Photo Time - Day One

Here are the kids and the man with yesterday's snowman. This is the first one my kids have ever had.

The Clown's Meme

1. How old will you be in five years? 49 Yikes, now that puts things in a whole new perspective.

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? My husband and my babies.

3. How tall are you? 4' 11" S-H-O-R-T, Short

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Color coming back into the world. Bring it Mother Nature.

5. What’s the last movie you saw? The Fantastic Mr. Fox. My review is coming on Monday.

6. Who was the last person you called? Clarissa, a day without Clarissa, is like a day without sunshine.

7. Who was the last person to call you? Clarissa. We played phone tag.

8. What was the last text message you received? From my husband asking me to pick up Antipasta.

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? ...That would be my Daddy.

10. Do you prefer to call or text? Call because I get yelled at if I go over my texting minutes.

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?  Getting my groove on.

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? They were married when Mom died but I don't believe they would still be married if she were alive today. Dad has been living with a man for the past 30 years.

13. When is the last time you saw your mom? I was 12 years old. She died of cancer in 1978

14. What color are your eyes? Hazel

15. What time did you wake up today? Too friggin early. My kids don't sleep past 6:30 ever.

16. What are you wearing right now? Sweat pants and a Taps T-shirt. Oh yeah baby, I am hawt!

17. What is your favorite christmas song? Where are You Christmas or Grown Up Christmas List

18. Where is your favorite place to be? Home

19. Where is your least favorite place to be? Anyplace crowded. I hate crowds.

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? I would visit my Daddy.

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years? Here, alive hopefully. A lot can happen in 10 years.

22. Do you tan or burn? I stay out of the sun. I used to burn but it has been over 15 years since my last burn. Working for a dermatologist will do that to you.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? Everything. The thing under the bed, the thing in the closet, the thing in the shower, the thing in the basement, the witch from Hansel and Gretel mostly. I still have to force myself not to run out of dark rooms into the light. I'm a big pussy and not afraid to admit it.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?  My son took a crazy fall off a swing today, head over tea kettle and it made me laugh but only because I didn't see it until the end. If I had seen his face hit the snow and leave a horrible red mark that is still there 5 hours later I would never have laughed.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4, one for each of us but only two have channels. The other two, the kids can watch videos or DVDs on.

26. How big is your bed? Not big enough or at times too big. Too small when the kids are in it and too big when it is just the man and me.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? Laptop!

29. What color are your sheets? Right now they are white.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two. As I have gotten older, I need a bigger incline.

31. What is your favorite season? Autumn because of all the colors.

32. What do you like about Autumn? Funny, I had not idea that was the next question until just now. See above.

33. What do you like about winter? The time with my family. We tend to be indoors more and spend much more time together.

Self Portrait Sunday - February 14th 2010

Happy Valentines Day Friends

The rules are simple. Just post a picture of yourself linking back here. Hope to see your beautiful faces.

A Little Cheesy I know but I couldn't resist with all the color Picnik Effects.

Saturday 9 - It's a Beautiful Morning

Saturday 9: It's a Beautiful Morning
1. Are you a morning person?  Yes I am thank you. Have always been. My kids are lucky that I am too! They wake me all night long and are up anywhere between 5:00 - 6:30 a.m.  As tired as I am, they are greeted with a smile, "Good morning" and hug every morning. They have started saying "good morning" when they wake up too. Cute.

2. Tell us of a news story that truly shocked you. Not much shocks me but I remember exactly how I felt when Princess Diana died. That really shocked me to the core. I was at the diner with my husband and the news came on. When they posted her photo with her birth and death year across the bottom, I actually stood up, saying "no". I must have been standing a while because my husband actually said, "could you sit down!"

3. What was your very first job? I worked for my Uncle Joe who also gave my mom her first job. It was a sucky job, the compute was long (a bus, the ferry, a train and 4 blocks to walk) but we shared an office with a room of young guys which made the job kinda worth it.

4. What characteristics do you despise? People who are always negative and hateful.

5. To where would you retire? Is there really such a thing?

6. Are you named after anyone? Yes, my Paternal Grandfather's mother.

7. How do you release anger? I am not easily angered so I don't really have a go to emotion.

8. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Using sarcasm the right way is a talent you are born with. I do not have it.

9. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? It used to be that I didn't really stand up for myself. Now, that I no longer care what other people think about me (it is a good place to be) it would be that I don't dedicate any time to exercising.

Rainbow Bright Makes A Comeback

Thanks to a campaign through Mom Select I was able to participate in a campaign for Rainbow Bright.  I received 10 CD's to share with my friends and to get their feedback on.

Remember Rainbow Bright?  Back in 1980, Rainbow Bright hit the scene with her colorful hair, clothes, friends and animals. Rainbow Bright lived in a magical kingdom called Rainbow Land.

Rainbow Bright's best friend was her magical flying horse called Starlite.

While I am still waiting on some reactions, so far all Rainbow Bright reactions have been positive. From Mother's to young daughter's, everyone loves the new Rainbow Bright.

Tiff (7) - Loved reading about the characters, played the games and printing out the pictures to color them.

Ava (4) - Enjoyed the puzzle games and her mother loved introducing her to Rainbow Bright, someone she loved as a child.

Victoria (6) - Wants to start collecting the dolls and her mother promised to find the one she has in storage.

Anthony (4) He loved playing the matching game and his mother was happy that Rainbow Bright is back because she is pregnant with a girl and wants to start buying the dolls.

Katie (9) Loves the horses and really wants some for her birthday.

Personally, I think the colors and cute Sprites are adorable. I played this game for way too long. Also, I love the beautiful animation. This is just so girly it makes me happy.  Rainbow Bright, isn't just beautiful and colorful, she also spreads her positive messages of courage, kindness, and hope. 

Friday Photo Flashback

Valentines 2009


Valentines 2008 - This is Goddess wearing her favorite Scooby hand-me-down PJ's and eating a red pancake.


Valentines 2007 - Here is Handsome eating a lollipop from Aunt Teresa who sent an amazing box of Valentine treats to us that year.


Valentines 2006 (Goddess had her first taste of chocolate on her very first Valentines. The moment that will last the rest of her life. She is a true chocoholic and I monitor her strictly)


Valentines 2005 (Handsome was sick for 7 days straight. He lost about 3 pounds. We all slept on the floor of the living room to be near him. I was at the end of my 2nd pregnancy and this was an exhausting time.)


Valentines 2004 (Handsome's First Valentines)

Friday Fill Ins

1. Pickles, I could eat a whole jar of them.
2. My favorite place is at home.
3. The snow is high and fluffy today.
4. I love the colors in nature.
5. It's 5:16 PM; that means it will soon be 5:17.
6. Time to be quiet and just be is hard to find.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie with the man, tomorrow my plans include hanging with the family and Sunday, I want to sleep past 6:30 a.m.

ABC Wednesday - D Is For Daughter

D is for Daughter



D is for Decorated


D is for Deserted


D is for Drinking


D is for Dancing


D is for Daddy

Post 2,200 Brings Love and War A Book Review

In A Nutshell: Love and War is written by couple John and Stasi Eldredge who are bestselling authors who wrote a book about marriage and compared the differences of men and women.

What I Loved About It: This couple, really puts themselves out there. Throughout the book, the part that sat with me the most was from the first chapter. Stasi writes what most women would write. She wants to be "seen and valued for WHO she is, to be truly known by her husband" .  Is there not a women alive who feels their husband REALLY knows them?  The comparison to Titanic really brings home. "Jack really sees Rose, while her fiance' although knowing Rose is unhappy ignores her and fails to ask why.  Stasi also wants to lean into her husband's strength. We all want that safe place to fall. In our husband's capable hands, knowing that no matter what he is there for us and nothing bad will happen.

 Then John's part; he sees what Stasi wrote and says, "that's good to know." His desires are so different. He goes on to tell us that there is a scene in the movie Cinderella Man that almost brought him to tears. As he goes on to talk about the scene where the main characters wife runs across town just to tell her husband, "Remember who you are, I'm always behind you." Then he talks about a scene in The Man From Snowy River where a couple are alone, just the two of them, in the wilderness. And, still more where the female basically lets the man be a man and take care of her while worshiping him for the "man" he is.

