Thank you for holding

I've been on hold FOREVER, partly my fault, partly thiers. I was on hold initially for 15 minutes... 15 minutes with crying babies and screaming baby! Finally someone was there and what did I do? I hung up! ARGHHHHH!!!!! So now I'm on hold again, going on 12 minutes again... What a waste of my time!

ETA: OK, now I'm off the phone and I have to admit that regretably I was not a very good exaple of Jesus' love, I hate when I get mad like that! :(

I feel like I should update

but have nothing to say!

Same stuff, different week! (That's one week closer to spring break!)

Oh, yeah! I guess if your a scrapper I could tell you that my layout is being shown here!

Congratulations...

I know someone is going to laugh at how fast I got this up... but I wanted to congratulate my brother Matt and his NEW fiance Gabrielle on thier engagement!!!!

Weekend

I shopped yesterday, and boy did I shop! I got some great stuff from Gap and Children's Place for the kids, all thier easter stuff is ready, tried to prepare better this year for the snow that is inevitable! I got myself 4 shirts at Gap too, the style of most of thier shirts was perfect for my "problem" areas so I lucked out and actually found stuff that fit and didn't accentuate the bad stuff! Normally I just settle! I also purchased 2 pairs of jeans for Matt, something I NEVER do and really I just assumed we would be returning them this weekend, but suprisingly they fit him and he liked them, I liked them too, they aren't the typical carpenter jeans tha the normally wears (out of necesity really) and they look good on him!

Last night Bailey went to a school carnival with a friend and the other four of us just hung out at home. Elliot never got a real nap so he went to bed early (BIG mistake), Landon & I played Webkinz for a while then when Bailey got home her and I went to bed early! Matt was so kind to sleep on the couch with Landon so her and I could sleep in our bed together. I don't like to sleep with her though, she kicked me in the head multiple times througout the night! Oh well, she enjoyed it!

This morning Elliot woke up at 6:30 am, I promply brought him downstiars to Matt and headed right back to bed! Matt left for St Joe around 10, Landon went to play soccer with Cobe and Dimitri and some other friends at 9:40 and Sadie came over to play! We had fun building forts, putting bows in her hair, playing in the laundry baskets and eating snacks. She didn't really like the thought of the vacuume though, but that was ok, we got through it, I just needed to vacuume up some dog food QUICK! Bailey covered her ears for her!

Matt got home just in time for dinner and then proceeded to finally finish our bathroom floor. Finally! Not his fault, I'm just so thankful to have a floor finished, the linoleum has been peeling up in there for years adn we've just dealt with it, but it's embarassing, it looks gross and best of all... it's GONE!!!! Bailey and I had to go to Lowe's to get some more screws for the toilet and use the bathroom (b/c the toilet was removed to put the flooring in for several hours) and we decided to go get dessert together too. It was fun to just hang out with her and I know she loved it! She told me mutliple times!

Cobe is here overnight, everyone stayed up late waiting for the toilet to be working again so they could use it before bed, now it's 10:30 and all are in bed, sleeping I'm sure! :) Church tomorow then lunch at my dad's, class in the evening and coffee with a friend after that! Busy ~ Busy ~ Busy... as usual!

Hopefully your weekend was/is good!

**** After posting I'm re-reading and realizing how bad I really do need another bathroom... which only will come with a new house!

February...

Tagged by Kate to list 10 things we love about February (or at least like), I enlisted the kids to help with this one!

1. Winter
2. Snow Days
3. Valentines day
4. Shortest month of winter
5. Tax Returns
6. Cuddling up watching movies
7. Comfort Foods
8. 100th day of school
9. Groundhogs Day
10. Supercalifragilisticexbealidocious

Since February is almost over (7 more hours) I'm not going to tag anyone... but I'll be back later! :)

Lot's of randomness...

So, here's what I've learned from my post requesting comments the other day... most of the blogs I read are also readers of mine (to everyone that commented, I do read your blog or have in the past at least peeked around and most likely still occasionally check it out!)! Or at least some of the blogs I read! Good to know! Thanks to everyone that did leave a comment, puts my mind at east a little, but I know that the creepy people aren't going to tell me that they are reading, right?

