Ahh...payday. If only the money were not already spent! I swear, every payday you think "I can finally catch up" only to find that you have already borrowed from the newest check to make up for overspending the last pay period. Today is the day that every business is supposed to have all your tax information out to you. I am still waiting on two or three items...which I highly doubt will be in today's mail. But hopefully I am wrong. That wouldn't be so bad! :) We need our tax return. And we need it ASAP!!! We've got some debt to pay off from fixing our van in December and of course that consumeristic holiday called Christmas! Every year I think, "I want my kids to remember family and time spent together" and every year, in the last two weeks before Christmas, there are so many THINGS I want them to have. And really, for the kids' we didn't really go crazy. On each other however, that is a different story. And Kris has expensive tastes. He's all about quality. I'm all about quantity. You don't have to get me something expensive...just get me a bunch of cheap things! :) I guess we balance each other out that way, although because Kris' tastes are expensive, he carries that over in gifts that he wants me to have. Oh well.

We are still waiting patiently to see how God will provide for the kids to go to KCA next fall. $6000 doesn't magically appear on your doorstep, but God does make a way! And we believe that he wants them at KCA, so we are trusting that when the time is right, he will show us what he has in store. I personally am praying that Kris' bosses will be led to give him a raise that will cover tuition. In May, because Abbey will be going, in order for me to pay tuition with my job, I would need to be working at least 30 hours and I don't want to do that and I am pretty sure that God would rather me be home with the girls more. So we will wait. And we will see. And I will come back when the prayer has been answered and report!

I cleaned up the basement today. I know--exciting! Kris and the kids worked on the playroom last night and I went down there today and finished up. We are trying to get the house in order for our annual Super Bowl party. I'm very excited about it! Hopefully a lot of people will come and everyone will have a good time. Anyone reading this that lives nearby (and anyone that doesn't I suppose) please feel free to join us on Sunday at 4:30-whenever. Dinner is provided, thanks to some delicious BBQ beef from Sam's!

I'm trying a new recipe tonight. Kris got me this program last year called Big Oven...where you can file and collect recipes and all that and I just now paid for it and installed it! I am making Creamy Italian Chicken. Sounds good, and simple. For anyone who is interested:

Creamy Italian Chicken

Yields: 4 Servings posted as 157900

Ingredients
4 boneless chicken breast halves
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/2 cup water
1 pkg. Cream cheese (8oz) softened
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup undiluted
1 can Mushroom and peices drained (which I am choosing to leave out!)

Instructions:
Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms.
Pour over chicken. Cook one hour longer, or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over rice or pasta.

Now I was wondering if it was some sort of copyright to put that on here, and if it is...hmm...well...sorry. I do know that the recipe is available at www.bigoven.com just in case I'm not supposed to have this on here.

Time to see why Olivia is crying.

I love Fernando Ortega. You put his incredible voice with the powerful hymns that we never seem to sing anymore and I am completely moved. Today I heard this song, reminding me of how deep God's love is for us.

I will sing of my Redeemer, And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered, From the curse to set me free.
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me,
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.
I will tell the wondrous story, How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy, He the ransom freely gave.
I will praise my dear Redeemer, His triumphant pow'r I'll tell,
How the victory He giveth Over sin, and death, and hell.
I will sing of my Redeemer, And His heav'nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me, Son of God with Him to be.

Max's New Suit

Ruby wanted to have a fancy tea party with her friends. So she and Max needed to get dressed up. She went into Max's room and gave him a suit to put on. His phrase for this particular episode was "No suit!" Well, Ruby leaves (of course) and Max takes the suit, drops it on the floor outside his room and shuts the door. Ruby comes back and see it there and says "Oh Max!" So now Max takes the suit and hangs it outside on the clothes line. Ruby finds it because coincidentally she has to get napkins off of the line. She takes it back in. This time she helps Max put the suit on and tells him to hurry up because everyone will be there soon. Max makes this face, like he doesn't want to wear the suit and says "No suit!" So he takes it off and goes about playing in his room. Now, everyone is waiting downstairs on Max. Ruby goes up to check on him and tells him to put the suit on. He says "No suit!" and Ruby says "No suit? No cake." Max thinks about this and still has a look of disgust on his face about the suit. Ruby leaves the room and Max decides to put the suit on...but he puts it on all upside down and everything...so technically he isn't really wearing the suit. He goes downstairs and they all looked at him in shock. He says "Dress up" and then it's over. Ok...am I the only one that see how this communicates that you can disobey when you don't want to do something? I left before "Good Night Max" but I can pretty much tell you that Max is supposed to go to bed and keeps getting up and in the end, he will still not have to be obedient.

It is amazing to me how quickly time can go by when I am typing. I am so excited about what God is doing in my life lately. Through a good friend, God showed me that if I really wanted to spend some quality time talking to him, that the best way to do it was to 'blog' my prayers. Before, I used to really struggle with focusing and really spending some time in prayer. And now, I can sit down at the keyboard and type away, all the thoughts and concerns on my heart. And before I know it, I've spent more time with God that I ever thought I could do. It's exciting to be talking to him regularly again. I say again, but I'm not really sure I've been this consistent ever before. I guess God is ready to take me to a new level in my relationship with him and I am excited to see what happens.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I am going to work for a few hours this evening and then there isn't really too much planned. We do need to get the house in order and the basement cleaned. That will not be a fun project--the basement. But it has to be done. We are hoping to run cable down to the basement for the super bowl party the following weekend. But I'm not about to let people down there to watch it with it being as trashed as it is. I hope that we can be productive and get the house to a point where it will not be difficult to keep up with throughout next week.

My birthday is next week. No bigs plans that I know of, which is fine. We do have plans for Valentine's day, but I don't know what they are. I think that is so cool. Kris has a really hard time (in the past anyway) keeping secrets from me with this kind of stuff...but he had mentioned that he had something in mind and I still have no clue what it is. This Valentine's day will mark 8 years for us...we had our first date 8 years ago on Valentine's day. Wow...almost a decade. I can't believe how fast time went by.

Max and Ruby will be on at 11am. After Abbey and I watch it and learn how to misbehave and not get disciplined for it, I will share the story line.

Max and Ruby. I'm appalled by this. Ok, well, not so much appalled as just kind of....I can't even think of a word to describe it. Allow me to explain.

For those of you who do not know, Max and Ruby is a cartoon that comes on at 11am on Nick Jr. Abbey absolutely loves this show. I have always wondered why she doesn't listen and why she does exactly what I tell her not to do. I am beginning to wonder if this little kids' cartoon might not have something to do with it.

Ok. Ruby is the older rabbit. She is sister to Max, the younger (obviously) brother. They live together in a house, alone. I'm not sure what happened to their parents, but their grandmother does live just down the road and checks in on them from time to time--I've only heard of or seen her in maybe 2 episodes.

Let me give you an example of what this is teaching today's children.

Ok...last week, one episode in particular made me just sort of shake my head. Max was trying to get into the refrigerator to get a snack but Ruby came up to him and said "It's time for a bath Max." So they go up and Ruby helps get Max in the tub. While she goes out of the room to go and get towels, Max goes downstairs and gets some sherbert out of the fridge. He takes it back up and into the bath and dumps it into the water. Ruby comes back in and says "Oh Max"--that is her typical phrase, used many times in each episode. She lets the water out and puts clean water back in. She tells Max to stay in and she leaves again to go and do something. Max, of course gets back up and goes back and gets a different color this time of sherbert but before he can get in the bathtub with it, Ruby stops him and sets it down on a stool near the tub. Then, (doesn't she seem a little stupid by now??) she leaves the room AGAIN! Max, of course, gets the sherbert and starts playing with it in the tub. It spills and the water instantly changes color. So this continues...maybe 2 or three more times....why Ruby doesn't just stay in the bathroom the entire time and just bathe Max I don't know! But that was it. There was no lesson at the end, or if there was I missed it. Max just kept doing what he was not supposed to and Ruby kept saying "Oh Max." Max also always has some key word that he uses all the time and that's all he says. I don't remember what the word was in this one...probably "snack" or "food" or something like that. In one episode, he kept saying "hockey." Anyway...

Yesterday was interesting as well. But Olivia is calling, so stay tuned for the next installment of "Ruby and Max".

Abbey is funny, which I say over and over again. She's been using phrases like "How 'bout this" and "How 'bout that" recently. Like she will say, "How 'bout I get dressed?" "How 'bout I go outside?" So this morning, she added a new phrase. I decided that today was the day I was going to be disciplined about potty training (which didn't last long because she is sick and I keep having to change diapers--after going through 2 pullups in 20 minutes I went to the diapers). Anyway....
So I was having her try to go potty and she took her jammies off and so I felt her diaper because a lot of times she has gone right before I take her diaper off. When I felt it, I could tell she had just gone, so I asked her if she had gone pee in her diaper and at first she didn't answer me so I asked her again and told her she needed to tell me if she went potty. She said very matter-of-fact, "I guess so". It was weird but funny. And then she got up there and tried to go and said "How 'bout I try later." She's three and half the time she uses phrases that I use and it's funny to hear.

