Christmas Miracles

So, since John has been out of work since February and not able to collect unemployment due to being to sick to be able to work, finances have been tight (TOO TIGHT). Well John helped his friend put in a new server in his office and he paid him for his help. We paid off my credit card (because the annual fee was coming up soon) and closed out the account. The woman from the credit card company was asking me why I wanted to close my account and I said because my husband has not worked since February, and she has the nerve to say well how can you pay it off then, would you like us to lower your interest rate instead? ARE YOU CRAZY! I do not need another bill or added finances. Well later that day my hubby decided to pay on his credit card (too big of a balance to pay if off) and forgot that we had paid mine off and ended up putting us in the negative in our checking account, so negative that after my paycheck was deposited it is still in the negative. So I was stressing wondering how we were going to get the last minute gifts that we still had to buy without using the credit card and I went out to the mailbox the other day and there is a card addressed to us with no return address. It is post marked from Salt Lake but anyone could have gone to Salt Lake to post it so that we could not figure out who did it, well the card said that they understood that finances were tight and decided to give us some help. There was money in the envelope. Then on Sunday night the Bishop comes to the house and I answered the door and he said just the person I wanted to see and handed me an envelope and said Merry Christmas. I opened the envelope and again money. I cried, the Lord really understands are needs and has angels to help him answer our prayers and help us in our time of need. I have prayed for those angels to receive special blessings for being so generous and loving as to donate money to help others. I know I cannot pay them back but I sure can pay it forward when we are on a more financial stability and I will definitely be willing and wanting to do it.

Christmas is a time for miracles and love and I am excited for Christmas and the opportunity to spend time with my loved ones.

I wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas!

A Happy Mommy!

Today I am a Happy MOMMY! Zlee was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I do not say proud, because that is being prideful, but I am definitely happy for her. It is hard to believe that it has been 8 years since she was a little newborn in my arms and I was wondering what I was going to do, now that I became a mom. Now I can look back and be glad that I have made it this far with a lot of help from family and friends. She was so excited to be baptized and after she was baptized, she was shivering from being wet and she told me that the water was kind of cold, my poor little girl. Her dad later confirmed that it was indeed a little cold. The other little girl that was also baptized came into the dressing room after and she as giggling, I am not sure if it is because she was cold, bashful, or just happy, I will go with the happy part. I gave the baptism talk, I was nervous and hoping that I would be able to say the things that I needed to, everyone afterwards told my I did well (including the hubby, my honest critic). I do not remember what I said but I know I was emotional. She chose the song "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" for the opening song, I was leading the music at it just made me emotional, I teared up and could not sing, I had to wait until the 2nd verse to get myself under control. Then after the song and prayer I had to give my talk. All in all it was wonderful and I am definitely a happy mommy.

Evanslee has been a wonderful daughter. She is obedient, loving, fun, playful, smart, kind, always wanting to do her best, I couldn't ask for a better daughter to be my oldest. She is my little friend and I love her dearly. I thought I knew what loving a baby was all about until the day she was born. It was a completely whole different kind of love, one that fills you up completely but there is always room for another one after to add to that love. I think a mom's (or dad's) heart just grows every time a little one comes into their life. So those moms out there with a litter of children must have gigantic hearts, because mine is really big for having 3 children.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Time to reflect and think of the things that I am thankful for. First of all my life. I am thankful that I am alive and healthy enough to do the things that I need to do to provide for my family. I could do better but I am able to stand, use my arms, legs, fingers, toes, and every other part of my body just fine.

Next, I am so thankful for my family. It took a long time to get married and have my 3 beautiful children but they were definitely worth the wait. They keep my going when I feel like quitting. I am thankful that John is still here with us watching the kids grow older and become independent and so cute! It is truly amazing to be a mom and know that I helped Heavenly Father create these wonderful kids. I know of those that have not had the opportunity to be a parent and so I am truly thankful for the blessing that I have of being able to have 3 wonderful healthy children.

I am thankful for my extended family, they also are a huge support to me. They have always been there when I needed help. It could be a shoulder to gripe on, or cry on, advice, giving us a place to stay, taking care of the kids while I take care of John when he is in the hospital, or just being there, it means the world to me to know that I have a whole support system behind me.

I am thankful for my friends. They also are a great support system and help boost me up when I am down (which seems to be a lot).

I am thankful for the internet and the technology of today. We can communicate with loved ones instantly and not have to wait for a letter to arrive in the mail. Blogging is wonderful and I am thankful for it, I can jot down my thoughts and I can read others and see pictures of those special people in my life.

