My baby is 8!

Yep yesterday was Bryces 8th birthday. We took the day off from homeschool, and Phil took the day off from work. We always do for Birthdays. First we took Bryce for Breakfast at IHOP. Then we took them sledding. I'm going to download the photos to post. (I also have to get a desktop made for Phil's mom.) Any way Phil won this Flip recorder from work and he and Francis had fun with it.
Now this is the good part! Courtesy of Francis my budding videographer, I received this lovely thank you. I hope the link works. YES, that is the birthday boy singing to himself. LOL! Yep "What a Ham!"

Take the Test!

Take the test and see who really has the same opinions as you! Don't listen to the press take the vote and see where the candidates really stand on your personal issues. I know you can stop laughing at me now. I really did take the test and surprise, surprise! You want to know who was highest score? Ron Paul!!! and second was Fred Thompson!!! I would never have dreamed that those two would really think like me. So before you make a mistake see where they stand on the issues. Don't peek while taking the test just wait till the end and see what happens. I was really surprised that Huckabee wasn't as high as I thought he would be. (no pun intended) Though Mitt Romney was as low as I thought. Actually I was surprised that somewhere on some issue he had one thing that matched. Yep Mitt Romney is not a good choice. So go ahead take the test and don't forget to let me know how you did. I told you how mine turned out.

One Day Down Four to Go!

Well it's been one whole day since Francis got on the plane to visit his friend in Vancouver. I miss my baby SOOOOO MUCH! I was worried that he was having so much fun he would forget to call and say goodnight. He didn't though. When did he grow up? Did 11 years go by that fast? Another 7 and he'll be an adult! I just can't seem to wrap my mind around that right now. I have a feeling that the next 4 days are going to be looooonnnnngggg ones too. I miss you Francis.

I swear my heart stopped beating

Or at least if sure felt that way. Then I woke up. I'm still thanking God it was just a bad dream. One that let me know exactly how my Mother In Law felt the day the police came to the door and told her that Chris had died.
It feels like a hole in your heart. I get ahead of myself though.
It was a dream nothing but a bad dream. Of a place I didn't recognize, but seemed familiar. It was home in the dream. For some reason there was a fire a few blocks away. No worry right? In this dream Bryce stayed home with the dog in the back yard. The backyard had 2 sheds in it. Don't ask me about that detail but it sticks in my mind. I remember being with a friend. Then going home. Except the firemen wouldn't let me get back to the house. I told them my son was there. The next thing I recall, after all dreams kinda jump from place to place and all that, is being back at a neighbors house and watching the fire flash and jump over several houses right into the backyard. Then the next thing is someone saying the fire department was monitoring and at that time the dog stopped making noise and all signs of life including Bryce stopped. They were sorry but Bryce was GONE! There is no describing the feeling. The world went blank just all white, and my heart felt an empty hole tear through it. Then I woke up. I just couldn't shake the feeling of being so afraid that I was going to lose Bryce. Phil had to drag Bryce into our bed before going to work. I'm still trying to shake that feeling of dread. If you've read this far thanks for listening/reading. I know crazy thing to write about but I just can't seem to shake this dream. I feel so exhausted like I never got any sleep. Yet I'm afraid to sleep because of the dream. I guess I'll try to get some layouts done now.

Mele Kalikimaka!

That's Hawaiian for Merry Christmas. I want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. Not just here in the U.S.A. but all my friends that I have gotten to know around the globe. To all my cousins that I have had the chance to communicate with this last year, and those I so miss and have not. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day.

OH GREAT!

I need to take Francis to the doctors to confirm it but I think he has the chicken pox! Sure looks like it anyway. At first I was trying to figure out what he's been eating that could be causing his eczema to flair up. After all he was vaccinated a 2yo. Then he got out of the shower tonight going "MOM this itches SOOOO BAD!" I took one look and thought "oh great!" He may be vaccinated but he has chicken pox. I looked up some visuals online and it looks the same. Poor kid. Now I have the itches just thinking about it. At least Phil and I have already had the chicken pox. Bryce well it might not be so bad if he gets them but he's been vaccinated too. Blah!

Just one week left

and I am still not into the Christmas thing. Can you tell I have to make my cards today print them up and get them ready to mail. That way when we are out tomorrow for Contenders for the Faith I can mail them out. Matter of fact!!! We won't go shopping till next weekend. Heck maybe I should stop playing around and get that card designed a printed what do you think?

Yes Josiah

We have never met your mother in person. Still we feel like we know her like a sister. In the bible, it says

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19 NIV

You, your siblings, and your mom needed help. God called on our hearts to do his biding. I hope that this is a lesson of how God answers prayers in the most surprising ways. God is great yes, but God it also good to us all the time. Remember that.

I got a few layouts done.

At First Evangelical Church Vancouver we always had a Christmas Eve show, or play. For 2005 our last Christmas there it was a play that gave a first hand account of the birth of Christ, as witnessed by the Inn Keeper. -December 24, 2005-
Kit used is Mid Winter's Eve by Christy Sturm at Butternug Squash and NDISB.