Funny Abbey story. I'm not sure where she heard it, but we were getting ready to go outside today and I got her all ready then took her to the door and she went outside. She suddenly turned to me and said "This is my lucky day!" I just laughed and she went merrily along. So she came inside a little while later with a piece of paper and said "A present for me. This my lucky day!" Apparently some kid had dropped some homework paper and she found it and thought that it was a present for her, because after all, this is her lucky day! It was so cute.

Kaleb is so sweet with Olivia. He loves to hold her and be around her, but not (for the most part) in the annoying grabby way that the others are. And today he keeps asking to hold her and I've been trying to do this or that, so he's only been able to hold her once. So I was in the living room earlier in my pink chair (which I absolutely love and hope I never have to get rid of), and I was holding Olivia. Kaleb comes up to me and says, "Mommy I can hold Olivia if you need to go and do something." Made me smile.

Olivia is sick...this cold of hers is NOT fun...I'm sure it's not fun for her either. She's been better today though...kind of fussy but not as bad as yesterday. She didn't have a great night, but it could have (and has been) worse. We bought her a new walker the other day which she really enjoys when she is in a good mood. Right now she is just laying on the floor, kicking her feet and cooing.

Well, it seems like I should put something in here about Katherine....since the others are mentioned. Hmm....well...to get out of a nap today she volunteered to clean Abbey's room. That was interesting, not to mention clever. So the others thought they would make the same offer...a few minutes later Katherine came to me and said the others weren't helping. But she was just in there cleaning away. It's still not clean, of course...but it's better than it was. Also...at KCA she was the Kingdom Kid a couple of weeks ago...so they put a little 'blurb' about her in their little newsletter. It was your normal average everyday stuff...she likes to color and play....and then at the end....something strange. Something to the effect of: "Katherine even started a small group to pick up trash at recess. She hates littering!" How cool is that??

My Italian Herb bread is done baking now...so I'd better finish up dinner. I love baking bread....my house smells REALLY good!

It's nice to be home. I feel like I've been so busy--probably because I have been! But today I am home, catching up on some laundry. There's not enough time in the day to get it all done...so hopefully come Monday I will still have the motivation to do it.

We are supposed to be going to Chicago this weekend. Cindy and Dean were going to drive out tonight with Katherine and Kaleb...and we were going to take the other girls in the morning. We have a meeting tonight. It's snowing here though and it is supposed to snow in Chicago too. It would be nice to visit with Kris' relatives, but it would also be really nice to just be able to stay home this weekend. Is it bad that part of me hopes it does snow this weekend, too much for us to go?? I'm just tired and I want to catch up on some much needed rest. But chances are, we will end up going. Although if Cindy and Dean leave without talking to me, I'm not sure we can go anyway--because I don't know Carol's address or phone number. I have an email address...I guess I could try that and that might possibly yield some answers before we leave, if they check it. Nevermind that idea. I don't have an email address. Hmm.....

This is pretty boring huh? It's boring me! No sense in sitting here racking my brain for something clever or funny....it just has to happen.

Kids are funny. Katherine drew this picture, of a boy and a girl with hearts all around and they were holding hands. On the front (it was made to be a card) it said "Katherine Bishop Jacob Holiday". Cindy and I were talking to Katherine about it and she said she was going to marry Jacob Holiday. I asked her, "What about Isaac Lankford" because she always used to say she was going to marry him. And she said that he was going to marry Kadi (Wilkinson) and so he wouldn't marry her. Anyway, we were talking to Jamie Lankford at church yesterday and he was saying how Isaac always tells them that he is going to marry Katherine. Katherine told Cindy she had made the card for Jacob and when she tried to give it to him, he didn't want it, so she decided she wasn't going to marry him. Instead, she would marry Kaleb Lankford, Isaac's younger brother. When Kris asked her tonight why she was going to marry Kaleb and not Isaac we found out the real reason. Ok...so here's how it went down! :)

Isaac, according to Katherine, promised her that he would marry her. But Kadi told Katherine that Isaac would not marry her because he was going to marry Kadi. So Katherine, being the kind hearted girl that she is, stepped aside and set her sights on Kaleb Lankford...maybe so she could still be close to Isaac??? :) Taking it a step further, Katherine asked Kris why Isaac couldn't have 2 wives and Kris told her to come and ask me. So she did, and I told her to tell Daddy that it was because he was a Christian and not Mormon, so that is exactly what she told him. It was cute.

Abbey is playing with these little dishes that Ken and Melanie actually got for Olivia, but I let her open them because Olivia is way too little. So anyway, I was sitting in the living room and Abbey kept bringing me something to drink. Finally, she brought me some milk and I asked her to put some strawberry syrup in it. She said, very matter-of-fact, "I don't have strawberry syrup." I said ok and then she asked if I wanted food. She was holding a fork and spoon and plate, so I reached for it, and kind of in a sing-song voice she said "Not yet!" Then she said "I need to cook it Mommy. I need to cut the turkey." Then she sat down with the plate and knife and started saying "Cut cut cut. Cut cut cut. Cut cut cut." Then she brought it to me to eat and I took a couple of bites then she shoved the cup in my face and asked if I needed a drink. So I took one then told her I was done and handed her the plate back. She looked at the plate and said I had to eat something--whatever it was that was left on the plate. I couldn't understand what she was telling me to eat, but she stuck the fork up to my mouth so I finished it. Then she went off happily saying "Now I wash dishes." And off she went to her sink (the other couch) saying "Wash wash wash. Wash wash wash."

It's after 11pm. I'm still awake. That's not going to help this whole 'get up at 6:30am' thing I am trying! Olivia pretends she is asleep...and then when you lay her down....she conveniently wakes up. Grr....so, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking she will stay asleep, while I am praying at the same time she will. Do those cancel one another out?

Abbey has been without her little blanket for almost a month. She left it at Kat and Jason's house when I had my tubal and we never got it back. Well, tonight she went over there--well, Kris took them over there; she didn't go on her own. And while there, apparently she saw her blanket and started saying "My blankie, my blankie!" Then she hugged it and said "I love my blankie!" Well, I'm not sure that is exactly how it happened (that's how I picture it in my mind)....because I wasn't there....but if it is incorrect....it's got to be close. Anyway, that made me feel really good because I made each of the kids these blankets when they were little. And it's nothing fancy. A piece of material with some light weight batting in it...and some pretty crooked stitching. But Abbey, ever since she was little (guess she's still little) carries that thing around and used to 'need' it to go to sleep. Well...when we left it at Jason and Kat's....she didn't have too much of a rough time without it, which saddened me a little but was nice because at least she wasn't screaming for it every night. But it made me feel good...happy....that she was so excited to reunite with it.

If you are trying to become a morning person, does it count if you get up at 7am but then take a nap at 10am? Kris was preaching at North County Christian School today so I took Kat and Kaleb to school, then came back so he could go over there. So, I was up early...and it didn't help that Olivia didn't go to sleep until after midnight and then woke up at 2:15, needed to eat at 3am and then didn't go back to sleep until almost 4am. And I actually got a few things accomplished this morning before the little nap. Let's see....
Fed Abbey (that's always a good thing) and I ate breakfast. Also fed Olivia and got her back to sleep.
Changed Abbey's diaper and got her and Olivia dressed. In case anyone wonders...yes I changed Olivia's too!
Spent about 30 minutes praying--which is huge since I rarely do that!! It's time to get back on track! "Blogging" my prayers is really helpful to me...it's like journaling, except online, so I just created my own blog for it and two days in a row (I know it's pitiful) I've gotten on there to 'pray'.
I've done 3 loads of laundry.
Read 3 books to Abbey and helped her play on her leappad.

So, I guess that's not too bad before 10am. So anyway, I was going to just 'rest' in the pink chair with Abbey while she watched cartoons....but she kept asking me things and she's so hard to understand sometimes! So I decided I would lay in my bed, which I did....and I was able to 'doze' in between Abbey going back and forth asking me this and that. So...all that to say, I feel much better...not so sluggish...and am ready to tackle the rest of the day. So, can I still say I was a 'morning person' today? :)

Feels good to get back on track with Weight Watchers too. Holidays are over--no more excuses. I had actually expected and accepted that I would gain a few pounds, but as it turns out...I lost 2. Weird. I really did not eat according to the 'plan' and I ate WAY too much sweet GOOD stuff. But I'm not complaining!

One funny, if not a little crude, story. So one of my brothers got the guys in the family this "Anti Monkey Butt Powder"....apparently it is supposed to absorb sweat and fight friction. I know...sorry. I wouldn't even have mentioned it, except that Abbey was in my room this morning and this was sitting on Kris' nightstand. At first I wasn't sure what she was saying and once I was able to figure it out, I realized she was saying "I want my butt be red." Just like the monkey on the label. Now, why she would want her butt to be red I don't know...but it was definitely an interesting comment.

