Does anyone read this?

Just wondering, does anyone actually read my blog or am I just entertaining myself? Just curious of who reads about my life?

Long time

Ok. Ok... I know, it's been a long time since I have posted. We've been really busy lately and I haven't had time to post!
Me and the girls are always busy, but have made a few special outings lately. 2 weeks ago on a Friday, we went to a big crafts show near Harpers Ferry, WV. It was more for me then it was for them, but they still had fun and even got to "buy" a few things and get their faces painted and get balloons.
Then last Friday, we went to a working farm called "Hill High Farm" with our MOPS group. We got to see some farm animals, go on a hay ride and pick a pumpkin and an apple. We all had a fun time.
This week, it is really going to be quiet. Troy has a Veterinary Conference at Oklahoma State to go to this week, so he took Ashleigh with him so that she could spend some time with her grandparents. It has been really quiet since they left yesterday morning, cause Ashleigh is my loud and high maintenance child. I know that she will have fun. She is so excited!

Penny Wars!

Today in the Winchester Star , there is an article about the "Penny War" that my son's school did for a fund raiser for the people affected by Katrina. The school's 580 (1st - 5th grade) students raised $3,951.76 in just 4 days! Way to go SENSENY ROAD ELEMENTARY SUPER STARS!

Out of the mouth of babes

Last night while I was shopping at our local Christian bookstore with my 2 girls, I asked Allie, my 2 year old, what she was doing and she said "Mom, I will give you a quarter if you don't talk to me!"
Don't know where she got that from but it was so hard to keep a straight face!

Something to make you think

I recieved this in an email today....

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11).

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently)complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers,their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

How to tell if you have been speeding

A FUNNY

Better fuel gauge

This was sent to me in an email today. Wouldn't having a fuel gauge like this one make more sense? LOL!

HOW YOU CAN HELP IN OKLAHOMA

For those of you who read my blog and are from Oklahoma, I thought that I would let you know, if you didn't already know, that Falls Creek Baptist Assembly is taking in Hurricane Katrina victims.
If you went to Falls Creek as a teen, you know how special a place the Falls Creek is. They are asking only for cash donations right now and will get out a list of needs ASAP. To find out more about the relief efforts at Falls Creek, go to www.bgco.org

Never a dull moment

As you all know, if you have kids, there is never a dull moment! There is always some crisis to deal with!
Yesterday's major crisis is that when Ashleigh started to come down the stairs out our house, she tripped on the top of the stairs and tumbled all the way down to our hard wood floor at the bottom. She is okay though! It scared her and it took a long time to calm her down, but she is okay. After the fall though, she kept on complaining that her right wrist was hurting, so Troy took her the vet clinic that he works at and took an x-ray of her arm to make sure nothing was broken. Everything looked fine, but she sprained her wrist and now has it wrapped up. Her daddy wrapped it in a bright pink bandage and even cut out a blue heart from the bandage material and put it on there for her. (isn't that a good daddy?)

How would you like to find one of these in your house?

This is an article about what one man in Britain found in his house! I gave me the heebie jeebies!

Get Involved!

As we all know, the disaster in the Gulf Coast states is the worst one in US history. After that happened, I for one have reevaluated my life. I have became more thankful for what I have. I have a home to come home to everyday. A warm bed, air conditioning, comfort, clothes, food and as I am sitting here, I am enjoying a hot cup of coffee. These may only seem like a little to you, but to those people who lost their homes, their lively hoods, those who lost all of these things, they would be happy with just one of the comforts that I listed about. If you have those things, then you should be thankful! Thankful that you have a home, no matter what kind of home it is. Thankful for clothes, even though they aren't the designer fashions that you wish that you could afford. You should even be thankful for your whining child that is always saying "MOMMY!!!!" - because, my friends, some of the moms who are facing the long road ahead after this disaster don't even have their children. Some of the moms that are in the Gulf Coast states lost their little ones to the fast rising waters. Their little ones slipped out of their arms never to be seen again. Start being thankful for the things that you do have and stop worrying about the things that you don't have!
I encourage you all to first of all, Thank the good Lord above for the blessings that He has given you. Do you realize that He gives you a gift every day? Just the fact that you wake up alive every morning is a gift from God! While you are thanking Him for all He has done for you and your family, ask Him what you can do for others. Ask Him what you can do for those affected by the hurricane. The Red Cross is short on blood, if you can give blood, please call your local Red Cross TODAY! Several churches in my area are collecting supplies to take to the area hit by Katrina, find a church in your own area that is collecting supplies, and see what you can do to help! Give money to the Salvation Army! Just do something because, remember, that the next time disaster strikes, it could be you that's in this situation and you will be begging for people to help you! GET INVOLVED!