John and Stasi have been married for 25 years and had never shared these very feelings with each other. Marriage is hard work and if more people where to be so open and share, really share their hopes and dreams, imagine the full, happy, life we would have.

This book, if read by most would cut the divorce rate in half.

From Differences To God - To Sex - John and Stasi put marriage in words that many people will be able to understand, appreciate and concur with.

While the book falls into the religion - self help category, I think it is much more than that. This is an honest, real book about hope and faith in finding the marriage you've dreamed of.

This was book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Freestyle - A Review

Freestyle starring Corbin Bleu, of High School Musical fame is a Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment movie and I was fortunate enough to receive a screener copy for review.

In A Nutshell: This is an uplifting story about Cale (Corbin) who works hard to help his family taking on two jobs after his father left the family.His dream is to race with the pros and after losing his bike due to a little youthful drama (jealousy), he manages to build his dream bike, fall in love, and through shear willpower and courage beats all odds to come out on top.

What I Liked: Corbin is cute, likable and believable. Madison and Corbin are the perfect siblings, they even look alike. The storyline is sweet! After his mother is hurt, watching Corbin take care of his sister brought tears to my eyes.

Hearing that Freestyle was about Motor Crossing, didn't make me want to watch it but knowing Corbin was in it, changed my mind. I am so glad I did because while it is about bikes, this is mostly about a young man, who against all odds is strong, smart, kind, loving and a survivor.

I LOVED IT!

Crave: Wanting So Much More of God - A Review

In A Nutshell:  I never saw myself nor do I think any of my friends would consider me very religious. I have always classified myself as more spiritual. There is probably no one that knows of my personal relationship with God. It is for me a very quiet solitary thing. My husband, my family, even my best friends have no idea how close I hold my heart to God. This book felt really REAL to me. What Chris does is take something that some of us feel so personal about and make it very now, today, every day life.

I never felt comfortable talking to others about my faith, belief or thoughts on religion, God, faith, scripture or prayer. The only people I talk to freely are my children. They don't go to church every Sunday but we speak of God as if he is someone they could bump into at any time.

Why I appreciate what Chris does with Crave is, he erases all the gibberish, biblical, fanatical, religion and talks to us as equals. In language that can be applied to your life RIGHT NOW. I love how he can be talking about a As Seen On TV product for and bring it full circle to God being a resourceful Caregiver. Or in Chapter 6, my favorite story in the book, about a young girl on a plane who looked like "Violet from The Incredibles".  After noticing what she was writing in her pink journal with the "big fat, Crayola marker"  after he noticed what she was writing in her journal. The girl was hurting, her words were raw and personal and Chris waited for his sign to help her, to talk to her, to let her know that Jesus loves her. He got his sign, as subtle as it was.

If you were ask any of my girlfriends they will tell you that I have always said, "if we choose to see the signs we will see them. They are there if we open our eyes, close our mouths and listen with our soul." Some signs are subtle, some timely and some like a kick in the pants but only if you choose not to ignore them. Chris Tomlinson should be standing on a "soapbox" shouting his words to the masses.

Unlike other preachers of the gospel, I want to hear what Chris has to say.

Chick Chat - The Valentine Questions

One of the best parts about getting together with your girlfriends are the gabfests. When you are with your friends, the conversation flows freely and everyone gets their say. I love hearing what other people think about a topic which was the reason behind my Question of the Day Email that I used to send out daily when I was working. It was fun to ask and answer a question and then hear what everyone else thought. The first email went to about 35 people, and after a few weeks I learned who the weekly players would be as the answers came back. It was a great way to get to know each other. 

Valentines Day is right around the corner and I wondered what everyone is thinking about this Valentine's Day and came up with some questions which some friends were more than happy to answer.

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Here are what the ladies had to say:

 Renee (30)

-->1. Do you celebrate Valentines Day? Yes, I celebrate Valentine's Day. My family and I usually go out to dinner a day or two before, since there's always a wait to get into restaurants on the 14th. I make heart-themed cards and crafts with my daughter (she's three.) And , now that she's around, my husband and I usually just buy her a gift and not gifts for each other--I think this year we'll take her to Build-A-Bear and let her make an overpriced animal--lol! And we're ordering a cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company to celebrate. That's about it. We don't decorate our house or anything like that for V-Day.
 