I feel like it has been a while since I was on here. I guess that's just because so much seems to have happened. New Year's Eve was proceeding like any other evening, when suddenly I started hearing Katherine screaming at the top of her lungs. I ran into the room she was in, to find that she had fallen from the top bunk (at the back--near the wall, not off the front) to the bottom. At first I thought she was just hurting...but then I saw the blood. It seemed like it was everyone! So, having the difficulty I do with these things, I just started screaming. I was able to see that the blood was coming from her chin, but I was scared to look. Someone came with a washcloth and Cindy and Dean kind of took over. I had to just go in the other room. I was a mess. I probably scared her more than the fall did. We weren't sure if we would end up in the emergency room...but once the bleeding stopped they (not me) put a butterfly bandaid on there and she seemed to be ok. She even got up and started playing about a half hour after it happened. So we looked at it yesterday, and it looks like (besides the bruise) she has a cut that is only about 1/4 of an inch long. Katherine was upset....yeah because it hurt....but she was upset because she got blood on grandma's blankets. She seemed more concerned about that than anything else once all was said and done. But she is doing well...and I am doing better! I hate stuff like that. I don't know if I just panic and don't know what to do, or what it is, but I'm very fortunate that someone else has always been there when these things happen. I'm not sure how I would react if I were alone. I would hope that I could deal with it and be calm...but I'm not really sure I would.

So that was the New Year's eve drama. The funny (not ha ha, but more ironic) thing is that probably less than an hour before it happened I was talking to Jenn Reedy about how we made it through a year without any drama on the holidays....referring to the Christmas eve emergency room visit last year when Abbey broke her collar bone. But...I guess I was wrong!

We saw the new year in at Cindy's and then drove home and went to bed. We went to church and then to Cindy's. Kris and I took Katherine and Kaleb to see Chronicles of Narnia. They liked it--they did get scared in a couple of places, as we expected...but for the most part they did well. Yesterday we went out to St. James to see Kris' dad and that was a good visit. I'm glad the holidays are over though. Not because I don't enjoy them...just because I was ready to just get on with some sort of 'normal' schedule. The kids go back to school tomorrow and while it hasn't been horrible having them home, I am ready for it. I think they probably are too...it will probably take a couple of days to get them back on some sort of bedtime schedule though.

I came across a strange site last night. Kris was shutting the refrigerator and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something 'odd'. I told Kris to open the fridge and sure enough, I had seen what I thought I had. Take a look. I can only guess that Abbey was the culprit...but it kind of makes sense when you look at the title of the book. Kris and I were amused. If you can't see what it says, it says "Bear Loves Food." We aren't sure why the book was put there, except to say that because it was about 'food' that according to Abbey was the most logical place for it!

Ok...don't panic. My perspective is much better this morning than it was yesterday. I feel equipped to tackle another day as 'mommy'--although when they say it, it is more like "MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!" and someone is hurt or mad!

We went to see the Titanic exhibit last night at the science center. I think the kids were bored, but they did really good considering that we walked around this thing for about an hour. It was really interesting. They had replicas of different things...like the third class room, the luxury first class room, the great staircase, things like that. They also had artifacts that had been found and preserved from the wreckage. I think the coolest part (for the kids anyway) was this large block of ice shaped like an iceberg. You could touch it and there was a sign that said that the temperature in the water the night the ship sank was colder than the ice that was there. It's unfathomable, how the people in the water endured their bodies being submerged in the icy water. And, obviously, most were unable to endure long enough since the majority lost their lives by being frozen in the water. Could you imagine coming across that sight? It seems to me that the scene in the movie Titanic probably did not even come close to what it really looked like that night.

I asked Katherine when we were done if she liked it at all. And she said 'no'. Then she said "Except for maybe the dishes." They had recovered a number of dishes and a couple of large pans from the kitchen...so this is what she was referring to. When I told Kris about it later, Katherine was still beside me and she was explaining why she liked the dishes. She told us "It's because I want to cook a lot when I grow up."

I think the most interesting part is that they gave us a card when we first went in. It had a name of a passenger on their, what class they were in, how they got their tickets, where they were from, who they were with and where they were headed. And when we got it, I thought it was neat that they were doing that, so that we could be a part of the story in a 'real' way. But then, at the end, they had a list on the wall (divided by class) of all the people who lived and died, so you could look on the list and find your 'name' and see if you had lived or died. It was really interesting. Abbey's person died, and so did Kris. Katherine and one of her sons and 2 friends survived...but one of her sons died. It was a really creative idea.

They had 'quotes' up on the walls randomly...things people said before leaving on the Titanic and things that were said in the midst of the accident. There were two that really stood out to me. A woman in first class was told to get in a lifeboat, but her husband wasn't there and she said "We have lived together all these years and we will die the same way. Together." And then, on the other extreme was the captain saying "Every man for himself." Kris tried to tell me that this could have been like a normal sea concept, like if the ship was going down and you knew there was nothing that could be done....but I didn't buy it. The extremes on both of those comments is astounding to me.

Anyway, you're probably as bored as the kids were actually having to experience it...but I liked it. What I thought was interesting, and Kris had made a comment about it too...when you were all the way through at the very end there was a store...full of titanic stuff...yet another way to make money off of tragedy!

I'm kind of 'vegging' right now. Kaleb and Katherine are playing Star Wars against one another in the living room, on the playstation. Who knows what Abbey is doing. They are now yelling that the controllers aren't working. Olivia is screaming from either a stomach ache or being tired. I don't know which one and I need a breather, a chance to regroup before I tackle the mother job again.

Deep breaths. Right? Whoever said that that would work must not have been a stay at home mom. I'm just not sure that is an effective calming method. I'm ready for Katherine and Kaleb to go back to school. Have I said that on here yet? Oh good. I just heard "I'm telling!" That's really what I want to hear right now. You know what I'd really like to hear? I'd like to hear....
NOTHING! Silence. That's what I'd like. Now, whoever said "You can't always get what you want"-now they were really on to something. Ain't that the truth!

Ok...time to face reality again. Here I go. More later when things have calmed down. And by calmed down I mean that everyone is asleep and I can think!

Well, Christmas is over and there is just one more holiday left this year. And THEN maybe I can start tracking points again. It's been so difficult, with all the good FATTENING food! Who wants to just eat 94% fat free popcorn for a meal when there is turkey and ham and all the other goodies to be had. And that's not even considering the fudge and cookies and pecan pie.

We had a good trip to IN...made record time- 3 hours and 45 minutes. Not too bad with 4 kids and one of them being an infant. Of course, some might have a fit--but I fed the baby while we drove. We survived. We are not more likely to have an accident just because the baby is out of her carseat for 10 minutes than we would be if she were in her carseat. I don't do this all the time...but when you have a 4 hour drive ahead of you and 4 small children...well...unless you've tried it yourself...don't judge me! :)

Our van is packed full of the kids' new toys. I'll have to clean the play room to make room for all of them. My mom bought me a bread machine. I'm excited to make some bread with it. I've never made bread before, so it should be interesting. I'm kind of an idiot sometimes though. My mom had bought me some bread mixes, and I was reading the instructions on the back of the box. I thought, "Man this is pretty complex for a bread machine." It seemed to me that there were just too many directions--mixing the stuff, kneading the bread, baking it....I thought it seemed pointless to have a bread maker when you still had to do all that. I could have sworn that a bread machine was supposed to do all that for you. Ok--so I missed the heading that said "Conventional Oven Directions". So there's a little piece of my stupidity for your enjoyment! Boy was I glad to see that the bread machine did in fact do everything that I thought it was supposed to do.

Something funny just happened. I had taken one of Kaleb's toys away this morning because he and Abbey were fighting over it. And Abbey just ran in here and asked if Kaleb could have it back. I said yes, and then expected her to give it back to him. Did she?? No. She said 'ok' and then ran in to the kitchen and started playing with it. Well...it's funny to me anyway!

While I was feeding Olivia this morning I found myself looking at Katherine and Kaleb (who are now on Christmas break until January) and thinking "I have FOUR kids. FOUR." That's a lot of kids, isn't it? Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the reality of it all...but most of the time I just move on through life, doing what needs to be done to take care of them. I don't know what I would do without Kris there to help me. I know it is kind of morbid...but I think sometimes about what I would do if something happened to Kris and it was just me and the kids...especially at this young age they at now. I don't know what I would do. I wonder sometimes if I would still be able to function enough to take care of FOUR kids. I'm sure that God would give me the strength...Ok....different subject now.

I'm looking forward to a semi-quiet evening at home...will never be quiet with three toddlers running around and a baby! But it seems like we've been so busy--I really look forward to the nights when Kris and I are home with no where to go and nothing to do.

I'm really excited about Christmas, primarily because I will get to see family on my dad's side, including my grandma. I think I miss her the most, being out here in Missouri. It seems strange, and maybe it isn't, but as I was growing up I never felt close to her--I mean, I loved her and she was my grandma, but I'm not really sure I had any kind of relationship with her. And then after I got married I felt like I was starting to build a relationship with her and my grandpa. And after he died five years ago, each year I feel closer and closer to her. I have no idea what made me go into that...guess because I get to see her this weekend. Anyway, if you're reading this Mamaw--I love you and can't wait to see you!

