Kat's baptism

Here is the video of Katherine's baptism this morning. It's a little shaky, and the quality isn't as great as I would have liked-I took this video on my digital camera and wasn't close enough to see their faces clearly. But if you are interested...here is Kris baptizing Katherine. :)

A new life

Katherine is getting baptized this morning. It's exciting! I told her to go tell Daddy it was her birthday. Then I stopped her and asked if she knew what I meant by that. She told me that it meant she was going to start a new life with Jesus. If we want nothing else for our children. we want them to know God, to REALLY know God. Not just believe in Him. Not just believe that Jesus died for their sins. But to have a personal relationship with Him. Katherine is starting that journey and it thrills us.

First Impressions of EA Sports Active for the Wii

Some of you have read/heard me talking recently about EA Sports Active for the Wii. It was released on May 19th and Kris and I decided we would go ahead and purchase it, after watching many videos on it and reading reviews-actually, we learned this game was coming out back in January or so and talked at that time about whether or not we would end up getting it. It is normally $58.99 but we signed up at www.buy.com and got a $30 credit AND FREE shipping! So we got it (in just two days) for $28.99 and it includes a resistance band and a pouch for the nunchuck to monitor leg activies (for running, lunges, etc...).

My first impression: SO SO SO much more sophisticated and advanced than Wii Fit. The amount of different custom/pre-made workouts is almost overwhelming. There is a 30 day challenge that combines all of the different activities available, and it is compatible with the Wii Fit Balance Board-in fact if you use the balance board WITH Sports Active it should give you an even harder workout. From what I was reading, rather than using the balance board all the time, some days will specifically be 'balance board days'.

In addition to the 30 day challenge are pre-made workouts as I mentioned above. I knew that I didn't want to try anything that would really strain my entire body, so rather than doing something that encompassed all the activities in the 'game', I scrolled down until I found the one I wanted. Like I said-there were a LOT of pre-made ones. Kris, for instance is doing a sports lover type workout right now. He's done some volleyball moves, basketball moves, baseball, lunges, squats and who knows what else to come. Probably tennis and the inline skating that is available within the 'game' as well. I keep saying 'game' but it's really NOT a game. If you want a great workout program THIS is it. I'm 100% convinced...and I have barely seen everything that is available.

Ok, back to me. As some of you know, I have had a lot of problems lately with my back/neck and shoulder. Medication doesn't help, at all, and I've gone back to physical therapy but so far still haven't had much relief. In PT, she is having me do some weight/strength training to strengthen my back muscles. So, this Sports Active actually has a couple of different workouts specifically targeted for toning/strengthening the back and shoulders! So I chose a 19 minute workout and about 6 minutes in I was already sweating. Most of my activities used the resistance band and in between these activities, I had to do some boxing as well. By the end of the 19 minutes (25 with the videos showing me how to do the 'moves') I was tired and sweaty and really felt like I had gotten a workout. And while I feel some stiffness now in the middle of my back, the awful pain I've had in my right shoulder and neck is actually MUCH better. Hopefully between this and physical therapy I will be back to normal sooner. I am not going to do any of the other workouts at this point because I really want to get my back/neck back under control so that I can handle the other activities. Once I get myself back to normal, I plan to start the 30 day challenge and go from there.

Oh yeah, another great feature of this 'game' is that you input your daily habits, such as how much you sleep, how many veggies you eat, how long you sit during the day, how much water you drink, your height and weight, etc... It takes this information and calculates how many calories you should burn over the course of the week, how many hours you should work out in the next 30 days and how many workouts you should do in the next week. Before your work out, it gives you a projection of how many calories that particular workout should burn. So, for instance, the one I chose projected I would burn 117 calories, but by the time I was done, I had burned 128. Kris' said he should burn 168, I think. He's already burned 161 and still has a couple of activities left-and he's REALLY sweating!

I'm pretty excited about it and for anyone who has wondered whether or not it is worth it, if you want a GREAT workout program that you can do from the comfort of your own home, this is well worth the money, and cheaper than the P90X or the Chuck Norris Total Gym. As I do more of the workouts, I will post some more information about what all they include, but for now I am focusing on getting my neck/back/shoulder better.

Hope this helps anyone who was interested in this but wasn't sure if it was worth it. IT IS!!!

The $10 'gold' shirt

I want to start out by saying that Livvy's school has been SO convenient this last school year, because it is within walking distance of our house and was affordable. And I am truly thankful for that. However, Kris and I have never felt 100% comfortable with the school. We weren't concerned about Livvy's safety, or the curriculum. Nothing like that. In fact, we both really like the new teacher Livvy got halfway through the year. But there is just something 'off' about the school and we've never had a great feeling about it. Throughout the year there have been a handful of 'political' type things that we have found to be incredibly ridiculous. I believe that today's incident, however, has topped the list.

I was worried when I saw I missed a call from her school both at work and on my cell phone. I thought that something was wrong with Olivia. Once I finally got through, I found out what they were calling for. Now, Kris came home yesterday and said that Livvy was going on a field trip today and her teacher said she had to wear red or yellow (you know so they can keep track of the kids). Earlier in the school year we paid more money than we wanted to for a MANDATORY red polo with her school's logo on it, in gold. Well, we figured we couldn't go wrong putting her in THAT shirt today. The teacher said red or yellow and so we put her in RED. Her RED 'official' uniform shirt.

So I get this phone call and have no clue who I am talking to; it might have been the principal or a secretary-that part doesn't matter really. This person proceeded to tell me that Livvy wasn't dressed appropriately and that she was supposed to be in a GOLD shirt. First of all, who has gold shirts???? Apparently her school does. And though Livvy's teacher told Kris red or yellow for the field trip, there was apparently a note that came home last night saying she had to be in gold. Well, it should be no surprise that we didn't see the note. I asked Kris yesterday morning if he had gone through her backpack, and he had but both of us forgot about it last night/this morning. Regardless, though, even if we had seen the note, we didn't have a gold uniform shirt.

Bottom line, we have to PAY for a gold shirt, because neither one of us can leave work today just to pick her up because she has the wrong shirt on and can't go on her field trip. It better have some actual gold in it!! The lady told me they had a few extras, and I'm thinking (HOPING) that they will just put her in one and then change her back after the field trip. Nope. She told me that we could pay for it when we picked her up. She asked if I wanted to do that and I asked her what other choice I had. She said 'ok' and that they would put one of those gold shirts on her. She has worn her red 'official' school uniform less than 5 times-the only time it was REQUIRED was a class/school picture (this is the ONLY reason we bought it-because it was required) and one program she was in. So we paid for that shirt and barely got our money's worth. Now, we are stuck paying for a gold shirt and TODAY is the only day she will wear it. I am tempted to send her to school in it for the next five days she has left at school. Yes, perhaps that is what I will do...

Needless to say, Kris and I are not too happy about it and are SO ready to get her out of there and send the kids back to Grace. We are, by the way, sending the kids back to Grace next year (all four of them in one place!), and while we don't have our finances lined up yet, we know that God will provide what we need.

I was sitting here trying to remember what made us so mad about her school last time. Kris was tempted to pull her out then for the rest of the year. And then I remembered...it was a few weeks ago when Livvy had the swine flu. That's right... *rolling my eyes*

Potty mouth

Twice now Kaleb has chosen to yell 'f*** you' at Katherine when he was mad. The first time, I wasn't home. Kris talked to him about it and hoped he had nipped it in the bud. Well...he didn't. Mad about something, Kaleb chose to say it again this afternoon to Katherine.

Unsure of how to proceed from there, we took a trip to the library and Kris and I discussed briefly, via text, how to handle the situation. We decided that he would lose electronics (computer, Wii, TV) until Friday. In addition, we found some Bible verses that talk about the tongue and harmful talk. He is currently looking up the 7 passages in his Bible and then copying them down. He will do this for the next three days. Thursday he is going to write a 'report' of sorts about what he has learned.

Kris bought me two new Bibles for Mother's Day. Since he spilled anti-freeze on my other one, we've talked about me getting a new one. I found one I like, but it was NIV and I really wanted New Living Translation. As I kept looking, I found another Bible I liked-it's the One Year Bible. It's pretty cool. Instead of being arranged in order (Genesis-Revelation) it's arranged by date. It's broken up so that in the course of a year, you will have read through the whole Bible. So you go to whatever day it is, and read the selected chapters. It has a passage from the Old Testament, something from the New Testament, part of Psalms and part of Proverbs. It's really an interesting concept. But then I had this dilemma. When I am at church or need to look something up, how am I going to do it? So I found a smaller Bible (NIV) that I can carry with me. Both of them together cost about $20 LESS than the original one I had found. I really like having some direction, some sort of 'format' for reading the Bible.