Happy day tomorrow

Well, tomorrow will be a happy day tomorrow and a sad day at the same time. My little sis, Mandy, is getting married tomorrow! I am really happy for her! The sad part is that I can't be there!!!!! I wish her the best!

Good start

Well, another proud momma moment for me! Zachary came home yesterday from school and again has been given the advanced spelling words! He is still doing great and is one of the youngest ones in the class. His homework last night was to put his spelling words in Alphabetical order! I had to help him a little bit, but he caught on to the concept really quickly! He also went to his first machine pitch baseball practice on Friday! He says that he likes it alot better than tee ball. I can't wait to go to the games!

Proud Momma Moment

I just put Zachary on the bus for his first day as a 2nd grader. He was so excited to go back to school. He got to meet his teacher yesterday, and even knows a few of the kids in his class. I can't believe that he is in 2nd grade already! We went to an outlet mall on Monday, and I let him pick out his clothes. He didn't do too bad of a job, but he is sooooo picky already and he is only 6 (almost 7)! Here is some pics I took of him with my camera phone.
Allie doesn't like that Zach had to go to school. She asked him this morning "Will you come back to me after school?" It was so cute. Ashleigh didn't seem to mind that he is going to school. Maybe it's because she knows that he always comes back home!

Getting geared up for another school year!

Well, it's that time again! We are getting ready for another school year. My son, Zachary (age 6 - turns 7 next month), will be going into the 2nd grade this year. He is really excited about it. We still have yet to get his school supplies. I need take him but Wal-Mart's school supply department scares me! Think we will go somewhere else! Zach just got glasses and he looks so handsome and grown up in them. This year will be busy, like always! Zach just finished up summer baseball and will be playing fall ball soon. He is getting to move up to the machine pitch league, which he is looking forward to. He also wants to play pee wee flag football. that should be fun to watch. Ashleigh (age 4 1/2) and Allie (age 2 1/2) will be at home with me for the school year. I will be homeschooling Ashleigh for her preschool time, then she will start Kindergarten next year. Ashleigh is also taking dance again and will be in gymnastics as well. Allie will be learning with Mommy and Ashleigh and possibly taking tumbling. We are starting the potty training process without much success, but I'm not into to big of a rush, cause she's still my "baby". I've always heard that they potty train before they start Kindergarten, so I still have a while : )

Finally figured it out

For those of you who know me well, you know that I kind of stick out like a sore thumb on my mom's side of the family. The majority of my cousin's are brown haired, blue eyed beauties - while I have dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. ( one of my girls even has Blonde hair and blue eyes, while my other two has dark hair and eyes, go figure!)
I learned that it's not because, as my friend Kelly use to say, that "I'm just really full of it and no one has knocked it out of me yet", but because I am 1/16 Cherokee Indian. I just found that out last night! My uncle has known for years, he and his kids and grandkids even are on the roll, but they neglected to let the rest of the family in on our ancestry! I will be calling my family soon to learn, as Paul Harvey puts it "the rest of the story".