And here's a few other random thoughts... (really it may be quite random so I wouldn't blame you if you quit reading now)

1) I let so much stuff bother me that I need to just let go of, most of the things that bother me really don't involve me or have any effect on me/my kids/husband or our lives at all! So why waste time thinking of them and getting irritated by them... that's a good goal... just LET IT GO!

2) Never judge a person by what others may say about that person... enough said!

3) Spring can't be to far off, how nice will it be to wake up to sunshine and birds chirping (which we can hear b/c the windows will be open)! I'm so excited to be able to get out and walk to school to get the kids, I want to start walking for excercise too, I just have to find the time!

4) Only 5 1/2 more weeks til spring break! Wooo Hooooo! We need to find a car to rent though, so if you haven't quit reading yet and have any suggestions please inform me! I'm so at a loss as to where to even begin with that endeavor and we just can't afford to a)put the miles on the Jeep and b)pay for the gas that the Jeep will chug down!

5) I haven't had a starbucks mocha in FOREVER... until today! I went to get a chai tea latte but decided on the mocha instead, for a treat! It's been so long, but I have to say it wasn't as good as I had anticipated, I think I'll stick to my chai tea latte (which I also got the discs for at Target on clearance!). A pack of 8 discs cost me less than one tall drink at Starbucks!

6) We had so much fun at Crazy Bounce yesterday. Sarah, Jen and I took the little ones and they had a ball! I didn't bring my camera though, (big suprise huh?), so you will have to look at Sarah's blog for pictures! There's one that is quite funny of Elliot!

Well if you made it this far through all my randomness you deserve a big treat... but alas I have nothing to give, so go get yourself a nice piece of chocolate! Were off to another swimming party tonight, hopefully Lisa makes it too!

Layout Post...

It's been forever since I've posted layouts so here ya go, these are just some of my favs!

For Family...

I keep forgetting this, Landon is selling flowers for church for easter, a portion of the sale then goes to his account to be used for camps and other outings.

There are: 6" lilies, 6" tulips, 6" hyacinth, 6" mums, 6" daffodils all for $9/e, colors are random and there is also a 6" azalea for $16

All orders are due by March 8! They can either be picked up on 3/21 between 3 & 5:30pm or after the breakaway service on easter morning if in memory/honor of someon!

Blogs

Does anyone else sometimes find the whole blog thing creepy? I've had a couple of incidents lately with WIERD comments (and I know I'm not alone in all that). And I know that I look at random people's blogs, like just jump around and around and around, never knowing where I'm going to end up or how I got there! And I know I'm not alone in that either, I know that other people do the same thing, but I wonder WHO is reading this. I really don't care who is reading this, I have nothing to hide (nothing that I put on the blog at least), it's just wierd that I don't know who, know what I mean?

Sometimes I toss around the idea of going invite only, but then would ANYONE read? Not b/c you ahve to be cool to be invited or anything, it's just that then I would know who is watching me! Something to think about at least. If you are reading this and I don't know that you are reading this, leave me a comment, just a quick hi would work! :)

Grocery shopping today was good, Elliot was an absolute Angel, until I let him out of the cart at least, but that's my own fault. It only took us 3 hours and 3 stops to get it all done! We did Meijers, Apple Valley and Perredies. Have I ever mentinoed how much I just LOVE perredies? They seroiusly have some of the yummiest food, breads, dips, olives, salads, desserts... to die for. I got some of the yummiest fococcia bread, some Rosemary Salt bread (which I guess they are known for), a piece of Tiramisu (which I've resisted the urge to completely devour), olives with garlic, roasted pepper hummus, flat bread, mozzarella tomato salad, and the customer service was SUPER, they even carried my one entire bag (yup, only one bag) all the way out to my car for me! How nice is that, where else do you get service like that? I tried to tell them I could do it myself but they insisted they help me! Customer service sure does sell!!!!

I got some random things from my experience yesterday. I got some Papaya (which replaced the pomengranate that i previously mentioned), some jicama, dates with walnuts, hummus, organic crackers, and some other things. Some things I had to settle for the regular stuff because I refuse to pay the rediculously high prices for organic or whatever it is that makes it better. After school I made the kids a sample plate of all the new foods thinking they would quickly turn up thier noses at most of it but suprisingly they LOVED it all, even the dates! I told them we were only eating healthy food from now on and at first they liked that idea, but then Bailey made the realization that that meant no more chocolate/candy (they weren't impressed with the 70% cocoa chocolate I gave them). I was just kidding of course, we all need our cravings once in a while!