It's interesting too. Kris and I had gotten away from really sitting down and purposefully reading the Bible. We have started doing it now though after the kids go to bed, and have been really trying to do it consistently. So rather than hearing the TV as they go to sleep, they are now hearing us discuss what we are reading. If you ever think your kids aren't watching you, you're wrong. Tonight, Katherine asked if she could use my Bible 'with the dates'. She got her journal and my Bible and went to the table with it. I am not sure yet what all she did (I plan to ask her) but this simple act of getting back into the Word is being watched by my children. It's one of those things that we should have been doing all along. It's something that is obviously having an impact on the kids. The other night, Kaleb got his Bible and was looking up the passages he needs to memorize for church. It was cute and it showed me how important it is for Kris and I to set this example for the kids.

A good night

Tonight was a good night. Katherine has talked to us before about getting baptized. She told me a month or so ago that she was ready, but she wanted to wait until she was 9 (which will be in October). I asked her why. She just very matter-of-fact-like told me that's just when she wanted to be baptized. So I said ok. Well, this past Sunday during communion Kris was talking to Katherine, I assume about Christ's death and the symbolism in communion. Then, after church she told 'Pastor Jeff' that she wanted to be baptized, when she was 9. Apparently (I just learned this tonight) she filled out some sort of questionnaire on Sunday about Jesus I guess, though I am a little unsure of the details of said questionnaire.

They gave me an envelope tonight with Katherine's name on it, and I looked at it and it had instructions for her baptism, and the date listed was May 10-Mother's Day. I asked her if she was planning to be baptized Sunday and she said yes. I asked her about her plans to wait until she was 9, and she said she told Jeff she wanted to be baptized sometime this month. Well, there are apparently going to be a couple of other baptisms on Mother's Day and so she could be baptized then if she was ready.

While this is extremely exciting, I'm not actually writing this to share Katherine's decision to be baptized. She's Katherine...it should be no surprise to anyone who knows her well that she would make this decision.

What I want to share is what happened in the van shortly after this conversation about Katherine being baptized on Mother's Day. I am almost 100% sure that neither Kris nor myself said anything about her baptism being a gift for Mother's Day, but I could be wrong. Anyway, we get to the van, and I look back at Kaleb and he's struggling to maintain his composure. I could tell he was upset and there were tears welling up in his eyes. While we were walking out, Kaleb informed us that he too wanted to be baptized. So when I saw him crying, I went on and on about how he shouldn't get baptized just because Katherine was, or just because he felt left out. I was trying to be really understanding but let him know at the same time that being baptized wasn't a decision to take lightly. He starts crying even more.

And then he said "That's not why." As in, that's not why he was crying. He continued, with desperation in his little voice, to tell me that all he had was gifts made of paper, and Katherine was going to give me the best gift for Mother's Day. I almost burst into tears myself. He was already buckled so I told him to unbuckle and come up to me. I held him in my arms and was just filled with love for him.

At the end of it all, we decided that in fairness to everyone, Katherine could get baptized this month if she wants (though at our church they may only do it on a monthly basis-I'm not sure), BUT she was not going to be baptized ON Mother's Day. Everyone was satisfied with this outcome.

Even with the trouble he gives me...I truly love my son and think he is brilliant and wise beyond his years. Just to clarify, even though I didn't say I love my girls here...it should be assumed that I do!

Irresponsible parents

For those of you who haven't already heard...enjoy a little story and laugh at our expense.

I'm sitting at work yesterday, it is just after 12pm. My cell phone rings. I recognize the phone number. It's coming from my house. We decided a few months ago to go ahead and add a land line for emergencies-up to now we just used our cell phones. Yesterday, that home phone came in handy and I am thankful for the decision we made to get it!

So I look at my phone and think that maybe Kris went home. And then I got this sinking feeling. Why would he have gone home, and why didn't he just call from his cell phone? Yeah...he didn't go home.

I answered the phone and to my surprise, I heard Katherine's voice. She said "Mommy, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you we had a half day today."

Now this could have been much worse. It wasn't but maybe 6 months ago we finally got extra house keys made and entrusted one to Katherine, in case for some reason they ever got off the bus before we got home. Between that and the house phone, we were fortunate to have even found out about it before I got home at my normal time!

What happened to the little half slip of paper they usually send home warning parents of the half day? Do they actually expect us, as parents, to read the kids folders EVERY day? Yes, well apparently they do. It was right there, on Abbey's folder. Wednesday, April 28th, half-day. I blame the children. :) You see, at the beginning of the year, we got four rather large, magnetic calendars and I stuck every one of them on the fridge. These magnets showed all the half days and days off for the school year. Somehow, through the course of the school year, all of these magnets have disappeared thanks to said children. But let's be honest...I still wouldn't have known about the half day had the magnets NOT disappeared until after something like this happened!

Kris and I, obviously, are not the best at schedules and calendars and organization!! But the funny (and kind of sad part) is that Katherine knew us well enough to feel like SHE was responsible for reminding us there was a half day! They know us all too well and they know that if they don't tell us, we probably won't know. I hope there isn't another half day today that I don't know about!

Sympathetic? Not me.

I have a problem. I cannot seem to sympathize with sick people or people in pain, unless they are my kids. Sick people annoy me. Let me clarify...sick people that I am around on a regular basis annoy me-while they are sick. Not sick, not a problem. Kris had two teeth pulled yesterday. I had been gearing myself up for it since Friday. The weekend itself was a battle because SOMEONE didn't tell me about the appt. or give me any details until after the businesses were closed for the day (same SOMEONE didn't check with me before scheduling either so I had to wait until Monday to cancel an appt. I already had scheduled for Kaleb). I also had to wait until Monday morning to find out details, because as most men seem to do, Kris forgot to ask anything which made me anxious throughout the entire weekend.

So I got home yesterday and saw the kids safely from the bus to the house. Then we went to the library, returned some stuff (ON TIME!) and checked out a few items as well. After that, we went to Subway and picked that up for dinner, then to Walgreen to get chips to go with our subs. Then it was off to pick Olivia up. We got home and dished out dinner and put something on to watch and the kids got to eat out in the living room, which is usually only reserved for movie night.

Kris came home shortly after and of course, annoyed me. You know why? Because he started talking. And he had gauze in his mouth. And the sound annoyed me. What is wrong with me? There is NO rational explanation for this. Instead of being kind to him and making sure he didn't need anything, I told him that he should stop talking. As I began with, I have a problem! I told him to stop talking, not once, but twice. He and Kaleb went downstairs shortly after (I wonder why...) to watch a movie and the girls for the most part stayed upstairs with me.

Around 8pm Kaleb came upstairs asking about something, but I told him it was time to get ready for bed. He sat down on the couch and I said "Is Daddy sleeping?" And Kaleb said "He's resting." And I think I said something like, "Yeah I bet he's just resting." or something sarcastic...as resting and sleeping are synonymous and I hate when Kris tries to distinguish between the two. And what does Kaleb do? His jaw drops in shock and I wish I could remember exactly what he said, but he basically gave me a lecture on how Daddy NEEDED to rest because he had teeth pulled. It was humbling, kind of. I just laughed. I told the kids that it was good that they gave him sympathy since I didn't!

I put the kids in bed and proceeded to clean the kitchen and living room. I made the kids' lunches for today. I washed Livvy's school blankets and was extremely careful not to make any noise and wake Kris up. That in and of itself was a BIG DEAL for me. I wouldn't even let the kids go downstairs to give him hugs and kisses because I didn't want them to wake them up. So at this point I am feeling pretty good. I haven't tried to get his attention, I haven't asked him to help me with anything...I have been supportive and understanding and let him rest downstairs. While this might come naturally to everyone else out there, it does not come naturally for me. I have to work really hard to have a good attitude about that kind of thing. And though I started out negatively, I got my act together and left him alone...and to top it all off, I didn't sit upstairs mad about it either, which is unlike me also. I'm bearing my soul here people...I'm not a nice person sometimes.

So I finally sat down and found myself glad that I had grabbed Mystery Science Theater 3000 from the library because with Kris sleeping downstairs we wouldn't be watching any of our shows together. So I stuck that in and worked for a couple of hours. It was funny too by the way. I watched "Attack of the Killer Leeches"-I think that is what it was called. And then I took my medicine, read a chapter in a book and went to sleep.

All in all I would consider it a success! I felt good about how I had handled the whole thing, as sad as that is. Ok...I didn't feel good about the part where I told him to stop talking...but after he went downstairs...I handled it all very well. I don't foresee God calling me to be a nurse anytime in the near future though! You know those mean nurses you sometimes get in the hospital? That would probably be me. I'd probably be annoyed every time a call light came on. I mean, how dare that person who just had their gall bladder out need a glass of water? Yeah...I'm not sure why he married me either sometimes. Feel free to feel sorry for Kris. He puts up with a LOT! He's a very good man and I am blessed to have him in my life, even though sometimes I do not know how to show that to him, especially when he is sick or in pain!

Enjoy my stupidity!

First of all...let me just say that one of the things I love about the phone that Kris got me for my birthday (Samsung Instinct) is how simple it is. Everything about it is simple. Texting, taking pictures, sending or uploading pictures, checking email or Facebook, listening to music, etc...it is all really simple. I had a fancy smart phone previously (Treo 750w) and there were so many features I didn't use. So it was great to have a phone that I loved, that was super easy to use, and still did what I needed it to do.

