whirlwinds.....

so, yeah, things  never seem to stay dull or mundane in our house....Josh and I have been having looooong discussions lately about some things (some of you know what, others don't yet) and we think we may have come to a point where we have a plan....before anyone reading this makes any assumptions here are a few reassurances:

I am not pregnant, and do not plan to be

Other than these lovely colds, we are all healthy

The kids are doing great

Josh and I are doing great- never better actually

Oh, and the dog is annoying, but fine   :)
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Just when we think we have a "plan" we hit a bump....the latest one:

my "job" ended unexpectedly yesterday

and without warning.....not that I made a lot of money, but it did make a difference.....

(--Thankful that I had already finished Christmas for everyone, or else it wouldn't happen this year....)

The other shop that just opened isn't doing as well as they thought.....this is leaving Josh and I feeling a little
anxious about the safety of Josh's job.....

---Thankful that Josh decided to call my dad and talk to him for almost an hour last night looking for "fatherly advice"....this was a big deal for Josh, and I am proud of him.
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So this post might feel somewhat disjointed, and for that I am sorry, I am feeling pretty crappy- this cold is kicking my rear end, but I needed to post, it is what saves my sanity sometimes...yes I have a journal as well, but this feels more like I am talking to someone, really a bunch of you, and it is therapeutic for me......so if it doesn't make alot of sense, I am sorry...if you have questions, feel free to post a comment, or email me....
So, some of you might be asking, well, what can I do for you right now?  Pray. 
Pray for:

Direction and Understanding

Restoration of our health

Peace of mind

I think that those would be the top three right now.

Thanks for reading this.....Have a lovely day!!

frustrated

So this post is a way of venting today...last night I got a phone call from my hubby who is still in delaware (couldnt take time off of work)
He was calling becuase he had an odd visit- within minutes of Josh walking in the door (at 7:30pm) someone was at the door...it was a local pastor who was asked to come to our house to "see if [we] were really saved, and invite [us] to his church"  this was really odd, and the pastor was rather in your face Josh said......I am confused as to why this happened, and why the people who sent him didnt just give us a call first to see what church we were attending....
so anyway, just had to vent for a minute....now I am going to go play with my kids and my nephew

vacation.....

so I impressed myself on thursday when I loaded up my monkeys, turned on my gps and drove from delaware to vt....and I did not get lost!!  (I also managed to stop before Canada!) <-----that was for my brother,long story, for another time!
It has been so nice to be here at my parents and watch my kids snuggle up with grammie and read stories, or get chased around the living room by boppie....and it is only going to make leaving on friday that much harder.......
I have not really had a chance to "rest" since I got here, have been trying to see everyone, and go everywhere ...so this afternoon after our hair appointments I think I just might take a little nap when Caleb does  :)
Tomorrow night my brother and his family will be here, so that will be fun! My mom will be in her glory- both kids, all grandkids etc.. will be with her under 1 roof! And I am sure that as excited she will be for us all to be here, she will breathe a nice big sigh of relief when we are all gone! 3 kids 4and under can be a little crazy! (but fun of course!)
Yesterday I went to church, and it was fun to see some of my friends, and loved my welcome from my sunday school class! I am sure that the new (well new to me) couple that was there was trying to figure out who the heck I was and why theresa and claudette were so happy to see me! LOL  oh well :)
I even got to go out last night with someone who has been a friend for...well we will say 20 years, and I love how no matter how long you are apart there are always some friends that you can just pick right up where you left off like you were never gone!  Tomorrow I am going to visit my work friends/"moms" and say hello to them....
so now I am off to get ready for the day!  Happy Monday everyone, and in case I dont write again before Have a happy thanksgiving!!

Monday Monday

So today I am having a rough day....not an emotional day, but a rough day. I am exhausted from the last few days of little sleep- from being up with athena who has been sick- and then doing our regular schedule during the day.  On top of it my girl is not the most pleasant when she is sick (unfortunately like her mommy) and today she has just been flat out rude and demanding...which of course I am not letting slide, but man, it is tiring dealing with the meanness....
anyway, I am trying to get things done here as well since I am leaving on thursday, so yeah I am trying to be super mom today and it just isnt happening....LOL!!!
so now that my brownies are done and cooling I am going to go snuggle with my girl and watch a movie...maybe it will help both of our moods!  :)

