Jameson

I was talking to my mom on the phone today, and Jameson and Teagen wanted to talk too. I gave them the phone, each with their own turn. They talked to Grandma for a few minutes each. They have always enjoyed talking on the phone. It's cute too. They think they are important.

Teagen didn't talk too much, but he did tell Grandma that he was watching a movie. Then he told her that he was reading a book that was Jameson's. If you ever talk to him on the phone, don't believe a word he says. He seems to make most of it up.

Jameson was adorable on the phone. He was telling Grandma about a movie that he loves. He watches "Night At The Museum 2". He calls it the scary movie. Grandma told him that she doesn't like scary movies. Jameson told her it was okay because God would protect her. He proceeded to tell her that Jesus died on the cross and then 3 days later he came back alive. He also told her that Jesus is going to come back again.

In just a short time, he has learned so much. He has been asking so many questions, and I have been trying to answer them in a way appropriate for his age. He totally understands it. I don't need to embellish the stories with anything. He gets it. He picks up bits and pieces of things he hears and then comes to ask me any questions he has. I am amazed at his knowledge so far. I now know where our next steps will lead us. He is my little sponge. I am going to start reading my Bible aloud to him for both of our daily devotions. We can both get something out of God word together.

Jameson will be five years old in less than two months. He is growing up so fast. I love you Jameson. Thank you Lord for lightening up my life with this little boy.

Sorry, no pics

I sent my camera in to get fixed. Teagen got a hold of it and now it won't take pictures, so I had to send it in to the manufacturer. Thankfully it is still under warranty. The problem now is, I don't get to take pictures of things that I want to. I do have another camera, but it recently broke as well. It will zoom in, but not out. This means I am walking backwards, tripping over things as I go, trying to get farther away from what I am taking a picture of. It is not a pretty sight. I know you are probably picturing me falling on my rear, but it's not funny, it really hurts. Okay, maybe it is a little funny.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of my fruit bouquet I made last night. I used grapes, canteloupe, strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple. I had these long skewers and just started stabbing fruit and strategically placing it together in a pot. It actually looked pretty cool. There are lots of pictures online of fruit bouquets if you want to see what a professional one looks like. Mine was in no way as good as those, but it was pretty good for what it was.

Wanted to take a picture of Teagen and Gavin looking at each other this morning. They were engaged in an intense conversation. It was adorable, but no camera.

I wanted to take a picture of the frogs that we raised from tadpoles. They are tiny little tree frogs. They climb the walls of their aquarium. Cute and gross at the same time. No camera.

It will only be a couple weeks though. They said that their turn around time for getting the camera back to me would be approx. three weeks. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long.

In the meantime, please take the time to still read my posts on here. I know it is more fun to look at my amazing photos. I do have some dazzling skills with a camera. Please consider the possibility that I have a skill with words as well.

I love you all, and God Bless.

Will It Ever End?

I can't believe it. It happened again. I am tired of everything. Seriously, what else can go wrong? There have been too many things going wrong in my life right now. I am extremely stressed.

It all started with the big move. My husband's job got transferred. He got a promotion. We were uprooted and moved across the country, from Minnesota to Florida. To make matters worse, cuz we all know that moving in itself is stressful let alone moving across the country, I was pregnant. Our third baby boy was born on April 9th, 2010. Scott left for Florida on April 12th, leaving me alone with a 4yr old, a 2yr old, and a newborn. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that our newborn had a broken arm. Scott returned to Minnesota to bring us to Florida on May 17th. On May 20th we arrived at our new home.

After about a month living here, we really started to feel at home. My stress levels were starting to go down. I still didn't see Scott much, due to his job. He has some very irresponsible employees. Then the car problems started. First our minivan. It needed a new transmission. Not a cheap job. In come the money problems. Then problems start with our other vehicle. I'm not good with cars. They all apparently break down when I am driving them. Twice, I was stuck on the side of the road in a car that wouldn't start.

