  So I will finish my show I am watching and then try to make some more of those movies for Tiffany.  Maybe hang out with James a little bit too.  ttyl.  Bye.
 

10/2/06
8:54pm

     I am sitting here watching Wife Swap, I swear that this show is utterly hilarious, people are wacky about the way they do things.  No matter what they both have good qualities about them and also bad qualities.  The bad ones are so funny though and shocking.  I can't believe what people think is ok and what isn't.  At the end they put up the website you can go to and apply to be on the show.  James happened to be sitting right next to me and I looked over at him and jokingly asked if we should apply for the show.  He laughed and said sure.  I reminded him though that if we did then inevitably since we have the nice clean house, he would then get stuck with the wife that does not have a nice clean house...and she wouldn't let any thing get done and would probably think that we play too many video games.  lol  Who knows.  It's hard to know what things in your life look wrong to other people.  I suppose that there is a lot that any one could find really.  If I was on a show like Wife Swap...I guess I would want to make sure that the family had some good basics.  But I guess you can't know for sure till you try it.  The only thing I don't like about this show is that there is no prize money in the end.  At least with the other show, Meet Your New Mommy, each family got $50,000 in the end. 
     Today I woke up to my beautiful newly painted kitchen.  It just makes me so happy to be in there.  Of course it also really makes me want to just go buy a bunch of paint now and start doing all of the rooms.  lol  Especially my bedroom.  I badly want to add color to my bedroom.  And get matching curtains!!  Ugh...I feel like by the time this house is the way I want it, we will either be much older, or James will decide we should move again.  lol  Wouldn't that be nice!  I don't think so...there is no way that will happen!  Unless of course James gets a job working for Microsoft and they want to pay him a crazy amount of money and we then have to move because of that.  That I could handle.  :-) 
     Tiffany is feeling better.  She is still having some pain, but she is taking her medicine and feeling somewhat better.  I have tried to call Lorenda today but haven't been able to get a hold of her.  She had her first night sleep on her brand new bed, and I know that she was really looking forward to it.  I remember how excited I was about getting our new bed and our new bedroom set of furniture.  There is nothing like getting your first new "big thing" in regards to house furnishings.  I would love to someday buy the kids bedroom sets.   Not now, and not in the next couple years either, but someday.  I would want to get Isaiah some cool stuff, and make Evelyn's room look girly and cute...not too girly, but cute. 
     James is in the other room right now playing one of the games I rented for him.  They are due back on Wednesday, and so he is trying to beat them before that.  Cracks me up.  Luckily all I have to do tonight is a little bit of pick up around the house and put some laundry away and I am done.  Isaiah ended up going to bed really early because he refused to eat his dinner.  It was a good dinner, and the most he would do was put a bite of it in his mouth for about 1 second before spitting it back out.  He just refuses to eat anything I make unless it is what he considers to be good food.  Basically if I gave him cereal and peanut butter and jelly all day long he would be happy as ever.  Because he wouldn't eat tonight, he ended up going to bed right afterwards.  That was at about 6:30pm.  He did get up once, around 8pm or so to use the bathroom, he didn't talk to us though, he just went to the bathroom and then went back to bed.  It always makes me feel very proud of him when he acts like a big boy and goes back to his room without any argument.  Without us even having to tell him to.  Makes me very happy.  Did I tell you that the whole time we were painting, Isaiah was super good and very patient with the fact that we were very busy and couldn't be with him too much.
He is such a good boy...even if he won't eat my food.  lol   Anyway, that's all for now.  I guess I will do my quick clean up now.  ttyl.  Bye.
 

10/1/06
11:14pm

     Ok, so I didn't write last night...but there is a good reason.  Around noon yesterday we decided to use some of our extra money from the month to go and buy paint to paint a room in the house.  We decided on the kitchen!  I was really excited and we went to Lowes and picked out a couple colors.  We brought home our favorite, just a very small sized can to do a test with...we didn't like it though so we scratched that idea and pick another color.  In the end we decided on two...one for the walls, and another for the ceiling.  We picked a type of brown called Soul Brown, and then a type of peach color, but I can't remember the official name.  Anyway, it looks wonderful and I am adding a picture of it on here so you can see it. (If you are reading this on FBC Galts website, scroll all the way down to see the pics of the kitchen)  It took a really long time to do though.  We started last night after all the kids were in bed, and we didn't get done until after dinner today.  And even after we were done, we still had to do more because we forgot to take the tape off the walls right away and so the paint dried to the tape and we tried to take it off sections of the paint came off the walls...well as soon as we realized that we got some carpenters knives and just cut along the wall and tape so it wouldn't do that anymore.  It all worked out in the end and we used my art paint brushes to do some touch up stuff. It feels warm and cozy in there.  Sadly that was all we did this weekend.  We didn't go to church either, not because we wanted to paint, but because the kids were coughing a lot.  Evelyn especially, she was coughing all day, not to mention the mass amount of snot that was coming out of her nose.  My mom bought some medicine for me though while she was out and we gave her some, it seems to be helping.  Tiffany had a hard day yesterday, she was in the hospital for almost 6 hours.  I won't go into everything of course, but it was good that she had her mother in law take her to the ER, they said if she hadn't come in, she could have gone into shock...or possibly died.  I am just glad she went in...and she has a bunch of medicine now and will hopefully be well soon.  So, prayers are going out to her tonight.  Speaking of night, it's late, and I am going to bed.  I will write more tomorrow.  Bye...and good night.
 


 

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