ON MY SOAP BOX

As I read the stories about Israel and the Gaza strip, it concerns me more and more. Imagine if you were an Israeli and you have lived there all of your life. Their family history goes back generations and generations. That is the only life that they know. And, they've been told all of their lives that it is the land God promised their people. The war between the Palestinians and the Israelis has been going on about since about the beginning of time, that is the only life they know.
Then the Israeli government, whom the Israeli put their trust in to not give away God's promised land, tells them that they have to pack up and leave the only life they know. Leave their ancestry, leave their home, etc....
I can see why some people don't want to leave. That is their home!
It is sad that their own government is using bodily force to drive them out. Let them decide where they want to be!
I don't know what I would do if I were in the same situation. Knowing me, I would probably leave, because I wouldn't be willing to stay and fight, but that is because I wouldn't want any harm to come to my children. I would probably be a conformist and leave. I would've left soon after I heard that it was going to happen, not wait until the day of. But, I can see why some are refusing to leave.
Okay, I am off of my soapbox now. I'm sure that I will be right back up on it soon!

WENT TO THE FAIR

We went to the county fair last night and took the kiddos. There is nothing quite like it. The kids had fun riding the rides and I enjoyed getting my cotton candy. I do share it with the kids but it's hard to share it! Zach is finally tall enough to ride the "big kid" rides and he loved it. He looked a little concerned at first but wouldn't let us know if he was scared or not. He came bounding of the rides all excited. He was so excited after one of the rides that he tripped a fell as he was coming out of the gate, but got right up and said "I'm all right, I'm all right!" (I think that was for my benefit, you know how mom's are!) The girls rode the kiddie rides. Allie wanted to ride the big kid rides, but of course, she couldn't. Guess she's gonna be a little dare devil. Ashleigh talked me into going into the little fun house with her. Let's put it this way, it is MADE for little kids, not adults! But, I went in anyways and did fine until I got to the very narrow slide at the end. It's a good thing that I am petite, or there would be NO WAY! By the time that we got home ALL were tired and had no problem going to sleep!
Here is a link to the county fair website: http://www.frederickcountyfair.com/
I also started a new business venture. I am a Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay. If you are interested, just let me know and I will send you the link to my Mary Kay website.

GETTING BACK TO "NORMAL

Well, we are getting back to some sort of normalsy. As if anything is ever normal around here! Zach is playing t-ball again this summer. He seems to like it okay, but doesn't like playing T-ball. He missed the "machine pitch" cut off by 2 months. I was told that he will be able to play machine pitch ball in the fall. He is looking forward to getting into that league, since he is the oldest on his team. He has only played 1 game since we got back from vacation. The games are run much like a practice, so they don't count outs. They also don't keep score. They are concentrating on teaching the kids the rules of and how to play baseball. When Zach isn't playing first base, he spends his time pointing to first base after every hit because most of the kids can't seem to remember what they are suppose to do. He has this "oh, come on guys!" look on his face the whole time. We will see how he does the rest of the games. They don't start true league play until age 9 here, so we will see how he does.

Back from vacation

We had a great time on our vacation back in Oklahoma and finally got back to Virginia early Tuesday. It was a really long drive! I didn't think that we were ever going to get home!
Now that we are home, I need to get back into some sort of a routine. There is so much to do, that I don't know where to start. I keep on hoping that if I put it all off long enough that it will all go away! LOL!

HAPPY JULY 9th!

Just updating my blog finally! Blogspot didn't let me log on from the last computer I tried. My kids and I are in Oklahoma visiting with my mom.
I got together with some old friends today for lunch. It was so good to see them again and I hope that it's not long before I can get together with them again!
I have been pretty busy since I have been here and have enjoyed every minute of it. We have visited the Children's Museum in Seminole, OK; the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, OK; and Incredible Pizza in Tulsa. The kids had a blast. We also have visited with friends and family alot and look forward to the next week or so.
For the 4th, we went to a family cookout and celebration. I think that being with family is 100% better than any "big show" celebration!
Will post again later. Hopefully it won't be so long 'til my next post.

Finally starting a blog

Since I like to ramble on about everything and anything, I thought that I would start a blog...... then, if you got tired of "listening" to me, you can just quit reading my ramblings. We are going on vacation for an month! woohoo! I will post as much as I can while I am gone! We'll see what I have time for!