The transmission is still not fixed, and the car has had multiple problems. First it was the timing belt, then the alternator, than the AC belt. Now the AC doesn't work at all. I am really hoping it's just a fuse, but with my luck, it may just be that the car needs to be junked.

These fixes on our cars are pretty expensive. The cost of living here is also more expensive than MN. We are finding ourselves on an extremely tight budget. We are trying in every way possible to save money.

Now with all the problems that I have already had, you would think that God would say "Okay, she's had enough." Nope, God keeps on throwing things at me. The AC in our apartment decided to start leaking and soak the floor. I ended up with the carpet guys and the maintenance guys here for a couple hours tonight. Finally they say there was a clog in a hose or something. I guess it's fixed. It is actually kind of cold in here now.

All I want to know is, when am I gonna start to see some good things happen in my life. I know I have a lot to be thankful for, but what's up with all the problems. Scott told me to just remember Job. I remember him. God knows that I am not Job. I am not that strong.

Dear Lord I beg of you to make it stop. Take everything and make it better. Help me to remain calm. Lord, please show me your love. In Your Name, Amen.

Bible Verses

These are some Bible verses that I can relate to right now. I have copied them from the NKJV. I hope you enjoy reading them. They have given me so much encouragement.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--


Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

Pslam 62:5-7 My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength and my refuge, is in God.

Psalm 68:19-20 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Our God is the God of salvation; and to God the Lord belong escapes from death.

Psalm 138:3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.

Psalm 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Proberbs 4:23 Keep you heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Proverbs 19:21 There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel--that will stand.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.



God is my strength.

Lies

Have you ever told a lie?
Have you ever been in a situation where you don't want to tell someone something and you feel you are forced to lie?

What do you do?

Is it polite to refuse to answer a question?

I know that lies are of the devil. I know that truth is in the Lord.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

What is a White Lie?

Is one lie worse than another?

I teach my boys that the consequences for not telling the truth are worse than if they just tell me what they did that was wrong. We learn that the act of telling a lie is wrong, yet when someone asks for you to enter your age and/or weight on your drivers license you lie. Some lie when asked "Do I look fat in this?" I know there are those that will not lie about those things, but what would they lie about?

Why can't we all just tell the truth all the time?

Answer: Because we are afraid. Because we have the fear of hurting others or ourselves.

Shopping

I still have a hard time believing how much I get for so little. Yesterday, Scott stopped at Publix for me. The retail amount was $80.88. I spent $30.44. I saved $50.44, or about 62%. This is amazing. I have changed my mind. I actually enjoy grocery shopping now.

Update

I know you really wanted to know, but the tadpoles have sprouted legs. Some of them still don't have them, but quite a few of them do. I guess I should have expected to have a few late bloomers when we have fifteen of them. I know I must be crazy to let my kids have them. We are going to get rid of them as soon as they are fully sprouted.

On a more interesting note, I have been trying to train Gavin on his sleeping habits. He has been waking up a couple times a night for a little while now. I have tried to let him just cry himself back to sleep, but with Scott's work schedule, it doesn't always work. Maybe that's why he's waking up too. Well, we started giving him cereal and he wakes up less often, but it's still an issue. I was really hoping this baby would sleep through the night sooner than the other two. I have fallen back on the old "don't let him fall asleep yet" method.

The other boys are so extremely active, and have so much energy, that I need to drink a pot of coffee every hour just to be able to catch them. If I want to keep up with them, we are talking some major changes in my caffeine intake. I should probably stop drinking so much coffee, but life requires it right now.

Jameson has learned the 23rd Psalm. He knows the whole thing, and only needs a little prompting. Teagen knows the first couple verses with prompting, but it's still adorable. Just picture a 2 1/2 yr old reciting the 23rd Psalm. We will continue to work on it. Next, is the Ten Commandments.

We are working on getting rid of a lot of toys. There is no need for my boys to have as many toys as they do. The have a really hard time picking them all up. If there are less, they may just get them picked up every day. We are keeping the legos to play with only at certain times. We're keeping the blocks, cars, trains, dinosaurs, and army guys. There will be no more toys from kids meals at fast food restaurants in my house.