This is a picture that athena drew yesterday- she is an amazing little artist- it is a spider in a web

And this one I just had to put in because it was just too funny!  Yes that is my son naked holding a paper plate over his "man parts"  LOL!!!!

catch up

so it has been a few days, and I have no real good reason why I havent been posting...just been really busy I guess :)
I have been doing alot of baking and freezing so that Josh will eat while we are gone next week, and trying to have stuff in the freezer for the first couple of days after I get back as well....it has been fun and I forgot how much I love to back and create in the kitchen. with Joshs past couple of jobs I havent been making nice "big" meals as much becuase it was pointless for just me since my kids are unfortunately rather picky eaters they tend to not eat alot of the things I make....I know,Iknow, that is for a whole other blog another day  :)
I have made corn chowder, bread, pimpkin cookies, mac n cheese, making a big pot of chili today, a mini thanksiving dinner for all of us wednesday and then a turkey stuffing casserole as well.....been lovinng it!
caleb had his 2 year check on wednesday along with a few shots- he was mad but did fine, and athena was able to get hers as well, but since she was older they gave her the nasal spray- we opted for this since she is so afraid of needles etc she did ok getting it, and of course there was the minute chance that she could get a little sick since there is a "small amount of live virus in the nasal" well, guess what.....she got sick. yesterday she had a fever, stuffed nose etc...we were up a few times last night (me and her) and then she was up nice and early this morning- I decided to stay home with the kids so that athena can get rest and fluids and hopefully be better so we an still go to vt thursday......please pray that she gets better and I dont get sick or else there will be alot of disappointed people this weekend...
so, today will be very low key and I will probably get some more baking done....as well as take a nap since I am ridiculously tired today as well.

Blessings....

Hi!  So this past week has been interesting to say the least. Josh and I have been talking about lots of different things...all good (I think) so dont anyone get worried :)   But it has amazed me at the  way the Lord works in people to bring them to the same thinking without the other knowing....sorry if that sounds incredibly vague....
Josh had a meeting at the new shop saturday after work, which was a bummer becuase he wasnt able to come with us to alexanders party, and he ended up getting home REALLY late. so the next morning we were talking and he is being promoted! He is now the shops managing service writer, and will be getting a decent pay raise to go with it! This is exciting becuase he has only been there since july and this is his second raise, and obviously first promotion in less than 6 months! This will be a HUGE help financially and will give Josh so much more experience and options when and if he decides to look for another job he will have so many more qualifications!  He is pretty excited about this, and it just seems to solidify for us that this IS where we are supposed to be right now.
He is also going to be getting paid for all the extra hours that he put in getting the dover shop ready. we knew he would get paid, but that money is "extra" and will pay for me and the kids to go to VT  for thanksgiving without having to use any of the money already budgeted for bills.


I have been looking for a basketball hoop for caleb for christmas, but brand new is pretty expensive so I started looking on craigslist, and still used ones were like $20-30 which isnt bad, but used...come on.  well, yesterday I pulled up toys and saw someone had one listed brand new for $10 OBO and they live right down the road from me! so I called him up and asked what the lowest was he would take.....short version I got it for $5! when I got there the guy had a bunch of other boy toys in his garage that he was selling and he asked if I wanted anything else.....I o course WANTED to take everything, but that would have been a bit excessive....I told him I had $20 so I got the hoop, an awesome wooden car ramp thing that came with cars and ton of extra stuff, a bunch of boy dress up stuff, a remote control tonka car, a toy semi, and that pretty much filled up my car!  Josh was so surprised when I got home and showed him, and he laughs at how I am able to find such good deals on stuff!
So I have already got Josh a cool gift-a punching bag,gloves,brackets etc- from craigslist, so now all that is left is athena....No, these things are not brand new, but it is what we can afford, and honestly except for the fact that they are not in boxes, everything looks like it is brand new!
So anyway, these things were exciting to me, and made Christmas a little more exciting....now to figure out what to do for a tree, real one are really expensive here, and I dont want to buy a fake one......we will see there is still time to decide on that one!  :)
Happy Monday everyone, have a lovely week!!
*************Additional Blessing!!**************************
Just after I posted this, Josh called me, and said he needs me to pull all his paystubs and go through them because Robs (his boss) accountant had not been adding his overtime as time and a half so they are going to go through everything and will be cutting Josh a check for the difference that he was not paid....Just when we start getting worried about finances and working on solutions the Lord comes through and takes care of it...why do we worry about things? we should know better by now!!
:)

there is hope!!