For the Christmas show at Francis’ preschool, Portland Christian, Francis got the part of the Inn Keeper. December 2001
Kit used is Mid Winter's Eve by Christy Sturm at Butternug Squash and NDISB. Circle stitches by Gina Miller. Font in title is FrancineHmkBold, journaling is Pea Girly Girls Print.

This is what you get with the lights off, the tree lit, a flash, and 2 active boys. A really cool ghost effect. Francis and Bryce had a great time goofing off just for the pictures. December 2006.
Kit is Rustic Christmas by Shandy Vogt at Elemental Scraps.

Winter is Here!

Yep snow is on the ground and it's COOOOOOOLD! That and I haven't taken any of my pain medication or muscle relaxers for a week now. So I'm sore but I can think straight at least. Can you tell? I redecorated! I love it when I can think straight enough to look at code and understand it, kinda sorta. LOL!

Check out my Challenge!

Butternug Squash Forums I've got an impromptu (did I spell that right?)challenge going on at BSD. Stop by take the challenge and I'll give you my homemade calendar file for this month and next just so you can do the challenge. Just post in the comments or email me and I send you the file.

Happy Dance!

I NEVER win. This time though I did win something! haha! I just won a Gift Certificate for Amazon.com!!! using Blingo for my searches. yeahhahahaaa! I'm doing the happy dance!

So Not Fair!

I tell you she only gives you a part each week. I though the story was supposed to be for her Anniversary, and that's long gone. She'll probably take another year and it will be her next year anniversary that she'll finish this! ARRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman » Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story. Part XXII

Happy Turkey Day!

Hope everyone in the US had a great Thanksgiving, and your now sitting in that haze of tryptophan serotonin releasing coma. Me I thankful for all that leftover turkey! Surprisingly there seemed to be not as much as I anticipated. Dern boys just keep eating more and more. Oh well, that's life with two growing boys. I got a bee in my bonnet to work on decorating the blog for Christmas. We'll see how it goes tonight. If not I'll be home tomorrow GLUED to this chair refusing to go out on black Friday. Trust me I worked retail tooooooo many years to not know better.

I Was Thinking...

that maybe I'll do a recipe page. What do you think? I love taking recipes and morphing them into my own unique dish. I just hope I can keep it up. I have been such a bad blogger lately.

39 Days

Yep only 39 days left till Christmas. Just a mere measly 8 days till Black Friday. I plan on staying home then. Matter of fact ebay and Amazon.com sound very appealing right now.
Matter of fact it will be less than 24 hours and I will be another year older. I'm not sure if I'll be wiser.
Well I guess that's about it. My brain is foggy with the muscle relaxers so I can't think. Word of advice don't stop taking your muscle relaxers after a fall down the stairs. Unless the doctor says so anyway. I stopped taking them because I don't like the way they make me feel. Like now I can't seem to think straight or type straight. Well by Saturday I was in sooooo much pain. I was crying, and could barely move. Now I'm taking them and I can't think, but I don't hurt any way. I'm going to go take my foggy brain off to bed now while I can walk straight that is.

Veterans Day!

Layout is done with a mixture from the Military Kits at Butternug Squash Designs

Coming from a family with cousins in the military I can't forget today. Uncles, my Dad all served in our military. My brother who maybe a civilian, still does his duty serving as an engineer for our Navy. I want to make sure that everyone remembers that we have the freedom to say what we think because of ALL VETERANS! Don't use that freedom to insult the work that they do everyday for us. Make sure you use that freedom to thank them for what we have. I thank God for them everyday. Do you?

A Sprained Right Side

Yep I guess when I fell down the stairs I grabbed the hand rail so hard I wrenched all the muscles. There by spraining my right side. I also bashed both knees which are messed up already. So now I'm on muscle relaxers and the Dr. said sleep lots of sleep so the tissues can heal. I'm still surprised that there weren't any nail gouges in the handrail. I'll live though.

Got another great blog for you

So how did this not get posted?! I guess the fall just has me all jumbled up. Well here it is just a little late.

The Country Doctor's Wife I got this link from the "Pioneer Woman". Another great blog I have to share with you.
Now I'm going to go run off the the Urgent Care. Because blacking out on the stairs didn't kill me just skred me really bad and now I my right arm and side hurt real bad. Matter of fact I think I'm miss spelling almost every word and it's just getting more sore. That and I'm sure when I stand up my knees are going to protest. BUT! I did save the COFFEE! LOL! How lame was that? Or should I say how lame was I? Well I'm off!

Allrecipes

I just love this site. I had 3 gianormous leftover baked potatoes so before they went bad I figured I needed to make something with them. I already did twice baked potatoes last week. Then I got this great idea! Baked Potato Soup!!! I asked the boys what they thought and they were like YEAH! so I poked around on line for a good recipe. For one it was going to have to use bacon in the recipe. I had 3 strips of thick cut bacon leftover and it would be perfect. I also used my homemade soy milk and vegetable broth (had to save my chicken broth for other meals). Then I took my hand blender and gave the potatoes a few jolts. Just enough to break them up a little. I still wanted some nice chunks in it. OH MY! It was sooooo yummy! You just have to give this recipe a try.
Oh, and I do still have one potato left. Maybe I'll just eat it cold. mmmmmm
Baked Potato Soup