I am so thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It has been a true blessing in my life. It has given me strength, friends, courage, lessons, and taught me things about myself that I could do that I would not have done so without it. Evanslee is about to be baptized and I am so thankful that she has chosen to do so. John and I have been focusing our family home evening lessons on being baptized. We feel that we want her to understand what she is getting into and not just do it because we said to. We had the Ward Missionaries over last night to talk to her and they were surprised that she was able to answer every one of their questions. It was a proud moment for this mom, to know that she has listened and understands and is ready to be baptized.

I am even thankful for my job. It has saved us many times with John's various job losses, it may not give us the finances we need but it does help get us through. I am thankful that I can work from home so that I can still be with my kids and I am thankful for the flexibility it gives me to work around their needs.

Well, what can I say, I am just THANKFUL for ALL of my BLESSINGS!

Okay I am old but I have EXPERIENCE!

I get an email the other day from my supervisor that says that myself and a few others are transcribing a certain doctor's dictation wrong. OH NO WE ARE NOT! The person from the clinic that sent the original email stated that we were typing the the pharynx is injected and it should be infected. I thought to myself, I have been in this business for over 15 years and I know what I hear and the doctor says injected every time. I look up in Stedman's Medical Dictionary and the 2nd definition for injected says "Denoting visible blood vessels distended with blood." HA! That means that if you are sick with a sore throat your pharynx would be red, so injected. If the doctor said infected, it just does not make any sense, infected with what? So it made me so mad to have some person that probably has no medical background or very little (schooling only) to tell me I was wrong. I sent a note back to my supervisor with this definition and she said okay great, I will let them know. Ha! My experience is medical information. Okay so now I get this doctor again and the patient comes in complaining about not feeling well, feeling a cold; again the doctor says CLEARLY "pharynx is INJECTED." I listened to it several times and definitely it was injected. Oh my JOY!!!! I WAS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!! HEHEHEHE!

I love my job but then again I can really hate my job, and that just made my day, I do know what I am doing and it makes me greatful for the experience and the chance to learn new things daily. The pay sucks but the experience and learning capabilities are wonderful. To that end I have applied for a 2nd job and have to go and get fingerprinted Saturday and prove that I am a US Citizen. Wish me luck!

UGH!! I am officially OLD!!!!!

I went to the doctor today to have my yearly physical. I was telling this new doctor that I have been having some pain in my back when the kids try to climb on my back or just bump my lower back. It feels like a sharp stabbing pain so I am thinking it is a horrible knot in my muscles or some weird nerve thing. But alas, it is ol' arthritis!!! YUCK! I also tell him about a pain in my right toe and in my knee (knee I suspected because I injured in back in high school during my one and only ski trip). He has prescribed some naproxen and this evening I am actually feeling a lot better, just hating to have to admit the old part!

On another note, the other night I was up watching TV and Miko was still awake and just jabbering away about this and that and I ask her "Miko, how come you're so cute?" As a mom I am thinking because she is mine and she looks like me but the response I get is..... "Cuz you're not!" I am flabbergasted, and say "Hey, that's not nice!" her reply is "you're not cute, you're a mommy!" From the mouths of babes! I guess mommies can't be cute, we are just mommies. Well at least she had learned to be honest, that I must be happy about.

Evanslee turns 8 this weekend and I cannot believe it. She is getting so mature, she is at the age of wants to play but then feels too old to play with toys. I took her to WalMart to get an idea of what she wanted for her birthday and to my dissatisfaction, no dolls or Barbies, she wants games, animal figurines, and movies. They grow up so fast. The next thing I know boys will be knocking on the door to ask her out on dates, I wonder who will be more upset me or dad, hmmm!

Another funny, this time Caddis, I go on Mondays to his HeadStart class to help the kids pick out a book that they can take home for the week. Some of the books are written in Spanish (most of the class have Hispanic heritage). So I am helping Caddis pick out a book and he insists on a book by Eric Carle with a big gorilla on the front, I do not know the title in English. I proceed to try to convince him that he cannot take it home since it is in Spanish and he insists that that is the book he wants. So finally I give in and tell him well if you take it home only Grandma Alice will be able to read it to you, she is the only one that speaks Spanish. He decides that that is just fine and selects that book for the week. A little while later while I was helping one of the little guys, Caddis comes over and says "don't pick that one it is Chinese!" I about died! The little guy's mom is standing there and overheard our conversation earlier, and I try to explain that it is not Chinese but Spanish to Caddis, his little friend says to me, I can speak Spanish and so can my mom and grandma, even my dad can speak Spanish. I told him that he was very lucky to be able to speak Spanish and he just grinned from ear to ear. I think that impressed his mom. I think she would die to realize that my little blonde boy is 1/4 Hispanic himself. The only clue he has is his brown eyes. I hope that he can one day learn Spanish, his grandmother would be so proud. She did not teach her children to speak Spanish and one of her grandsons served a mission in the Dominician Republic and it tickles her to death to have him call and speak to her in Spanish, she just eats it up. I would love to see Caddis be able to do the same. I just have to get over this hurdle that if he does not understand it, it must be Chinese!