2. What was your best Valentines Gift? My husband got me the best Valentine's gift when we were dating--it was a HUGE basket filled with chocolates, an enormous teddy bear, an emerald bracelet and earrings, and a big heart balloon was tied to the handle. He sent it to me a work so, of course, all my co-workers were swooning and jealous :)
 

3. Do you give gifts to your children? If yes, what do you usually give them? Yes, my daughter usually gets a stuffed animal and a book or craft kit from us--she gets plenty of candy from other relatives, so my husband and I don't even bother buying that!
 

4.  If you could telepathically tell your partner what you wanted, what would you ask for?Telepathically? Shoot, I'll just TELL HIM--I want a trip to the beach. Not in February, of course, but later this year! That can be my Valentine's gift, Christmas gift, and anniversary gift all rolled into one; I don't care as long as I get a vacation!

Stacey 

1. Do you celebrate Valentines Day? Yes

2. What was your best Valentines Gift? Manicure/Pedicure giftcard

3. Do you give gifts to your children? If yes, what do you usually give them? Yes, every year its different.  Last year I gave my oldest son  a small hand held game, I gave my daughter princess play jewelry, and my youngest son got a plush toy car to play with.  I'm not sure about this year yet, haven't shopped yet.

4. If you could telepathically tell your partner what you wanted, what would you ask for? A nice home cooked dinner made by him!!!

Mary (65) Work of the Poet

1. Do you celebrate Valentines Day? I sure do. I send out cards that I make myself. this year I have about 4 or 5 designs I'm sending out.

2. What was your best Valentines Gift? My BEST Valentine's gift is always a box of Godiva chocolates. That's all I ask for from my husband, Vinny. And he always obliges. I think one year long ago he gave me diamond studs... :)

3. Do you give gifts to your children? If yes, what do you usually give them? I have a niece and 3 nephews and YES I do give them gifts. Candy, video games, of course I send them cards. I often ask them what they want and they tell me.

4. If you could telepathically tell your partner what you wanted, what would you ask for?
A second car and then we'd make love in the back seat... He and I have NEVER done that, even when we were college kids. Ha!

Stephanie (31)

1. Do you celebrate Valentines Day? I NEVER CELEBRATE (even when i am with someone)

2. What was your best Valentines Gift? NEVER HAD A GOOD ONE

3. Do you give gifts to your children? If yes, what do you usually give them? DON'T HAVE CHILDREN

4. If you could telepathically tell your partner what you wanted, what would you ask for?
HONESTLY I'D ASK TO BE PLEASED LIKE I FANTASY

Melissa

1. Do you celebrate Valentines Day? Yes

2. What was your best Valentines Gift? A very romantic dinner made my my then boyfriend
(now husband). He filled his living room with rose petals and many many many candles on the floor, created a faux dinner table on the floor in front of the fire place-red themed linens...great pasta dinner, champagne & chocolates...we ate dinner on the floor in front of fire place with the only light coming from the candles and the fire. The part I loved the best was the thought and planning behind it...

3. Do you give gifts to your children? If yes, what do you usually give them? For my step children- candies

4. If you could telepathically tell your partner what you wanted, what would you ask for? Another surprise dinner like the one listed above...

Clarissa (32) 

1. Do you celebrate Valentines Day? Yes we celebrate valentines day. we exchange cards and we try to go out for dinner or go to the movies.

2. What was your best Valentines Gift? My best valentines day gift was when my then boyfriend (who is my husband now) gave me a chain with his badge number. It was beautiful and it meant so much to me.

3. Do you give gifts to your children? If yes, what do you usually give them? Yes I always get her a card and I buy her candy or we take her out to dinner as well.

4. If you could telepathically tell your partner what you wanted, what would you ask for?   I would tell my husband to buy me a vacation home.

So, it sounds like most woman like; candy, cards, jewelry and in Mary's case a car!  The Ladies have spoken. Did you listen?
 

Friday Photo Flashback

Here is a self portrait of me kissing Handsome at the park. Look at those cheeks. I just couldn't get enough of this kid. Kissing him was a big part of my day. I remember telling everyone he was going to have a permanent kiss mark on his forehead because I just couldn't stop myself.