So, once my little man was asleep, he stayed asleep until about 5:30 when he tarted hollering for "mommmeeeee"   I didn't get him and he went back to sleep for a little longer. I went and got him at 6:30 and that is when our day stated...it is getting better and I can't wait for him to be done "trianing" and have this be the norm.
THe good thing is he will take an early nap which will work great since we are going to christopher and julies for aelx's birthday party this afternoon!  can't wait, it will be fun.  off to get ready!

12 minutes

Yep- tonight my stubborn little man refused to actually lay his head down on his pillow.  He was literally half asleep but would not lay his little head for fear of me leaving the room.......well, after I covered him up and said prayers I of course left the room.  I don't know for sure, but I think he actually jumped off his bed and then ran to the door, only to find that he (again) could not open it....made me laugh cuz he then kicked the door.
Anyway, tonight was better, tomorrow night should be even better......we will see if my boy has a voice by the end of the weekend.....

sleep training......at 2?!?!?!

So yes you read that right.  My awesome sleeper has become an evil little man!  My boy that used to go in his room and ask to go nite nites, now has full blown yelling,screaming,crying, head banging and foot kicking "fits" when he is put in his bed.

Mind you, this does not occur at all for his naps- he happily hugs tigger lays down and snoozes- apparently he turns into someone else at bedtime.
The past week he has been going to sleep ok-minor yelling- but waking up 1-3 times at night and only staying asleep if I was in there, AND waking up at 5:30 for the day.  Then last night he morphed into this evil little man, yelling and screaming.  waiting. yelling and screaming. waiting. head banging. kicking the door. waiting. crying. waiting you get the idea :)  Each time I would go in there, give him a hug and put him in his bed. he would lay silently until he heard me move and then all over again...for an hour! then, he slept all night and woke up at 7......so, tonight will not be fun for anyone, except athena who sleeps through it all! but by the end of the weekend, that boy will be a good sleeper again, even if it kills me!  :)

So, I am getting ready -mentally- for my trip in a couple of weeks. me and my monkeys will be driving to VT for thanksgiving.  It will be fun,can't wait to see my friends, athena cant wait to see her grammie and boppy, and caleb, well he will be happy pretty much doing anything!  Praying that there is no snow the day I have to drive there and the day I have to drive home.  I have to take Joshs car because it needs some work done that was warranteed in vermont and they will do it while I am there....
So, think of me and my son tonight as he learns to go to bed all over again.....he is smart and stubborn which is not too bad normally, but at bedtime it is not so great.  ..........
Enjoy your weekend, have fun and be safe!

A pink pony and a green dinosaur!

Well, after days of waiting ever so patiently athena FINALLY got to put on her pinkie pie costume and go trick or treating!  She was sooooooooooooo ridiculously excited it was almost funny!  I will admit that I got a little annoyed with the constant asking.  :)

Caleb, was a dinosaur...not a dragon because "dragons have wings mommy"(athena)    he was so funny every time we asked him what does a dragon say he would crouh slightly, kind of waddle and growl at us!

Last night was fun, but I felt really old after getting home, getting the kids cleaned up, ready for bed and asleep...Josh and  I were ready for bed!  sadly, it was only 9pm, so we watched tv for a bit and then felt justified in going to sleep around 10!   sad I know......we are parents now....    :)

coincidence.....I don't think so

So, last week I was going through stuff and making piles- sell, keep, donate etc... There was a pile of some things that I felt worth posting on craigslist....so I did.  A few days later I planned to meet someone who wanted to buy 9of all things) leftover piddle pads for dog training! we met at the wawa and started talking..long story short, she lives about 10 minutes away from me, just got laid off and is home with her 4 year old son...we decided to meet at the park sometime and she gave me her name to find her on facebook..... looked her up and her profile listed religion as "christian-baptist"   so I emailed her and asked where she goes to church etc.... she doesnt have a set church and is excited to have someone to go to church with...this was really cool to me...someone, my age, who seemingly has the same views as me, with a kiddo who is one of mines age....we are planning to go to church together next week. .....While this may seem like nothing to some of you who follow me, this was a big deal to me, as well as an encouragement that I will meet new people and that this is exactly where God wants me and my family to be right now.