The "SICK" hit our house!

Okay so Sunday night as I got into bed Miko kept saying that she had to go "poo" and so I would take her to the bathroom and she would just "fart." So I kept telling her that it was okay to fart in bed, that she did not have to go to the bathroom to do that. The next thing I know she throws up all over herself and the bed! YUCK! John came and helped me clean up the bed while I put her in the tub and washed her off. We got a clean pair of pajamas for both of us, since it ended up on me to as I was holding her. Then I got her back to sleep. She woke up again about 1:00 and again threw up on herself. I was able to change her pajamas and wipe off what was on her, not have to put her in the tub this time. We had a bucket placed by her just in case it happened again and you guessed it, at 1:30 she was sick again but this time I had the bucket ready. I get her all settled and back to sleep and just dozed off (about 2 a.m. at this point) and I hear someone go in the bathroom, turns out Evanslee is up and had to go to the bathroom. She comes and tells me that her stomach hurts and goes not feel good, OH CRAP!!! Here we go. I start thinking about what I had fed them that day, could this be food poisoning, or what. So the next thing we know she runs back to the bathroom and is sick. So I help her and get her back into bed. Well she was up 3 or 4 more times during the night, I was too tired to keep an accurate count. By about 5 a.m. all is well and we sleep until 8. Caddis never was sick but about an hour before he was supposed to go to Headstart he had a fever and so I told him he had to stay home. He was so disappointed, he did not understand that having a fever meant that you were sick, he did not feel sick. So the rest of the day Miko spent mostly in bed, no appetite, just wanting juice. Evanslee also no appetite and if she ate or drank anything it just came back up. I spent the day trying to work and take care of the kids and John (as he was not feeling so well either). So just before dinnertime I started not feeling right. I had no appetite and trying to figure out what to make for dinner, nothing sounded good to me but I knew I had to make something that the girls could eat. John came out and decided to make dinner (THANK YOU). He made a chicken teriyaki dish with rice and Evanslee and Caddis were able to eat but I could only take a few bites and choke it down. Miko was asleep and did not eat dinner I think she slept from 5:30 p.m. until the next morning. Poor little girl. Just before I went to bed (about 10:30), up came my day's worth of stomach content. YUCK!!! But nobody was there to take care of me, just plain ol' me, I guess that is what happens to all moms, have to take care of yourself. We all had a restful sleep that night and then John woke and the next morning and was sick all day and decided he needed a blessing. It was about 1:00 p.m. and I had the hardest time trying to find someone home to give him a blessing. All of the "retired" neighbors were not home, and I finally had to find one of the High Priest in our ward home to get a blessing. He was able to find another and they came right over. They gave John a beautiful blessing and he was able to calm down and feel a little better. But we did end up going to the ER at about 6 that night. They gave him some fluids and some meds and he was able to go home.

This morning I am happy to report that all is well (knock on wood) in the house this morning. Kids are going to school and have pink cheeks again, YEAH!!!

I am FINALLY reading the Twilight series!

So after reading and listening to so many people about the Twilight series I decided to give it a try. I have so far read the first 3 books and I have to say that they are good but not my most favorite books. I am intrigued by the whole vampire/werewolf situation but at the same time freaked out by it. Okay personally, I HATE being COLD, so reading about hugging a stone cold person just makes me cold and I want to get a blanket and warm up. I LOVE to be WARM and so if I were Bella I would chose Jacob on just that fact alone, I know, silly, but cold is not my thing. I have had to put my name on the list at the library to get Breaking Dawn, it shows that I am #100 on the list but hopefully everyone will be finished soon and return their books back early so that I can get up the list faster and be able to read it for myself.

It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of reading a book for me and not for the kids. It is nice and then I have this husband that doesn't like to read and cannot understand my desire to read again. I have to control myself and put a book down, I always want to finish a book the same day I got it. I was terribly hooked on romance novels in my single days and would sometimes stay up until 3 of 4 in the morning because I had to finish the book. I definitely do not have the stamina or energy to do that now, I NEED MY SLEEP!

I would like to find another series to read after I am finished with this one and it will be a joy to me to go to the library and scan on the books until I find something I want to read. I cannot wait!