With that being said, please see the picture below. I am going to show you just how simple it is, even to charge my phone, or to charge the spare battery. There are arrows for everything. The arrows point you in the way to go. It can't get any simpler, right?



Ok, so let me first say that I did not get a lot of sleep last night. I didn't go to bed until almost 1am. Kris came to bed around 3am, tossed and turned for what seemed like 5 hours, though in reality I think it was probably only about 15 minutes. He FINALLY went downstairs and I fell back asleep. I got up before 7am (right around 6:55am!). So I suppose I was tired. At least that is what I am blaming my stupidity on!

I got to work this morning and needed to charge my phone. I have two batteries. I usually have one charged and one in my phone. So I swapped out the full battery and put the one that needed charging into the charger. I plugged it into the USB slot on my laptop. The little light flashed, and then it went dark. Normally when it is charging there will be a solid red light on, and when it is fully charged the light turns green. So no light was on, and I was perplexed. It didn't help that I have a new computer and I thought maybe one of the USB slots was messed up. So I'm switching everything around. I keep headphones and a wireless mouse plugged in via USB and over the next few hours I kept switching things in and out, trying to figure why my battery would not charge. I finally decided there was nothing wrong with my computer therefore there must be something wrong with my sync cable.

So I was chatting with Kris on Gmail, telling him I was frustrated and couldn't get it to charge. And while I was doing this, again I was fidgeting with it trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with my charger. I decided I would take the battery out and put it back in, hoping this would help. Now mind you, I had done this at least 3 other times prior to this. However, on this occasion when I took the battery out, I realized that I had put the battery in backwards.

Now that you have read that-look back up at the picture. A child could figure out which way the battery was supposed to go. So there you go. I am a 30-year-old, semi-intelligent, working mother, married for 10 years and raising four adorable children. I have a good life, AND a very SIMPLE phone to make my busy life easier; and yet, it took me a good three hours to realize why my battery wasn't charging. Apparently I cannot follow simple PICTURE instructions!

Have a good laugh at my expense!

Bedtime update

Since we implemented our new 'rules' concerning bedtime, the kids have actually taken really well to it. They've each had a warning from time to time (Livvy about every night) but that's it. No one has had to have their door shut since my last blog. This is HUGE!!! I am very excited and hope that it continues. Every night we remind them of the rules and make sure they are clear in what will happen if they break the rules. So far, so good. I will keep you posted.

A family meeting

Last night we called our first official Bishop family meeting. Knowing us it will probably be the last, as inconsistent as we are! Although the meeting was to talk about expectations and consistency, so hopefully we will start to see some changes.

Those of you with small children, I don't need to say more than BEDTIME for you to know what that entails. Excuse, after excuse, after excuse! It's getting SO old and we spend two hours every night after putting the kids in bed dealing with excuses from at least one or two kids at a time! I guess that's our fault for having four kids but that is beside the point.

In addition, there has been a lot of attitude and mumbling under their breath-primarily from Katherine and Kaleb. On the Kaleb front it is usually yelling at me and grumbling about every little thing or just flat out refusing to do what I said. It is exhausting, having kids.

So our meeting last night was to address those two issues in particular. We wanted to sit down with everyone and talk to them about being respectful of others-to my surprise every single one had an example of being respectful (my three year old included!) and examples of being disrespectful. Apparently they know what respect is and what it is not, which made the conversation a lot easier. The older kids said it is one of their 5 expectations (or something to that effect) that they do at school, and it is obvious that Olivia knew what it meant when she said that not getting up at nap time was respectful and that not listening was disrespectful. The conversation overall was very insightful-it is amazing to me how much these kids understand. I don't give them enough credit!

Anyway...my whole reason for explaining all of that is to document something funny that Abbey said. Those of you who have met my lovely, free-spirited Abbey Rose understand what I say when I say "Abbey is Abbey." She's just...well...Abbey. And she has been asking me FOR DAYS when she can wash dishes again. I let her wash dishes about 3 months ago, and I'll be honest with you-she did NOT do a good job! I had to rewash them all-this was at a time when our dishwasher was not functioning. So lately we have talked about keeping the house clean, and so perhaps this is what has renewed her interest in dish washing. Now that we have a new dishwasher, I don't have to wash anything by hand except my PC cookware, stones and knives. And all of those are either too sharp or too heavy for my six-year-old to wash.

A few days agao she asked me again when she could wash the dishes. I kept telling her soon. So a couple of days went by without her saying anything else about it, until last night at our little meeting. When we asked her what is something she has done recently that has shown respect she answered "Being patient waiting to wash the dishes again." My point is this-Abbey is dead set on washing some dishes! It was really funny.

Katherine, always thinking, has already made a mental list of about 10 things she would like to address at our next family meeting.

It is going to be hard to be consistent, seeing as how Kris and I don't have much practice in that area! But I know it will really cut down on a lot of these 'issues' we have at home.

Patience...

...I don't have any. At all. Especially with people who annoy me. Sometimes I can tolerate things. On a good day, I can get by without too much annoyance. On a bad day, there is absolutely nothing that DOESN'T annoy me. Noises really annoy me. Certain ones. People clipping their fingernails. In church, at work, at home. I don't care where-I cannot stand that sound. Though it does make me slightly more agitated when people clip their nails in church or in the cubicle next to me. I cringe just thinking about it now.

Other sounds that annoy me:

Jingling change-here's my question on this one. Do those who enjoy putting their hands in their pocket and feeling around, moving the coins around fill their pockets every day with hundreds of dollars in change just so that they can jingle it?

Coughing-I KNOW people can't help it. I KNOW people don't do it just to annoy me. I KNOW it isn't a personal vendetta against me. But I HATE coughing. Ask my sister. Ask my husband. Shoot, ask me-I can't stand myself when I cough! I annoy myself. That's pretty bad!

Breathing-not just your normal every day breathing. I mean, that would just be a really stupid thing to be annoyed at, wouldn't it? But what about breathing where you are sitting near (not right next to) someone. The TV is on. They are reading a book. You are trying to concentrate on LOST. And all you can hear is heavy breathing. Loud breathing. Louder than the TV. And it isn't just a once in a while thing. It's all the time!

I've been annoyed a lot today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Almost the weekend.

I am glad tomorrow is Friday. I love Fridays. They are the end of the work week - well sometimes! They are the beginning of the weekend - regardless of whether I choose to work on Saturdays. Friday means I get to wear JEANS or capris now that the weather is getting better. Side bar-Kris has sneezed about 20 times consecutively and is now officially annoying me. Back to Fridays. I love Fridays.

This last week was finally calm after a crazy week/weekend prior to now. Livvy started having problems with her asthma LAST Tuesday night. Ended up in the ER Thursday night. Her steroid had kicked in by the time we got there so we were just sent home. The next day she was feverish and stayed home with me. That night she began coughing so fiercely we could not decide if we should call 911 or just take her to the ER ourselves. She coughed for 30 minutes straight. It was scary-we opted to drive her to the ER and by the time we got there (due to the cold air we would later learn). Turns out she has croup. You can tell she is still fighting it. She has had trouble dragging herself out of bed all week...but then again, that's me every day so maybe that is more biological than some sickness!

Saturday night I am having some friends over for a little gathering. My sister will be here to do Henna on anyone who wants it. She's really talented. Check out her website: www.kalaofindia.com for more information. I should ask her if I said it right-I mean, do you 'DO' Henna, or do you 'GET' Henna, like you would get a tattoo? If she is doing it, is she giving it, and not doing it? I don't know. I'm not current on the Henna lingo.

Kris and I spend our evenings together (after the kids finally quit making excuses and go to sleep!) playing on Facebook on our laptops and catching up on favorite shows. We have recently started watching Lie to Me (I think it's ok/enjoyable), Kings (we've only seen the first two episodes and so far I am not liking it-not hating it though), and my newest favorite is Life on Mars. Big Bang Theory is GREAT too! If you have not seen this show-check it out!

Things I am currently enjoying on Facebook:

I am ALWAYS up for a game (or 5) of Scrabble.

Mafia Wars is strangely addicting...and I get just a little bit anxious if I run out of energy and am kicking myself for not choosing the 'character' that regenerates energy faster.

Texas Hold 'Em - fun game that I am loving learning to play!

Things I think are dumb or just do not understand on Facebook:

YoVille. It is so limiting. When you have played every Sims game (PS and PS2 for us and now Wii) it's hard to really enjoy YoVille. There is so much you can do in the Sims games and I find myself bored and annoyed with YoVille. Kris just checked it out too and agrees that it is stupid. I apologize to those of you who like it. I just don't see the point of it and thing it is too basic and there is too little that you can actually do.

There's my boring Bishop update.

Green peppers...