Living Healthy

I've been attending a Health type class at church for the past few weeks and am truly trying to make a few changes, I definately have my weaknesses though (one of which is CHOCOLATE, give it to me with peanut butter and that's even better). I like quick food too, something I can grab from the fridge or cupboard and eat, typically while watching tv or playing on the computer too! (Terrible habit). Anyway, tonight's class (this is for you Kate, b/c you didn't make it) was a taste testing one. Found some good stuff that I wouldn't normally even think to try. Never been a huge fan of hummus, but I think I could get used to it, especially with the snow peas, that was good. Jicama (pronounced Hicama) was yummy too, just to snack on, there was some squash carrot soup stuff that was pretty good, dates were yummy (and even better filled with walnuts), some quinoa salad, 70% dark chocolate was ok too, it would definately cure a chocolate craving with only a tiny tiny bite too! Power balls were super yummy (I'll share the recipe soon). My fav was the fruit that we tried, pomengranate. SUPER YUMMY! I've actualyl purchased it before but was unsure how to cut/eat it so it rotted in my fridge and I threw it away. I think Sarah's fav was the drink that we had... :) Apple Cider and spinach! Sounds absolutely terrible, looks even worse but it didn't taste all that bad. I couldn't drink it regularly though, or maybe even ever. It's all a head thing for me, if I see it looks terrible, my mind says it tastes terrible. For me it's all about stepping outside of my box, trying new things, whcih is VERY hard for me, but I'm making baby steps! Sarah and I even tried to go to the health food store right after class (it was closed though), but I'm getting groceries tomorow morning (jealous aren't you?), so I will be adding a few new things to my cart and maybe visiting the health food store too! :)

Our weekend was great, we did dinner at OBI last night (see #15 of 2/21 post), then took the kids bowling. The smoke free ally was totally full and they said it would be a while til they had a free lane so we headed to a very NOT smoke free ally... the kids had a great time but we all STUNK so bad when we left that we all needed showers immediately after arriving home. My coat stinks sooooo bad! This afternoon after church we took naps then we all went sledding! I wasn't sure what E would think but he LOVED it! We took him down the HUGE hill, ramps and all multiple times and he kept asking for more! To bad there wasn't a pull rope to bring us back up b/c it was a LOT of work carrying him and a sled back up. All in all it was a great family weekend, lot's of good quality time together... quantity and quality!

High School Musical

We just returned from the High Schol Musical play at the middle school, they did SUCH a great job, I'm amazed at the choreography, I can't imagine how much work goes into all that! It's crazy! Highly recommend if you don't have anything to do tomorow night that you go check it out (although I can not be sure it's not sold out, tonights show was).

Busy day tomorow... last basketball game at 8:30am and then last soccer game at 11:30am, then B is going to a friends house for the afternoon and I actually have Matt home for the whole day! I'm so excited! Not sure why really, we don't have any real plans but oh well, I'm not a single mom again! I give so much credit to single parents, I am soooooo not cut out for that job!

Be still my heart...

I had my hands on these beauty's this morning for a very very short time, but all it took was one click to fall in LOVE! Someday... someday!