We had fun Tuesday night opening presents with the kids. Katherine and Abbey were excited, of course...but it was Kaleb that just....I don't know. I can't really describe it. Any mother probably knows what I am talking about (fathers too perhaps)...that really joyous feeling you get when one of your children is the happiest you've seen them. Kaleb was just SO excited. At one point, he pulled some Spiderman toothpaste out of his stocking (Santa wants them to keep their teeth clean--doesn't everyone get toothpaste and toothbrushes??) and started excitedly yelling "Deoderant!!! I got deoderant!!!" Made me wish I had actually bought him some deoderant!!!! And we saved their 'biggest' present for last. When Kaleb opened up the doodle monster he had asked Santa for, he got really excited once again, this time saying excitedly "A doodle monster! I always wanted that!" It was good to see him so happy.

I forgot to put a picture on here last night. If you know Katherine at all, you know that she is a total drama queen. Everything is SO exagerrated and you can just tell sometimes when you look at her that it's all drama! Kris was able to capture this on the camera Sunday at church. She was upset with him about something...and this picture just completely shows KATHERINE!

Here is Kaleb with his 'girlfriend' Mia. I think he is in love! Everytime I have been at a school function, he says "Take a picture of Mia! Take a picture of Mia!" She's cute isn't she? This was at their Christmas program for KCA. This picture of all four kids Kris and I were pretty pleased with...it would have been even cuter if Olivia had been looking at the camera and smiling too!






I can't seem to sleep. It's 1:00am, but I'm still up. I just spent the last hour working on some document uploads for Xsbid because I couldn't sleep. At least I got another hour of work in. I spent about 4 1/2 hours at the office this evening.

I have a cold, which is now getting worse, turning into some sort of coughing annoyance. I should go and take some medicine so I can sleep. I should have taken it an hour ago...so I could have let it 'kick in' but of course I didn't.

We are going to do "Christmas" tomorrow night with the kids. We have plans on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and then we are leaving Friday to go to IN as soon as Kris gets home...so we decided to open up our Christmas presents tomorrow night. We could wait until Monday morning after we have gotten back from IN, but some of the gifts would make the trip to IN a LOT better, because the kids have some new books for the LeapPads that I am sure will occupy them on our trip. So we will let them open those up as well as the other gifts we got them and Kris and I will exchange gifts with one another too. It's funny that we have never once, since we got married, opened up gifts from each other on Christmas day. Our first Christmas together we were so excited that we opened everything up on Christmas Eve...and ever since then...the two of us just can't wait. Last year the kids opened up gifts on Christmas day I think...but Kris and I exchanged the night before, saying that it would be more fun to just focus on the kids with their gifts. But we will be in Indiana on Christmas day and probably won't get in early enough Sunday night to open gifts then. So tomorrow night it is. I have some presents hidden under my bed--from Santa, of course, that we will wrap up and take to Indiana with us, so the kids don't think that Santa forgot them or can't deliver presents to them if they aren't at home. I never really liked the idea of 'lying' to the kids about Santa...but they get so excited and they really believe he is real, even if you tell them he is not--at least at this age.

Kris told me that Katherine asked him today if Santa was real. He asked her if she wanted the truth and she said yes apparently. Then he told her that "No, he is not real" and she didn't believe him. He asked her if she wanted to believe that Santa was real and she said yes...and we're ok with that. It's fun for them, and what kid out there ever grew up resenting the fact that his/her parents lied to him/her about it? Well...I'm sure there are some people out there....but for the most part, we all loved that aspect of Christmas when we were little and so we will carry on that tradition.

I meant to put some pictures on here earlier...but just didn't get a chance so I will put them on here now and then try to go to sleep.

My feet are cold. It's really chilly in my bedroom. There isn't any heat in here...which could explain it! We do have a space heater that kind of warms it up but you'd think after two winters here I would learn to just put some socks on and quit complaining, right?

We had a Christmas party/variety show at church yesterday. We had signed Katherine up to sing at it--because she likes to sing, NOT because we are those parents who are trying to push her towards stardom!--and of course she got really shy once she got up there. She wanted me to sing the Greek alphabet and 1,2,3 Jesus Loves ME with her but I declined. So I told her that Kaleb would come up and sing with her and this seemed to work. Kaleb was not the least bit shy. His only concern was getting Katherine off the microphone so he could have his mouth over the whole thing. They were cute though and they did a good job. But of course, Abbey didn't want to be left out, so after they got done we let her sing. She informed us she was going to sing her ABC's. It was a rather short version of the real song...her version being "ABC EIEIO." Makes a mother proud! It was adorable. I was able to record it on our new digital camera...the quality isn't the greatest but once I can figure out how to put video on my blog (if they allow it) then I will put that up here.

I've really got to get busy and get some work done for Xsbid this week. Last week with the surgery and recovery I only put in 6 hours. I had intended to work last night, but Jeff and Abbey were in town and we got to spend the evening with them, which was MUCH better than working all evening. I'm going to go in the next 3 nights and try to get completely caught up before the holiday.

Olivia is now awake. I had planned to put some pictures on here, but I guess that will have to wait until later....she does need to eat I suppose!

My surgery is now over and done with. I think (at least I hope) the worst of the pain is over now. Yesterday was worse than Monday and today has been better than both days. I'm still taking my ibuprofen and other pain pills, but hopefully by tomorrow I won't need those. I think the worst pain is the bruise around my belly button...whenever anything rubs against it, it hurts. But I am glad it is over with, and I am also glad that I had it done.

Here's something kind of funny. After they gave me the anesthesia, they told me they wanted me awake enough to move to the table in the operating room. That's the last thing I remember anyone saying to me before the surgery. It's the last thing I remember at all before waking up. But apparently, my doctor was talking to me and joking around with me before the procedure began. He called me Monday night to see how I was feeling and proceeded to tell me about the conversation that I had with him. This is the part I thought was funny. Apparently he asked me if I was sure I wanted to have the tubal ligation and my immediate response was an emphatic "Yes!" Since I don't remember ever having that conversation I told him "See....I told you I wanted to have it done! I was serious!" Ok, so maybe it is just funny to me.

I really like this Angel Food Ministries thing. I was just looking at January's menu. It's really great because for about half of my grocery money for the next two weeks, I can get more food than I could with the entire amount of grocery money at a regular store. And Kris loves that I can get steaks with it. We never buy steaks because they are so expensive, but the last two months we've bought them. We get our second month food on Saturday. I think it comes with 6 steaks of some sort--thick cut ribeyes maybe. I still have 4 steaks in the freezer from the last pick up. Maybe if I am feeling better this week I will cook the steaks that I have in the freezer still.

I really need to get some work done. With my surgery I am really behind. I am hoping to go in tonight (if the pain is better) or tomorrow night to try to knock out some of the alerts that I need to deal with. I emailed the owner (part-owner I guess) today and discussed them hiring me on as a part-time employee. That would take care of the tax issues (so I don't have to figure it out myself) and also ensure that I am working at least 18 hrs a week, which is the bare minimum we will need to make our bills--with the kids' tuition. Our first payment out of our pocket (the rest had been coming from savings--which is now depleted) will be on January 30, so I've got to get the money together before then. And we still have bills from Christmas that will have to be paid. But I am sure it will all work out. What is the most frustrating is the $800 we had to put on the credit card to cover the van repairs and a couple of other expenses. But it will get paid off and we will not go crazy and spend all kinds of money foolishly because we are down about having to use a credit card--which has been our action in the past.

Kris and I took a picture of ourselves the other day. I never would let anyone take pictures (or at least I tried to avoid it) of me, but I am getting more comfortable with it, now that I am losing some of the weight that I was so embarrased about. When I went in for surgery Monday and they weighed me, I was down 7lbs from the previous week. But now, they filled me with that carbon dioxide or whatever it was so that they could work inside me....so I'm sure that is adding some pounds back on! Oh well...hopefully it will all be out of my system by the time I go to my next Weight Watchers meeting on Monday.

I have a few more pictures. I got some early Christmas presents....it was kind of funny. I have a cheap toaster that we got when we got married, and it is falling apart--I think you can get them now at Wal-mart for about $6-10 so I asked Kris if I could go get a toaster and he told me no. I didn't push it--figuring that he probably had bought me a toaster oven for Christmas. I've wanted one ever since we got married but don't really have room for one. And now that my toaster is broken, I thought, "Well, I'll just get another cheap one." But anyway, we were talking about it and he decided he would go ahead and give me the toaster oven since I basically had figured it out anyway. But then...we still had no place to put it, so he bought me a new microwave cart and another 'cabinet' thing...so it really gave me SO much more room. I'm really excited about it. Kris and I spent most of the day organizing and cleaning up the kitchen, so humor me and enjoy the pictures of the new Bishop kitchen! :) It really opened up the kitchen--and I don't have to have my kitchen aid mixer on top of the counter anymore--it is on the other microwave cart, out of the way, so I can use the mixer over beside the fridge, and prepare things on the counter top! It's awesome--well, I don't really know--because I haven't cooked anything yet, but I think it should be cool. I guess the pictures don't really show how 'open' the kitchen is, and I'm probably the only one that really cares about the kitchen, but hey--It's MY blog, so I don't care!

Tomorrow morning I am having my surgery. My doctor called me tonight. We talked for about 10 minutes--it was interesting. It's strange to admit that you actually like your ob/gyn but I do like him. He's very nice and loves kids. He helped to ease my mind about the procedure and made me laugh, so I don't feel too nervous about the whole thing. I'll be back on here in a day or two depending on how I feel as I recover.