Katherine and Abbey remind me of my sister Jenny and myself when we were little. There's a story I must share before I can tell you what happened between my girls tonight.

I don't remember how old we were. But something happened when we were young that neither of us have ever forgotten. I HATED green peppers. My mom kept putting them in our salads though. And one time, I was convinced that Babe, our cocker spaniel at the time would eat the peppers if I picked them out of my salad. So what did I do? I did what anyone who hated peppers would do. I picked them out of my salad and threw them on the floor. And what happened next? Well I can tell you that Babe did NOT eat those stupid peppers! Someone found them though. That someone was my mother. And she would not rest until she found out who did it. Of course, I told my mom the truth right away-I told her that Jenny must have done it because it certainly wasn't me. And what did my sister do? SHE DENIED IT! Can you believe that? I mean here we are in trouble because SOMEONE threw their peppers on the floor and she just denied it. So what could my mom do? She fed us both peppers until someone finally told the truth. We still laugh about that, Jenny and I.

Tonight...I got to be my mother. Abbey and Katherine put me through a situation so similar it was both amusing and frightening at the same time. What started out as a simple game turned into much, much more. It took a good hour to finally get one of them to cave. Abbey caved. Prior to this, Katherine was BEGGING through tears for Abbey to tell the truth so they wouldn't both lose their privileges tomorrow. We were 95% sure that Abbey was lying and Katherine was telling the truth. But there was that 5% that wasn't convinced. Finally we got to the bottom of the matter and Abbey admitted she was lying.

It was really eye opening for me. Oh the joys of parenting!

Oh and by the way, I actually eat green peppers now from time to time!

On the road again...

This is probably the most interesting day of travel I have ever experienced. It is probably more interesting to me than anyone else, and I can't really explain why I find it so interesting...I just do. The driving today has gone by extremely slow...we've had long pit stops, got on the road late. It just seems to be dragging. That, however, is not what I find so interesting. What I find interesting is that we started in Pennsylvania, then we drove through Maryland to avoid the PA turnpike and tolls (MARYLAND WAS BEAUTIFUL!), then into West Virginia for a bit (also beautiful!), then BACK into Pennsylvania and are about half an hour away from OH! That's a lot of states to travel through in just 4 hours! The hills in Pennsylvania are also beautiful-I was not intentionally leaving that out. This whole 'region' is full of God's beauty.

I am also admitting how much of a geek I am. I am pretty excited to be blogging while Kris drives. He found a way for me to use my cell phone as a modem (for FREE) and so I am connected to the internet while we drive. Through Maryland/West Virginia the signal wasn't very strong but I am back online now and writing about it and am amused by being able to do this.

We are going to wind up in Dublin, OH much later than we had planned or wanted, but there isn't really any rush so it's ok. We are just hoping we gain enough distance on Cindy and Dean (they were ahead of us earlier) to get to the hotel before they do, since the hotel was reserved in our name. And I am really hoping we get there in time to take the kids to the pool one last time. Though the speed limit has just gone down from 70 to 55 which doesn't make us happy! Oh well...tomorrow is going to be a lazy day for us. The Drury Inn always lets us have a late (noon) check out so we plan to sleep in, enjoy their breakfast buffet, and take our time in the morning. It will take us almost 7 hours to get home tomorrow, but we will gain an hour on the way back so that will be nice too. Even with longer stops along the way, if we get on the road by noon we should be home no later than 8pm tomorrow night.

I don't have much to say. I can always tell because I bore myself. So I will stop boring you now too!

Pictures from vacation

Gettysburg PA

Hershey PA - our resort and Hershey World/Museum

Signs, signs everywhere there's signs...

Tonight is our last night in Pennsylvania.  It has been a great vacation and wonderful that I haven't worked at all!  That is a great feat...as I am kind of a work-a-holic.  It wasn't as difficult to stay away though as I thought it was going to be.  Though I did log in once to monitor my email but I didn't do any actual work.

Pennsylvania LOVES their signs.  There are signs everywhere, hence my brilliant title for this post.  The signs are ridiculous too.  Some of them are legitimate.  Some of them are just pointless.  "No shoulder in 2/10 of a mile."  "Are your headlights on?"  "Turn your headlights on.  State law."  All of the signs we saw now explain why we had to pay $11 to drive on the PA Turnpike!  I'll try to get some pictures of the signs as we head back to OH tomorrow.  I found myself amused by all the signs...we've thrown around a lot of jokes this week due to the large amount of signs.  

We went to Hershey World today.  The theme park was closed but we were able to go to the Hershey Musuem-that is not its actual name but it is escaping me at this time.  Milton Hershey was an amazing man.  Reading about how he went from bankruptcy to building a company and a town...it was pretty cool.  The younger kids weren't that interested in it but Katherine was absorbing it all.  I was disappointed to learn that they haven't allowed tours of the Hershey Factory since the 1970's.  However, Hershey World made up for it because they had this little tour that showed you how the factory operates and that was interesting, and geared more towards kids, which meant that it was much more interesting to them than the factory tour would have been.

I am going to try to post a slide show of pictures from our trip on here-we'll see if I am able to get that done.

Overall it has been a great vacation.  I'm sad to see it draw to a close.  Oh and we got to find out that Olivia shares Katherine's car sickness...as soon as we got into West Virginia and the roads got hilly and curvy...fun times!  So we now have two children we have to drug with Dramamine before going on trips.

Chocolate

I love chocolate.  It's no big secret.  :-)

Saturday my family will embark on a journey to the sweet, sweet town of Hershey, Pennsylvania. We'll 'caravan' with Cindy, Dean and Brandon, stopping halfway there for the night.  I just didn't think the kids were ready for a drive like that in ONE day, so we're breaking it up over two days.  Maybe it was more that I wasn't ready for a drive like that with the kids--but I really do believe they are just a bit too young to tolerate more than 6-7 hours a day.

I'm really looking forward to some time off work.  Of course I will find myself worrying about it while I am gone, but I need a break.  I'm really looking forward to getting some reading done.  I plan to finish Dekker's latest book "Kiss" and hopefully read the fourth book in the Anne of Green Gables series since I can't seem to find that one online anywhere to listen to (for free); that is, if Katherine will let me borrow the book!

I am sure I will have plenty of pictures to share!  Below are a couple of pictures from our weekend trip to Castlewood State Park.

It's me again

It's too late (early depending on how you look at it) and I am too tired for anything heavy or interesting.  But I am still alive!  I have just really busy.  Tomorrow is the first day I can remember where we have nothing planned.  No work for me, nowhere to go, nothing we have to do...Kris and I are both really looking forward to this.  Kris dad came out yesterday and layed (laid) large carpet squares down in our basement (no padding in case it floods again).  So we spent the evening getting that back to a liveable space.  It's so nice to have that space again! 

My medication is in full swing within my body.  It feels good to feel alive again.  It feels good to be able to get out of bed in the morning.  3 days this past week I got to work by 7:30am (one day by 7am).  This, my friends, is miraculous as before I was lucky to make it to work before 9am.  Fortunately for me my schedule is obviously somewhat flexible.  But because I got in earlier, even with leaving at 3pm most days so I can be home when the bus comes with my kids, I haven't had to work in the evenings and don't have to work Saturday to make up the hours.  I'm still getting the hang of managing my anxiety/panic attacks.  I have gone from taking the Xanax 3 times a day to primarily only taking it before bed to help me sleep.  The last two evenings I have taken it while the kids were still up, having been feeling more on edge than usual.  But it's nice that I am not dependent upon it!  And the Rozerem, now that my mind isn't constantly churning (because I take the Xanax before bed) is actually doing it's job and helping me fall asleep and STAY asleep.  This hasn't happened in a long time.  I tested the theory of whether or not the Xanax helped me sleep.  Sure enough-the two nights that I didn't take it in conjunction with the Rozerem-I could not fall asleep and kept waking up.  So for now, the Wellbutrin, the Xanax and the Rozerem are a great evening cocktail.  And because I am sleeping better and because the Wellbutrin is now fully in my system, I am less overwhelmed and anxious and therefore do not need the Xanax on a regular basis.  I am happy about this, as there is always the concern of becoming addicted to certain medications.

Kaleb and I have gone to the psychologist twice now.  We go back this coming Monday, and then 2 weeks from that day as well.  It is good.  It is necessary.  It is expensive.  But it is worth it.  I am calmer with Kaleb (and the others as well) with my medication but also with the new techniques/revelations from the therapy and Kaleb I think really likes that attention and he is actually really excited to go to his appointments.  I think that this is a good thing.

We are gearing up for a big trip over spring break, which begins on Friday.  Friday is not technically part of spring break, but it may as well be.  There are parent/teacher conferences Thursday (so the kids of course have yet another half day after being off a whole day today too) and then are off again on Friday.  I think it is odd that they are doing it this way...but it is kind of nice for travelling I suppose.  You kind of get an extra day and a half head start.  We don't, because I think Cindy may still have school that day and we didn't realize they had this day off until last week but that's beside the point.  So I am planning to take off Friday to be home with the kids, and then I can get everything packed and ready for our long journey to Hershey, Pennsylvania.  I am looking forward to it.  It will be nice to get away, though I will still need to do some work from there so that I can afford to take time off in June when Kris and I go to Miami.