We are working on potty training Teagen. Any hints or tricks you want to share would be helpful. He is perfectly content to be wet. I can't afford to buy diapers for two kids anymore, so this has to happen.

We just found out that a good friend of Scott's will be staying with us for a couple days at the end of the month. He is Scott's friend, not mine. Pray that we will all be able to get along.

We really like living in Florida. We have decided that we don't know if we would leave here. The only downfall is family. We would really like our families to be closer. I really miss all of you.

My boys

Yes, it's that time. My baby turned 4 months old a few days ago. Gavin tried his first taste of rice cereal. He spit a lot of it out, but in all I think he liked it. I decided to start him on cereal at 4 months because he stopped sleeping through the night. He does know what to do with the spoon, which is a good sign.

My happy middle boy. Teagen loves to laugh. He will crawl up into your lap and tickle your arms or face or neck, ever so gently. It really does tickle. When you laugh or push his arms away, he starts his giggling. It is so contagious. Once you start you can't stop. Don't ever start tickling him, cause you will have him asking "Again?" for the rest of the day.  

My oldest. Jameson is so energetic. I know you can't tell from this picture, but this is the only way I could get a picture that wasn't blurry. He is always moving. If you want to take a picture of him and ask him to say "Cheese" he will, but he does it while jumping or some other elaborate movement. He is the one that is always asking me to come play with him, or if he can help with whatever I am doing. He's my big boy.

My three sons. They are all growing up so fast.

Swagbucks

I am really into saving money, if you couldn't tell from some of my Shopping posts. I am also into making money for doing something I do already. If you haven't yet, you need to check out Swagbucks. It's this really cool idea. You sign up on their website, or you can click on the link that I have here on my blog. After signing up you download their toolbar. A must, because it helps you earn more bucks. You use the toolbar to do any searches you want. Sometimes those searches will earn you swagbucks. You can also get swagbucks by doing the daily poll, taking surveys and many more. You trade in your swagbucks for gift cards. This is the cool part. For just 450 swagbucks you can get a $5 giftcard for Amazon. There are many more places to get giftcards from and other things you can get instead of giftcards. I have only been a member for a few weeks and almost have enough for that Amazon card. It's really easy, and the bucks add up pretty fast. At least they add up faster than any other thing I've tried. I am also a member of Inbox Dollars, and My Points. These are also great, but it takes more time to get anything. Definitely join Swagbucks, and if you are interested in the others as well, I will send you out an email, just let me know.

I'm going to.....

I always start something, but never finish it. Have you ever been there? There are a couple new things I would like to start. I really hope I actually keep up with these.

First, I want to start keeping a journal. You would think that I already do that. It's called a blog. Well my blog is a little different. There are quite a few things that I wouldn't mention here. Let's face it folks, if you can read this, then it's not really a journal. My journal will be private. I decided to put it in a letter format. I am going to write letters to God. I am a little excited to get started. Should I write in a notebook, or start a new file on my computer and type.

Second, I am really interested in getting into the whole runnin thing. I am always hearing about people talking about the marathon's and tri's they are going to run. It's like the new "IN" thing. I am interested in starting. I need to get a new pair of running shoes. I need to get used to the heat, and sweating a lot. I need to get used to pain. I hope I don't get discouraged and never start this. I would love for this to get me in shape, and make me feel better about myself.

Third, I am going to start following a schedule. You know, get up before the kids and start my day. Have specific thing to get done on specific days. This will help me to get things done. I usually forget what needs to be done, and then it never gets done. If I have a list of things that I need to do each day, and I follow that list, I believe things will be a little less hectic around here.

I will let you know how things are going with each of these in a week or two. It may take me a while to start the whole running thing. I want to wait until I get a decent pair of running shoes. I don't really have anything that would be in that category right now, and I don't want to get injured because of not having the right equipment. I need to have the money to buy the shoes first, and we are a little short on cash right now. I would like to buy so many things, that I am trying to patiently wait for.