Well...I'm kind of disappointed. My surgery got cancelled and now I have to reschedule it. I have to get it done before the new year because we've already met our deductible this year so the procedure will be covered @ 100%. But in some ways I am looking forward to having the weekend and actually being able to move around and get out of the house. So Kris had taken off work today and tomorrow, but since Dean had already taken off to watch the younger girls, we both came in to work. I'll work for the morning and hopefully get caught up by then. Then Kris is going to take me back to his mom's.

Our van is in the shop today. I really hope that it doesn't cost a lot to fix the heat in our van, though I am skeptical. But the back hatch thing on our van has been broken for about a year...so seriously--if you let go of it with your head under there it would kill you with as heavy and as fast as it comes down--SO....I'm going to get that fixed too while I am shelling out money that I don't have.

I can't believe Christmas is only 2 weeks away. That's crazy to me.

I have to write this down before I forget. I keep thinking of it and keep forgetting to come in here and write it down. So, yesterday I bought these little Christmas cookies. They were always my favorite kind...the small ones covered in white fudge with litte red and green sprinkles...and Sam's had a big box of them, so I picked them up and gave the kids some. Last night while they were eating them, just out of the blue Katherine holds up a little star cookie and says "This star is so special because it reminds me of Jesus." And she had this big grin on her face. It was so cool!

Kris and I are watching Mr. Deeds while I work. We watched it when it first came out in the theatres and remember liking it...but watching it now just reminds me of how funny this movie is! But I have to get busy--I'm supposed to be working while I am watching--the BEAUTY of working from home--though that is about to change. Starting this week I am going to begin working Tuesday and Thursday evenings until 11pm and during the day on Wednesdays.

I forgot to comment on the GOOD Weight Watchers week I had over Thanksgiving. I had points left over most days and still had some of my weekly points left over....so I actually lost weight over the holiday! Granted....it was one 1/2 lb. but considering I had gained the week before, I was excited! This week has been good so far too. Had points left over every day and have not used any of my flex points yet. I'm working my way towards a size 10 and the sooner I get there the sooner I can move towards a size 8!! Single digits--now that would be cool! :)

Abbey had a little fit the other day at my weight watchers meeting. She was not behaving well at all the entire morning and was beyond the point of listening to me by the time my meeting started. At the end, she had brought a couple of toys and something happened and her bird fell on the floor. She looked up at me with this glare in her eyes and said "You dropped my bird mommy. Now I mad!" It was funny. I'm not saying it didn't make me mad, because it did, but it was still amusing--the look on her face. She is just like me. She doesn't keep anything in...if she is upset about something...she'll let you know. And if she is still mad, she'll let you know that too! She came upstairs yesterday and said Kaleb took something or did something and then told me that it made her mad. I was impressed, right? So rather than hitting Kaleb or reacting...she came up to express her anger to me. And I said that I was proud of her for coming to me instead of retaliating, and then I told her to stay away from Kaleb if he was being mean to her. So she proceeds to go to the top of the stairs and yells down "You're mean Kaleb!" I in turn yelled her name and she started running....I told her to 'come here' and she went towards the stairs and said "I go tell Kaleb I sorry." So at least she knows right from wrong! She's still a riot to hang out with--but her behavior is starting to wear me down. She's been aggressive and mean and absoultely does not listen. But the last couple of days I have been trying to give her some one on one attention and hopefully that will help. She likes the baby, but I wonder if she doesn't miss the time just she and I had before Olivia was born.

Olivia went to the doctor for her two month check up--got four shots. :( But she is sleeping now and seems ok. She is 11 1/2 lbs now at almost 3 months and still growing.

I have surgery scheduled next week to get my tubes tied. Thursday, December 8th at 8am. In one sense I am excited. Not about the surgery or the recovery, but the prosepct of not having to worry about getting pregnant again because I am NOT ready and don't know if I ever will be again. People keep asking why I am doing it and not Kris. Hmm....well....first of all, it is tough enough taking care of 4 kids by myself with no help (which I am not used to because Kris is so helpful). But the thought of taking care of 5, all alone??? NO WAY! I'm not a good 'nurse'. I could never be one--I'm not the most sympathetic person in the world (when someone directly related to me is sick)--something I hate about myself. So I asked Kris, because on top of that reason, I was feeling uneasy about him doing it--which he would have hated but done for me anyway--I said "Do you want to do it? Honestly?" And he said "no". So I said, "Ok, I'll do it." I don't feel uneasy or have any doubts about the decision that I have made. It's funny now though because every is so used to us having kids and asking if we are having more--now that they know I am getting a tubal ligation, the questions SERIOUSLY have already changed to..."So do you think you'll adopt more?" Kind of makes me laugh.

Anyway...we are having dinner at Cindy's tonight and hopefully I will get a chance to take Olivia up to Metlife to see Patty (my supervisor while I worked there and a good friend). She hasn't seen her yet and it will be good to see some of my 'old' friends.

I have my Christmas tree up now. I'm very pleased with it. Kris let me go and buy new lights and garland. They make some really cool garland now--not that silvery stuff that falls off. So I got some that have snowflakes on them. Anyway, I'm really into putting pictures up here on my blog, so here are a few more!

I finally have two floral arrangements I am mostly satisfied with. Kris apparently really liked them. Kris has been working on our website for the floral arrangements...he wants us to put them on Froogle and see what happens. We might put the Christmas ones on there. We'll see. Anyway, here are the two I did today. If you know anyone who likes these kinds of things, feel free to pass on my name or my sister's! :)

It's been a long couple of days. Kris came home last Wednesday (right before Thanksgiving) and told me I needed to type this inventory list in by Monday morning. It was 170 pages, which with 4 days to do it wouldn't have been a problem, had it not been a holiday. Jenny and Raju were in Wednesday night, then we had company over for Thanksgiving, then we went shopping and out on Friday and so I didn't get started on it until about 3pm on Saturday. I finished it up around 12:45am today. But on the bright side...I do get paid for the 16 hours that I worked on it. I need that--since I spent way too much at Kohl's! But I got a lot of great deals and most of the shopping for Kris and the kids is done. Plus, they were giving out Kohl's cash for spending certain amounts, and I ended up leaving with $70 in Kohl's cash. I gave it to Kris yesterday, along with a few items to return and he did some Christmas shopping for me. It's seems strange, though I know it's not really--Kris' paychecks go for the bills, so I have to give him money to get ME Christmas presents. But I guess before I was working he would give me money to get him presents!


I put my Christmas tree up today. It was nice to have a break from that inventory list and be able to do something that I wanted to do. Some evening when we are all home together, Kris and the kids and I will put the ornaments on. I have water aerobics tonight--so maybe tomorrow. I'm hoping to wrap some presents and put together some floral arrangements today. Jenny and I sort of 'officially' have our own little online business. Katherine gave us the name "Two Blossoms", which seemed to fit perfectly. We aren't active yet--we'd like to build an inventory first...but Jenny got about 7 done this weekend out here. Here are a couple of pictures of them. I think they turned out great.


I think that this one is my favorite on that she has done. We got so many great deals on the fall floral stems. They were 75-90% off at Garden Ridge, so we just stocked up. Some of the things I got were .01 and .17 cents. Crazy!








Then this one for the holiday season is really pretty too. She did a good job.

Well Thanksgiving is over and Christmas will be here before we know it. My sister Jenny and her husband Raju were out here this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday. I did WAY too much shopping, but at least I have a job that can actually help pay for it! They just left a little bit ago. But Jenny and Raju brought little outfits (indian ones) for Kaleb and Katherine. Raju is from Bangledesh and so they wanted the kids to have the traditional 'costumes'/clothing from that culture. The kids looked really cute. Here is a picture of Katherine and Kaleb with their Uncle Raju in their little outfits. They looked really cute. Kaleb wants to wear his ALL the time. He really likes it.

It was funny, though because the first time he put his on, and I saw him in it...it looked just a little strange. Check it out--in case you can't see, the character is Spongebob! He's so weird sometimes!-Not in a bad way!

This picture turned out really cute--their expressions. Plus it is a better picture of the entire outfit that they have on. Katherine got these bangles that she really likes. And it's cute to 'hear' her walking around because of the jingling they make. See!! I finally put some pictures of Katherine and Kaleb on here! Of course, it's not a picture of them in their Halloween costumes like I've promised...but one day...maybe next year on those. :)

And this last one of Katherine just shows how...hmm...what's the word....well, it's just part of her personality I think. She just looks really cute in it, I think.

A duck was the culprit with the bird flu thing. H5N1 virus--the bird flu. "It could be a catastrophe." The chances of getting a vaccine if there is an outbreak of the bird flu is likely to be 0. Worst case scenario-2-300,000 people could die in the US. The best hope to stop the bird flu is containment. Entire hospital wings WILL turn into isolation chambers. A 2 week quarantine will be required. Retail stores and shopping malls may close. Bank may be drive through only. In a bad outbreak--SCHOOLS WILL CLOSE FIRST! Keep the bird flu away in that case! We'll have to wear masks. Steps to plan for bird flu--buy a mask. They say that you can get more info (especially what steps we can take) on their website. I'm going to check it out.