This is what happens when I wait until 1:00am to start writing.  I babble on with useless information that no one but me really cares about.  But that's ok...because as I have said before...this is my blog and I can write about whatever I want!  :-)

Music and more

I was downstairs looking for some CDs today and came across a photo album I started on a few years ago...when I had the time and the energy to scrapbook. As I was reminiscing, I came to a page of Kaleb as a baby. I can remember each one of my girls in their newborn and toddler stage.

What I discovered tonight is that I do not remember Kaleb as a baby. I look at the pictures of him, and I don't recognize them. I don't remember them being taken. I don't remember him looking like that. What I remember is being despondent and seeing those pictures almost fills me with despair and regret. When I look at his baby pictures, I am incredibly sad that I can't remember anything but how hard it was to adjust, how he cried all the time, how I never wanted to hold him unless I had to feed him.

I don't remember ever being happy when he was a baby. I don't remember holding him and staring down at him and being overjoyed with this new life God had entrusted to me. I remember feeling cold and indifferent and so alone.

I remember that while I was pregnant with him, I spent a lot of time trying to smile and to hide the fact that I didn't want to be pregnant again so soon. I remember everyone giving us a hard time about me being pregnant again and how difficult it was to pretend to be happy about it when I was dying inside. I remember his birth. I remember just wanting to get it over with and didn't care who was there. I remember seeing him for the first time, holding him on my chest before they took him away to be cleaned and measured--and feeling nothing.

Where was the joy I had felt when Katherine was born? The same joy I would feel with the birth of Abbey and Livvy later? Where was that pride and that awe in the presence of something so profound and incredible as bringing a new life into the world? It wasn't there. What I remember about Kaleb's first year of life fills me with sorrow if I think about it too long. Not guilt...not anymore. Just intense sadness. I look at him and the struggles with him now and I wonder if it is all related. I believe that it is.

I didn't intend to start this and have it turn into such an intense glance back at my son's life. I can't dwell on it. I can't 'deal' with all the emotions that come to surface when I think back. I wish I could go back and undo it. I wish I could remember just one time in his first year of life where I felt something good. It's so sad that I can distinctly remember the first time I loved my son, and it was not until he was about 7 months old. It wasn't instant for me...like it typically is...or like we are told it is supposed to be.

A friend at work has recently introduced me to some new music. There is one song in particular that I can't get out of my head. It is by the band Decyfer Down called "Burn Back the Sun". Below is a link (and the lyrics) to this song. There is a video with the song that I don't really care for; it's the song that touches me...I love the idea of being loved with "passion's quiet rage".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKuDg8tM6PQ

"I take a walk in the bitter cold, I try to see your face, The way it used to be, The sky was never grey, There was a time when I let you in, You turned my night to day, But I turned you away

(Chorus:) Burn back the sun, Bring back the fire once Blazing inside this hollow cage Burn back the sun, You were the only one To love me with passion's quiet rage

I have tasted the apathy, It's bitter on my lips, I am not who I used to be, Betrayal with a kiss, Open arms for the prodigal, You kept the flame alive, You keep this flame alive

(Chorus) Rage, quiet rage"

7 year old Missouri boy charged with theft, forgery and fraud.

Wednesday February 4th, 2009 - St. Louis MO

Parents of Kaleb Bishop were shocked Wednesday to learn that their 7 year old son had stolen a check out of his mother's purse, filled it out and turned it in at school for a book order. The boy's mother received a phone call early Wednesday morning from Kaleb's teacher, concerned about the check he handed in, completely filled out in black marker, and filled out correctly for the most part. The book order was not processed and Kaleb's teacher sent the check back home with Kaleb, who was sentenced to losing his money and writing "I will not steal" 100 times. It is unknown at this time if there will be further punishment.

-----

Of course this was not actually published in any local papers, just on my blog for all the world to see. My son...gotta love him. I'd love to say I was surprised by the above story which is completely true. But I was not surprised. It was SO like him. He told the teacher I wrote the check. She told him that she had a sample of my handwriting and when she told him she could show him he immediately changed his story. Here is how the conversation then went:

Kaleb - My sister Abbey wrote it.

Teacher - Abbey's in Kindergarten right?

Kaleb - Yes.

Teacher - Kindergarteners don't know how to write checks.

Kaleb - Well she's really smart.

Ahh...nice Kaleb. We have finally taken steps towards trying to figure out how we can make our home more peaceful. Kaleb and I went to see a child psychologist Monday night and will go again tomorrow. He seems to enjoy going actually and he was given a little homework assignment, as was I. I am hoping though that I can find a good psychologist closer to our home because I am taking him out to Kirkwood right now and it's a bit much to drive home from the Kirkwood area just to drive back out there a couple of hours later.

I've been intending to get on here and write for some time now-I know I went a long time without doing it. A lot has happened. I've been back on medication since February 4th, and this time was prescribed Xanax (in addition to my Wellbutrin) to help with the anxiety/panic attacks I have been having. It has helped quite a bit. The doctor recommended using it to help me sleep too and it has helped some. Though it is not helping me stay asleep during the night. I have kept a log of when I have taken it, how many, how it affected me, etc...I will be printing that off and taking it back to the doctor when I go back in a week and a half. It was a good decision to get back on medication. I am feeling so much better and enjoying life.

Kris and I celebrated 11 years together (not married) yesterday. Our first date was on Valentine's Day 11 years ago. We had a great time together-the best day we've had together in a very long time. We got to see "He Just Not That into You" last night and I thought it was a great movie. Much better than "New in Town" which was ok, but I just can't stand Renee Zellweger. Today we are surprising the kids with a family date. The $1 theatre out here is showing "Tale of Despereaux" and when we get home (our friend Faith watched the kids overnight so we are at a hotel) we are going to tell the kids to shower and get all dressed up so we can go out. Then we are going to take them to see the movie. I think it will be fun.

I have more to say, pictures to post, etc...but Kris is wanting to go and get breakfast so I must join him.

It's 2am...

...and I can't sleep. The last few nights have been the same. An hour or two struggle, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. It's pretty sad that even despite sheer exhaustion I cannot fall asleep. I was so excited too because for the last couple of months, I haven't had as many problems falling asleep. And the same old annoyance is creeping its way back into my life. It's very frustrating.

On a lighter note...I don't believe in coincidences. I know I have shared that before, but it's time to reitertate that. There are no coincidences. Sometimes things happen, and if you are observant enough, if you have learned even just a little, you will realize that it is God's hand at work. I mentioned on Saturday I think it was, maybe Sunday, about wanting to send the kids back to private school. It hasn't been something that has pressed upon me this entire school year. It just suddenly hit me on Saturday. The desire was so overwhelming I was almost in tears over it. Granted, I was mainly in tears all day Saturday, so perhaps the emotion I felt wasn't totally directed here but still...

So, I went to a basketball game at Grace Christian Academy, where the kids used to attend and where my mother-in-law still teaches, and coaches third grade girl's basketball. It was during this game that I told Kris I just really wanted the kids to go back to Grace. Now, mind you, I have never cared one way or the other where they go. Don't get me wrong. I loved having them in KCA, and then Grace. But if they had to go to public school I was ok with that. In the back of my mind, if we had the means to send them to private school, well there is no reason not to. But overall, I was fine with whatever we decided. So it was a bit unusual for me to feel so strongly about this particular issue.

After the basketball game, I took Katherine and Kaleb with me to lunch. While there, we ran into a family that goes to Grace. I had chatted briefly with the parents before. So they invited me to sit at their table with them, while the kids (mine and theirs) sat at their own tables. And they asked me how everything was going and where the kids went to school. And I proceeded to pour my heart out about how I really wanted them to go back to private school, and how we just didn't see a way to do it with four kids. They asked whether or not Cindy got any kind of discount because she is a grandparent. I told them I wasn't sure-I thought she got a small amount of assistance last year but I wasn't sure, as she had been the one paying their tuition. I went on to explain that had she not paid for them to go to Grace last year, we would have put them in public school then.

This is where the 'coincidences' come in. On Sunday Cindy came over to the house and said something about me making a good impression with a board member. I had no clue what she was talking about. And rather than drag this story out even further, I will just say now that the father of this family I had lunch with on Saturday is on the board at Grace. So I sat there, being myself, sharing my heart with these people I barely knew, completely unaware that this man was on the board at Grace! He proceeded on Monday to talk to Cindy about where things stood as far as discounts, things like that. I don't know what (if anything) will happen. But I am not so ignorant that I do not see God's hand at work. If nothing else, it was a reminder to me to look for God in those 'small' things. And it was refreshing to have that reminder! I feel like God is doing more though than just reminding me. So it will be interesting to see how the next year unfolds.

A new day has dawned...