My sister had her baby yesterday. I wish I was there to hold her. Congratulations little sis on your new addition! Give her a kiss for me.

Update

It is amazing how fast kids grow up. I have been sitting here working on my coupon stuff and my screen saver came on my computer. I have it set up to go through my pictures. Not only can I not tell my kids apart when I look at pictures of them when they were all about 3-4 months, but I have a hard time remembering the older two being that little.

Jameson is so eager to learn. He is asking me every day now, "Is it time for school?" I love his enthusiasm. I hope it continues throughout the year. We are working on teaching him how to read. I have decided that he will receive a gift when he learns how to read. He wants his own Bible really bad. My sister had this idea, and I am going to use it with my kids too. Jameson is so close to learning to read. He knows all the sounds of the letters, it just hasn't clicked that when you put the sounds together they make a word.

Teagen is a little shadow. He follows Jameson around all day and does what he does and says what he says. Jameson likes telling him what to do as well. Teagen is also a huge tease. He will sit there with his finger milimeters away from Jameson saying in his own mumbly words, "I'm not touching you." Jameson will start whining and complaining about this. My mom was right. I used to do that to my sisters and my mom always said, "Just wait until your kids do that." Teagen has such a great sense of humor.

Gavin is great. He is smiling so much now. He is scooting along on his tummy on the floor. Mostly his scooting consists of him just spinning in a circle. He also rolls from front to back to front. If I put him on the floor while I go make lunch, when I come back he is sometimes across the room. He is getting to be a little spoiled. He really likes to be held. He will stop crying immediately when you pick him up. I hope he grows out of it. I really hope he learns how to sit up soon.

Bad Days

The last few days have been a little difficult for me. Thursday started out great. We woke up and did our normal everyday activities. The boys were very well behaved. Then we set out to drive about an hour away for my women's Bible study. I was so excited. I have really been enjoying this book, and I couldn't wait to hear what all the other women thought of it. The discussion was great. We all had different views on the chapters we had read. We talked about the views each of us had. With everyone coming from a different past, it was really interesting and a great learning experience. When the discussion was over, I left to go pick up the boys and go home. Lauren Diaz was watching Jameson and Teagen. They had a lot of fun. My difficult time starts when I was pulling out of their driveway. There was a flapping noise coming from my car. I almost started to cry. I couldn't believe it, more car problems. Glenn, God Bless Him, came out and looked at my car. It was about 11pm. It was only the AC belt. I was able to drive home, but with no AC. I am so thankful for Glenn. We got home and the kids were obviously sleeping. I carried each one of them inside and put them in bed. I didn't get to sleep much, because I just don't anymore. The boys woke up at 6am.

I haven't been getting much sleep at all lately. Maybe because Gavin started waking up in the middle of the night. He used to sleep all night long. It could also be because Scott has been working at night so often lately, that I am going to bed by myself. I just don't sleep well when he's not next to me. I usually stay up until about 11pm. Then I go lay in bed. Lately, even when Scott is there, I haven't been falling asleep until about 1am or 2am. I could go to the doctor and see if their's a problem, but we don't have insurance.

Other than having no sleep, and one more thing going wrong with the car, everything was going fine. That is, until I just crashed. I don't see Scott much because of his job. He has been really busy with hiring and covering the shifts that have to be covered until he hires someone to cover them. Then he has to train people because they don't know how to do their jobs. He needs to learn how to delegate. He thinks he has to do everything. If he leaves something for someone else to do, it doesn't get done. Therefore, Scott ends up working more than he should. We don't see him. This, mixed with my feeling of already being lonely because of being 2000 miles away from my extended family and friends, has taken its toll. I have been feeling a little sorry for myself.

I think I need a vacation. My dream vacations used to involve Palm Trees. Now that my everyday life includes Palm Trees, where do I go for vacation? The answer is somewhere where there is snow. The problem is, I like the Palm Trees. I don't like the snow and cold.