Here is a line that is on the KMOV website regarding the bird flu: "So far, the virus is not passing from human to human, but if that does happens, there could be millions of deaths worldwide. " This next line just makes me laugh: "In this jet age a human bird virus could spread around the globe in a matter of hours." I understand what they are trying to say, but if you take that sentence as is....um...are there human birds? It seems to me that of course if there were human birds with a virus that yes it could spread quickly, but are we really at risk if there is not even a human bird in existence?

Kris is trying to help me understand this. A guy said that there was a 100% certainty that there would be an outbreak. Kris tells me that basically all that means is that at some point there will be some sort of outbreak of something. The people on channel 4 act like it has already happened and that the danger is imminent. Kris just said we needed to buy masks. Maybe I should start an internet business where I custom design face masks for when the outbreak of the bird flu hits. I wonder if I could make some money that way!

Ok, I don't want you to stop reading my blog because this topic bores you....but I just checked out the website on what we can do to help prevent spreading the bird flu...and it was hilarious. Maybe I should take this a little more seriously....but I just can't. If there is an outbreak of the bird flu--you can all send me a letter scolding me for mocking channel 4's over-exagerrated concern for the bird flu-but make sure you write it in the sunlight and that you are wearing a mask and surgical gloves when you are writing it. Apparently....the bleach and the sunlight will be our friends WHEN (because apparently it will) it stikes. This is the last thing I will put about the bird flu for now....there was a link on KMOV's website: http://www.avian-bird-flu.info/birdfluprotection.html. Take a look at it if you'd like. I found it very amusing. Here are some of my favorite bird flu protection suggestions (things in red and parentheses are my own comments):

If possible make sure all interactions with non-family members take place outdoors in full sunlight. Ultra-violet light kills viruses

Get your groceries and other essential purchases delivered (sounds to me like another way to make money). Keep the transaction in sunlight.

Spray or dip the contents with dilute bleach solution to disinfect. This includes fruits and vegetables. You can always rinse the solution off before eating them (in case you had concerns about eating the bleach solution and wouldn't have thought to wash off the solution).

Wear a flu mask, and insist on others wearing one as well (INSIST!).

Do not touch anyone. (EVER--make sure you avoid any kind of contact with anyone else ever)

After leaving work, you should strip, and shower, before touching anyone.

Leave your clothes outside exposed to sunlight to sterilize. (I guess washing them just will not be enough, even with a bleach solution)

Wash clothes and allow to air dry outside if at all possible.

"Hunting will only be a danger for the deer." Read it again.

"Hunting will only be a danger for the deer." Seriously--think about it.

Is this the news they come up with now? Were there no other pressing stories? This was one of the top stories tonight on channel 4. I'm confused. Why, first of all is that a top story, and second of all, was there ever a time when hunting was NOT a danger for the deer?

We actually have channel 4 on so that I can find out about that crazy bird flu. I think what intrigues me the most is how serious channel 4 makes it out to be as they describe the upcoming report. They start talking vaguely about this bird flu, and then say things like "Will you be able to go to work? Will your kids be able to go to school?" Find out they tell me, so find out I will and I will let you know what I find.

I had a bad Weight Watchers week last week, but I am back on track today and hopefully will make it through the thanksgiving holiday unscathed! I'm determined to keep going and by summer my goal is to be ABLE to wear a bikini and feel comfortable in it. I will NOT however, actually wear a bikini--I just want to be thin enough to feel like I could wear one if I wanted to. I'll finish up my water aerobics class at the YMCA this session and next session I think Kris and I are going to try to Absolute Abs class.

Has anyone heard of this bird flu? Apparently Monday on channel 4 we can get all the info we need--whether we have what we need in St. Louis to deal with it, etc....bird flu? Does a bird have to peck you first? Do you have to catch a bird and spend a certain amount of time petting it and being around it? Do you have to drink out of the same glass that a bird has been drinking out of? Anyway...

Kris and I had our first day (afternoon anyway) out without the kids. It was fun. We got to spend some time together without having to worry about even a new baby. We should do that more often. Not that I don't like the babies...I do, but it sure is nice to have a few hours off.

In fact, we get another night on Friday...my sister and her husband are coming in for Thanksgiving and the four of us are going out on Friday night. Should be fun. My sister Jenny and I are going to brave the crowds on what is apparently called Black Friday. There is a website that shows you the stores and the specific items that will be on sale. I HAVE to go to best buy--not for myself of course. Kris and I have about 50 best buy bucks and you can use them all on a larger item so I'm sure I can find something to get him for Christmas from there. The website to find the stores and deals is: http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/. It's cool...you can click on each store and find out what their specials will be.

I am hoping that a few months from now the pictures will look even better, but for now, this is the first time I've had a picture taken of me in a long time, and I thought I would put a couple on here. I am amazed that I got as large as I did. Look at these-the first is me at my largest, and the second is me presently.

Abbey is home now from Branson. She went with Cindy for the weekend. She actually came home Monday night but I am just now writing about it. I've been busy trying to get some work done so we have some money for Christmas. And someone answer me this--why does personal property tax have to be due right at the same time as Christmas? I think that is stupid. Nothing says "forget holiday spirit" like a $200 bill for personal property tax! Oh well.

Anyway, I think Abbey had a good time. She went to see the Dixie Stampede. She didn't tell me too much about her trip--basically she just answered my yes and no questions. She looked big to me when she came back.

Olivia is getting much more expressive now. It's fun to sit and talk to her. I make little noises and she smiles and tries to mimic them. Kris got to see it last night for the first time. It was cute.

The pictures are from Abbey's trip. I still don't have Katherine and Kaleb's halloween pictures on here do I? Maybe someday I'll get around to it.

I think it is really strange that Abbey was drinking out of a cowboy boot cup. Apparently Cindy and Dean didn't want theirs (they were probably frightened of them) because I ended up with three of them. I'll have to figure out how to sneak them back into their house! I guess it's all part of the atmosphere at the Dixie stampede. Who knows!

Here are a few new pictures of Olivia. Cindy has my digital camera this weekend and hopefully she will get a couple of shots of Abbey that turn out. She has a habit of taking terrible pictures but I just can't see how you can mess up on a digital camera. We'll see.

I know she looks just like the other girls...for all you know these could be pictures of Abbey. Oh wait...we don't have very many pictures of her! Having some space in between helps with getting back to taking lots of pictures. Poor Abbey and Kaleb. I'm sure they will survive!

I woke up this morning and went to get Abbey some milk and saw the strangest thing in my refrigerator. There, bunched up on the bottom shelf was Abbey's blanket that she sleeps with. She's so strange. I looked at her and laughed and said "Abbey, what is your blanket doing in the refrigerator??" She just looked up and smiled, like it was the most natural thing in the world to put her blanket in the fridge. And so I left it there. I figured there was no harm in it and if she put it in there, she could take it out if she wanted it. So when we were getting ready to leave the house, I told her to go and get her blanket. So she went and got it out of the fridge and said "My blankie cold." It was funny.

Abbey is gone until Monday. She got to go with Grandma to Branson. Kat and Kaleb have taken individual trips and this will be Abbey's first. She was pretty excited. She gets to go and see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede or whatever that popular thing is there. I'm sure she will have a blast.

Tonight we went up to a harvest party at church. The kids had fun. Not that we didn't--we had fun too. It was the first time I've played bridge with real people (for a while we just played online quite a bit) in a long time. It was a lot of fun. We played with our friend Mary and her son Jason. The entire time at least one of us had a small child in our arms. Things have changed from 2 years ago when Kris and I were the only ones with kids in our arms during a bridge game. It was really fun though. I miss playing. We talked briefly about starting something up at the church where we teach people to play and then we can have our own little bridge club. Yeah, that may not sound fun to most of you (and when I say most of you--that could be no one because how often do people really read this???), but we like it.

I do hate when we have gatherings with food though. It makes it so difficult to stay within my Weight Watcher point range. I had done really well and still had a good deal of points left when I left the house tonight, but I think I have used all of my flex points for the week, which means I'll have to be really careful tomorrow and Sunday. I was trying to save them up because I knew I was going to Bread Company tomorrow...and my Cinnamon Crunch Bagel favorite with Hazelnut Cream Cheese is 12 points by itself...it will have to be breakfast and lunch if I want to stay within my points tomorrow. Maybe if I am lucky I'll get really full after half of it! We'll see.

Hopefully I'll make it to the Y tomorrow. I have already gone three times this week. It feels good to exercise. I walked/ran a mile on Thursday--18 laps = 1 mile...I alternated between walking and running but in reality I think I only ran 4 of the 18 and walked the rest. BUT....a year ago I couldn't have run even one lap and walking 18 of them would have bored me to death! But I'm motivated now that my size 12's (which I have just recently gotten down to) are starting to feel loose. I'd be happy at a 10....that's what I was in college....my secret goal is an 8, but I'll settle for a 10!

Well, I should try to get some sleep. The weekends seem to be the only time I can get any sleep. Kris is pretty good about helping out during the night on the weekends...I'm so blessed to have a husband like him.