Kris and I joined a church this morning. I am not going to go into all of the hows and whys we have never joined a church in our married life. To me, it's a formality. I know there is more to it than that, but ultimately, it is a formality. However, we felt it was time-there was no reason NOT to, so we did. We've been going to Cross Keys Baptist Church for 4 months now and I had told Kris I was ready when he was. If he ever wants to get involved with teaching, which he does, we have to be members. That was not the driving force in our decision, but it was a factor.

February 4th cannot get here soon enough. I have a doctor's appointment and will hopefully get back on some much needed medication. I really think I am having panic attacks...at work now. I figure it is pretty bad when it's happening at work, which is usually my place of sanity! And that is addition to the usual 'issues' I have. I'm struggling more and more to be around the kids...let alone be alone with them. The thought terrifies me. They're just kids...I know they aren't behaving any differently and that it is me. So it will be good to be back on something to help manage that.

Kris and I want to send the kids back to private school. I don't know how we will do it. We were figuring everything up. It's expensive to send one kid, let alone FOUR! But we'd like to send them back to Grace, as long as Cindy is there. North County Christian School is close by and we need to check into pricing there. But the reality is we need to come up with an additional $800 each month in order to send them anywhere in the fall. My PC business just isn't worth the time and energy to generate that kind of $ while I am working full-time for ICS. I can't do both. Nor do I want to. Kris has the potential to bring in a decent amount of extra money but there is nothing consistent...just some odd jobs here and there. Nothing that we can count on. So, pray-ers out there, please pray that God will provide a way for us to do this.

Kris and I were going to go on a cruise this summer for our 10-year anniversary. We can get a great deal and keep the cost down, but it looks like we were too confident that we would get an income tax return. I know I said last year we were going to owe a ton of $ and we ended up getting a return, but it was because I had a social security # entered in wrong. This year...Kris made more than we thought from his contracting stuff...and where I thought I wasn't going to have to claim my PC income because it was so low, it ended up being $1500. I had about $800 in additional incentives and products I had earned. So...while we can handle having to pay a couple hundred dollars this year...we won't have the money to do anything 'big' for our 10-year anniversary. In addition, I don't really want to deal with all that is involved in getting passports and all the prep work that would be involved in a cruise. So we are going to try to save as much as we can and drive to Colorado.

My 30th birthday is fast approaching. Does anyone else have to make their own birthday cake? I don't HAVE to of course...but it seems wrong not to have a birthday cake on your birthday. So if I can find the recipe (or get it from my sister or mom) I am going to make myself a Coconut Pound Cake. YUM!

And here is the abrupt ending to this blog.

Random thoughts

I have started Weight Watchers again-for real this time. I know I said that the last time but I have a lot more accountability and I kinda feel like there are people watching me and supporting me and I really want to lose the weight. I'm tired of feeling the way I do, and looking the way that I do. I'm thankful that I have a husband who swears up and down he loves me just as I am, but I don't love me like this. That's another issue entirely! Which brings me to something I've been avoiding but finally decided today I should do. There is a Bible study starting at church next week. It's called "Do You Think I'm Beautiful." Boy do my beauty issues run deep! I'm actually pretty much deadset against the study because I don't want to face those demons...but Kris thinks I should do it-and I know that I should-so I quit fighting and signed up for it tonight.

I still love Wii Fit. I haven't done it as much as when I first got it, but have started it up again to go along with Weight Watchers. I'm exhausted tonight but still need to get up and do it for today. I haven't committed to doing it everyday-but have promised myself I would do it at least 3 times each week.

I still hate Charter-that hatred was revitalized tonight when they changed our bill from $34.99 to $59.99. Unacceptable!

Sprint, on the other hand, while I do not LIKE them may be moving off of my hate list. The last couple of run ins we have had with them have actually been pleasant and things have been resolved satisfactorily. So...that one is still up in the air, but I am contemplating downgrading them to just 'annoyed by'.

A company that has great customer service is Audible.com. Yes, Kris and I might be geeks, but we are 'hip' geeks. We don't have as much time to read as we would like and we both have long commutes to and from work so we listen to books. Through Audible we can download a book (for a monthly fee of course) and then put them on our phones and listen to them while we drive. I recently finished The Song of Albion Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead and loved it. I can't decide between Pillars of the Earth and Inkheart for my next selection. Anyway...that's beside the point...I am mentioning Audible.com because we recently had an experience with them that could have sent them straight to my hate list, but they have exceptional customer service and resolved my issue quickly and painlessly.

Update on the Bishops-for the most part we are all doing well. We've had some sickness here and there but overall we can't complain. Livvy's asthma has remained under control-she seems to do better in the winter, which is pretty common. Kris, the kids and I go to church on Wednesday nights now. The kids go to RA's, GA's and Mission Friends and Kris and I go to a prayer-type service. We are up to 8 children now-Abbey and Kaleb each bring a friend and Katherine has two friends that I take with us. It's stressful for me sometimes with that many but we drive separately (I take the older three girls-I got the better end of the deal but have the smaller vehicle!) so it's not bad. Kris just turned 30 and I will be 30 in just a couple of weeks. Kris and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage in June and Kris is hoping to take me on a cruise. I'm pretty excited about that!

I have a confession.

While you wait in eager anticipation for the secret I am about to reveal, let me preface this by saying that I LOVE music. It used to be that I liked mostly anything except heavy metal and country. In the last two years however, I have given in to country and enjoy it quite a bit. I still hate heavy metal. But typically if it has a good sound and the words are good, I'm easy to please! Perhaps it's one of the only areas I am easy to please!

I can't get enough of 3 or 4 part harmony! I LOVE hearing the voices blend and the beautiful sound it creates. I miss singing. Not that I don't sing at church or anything. But I miss singing in a group of people and singing alto. At church I love when this one lady helps lead because you can really hear her belting out that harmony and it makes it easy to join in singing harmony, even if it's a song I didn't know the harmony to before! That's not my big secret though.

My 'BIG' secret is that...are you ready...I LOVE Southern Gospel. I LOVE The Imperials, and Gold City and The Gaither Vocal Band, among others! I'm not ashamed to admit it! And I love the old hymns, which churches just don't sing enough of these days-though I suppose it depends on the church. With my new phone, I downloaded the Pandora application and it's great because I can type in my favorite artist and it will design a station based on that artist. So I have a few different stations now, including but not limited to, Johnny Cash, Nickelback, Switchfoot, Kenny Chesney and of course The Gaither Vocal Band. Make fun of me if you will...

Busy as usual

The last week has been filled with a whirlwind of activity. Sick kids, snow days, Kris' birthday party. Then the usual day job, and coming home at night too exhausted to do anything after the kids have gone to bed. There needs to be two of me...one to keep up with the house and one to go to work. Remember that movie Multiplicity?

We had a good amount of people at the house on Sunday for Kris' 30th birthday party. Yesterday on Kris' actual birthday his dad was here helping us get some things fixed up on the house. We have water pressure in our bathroom sink again, the drain in the shower is fixed as well as the leaky shower head. The closests in our bedroom are just about ready to become real closets with racks to hang our clothes and everything! :-) No more cramming all of our clothes into the small hall closet. What else...lots of electrical issues have been resolved. And Kris bought me a dishwasher yesterday that will be delivered in the morning. I'm finally going to be able to put my dishes in the dishwasher, turn it on and then later, open it up and find that my dishes are actually clean! I am not sure how I will cope with that. I'm so used to my dishes feeling grimy!

Kris decided it was time to upgrade his cell phone last Thursday. He went from the Treo 700w (which we both had) to the Treo 800w. He is quite pleased with it. He was sure to share with me all the cool features, like the built in GPS and threaded text messaging (I was jealous about this one!). Overall the phone is just really sophisticated. He can watch TV and listen to music on it. It's a pretty impressive phone. It was an impressive phone when I first heard it was coming out, researched it and told him all about it. I told him I wanted that phone. He shot me down of course. Something about not having enough money to upgrade our phones (note-OUR phones, not just MINE). He went on to explain to me that I couldn't have a better phone than him-he'd be jealous. So realizing that I didn't really NEED a new phone, I relented and life resumed. And then they started playing commericals for the Samsung Instinct. It looked like a pretty cool phone. A few months ago I told Kris that if I upgraded my phone, rather than getting a newer Treo I might like that phone. After all, it is cheaper than the Treo 800w.

Now I have shared all of that because when Kris came home last week with his new Treoo 800w and was flaunting it in my face...well, I became quite envious. How could he dare get the same phone that I told him about? How could he upgrade his phone...while I still had a lesser phone? So for 2 days I whined and complained...it wasn't fair. And I made sure he knew I felt that way!! I mean he kept making calls on his phone. He answered calls on his phone. He sent text messages. He synched his phone. He looked for games and apps for his phone. FLAUNTING!! Granted these are all things that he did with his other phone...but it sure did appear that there was more of it going on than normal-as if he was trying to say-"Look I got that phone YOU wanted, that YOU told me about, and YOU don't have one." I mean really...it was not nice!