Hit forward and place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not. Answer the 30 questions at the end and send it to your friends (including me). This is for your entire life!
( ) Gone on a blind date
(x ) Skipped school
( X ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
( x) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
( ) Been on the opposite side of the country
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
( x) Cried yourself to sleep
(X ) Played cops and robber
(x) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only? Remember the days of putting $2 worth of gas in your car, (with all change), well this morning I put $10 in b/c it was SOOOOO cold out and my tank said I could go 2 more miles before being stranded on the side of the road and guess what, I need more gas already!
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
(X) Made prank phone calls.
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain (with my kids)
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
() Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(X) Blown bubbles
(x)Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(X) Gone to the movies
1. Any nickname? mom
2. Mother's name? Priscilla
3. Favorite drink? fuze cranberry or tangering, diet cherry coke
4. Tattoo? yup - hate it every day
5. Body Piercings? Pierced ears
6. How much do you love your job? hmmmmmm, I do LOVE it, although it's not one I get paid for, somedays I dream of something different though (Funny how this was so applicable to previous post)
7. Birthplace? St Joe Michigan
8. Favorite vacation spot? Aruba
9. Ever been to Africa? no
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? yes
11. Ever been on TV? the news once I think
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? yes
13. Ever been in a car accident? Yes
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door
15. Favorite salad dressing? ranch or the house dressing at OBI... mmmmmm, that sounds good, I think I need to go there!
16. Favorite pie? apple or cherry... key lime sounds great though recently (still haven't made that)
17. Favorite number? 3
18. Favorite movie? no idea
19. Favorite holiday? Christmas
20. Favorite dessert? anything chocolate, if were being specific Cheesecake factory
21. Favorite food? carbs
22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday and Sunday
23. Favorite brand of body wash? softsoap
24. Favorite toothpaste? strong and minty (not a brand, but a flavor)
25. Favorite smell? Baby Magic on Elliot
26. What do you do to relax? tv, computer, scrap, take pics
Just noticed #27 is missing...
28. How do you see yourself in 10 years? I tend not to think that far ahead
29. Furthest place you will send this message? cyberspace
30. Who will respond to this the fastest? not sending this to anyone else, but posting on blog I think...

So, sarah emailed this to me and now I'm tagging you... your it! Revise this to reflect your answers and post it on your blog! I won't name names yet, but I know if you read! ;)

My job...

I know my job is important and I know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but sometimes it feels SOOO insignificant. Almost everyone else I know has a job outside the home, whether it be full or part time, contributing to the world, not just thier home. Sometimes I feel like I even struggle to contribute to my home in a quality way (whoa is me!, not trying to gain sympathy, just explaining how I feel). I'm determined to learn something new, and maybe even lot's of new stuff. I ordered a few books of Amazon today, one for web design (which seems way technical, but quite my personality) and one for Adobe Illustrator, not sure what that knowledge would do for me, but I'm determined to know how to use it. I think just learning something new will increase my feeling of self worth. We'll see. I'll let you know how that goes. With any luck, in a few months (or years) I can offer to build you a website with lot's of pretty pictures (that I've drawn on the computer). Anyone interested??? :)

Did you know there's a lunar eclipse tonight? Landon just learned all about this kind of stuff, so I'll be waking him up in about an hour to view it for himself. They say that the next one won't happen til 2010 sometime so we better see this one! I'll try ot take pictures! Update: I tried to wake the kids up and they both rolled over and said nevermind! Oh well, I tried and I did take a picture, although it really didn't turn out, Landon will get the idea! I did add a moon pic to the 365 days blog though, kinda a cool one!

Snow Day... (again)

Yup... woke up to a ton of cancellations scrolling across the screen this morning & sure enough, there was Zeeland! Yeah! I got to sleep in til about 8:00 (rather than the normal 6:15ish). But you know how when you sleep to long sometimes you just can't get going and don't feel great? That's how I was after getting up, kinda sluggish. Once I got dressed and started to be productive it got better, but I'm still tired.

Our spring break plans got cancelled this past weekend. The other couple backed out unfortunately. I totally understand thier reasons, but I'm still bummed, as are the kids. So now we are trying to find a different place to stay, something cheaper, something on the beach and something with a pool. (I'm not picky at all ;) We're tossing around a few different options right now but should probably act soon so we get something! I'm so sick of looking at rental sites though, it get's so confusing after looking at 30-40 different condo's. I think we've narrowed it down a little at least. Were not even 100% sure WHERE we are going to go now either. Wherever we end up, in whatever condo we end up in it better be warm, that's all I have to say about that!

So, it looks like we may have another snow day tomorow, we are under another warning until 4pm Wednesday (tomorow), that's 6-12 MORE inches of snow. SERIOUSLY????? The alarms are set though, I'm not planning on it (you know what happens when I don't plan on it... :)

I had to get out of the house this evening so we headed to Logans for a great 2 for $12.99 meal and $2 kid meals. Feed a family of five with two beers (not for me... YUCK) for under $25, that's a GREAT deal! Then we had to go get new sheets for our bed, the elastic got stretched out on ours after a year of washes it was probably time, I'm hoping we got some good ones. I HATE when they don't stay on the mattress correctly and when they ball up... OK, enough about sheets!

I'm about to update the picture blog too if you were wondering (not that you were, but just thought I'd let you know!)