Lord, please help me to realize that I am not alone. You have given me so many great friends down here, and I thank you for that. Please bring me peace through sleep. Please heal my cars. In Your Name I Pray. Amen.

My studies

I have a thirst, or maybe a craving, for knowledge. I am finding that I want to learn. Can you imagine. I went through all those years in school, not doing my homework, and trying in any way possible to not learn. Now, I can't get enough. I want to know everything. I am in the process of reading about 5 books right now. I know that seems like a lot, but I am looking for more.

I am reading and studying the Bible. I am thinking about looking at the book of Romans. I am going to find out everything I can about this book. Everybody, let me know what your favorite verse is in Romans, and why.

I am reading "The New Eve" by Robert M. Lewis and Jeremy Howard. We are studying this book in the women's study group at my church. It is pretty good. I especially like how they have the questions for each chapter. It is a true book to study. I also find myself referencing the Bible. Which, I believe, should be done with any book you read.

I am reading "Bring Up Boys" by James Dobson. This book is a must if you have boys. I now have three of them, so I was a little behind in reading this one. There are a lot of facts and statistics in this book, and all of them are eye opening. I always thought I was alone in the world of being a mommy of wild, out of control boys. Now I know that if you have three boys, God will give you the energy to keep up with them. Instead of trying to stop them from bouncing off the walls, which I always thought was just a saying, but my boys really do run into walls and bounce back, I join in the chaos and we all have a blast. I try to redirect their energy into constructive activities.

I have been really getting into apologetics right now. My pastor gave me a book called "Creative Defense: Evidence Against Evolution". I have only read a few pages, but so far it is really good.

The last book, is called "Prayers of an Excellent Wife" by Andrew Case. I am really excited about this one. I just got it and can't wait to start reading it.

Here are some more that I would like to start reading soon.
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
The Love Dare by Kendrick?
Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr Kevin Leman
Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay
How To Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur
What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst

I could probaby go on for quite a while, but I will stop here. I don't know that I will have a chance to read any of these. I am thinking that Jesus will come back before I have a chance to get through even half of them.

Shopping

The total retail was $81.42. After discounts and coupons, I spent $31.18.

I saved a total of about 62%

Crochet

This is the blanket I made for Gavin. It was my first attemp with the Bobble stitch. It was really fun to make, but took quite a while. I am making one now for Jameson. It will also have the Bobble stitch, except it will have just stripes instead of diamonds. I really enjoy crocheting. The only problem I have now is that it is kind of hard to find things to crochet in Florida. There is no point in making blakets down here. You won't get any use out of it. There is a reason to have a nice warm crocheted blanket when you live in Minnesota. Oh well, I still made this Ripple pattern blanket for a member of our church. She is having a baby, and I thought a blanket would be a good idea. I hope she can still use it in this heat. I may just have to make some booties to go with the blanket. I had so much fun making both of these.

I will keep posting my crochet accomplishments here. If anyone has any questions about what pattern I may have used or how to do a certain stitch or maybe you just want to start crocheting. You can ask my anything, and I will help with what I can. Welcome to my world of balls of knotted yarn.

My boys

Check it out! These are my boys. I love them all so much. They are so energetic and wear me out, but I wouldn't trade my tired, worn out days for anything.

We havn't had a chance to get to the beach lately, but we have gone to the pool a few times. We went there yesterday, and the boys found, of all things, tadpoles. They were in the drain running along the edge of the pool area. There were tons of them. Jameson kept calling them bugs. We, actually the boys, decided that they wanted to bring them home. We caught a few of them. Okay, it was more than a few. It was about 15 of them. They are sitting in a tiny little aquarium on our dining room table. I guess our next thing to learn about in school is how tadpoles turn into frogs.

Gavin is growing up so fast. I can't believe he is almost 4 months old. He has started scooting across the living room floor. He also rolls from back to stomach, then gets stuck. He for some reason hasn't figured out how to make it from his stomach to his back. Jameson took a pacifier, Teagen preferred his two fingers, and Gavin likes his thumb. This proves that all kids are different no matter how much they look alike.