So he told me that I could get a new phone for my birthday. And my birthday is a LONG LONG time away. 3 weeks almost...like I said...a LONG time! ;-) I did a ton of research for two days finally deciding that when I did trade my phone in it would be for the Samsung Instinct. And in the meantime, Kris continued to 'play' with his new toy right in my face. So finally, on Saturday, I wore him down. In a desperate attempt to shut me up, he called his mom and asked her to watch the kids. Of course, I then felt horribly guilty (nothing new there!) and told him to stop and that I would wait until my birthday. He refused to budge. He had made up his mind and was going to buy me a new phone whether I liked it or not. So off we went to drop the kids at his mom's house. And then, using his high tech GPS navigation in his new phone, we found the nearest Sprint store. Sadly though, the one we first went to did not have any Instincts in stock. At this point I again told Kris I would just wait...but the choice was made.

Finding the next nearest Sprint store on his phone, we finally arrived at our destination. We walked in and the friendly people at this particular store were more than eager to help us. They asked what we wanted-we told them a phone. They asked if we knew which one-barely containing my excitement I said "The Instinct". And then...they asked a question. It was the highlight of my day. That one question took a GREAT birthday present to an AWESOME birthday present. The two sales girls at the door said "Do you want the pink one?" At first I thought it was some sort of joke. Pink? What was she talking about? In all my research, I found nothing about a PINK phone. So thinking that she was just saying that because I had a pink hat on I replied "Are you serious?" SHE WAS SERIOUS!! Apparently on Friday they released the pink Instinct. I was giddy! I am not exaggerating at all.

If you knew me growing up...I HATED pink. Detested it. Even swore (before I had kids) that I would NEVER put my girls in pink! What a horrid color. And then, when I was pregnant, something happened. I began to soften to pink. I didn't wear it! No way...I wouldn't stoop that low...but my girls were GIRLS for crying out loud. It would be unhuman not to dress them in pink. And then I started my PC business and there was pink everywhere. And well, I somehow lost my resolve against hating the color pink. It overpowered me, and I caved in. All that to explain that I was really excited that they had this phone in pink. And then they showed me the phone. And then...the guy at the counter took it out of the box and placed it into my hands. It was wonderful! :-)

So anyway...my long dramatic story is coming to an end. I'll finish up with a few pictures I took of the phone. I had to take the pictures myself because I can't find any pictures online anywhere of this pink Instinct. Hey maybe mine will be the first ever! Either that or I am just really bad at 'googling'. This is what I THOUGHT my phone was going to look like (by the way mine has GPS too and a ton of other fun stuff!):

THIS is what my phone actually looks like!

Back to reality...

Today is my last day home. I spent the morning cleaning and rearranging, finishing up the kids' rooms. Abbey and Katherine are now together in the bigger bedroom and Kaleb is now where Abbey was. All the new Christmas toys are organized and put away and the old toys are bagged up ready to give away. It feels good to have all that done, but there is still so much I need to do today that probably won't get done. I need to wash a few dishes but don't really want to make my fingers numb washing with freezing cold water. I can't really run the dishwasher without the hot water. I can do laundry in cold water...but who wants to go downstairs to a torn apart basement? I didn't like going down there when it was nice and carpeted...

I need to get the Christmas tree down today and the living room back in order. I need to vacuum but vacuum cleaners worldwide are about to go on my HATE list with Charter, Sprint and Amtrak. I can't begin to tell you how many vacuum cleaners Kris and I have gone through in the last 10 years. We just bought a new one about 3-4 months ago. I can't get the stupid thing to work. Kris changed the belt for me and it still isn't really picking much up. So I tried to get my screwdriver out and take the bottom piece off so that I can try to unclog it. I hope it is just clogged-but anyway-I couldn't get to the screws. It was making me seriously angry. So the vacuuming will have to wait until Kris gets home, which in essence will make me feel like the house isn't really all the way clean. I wanted to just be done. I need to go to the grocery store today too, but don't know if I will do that with the kids or wait until Kris gets home. I managed to yell at Kaleb and send him running out of the room in tears. As much as I understand and appreciate technology, I hate computers. And I was frustrated with the dumb kids' computer and so I yelled at him because he wasn't listening...I have since apologized and he is better now.

I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Well...I suppose I KIND OF am. I am looking forward to getting my calendar caught up, as I know it is behind because I didn't have a chance to log in and work while we were in Indiana. Beyond that, I am not looking forward to driving to Fenton again, or dressing up, or doing the actual work. I'm sure I'll get back in the swing of things quickly...I'll have to so that I can keep up with everything. It sure has been nice though not working. Makes me wish there was a way to be a stay-at-home mom again. Livvy could stay home with me and we could keep up with the house. It's too bad I make more than just the money needed to keep Livvy in preschool!

Home Sweet Home...or close to it!

After 10 wonderful days at my parents' house in Indiana, we are home. The kids are all settled in bed and Kris and I are winding down before going to bed ourselves. We had a good drive back-it was extremely foggy most of the way but it was a fairly uneventful drive.

After we unpacked the U-haul we rented to get all the kids' Christmas presents home (just kidding)...we have a living room that is begging to be cleaned. There are piles of unopened art items Katherine got and toys that the others received. We will have a lot to unpack but tomorrow we are switching the bedrooms around so it didn't make sense to move everything into the bedrooms. Plus...we will be going through the current toys/art stuff and weeding out what we no longer need tomorrow to make room for the new 'treasures'. Hopefully we will get the Christmas tree down tomorrow too but I'm more interested in getting some groceries and getting all the bedrooms together.

While we were gone our basement managed to flood and we lost all the carpet down there. Katherine's room WAS down there but we are moving her upstairs now and putting her and Abbey together. It's just as well with the flooding forcing her upstairs because she didn't really like sleeping down there anyway. I can't blame her. I didn't even like to go down there, even when there was nice new carpet down there. We are still up in the air as far as the insurance coverage goes. MSD came out and cleaned out the sewer line so we are assuming it was THEIR problem that led to flooding...but we don't really know for sure what all will be covered.

I don't go back to work until Tuesday but I just know that the next two days will go by much quicker than I would like! Oh well...it's been really nice to have some time off and not worry about work. I am going to relish the next couple of days I have before I have to get back to reality.

Kris and I are determined to get back to doing Wii Fit on a daily basis. I did it once while I was in Indiana, on New Year's Eve. My back and arms STILL hurt! But Kris is doing it now and has informed me that I HAVE to do it tonight too. So when he finishes I will do it. Both of us want to lose some weight so we were discussing on the drive home how we can accomplish that. It's going to be hard...but I have lost a LOT of weight before and I know that I can do it again...We'll see how that goes.

A new video

So I don't think I have ever put a video on here and I am not sure if I will be able to make it work without having to resize or anything like that but I am going to try. Remember my blog about Livvy singing her Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light song and the Wheels on the Bus? I finally got it on video and thought I would share it. If it doesn't work here, you can find it on my Facebook page.

I like routine

I'm realizing that it is difficult for me to take long periods of time away from the warm safety of my own home. I have really loved being back in my house...the kids having plenty of space...it's just nice to have a home. I am thankful for the blessings that I have. Not that I regret living with my mother-in-law. It was a great learning experience for all of us and it really made Kris and I appreciate our home. I am thankful for Cindy's willingness to put up with us for as long as she did.

I have been away from home for just 4 days and am already craving what feels to me like the safety of my home. I'm constantly on edge lately, probably worried that the kids will get hurt or break something, or annoy someone. I am thankful for my parents' generosity in letting us stay here all week. I truly am. I appreciate them putting up with us-there's a lot of us to put up with, as my brother and his wife and three kids are staying her too. But I realized this evening that I like my bubble. I've known that...but it is times like these that remind me how much I like my bubble. There is a reason they call it a 'comfort zone'. It's comfortable. I have become such a home-body. I like to be home. I like to be in MY space. I like the kids to be in THEIR space. I like knowing where everything is, and knowing that there is nothing that the kids will get into and break, or swallow. If they color on my walls and floors, well they are my walls and floors. It's not as big of a deal. And fortunately the kids haven't done anything like that. I am just starting to feel overwhelmed by anxiety with the 'what if' they do. And ultimately it isn't a big deal...my mind knows this. But it doesn't ease the anxiety I feel the longer I am away from home. "Do not be anxious about anything." This is a hard Scripture for me. I do the exact opposite on a regular basis. I am anxious about almost everything!

The kids are still up...it is after 10pm here...but they all 4 took naps today until about 5:30pm so as long as they are occupying themselves quietly we are letting them stay up. We are all upstairs in the two bedrooms that are up here, so at least we don't really have to worry about them waking anyone else up.

I kept hearing this soft rumbling noise and I asked Kris if he heard it. He said it sounded like a dog snoring or something. I told him I thought it was Olivia. Sure enough-she is wheezing a little bit. Time to start the albuterol. Hopefully we won't have to worry about her asthma out here. I am glad I remembered her inhalers though or we would have been in trouble.