Last night Katherine was awake after the others went to sleep. Kris had let her have a book in bed and I heard her in there trying to apply what she has been learning at school. So, she was in there reading some of the blends and trying to sound out the words, all by herself with no one around. She loves reading, even though she isn't technically reading yet. But she can spell most three letter words you give her to spell. It's awesome to watch her learn.

I went to Kris' office last night to get some work done. They had been having problems for about 5 days so I couldn't do anything...which means no money was made! But I'm back on it now and have plenty to do. I hope to get more done from home today.

All the kids are sick--well, they have colds. I heard Katherine coughing all night. Abbey's got the disgusting runny nose that causes her hair to stick to her face constantly! Kaleb has a sore throat and cough, but he refuses to take the liquid cough/cold medicine. The only medicine I can get him to take willingly are those Tylenol meltaways. Well, they help with fever, which he doesn't have. I have to literally force him to swallow the other stuff and it's just not worth the fight. Kris gets frustrated with him, thinking he is just being stubborn....but I understand Kaleb in that all too well. I hated taking medicine, still do. I could not and still cannot handle swallowing the liquid cough medicine. It makes me gag and want to throw up. But there isn't any kind of pill for kids that I can give him...plus how do you teach a four year old how to swallow a pill? Poor kid. It was frustrating when he kept spitting the medicine back out over and over again...but I felt bad for him because I knew exactly what he was going through.

How is it that when you start working, your paychecks are spent long before you get them? I got paid yesterday and of the $174, I only have $30. I would've had $70 but we bought some books from Scholastic for the kids for Christmas (which Cindy already paid for) and I still owed Cindy money for Abbey's dollhouse we chipped in for, for her birthday. Oh well. That's actually not bad, the $30, considering Kris gets paid again next Tuesday and hopefully I'll get a lot done so my next check will be pretty significant.

I'm excited tonight to be able to blog about something cute that Katherine did. I know it seems like I favor Abbey--I don't. It's just that she's the one that is with me all the time. We just put the kids in bed and I was in the living room with Olivia. Katherine and Kaleb get to listen to music at night and Katherine has this CD of Bible/Sunday School songs that she likes to listen to. And she is starting to learn the words to some of them and it's cute to sit in the other room and hear her singing different parts of the songs. Well, I was so proud when I heard her singing "The rains came down and the floods came up" along with the CD. My proudest moment and one that gives you one of those ear to ear grins is when the "O you can't get to heaven" song came on. I kind of heard her singing along, but then there was the rocking chair verse. When that one started, I heard her sing "Oh you can't get to heaven, in a rocking chair" and then she just started giggling. She kept singing that verse, giggling the whole way through. I tried to get Kris to come in and listen, but on the next verse she wasn't giggling. Well, at the end of the verse, I figured out why. It said "oh you can't get to heaven, in a limousine...." And she was singing along and as soon as that verse was over, she said (to herself) "what's a limousine anyway?" It was adorable and hilarious at the same time!

Abbey ended up having a cold and kind of throwing up this morning. So I will not be going to Indiana until Friday. But I think I have convinced Kris to leave early so hopefully we will be in before 9pm that night. With stopping to feed the baby and the hour time difference the 4 hour trip will feel like 6 hours. But it will be better than getting in at midnight.

I wasn't able to get pictures of Katherine and Kaleb in their Halloween costumes yet. I'll have to have them put them on soon and get those. I do however have pictures of Abbey and Olivia in their costumes. At first, I had Abbey as a lady bug and then decided to put it on Katherine. But I do have a picture of Abbey in the lady bug costume as well as in her princess costume. Olivia is a little lamb. All of them were cute. So I thought I'd share those pictures with you and I will put Katherine and Kaleb's on here when I get them.

I started my pre/postnatal water aerobics at the Y last night. Kris and I figure that for $60 a month, it's a real deal for us, since we get 'free' babysitting for 4 kids each time we go. We definitly think it is worth it just for that--and beyond that, we get the added benefit of working out and raquetball which both of us love. The class was fun. It aggravated my ankle, but it is feeling better this evening.

I am in a hurry to get this blog done--I need to finish packing. I decided last minute to head out to Indiana with Abbey and Olivia tomorrow. We were planning to all go out on Friday, but I am going to go out a little early and spend some time with my sister. Hopefully it will be a good drive and the girls will do well. This will be the first long trip with Olivia. We are having Thanksgiving dinner with my family this weekend. We are looking forward to that, of course. I'll have to save up some points (Weight Watchers) for the desserts, which are my real weakness.

Olivia is sleeping now. I should take advantage of it and finish packing and then go to bed...hopefully she will sleep for a while. I am getting up extremely early to babysit my friend Bethanie's 4 year old and her twin boys. That will be interesting. She tells me they should sleep until noon though, so hopefully that will be the case.

Ok...I'll try to get back in and update this again next week when I return. I can't believe it is November already.

Well, my ankle is finally feeling better. It was still hurting on Tuesday, so I went to the doctor. That was fun with Abbey and Olivia. It wasn't as bad as it could have been though. The doctor had me go get x-rays of my ankle to make sure nothing was fractured--nothing was, so that was good. They gave me this splint thing but didn't tell me how long I had to wear it or when my ankle would heal. I guess I'll just refer to the internet for that information...I'm sure it is on there somewhere.

Abbey and Olivia are watching cartoons right now. Well, in reality, I believe Abbey is watching cartoons while periodically being much too rough with Olivia. She likes to touch her but seems to have no concept of "gentle". Oh well...Olivia doesn't seem to mind much of the time. Olivia has a cold I think. She sounds really congested right now. When they are that little and are congested they sound so pitiful. Hopefully she will get over it soon.

I'm going to learn how to put some pictures on here. Hey, I did it! Here is a picture of Abbey at our new table that I am working hard to pay off!

















Guess I'll put one of Olivia on here too. Isn't she cute? This is my favorite picture of her so far.
















I've gotten back into quilting. Now I have so many projects I want to complete before Christmas I'm not sure I'll get them all done. I am almost done with Kaleb's batman quilt, which I will put a picture on here when I am done. Between quilting and working from home I'm keeping quite busy.

I think that I should change the name of this blog to "Abbey's Antics" since she is usually what I end up writing about all the time! Another funny story...So Abbey really likes to say "That makin' me happy!" all the time. Well, the other day she went to Sam's with me and the guy at the door put a smiley face on the receipt. Abbey insisted that she get the receipt--that it was her smiley face. I told her no, that I needed the receipt. She got upset and I told her that she could have the top part with the smiley face and I would keep the bottom so I had the receipt to enter into the check book. She started getting upset, and then she said "That make me mad." The way she said it was like she was threatening me...like if I didn't give it to her, she was going to be mad. It was really funny.

I fell today. I twisted my left ankle pretty bad (in my opinion) and as I did that, my right knee slammed into the sidewalk. So I'm a mess. Anyway, it was hurting really bad shortly after and Abbey came in and was very concerned about me. She said "It not make me happy when you hurt yourself."

We were all supposed to go to the YMCA tonight--Heather is watching Olivia, but there was nothing that I could really do without much pain, since my ankle hurts when I sit...so Kris took the older kids and here I am at home, until I need to go and pick up Olivia.

Olivia went to the doctor and got her first shot today. She screamed at first, but she seems fine now. She is up to 10 lbs 4 oz now. She's getting big. I on the other hand am down 27 lbs. I didnt' lose anything last week, which was kind of disappointing, but I didn't gain so that is good. And now we are going to start exercising (if I can get my ankle better) and so that will really help with the weight loss.

Abbey was having this conversation today in the car. "There a bug in my diaker (her word for diaper). GET OUT OF MY DIAKER BUG!!!" and on and on. It was funny.

Yesterday she was talking about something so I asked her what she was saying. She informed me that she was talking to herself. So I left her alone. A couple of minutes later, she was kind of upset and said "Myself not talking to me." Hilarious!

I go back to the doctor tonight for my postpardum checkup. I am going to talk to him tonight about getting my tubes tied. Kris has not given me an answer about HIM getting a vasectomy, so I will hopefully make an appt. tonight. The sooner the better, so I can rest easy and have my mind at ease.

Today is Abbey's 3rd birthday. I heard Katherine talking to her before she left for school today. She said "Happy Birthday Abbey. You're three now and you don't even notice it." I thought that was cute.

Then, I told Abbey she was going over to Heather's house, and her face just lit up. She started clapping and smiling saying "Yay!" Then she said (very excitedly I might add) "That makin' me happy!" It was adorable! I'm sure Heather will love to hear that!

I had a good weekend. I went shopping. I had to. That was the greatest part. I have dropped a size since I had Olivia, and had to buy new jeans. The coolest thing is that I am now comfortably in a size that I haven't been in since right after I got married! It feels awesome! I've got more to go, but getting down to a size I was 6 years ago feels great!

I made almost $300 last week doing some work for Kris' company. To some people that may not be a lot, but considering I am working from home and that I get to work when it is convenient for me, I think it's pretty good. The greatest thing is that it is all MY money, except God's portion of course! I will save some (to pay for my table) and put some towards an enrollment fee for the YMCA (we have decided to join this month) and still have some play money left over for whatever. I know that money isn't everything, but it sure is nice when you have some that doesn't HAVE to go towards the bills!