Our basement flooded yesterday. I don't know much...Cindy was out at the house having to deal with it all while we are gone. We are not really sure how it happened or why or if it will be covered by our insurance but I know it will all work out.

Yes...yes I did...

Kris and I went to see Yes Man yesterday and we really enjoyed it. It was light, funny, entertaining. A good movie. I am not a huge Jim Carey fan but I really liked this movie. Kris and I had a great time spending the day together without the kids. After the movie we went over to our friend Brandi's house and saw her new baby Samantha. She was so little and cute. It made me want another baby. Not want another baby like I regret getting my tubes tied...want another baby like miss the little tiny baby feel and smell. While I miss having a baby that little, I am so thankful that my kids are all sleeping through the night. I don't miss getting up every two hours to feed the baby. But they are so precious at that age...3 weeks...so little...so innocent...so...quiet when they are sleeping!

Kris and I have started watching "How I Met Your Mother". It's funny. Most of our "shows" are on their holiday break so we had to find something new to watch. We chose this one. We just started Season 3. So far so good...

I finished making Christmas gifts for our largest client today. I started Friday and finally finished everything else today. I made my twist on Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies (basically I just added white chocolate chips and pecans), White Chocolate Macademia Nut cookies, Almost Candy Bars (YUM-thanks for the recipe Cindy!), Peppermint Bark, Cherry fudge, Almond Joy fudge, and Strawberry Amaretto fudge. And by the way, I have the BEST recipe for fudge. It tastes great and while the consistency is softer than what you might be used to, it is the EASIEST fudge you will ever taste. Ready for my secret recipe? One 12 oz package of chocolate chips (semi sweet or milk-your choice) and one can of sweetened condensed milk. Put them in a microwave safe container (of course I use the PC large micro-cooker). Cover the dish and microwave for 3 minutes. If you have a newer microwave it may only take 2 1/2 to 2 min and 45 seconds. Then you stir it together until it is smooth and creamy and add whatever flavoring you like. Pour it into an 8x8 pan and refrigerate until firm. Slice and serve! :-) Simple right?

Here are some variations I have tried:

Peppermint - You can either use chocolate chips and add peppermint flavoring or you can buy the mint chips and melt those with the sweetened condensed milk...it's better if you use the mint chips.

Cherry/Strawberry/Raspberry - 2 Tbsp of whatever flavoring you want.

Toffee - add the Heath toffee bits YUM!

Strawberry Amaretto - 1 Tbsp Strawberry flavoring and 2 Tbsp Almond Extract. Chopped almonds (optional).

Almond Joy - 2 Tbsp coconut flavoring and chopped Almonds. Top with coconut if desired.

I need to work....but...

...I have a funny little story to tell first before I forget. It is probably rather embarrassing to my poor little 'frightened-of-toilets' Abbey but I am telling it nonetheless. Half the time we have to make Abbey go back and flush the toilet at home. She probably never flushes at school or other places...but I can't be sure. She hates flushing. She is finally used to going on the potty and is VERY comfortable at home. She still has some general anxiety when out in public, especially if the toilet flushes on its own.

Last night while Kris and I were finishing dinner, Abbey had gone to the bathroom to go potty. Our toilet sometimes has 'issues' and doesn't like to flush so I heard Abbey yell "Daddy the toilet won't flush!" We both responded and then heard her say "Nevermind. I got it." But what happened next caused my heart to stop momentarily. It's one of those moments, one of those sounds that tells you something bad just happened. I heard a very loud THUD and then a horrendous scream coming from Abbey's throat. I was sure she was hurt...very hurt...

I was relieved to see her running (extremely quickly for a 6 year old) through the living room. She threw herself in my arms and was just sobbing and shaking. Through the commotion I learned that the toilet had started to rise, to overflow. It had terrified Abbey. You would not believe how scared she was. The thud I have come to believe was Abbey literally jumping off the ground when the toilet started to fill too high. Fortunately it did not actually overflow. But she stood there, sobbing in my arms, just clinging to me for dear life. Like any loving mother, I soothed her and tried hard (it was difficult!) not to laugh. Finally she calmed down enough to talk to me about it. She explained through big crocodile tears that "the water started coming up really fast and her poop was going to come out of the toilet."

She'll probably kill me one day for posting this...but hopefully this little 'incident' won't be a set back with the progress we've made on getting her to use and flush toilets!

Abbey decided to sing her prayer tonight-it was cute. She was sure to sing that she loves her daddy even when he spanks her. And she loves Livvy even when Livvy is selfish to her. It was amusing.

I made a Turtle Cheesecake for a church Christmas party we are going to tomorrow evening. I have made it once before-it was a recipe I found on bigoven.com. It has a graham cracker crust-actually it's a vanilla wafer crust but I used graham crackers. Then you melt caramels and evaporated milk and pour that in. Then you top it with toasted pecans and the cheesecake mixture which is just cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and eggs with melted chocolate added at the end. Then you bake and viola...Turtle Cheesecake. We can't WAIT to eat it! Kris wanted me to make another one tonight so he could eat it but I told him he has to wait for it to chill anyway so he is stuck waiting until tomorrow night.

Now I am going to watch last night's The Office.

Days like today...

...make me miss being medicated. I am trying to relax, to wind down...I have been so on edge today. Kris went to play basketball tonight and it was all I could do to keep from going insane at bedtime. I felt completely incapable of being a mom tonight. I really wanted Kris to be home to rescue me, as he so often does. But the house is FINALLY quiet now and I am just chilling out with some Saturday Night Live reruns. I still feel like my heart is going to explode inside my chest...ultimately I think it is because I have been working so much. I wish I knew how to just relax and not let little unimportant things bother me. Anyway, I just needed to get that out. I think with a good night's sleep, which I haven't had in a while, I will feel better.

I like weekends.

As a stay at home mom, I never really could tell a difference between the weekdays and the weekends. Now that I work full-time, I have a greater appreciation for the weekend. I really enjoy my weekends and am always sad to see them draw to a close. It's already Saturday evening and too soon it will be time to go back to work. I did manage to stay up late last night and get my work stuff caught up, so hopefully next week will not be so chaotic. Kris has told me that I can get out tomorrow after church so I am looking forward to having some time alone.

Oh Kaleb....

I love my son. I can't communicate enough how MUCH. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry, he tries my patience, and yet he fills my heart with so much joy. Despite the struggles we face on an almost daily basis, he is a good kid and I love him dearly. With that being said, let me tell you a little story. :-)

Katherine and Kaleb can read and they are really intelligent kids. So they are always finding those postcards in magazines that you can mail in for 'free' magazines or things. I have told them before those things aren't really free and that we will end up getting a bill. A couple of weeks ago I pulled a magazine subscription card out of the mailbox that Kaleb had filled out and put in the mail. I explained to him that they charge you monthly and we just weren't in a position to be able to do that right now. He seemed ok with this.

Yesterday, we had (from Highlights) this PuzzleMania magazine thing in the mail. I set it aside and continued going through the mail. Kaleb came over and said something like "Oh can I have that puzzle magazine?" I think he just might have said "my" magazine...but am not 100% sure. I asked him if he had sent off for it and he said no. He even reminded me that I had taken it out of the mail. I didn't really believe him, because I knew that I had not sent off for it and the magazine was in HIS name after all. I opened up the bill that was indeed attached and found that it was in his name, but then underneath that "Cindy Bishop" was listed also. When I expressed my confusion with this Kaleb's story began to change. He then told me that a LONG time ago he had filled something out at grandma's house. I told him it had to be recently since we now had received the magazines and a bill. He acted perplexed by this. I thought about it and wondered if maybe Grandma had subscribed to this, so I called her only to find she knew nothing about it.

I really don't think Kaleb understood that if he filled that card out we would get a bill or know anything about it. He did apologize and held fast to his story that he didn't mean to, or something like that. I called Highlights and the guy who answered asked how he could help me. I said "Um...my son is 7 and I did not subscribe to this magazine, so I think he must have." They said they would take care of, credit the account and we could keep the two magazines we had received. I kept trying to explain to Kaleb that just because something says "FREE" doesn't mean it is actually free. But he's a kid and free means free. Anyway, so he ended up with free magazines anyway after all of that, so I guess FREE really IS free!

Here's my question. I have seen my son's handwriting and I can't believe that Highlights would send the magazines off based on what I am sure had to be obviously from a child. Nothing about the situation upset me or anything-I was actually quite amused by the whole thing and I guess Kaleb didn't really learn his lessons because they let us keep the magazines. I have a feeling this is not the only situation like this we will find ourselves in.

Drama queen? No, not me...

Ok...well..maybe...perhaps...most definitely...I suppose I am a drama queen. There. I said it. Happy now? So now it is no secret anymore where my lovely Katherine gets it. Wait...I was probably the only one in denial about it wasn't I? Just thought I would take this moment to admit that to you while I wait for Kris to fix my work computer.