Abbey makes me laugh...at least 3-4 times each day. Yesterday, I was changing Olivia's diaper and Abbey's wet diaper from earlier was on the floor. I told her to throw it away. She was sitting in the pink chair just watching cartoons. So anyway, she starts saying something to me, which I didn't understand, and I kept telling her to throw it away. Finally, she raised her voice just a little bit and I understood that she had been saying "I busy Momma, I really busy." It was hilarious. She is using the word 'really' quite a bit lately. Her belly hurt really bad this morning. Olivia is cute, really cute. She just makes me laugh!

Today is an exciting day. The season premeire of One Tree Hill is tonight. Oh how exciting my life is...

Today is also my first day alone with all 4 kids. So far so good. It's like it was before the baby, except that now I have to take care of Olivia when she is awake, and the others are good about letting me. They want to touch her all the time though, and while I don't think it bothers her, it gets on my nerves. But I am sure I'll get used to that and as the newness of Olivia wears off they will settle down a bit.

I found a kitchen table and chairs that I really like and want to get. The price is the greatest part about it. It is a 7-piece table...comes with the table w/leaf, and 6 chairs, for $300. I have never seen a table that nice, with 6 chairs for such a low price. The only problem now is that I don't have $300. I am going to start doing some computer work for Kris' company, but I can't gaurantee that I will have $300 at any set time. Yesterday Kris almost said I could get it, then decided that I should actually have some money coming in first. I thought about borrowing the money from my parents and paying them like $60 a month until it's paid off, but I don't think Kris wants to do that either. He may still decide I can get it. My concern with waiting is that it will be gone by the time I can get it. It is at Sam's and I know they swap their furniture in and out from time to time, so what if it isn't there? The price is too good to pass up though Kris seems to think we can find another one for that price, that size, with 6 chairs. I am convinced that is not true...because I have been looking at tables and chairs for the last 6 years and pricing them. If they have a table that price, it usually is too small or comes with only 4 chairs so then you have to spend another $200 to get the other 2 chairs.

My life is really quite boring. This blog helps me to realize that. Oh well. I guess I don't really care.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow...it will finally feel like fall and this weekend should be nice too. We are having a big party at the house on Saturday for all the kids and so it looks like it might be the perfect weather so all the kids (especially the neighbor kids that come) can hopefully play in the backyard instead of running through the house, which I am sure they will try to do anyway. Of course that means that we will have to actually do some work in the backyard, pick up sticks and stuff like that, but if the weather is nice, I really won't care. I might even be able to get Kris to mow back there. We haven't mowed back there since last summer, and even then we only did that like twice. It doesn't need it much, as there isn't really grass back there...just some strange grass-like greenery.

The weekend is almost here. Just a couple more hours. In some ways I am hesitant about the weekends since we will have to adjust to all 4 kids home at the same time, but I am more excited about the weekend being here because it feels like I might get a break from the craziness that is my life. At least on the weekends Kris is here to help out. Next week will be interesting. Katherine and Kaleb only have school for a day and a half next week, so I'll have to figure out how to cope with all four kids by myself. I'm sure it will not be as bad as I am anticipating--at least I hope not!

Next weekend we are having a big party for all of the kids. I am looking forward to it, although from what I can tell so far, hardly anyone will be able to make it. Oh well. The only problem with few people coming is that we might have too much food. I know I know--it would be an awful thing!

I'm tired. I guess that's to be expected. Olivia is 2 weeks old now. Seems like she has been here forever! She's still so little, but I really feel like it has been longer than 2 weeks. Kaleb heard me calling her 'Livy' (not as in 'ivy', but more like 'libby' only with a 'v' instead of the b's) the other day and so sometimes he calls her that and it is cute to hear.

It's so cool to hear the kids talk about their days at school. They seem to be learning quite a bit. Katherine is even starting to read some words. That is just awesome! I really love to hear the songs they learn...they like to sing them for me and I more than enjoy listening to them.

Well, the kids have been promised a treat in return for cleaning their rooms, so I had better go and supervise (aka clean it up myself while they watch) so they can get their candy. They really want to go for a walk this afternoon...so maybe we'll do that too!

Kaleb's birthday has come and gone, and Olivia Morgan is 9 days old. She is a good baby--very calm for the most part, just like Katherine and Abigail were. As opposed to every two hours, she only gets up 2, maybe 3 times per night....that is a huge improvement from what I was used to with the others. It's nice. Not that I feel rested at all-I'm still pretty tired, but I'm sure I will get used to that too.

Kris goes back to work on Monday. He was off all week. It was really nice and helpful until Thursday, when he got the flu or whatever else had been going around. So much for having help! It was a rough day, that carried into Friday (not that he was sick anymore--I was just beyond frustrated at that point). And now it is the weekend and I have two days before I get back to reality with Olivia being here.

I am going to play raquetball with Cindy today and looking forward to that. It will be good to 1. Get out and 2. Do something active. Kris will stay with the kids...I tried to time it between feeding times so Kris won't have to give Olivia a bottle, but it isn't the end of the world if she has to have one.

The labor and delivery with Olivia was fast and easy. From start to finish I was in labor for only 7 hours before she was born. I got to the hospital to be induced at 8am and right at 3pm on the dot she was born. And now she is demanding my attention. I think she would like to finish her breakfast now.

It's been 5 long months since I was last on here. I've had a lot to write about, but for some reason never really got around to it. I'll try to just ramble on about recent events, rather than try to recount the entire last 5 months.

I had chance to talk to my friend Angi on Wednesday. We hadn't seen each other or talked in a while, but she called me and we had a really good conversation which lasted almost an hour. We ended by promising to get together sometime next week.

Thursday night I called Kris to have him get me some sandpaper for my latest project which I will explain in a bit. He sounded 'weird' and I knew immediately that something was wrong. When pressed, he told me that Angi (who I had just talked to the day before) and her two youngest boys were killed in a car accident. All I could say was "No, no, no. I just talked to her." And even now as I try to process it all, I do not get too far in thinking about it because I still can't seem to comprehend it having just spent an hour on the phone with her. I guess that's what is called denial. In some ways I just want it to hit me so that I can start to deal with it, but at the same time it scares me to face it.

We talked to Katherine about it all...when she was born Angi had a really special bond with her, as she was a little girl and Angi had all boys. She was the only person who ever called Katherine "Gracy" and the only person Katherine allowed to call her that. And Katherine had talked to her on the phone Wednesday too about coming over to her house. So anyway, I was talking to Katherine Thursday night about it and she said "It's a good thing that we didn't go anywhere today and get into an accident." She also asked me why God didn't let everyone in the world live forever. First of all, what is an almost 5-year-old doing thinking like that and how do you answer that? I just told her that I didn't know. That mommys and daddys don't know everything, but God does and she accepted that. She is amazing to me sometimes in how she thinks and the questions she asks. A neighbor was talking to me yesterday about it all and as if she was a grown up herself trying to talk and sort through grief Katherine informed the neighbor that she had gone to Angi's house before. Kind of a whole strange, surreal time right now.

Kaleb had a hand in saving a little girl at the pool last week. The kids had been playing with this girl just about Kaleb's age. For some reason the girl had taken her floaties off and apparently got out to where she couldn't touch. I noticed that she was kind of bobbing up and down, and at first thought she was playing. Then I saw her head start to go under. Kaleb was actually right in front of her kind of watching this happen....and as the mom screamed and the lifeguard came running Kaleb simply grabbed her under her arms, pulled her up and held her until they got there. It was only a matter of seconds that this all took place, but I have never been prouder of him. I still can't fathom what was going on in his head to make him reach out for her and pull her up. Katherine was right there too....but did not react like Kaleb did. It was like it was instinct or something and I am so proud to have been able to witness that.

I guess that is all for now. I'll hopefully get back on here with pics of the newly remodeled bedrooms once we get them done.

Wow. It has been WAY too long since I was on here. Not too much has happened. I did manage to somehow get pregnant again and all is going well so far. I am now 9 weeks along and have the nausea to prove it!! But that is a good sign! My stomach is all bruised up from the 2 shots a day I get, but if it keeps me healthy I guess it is somehow worth it.

I got to see Les Miserables right before Valentine's day. It was cool. I think it was much better the first time I saw it. Kris and I agreed that perhaps the performance just wasn't as good as it could have been. No one singing really just stood out--they were all just 'average' in my opinion. We went on the last day of the show so there were like 3 main people that weren't there--they had their understudies playing their role. That could have been part of it.

I've done absolutely NO pampered chef shows this month. I am kind of sad but I have some scheduled in March and hopefully that will go well for me. I'm excited because I just found out that I could deduct ingredients that I buy to practice recipes. So, let the cooking begin!!

I have to say that Blockbuster online has got me hooked. I signed up for a free 2-week trial to get their movies mailed to me, and it is great! It's convenient and easy. And I get two in store rentals a month--which is great becuase we just rented 2 playstation games and those are expensive! They are $6.99 each now. That's just crazy. So we got them for free. I'm convinced that is the way to go--don't use your in store rentals on movies since you can get those through the mail--use them on games which are much to expensive to actually rent anyway.