Time to play Catch Up!

Our oldest has done it again! Miss Alexis won the Reflections contest this year at her school. She entered in her favorite category, Visual Arts, and came up with a storyline for her running comics she does. She has made up these characters, The Squins, and makes up very cute stories and pictures with them. She won this category out of her whole grade. Her entry has now moved onto the council level and we are waiting to hear how that goes. She was quite surprised and happy this day. She loves her medal and it has her name engraved on it.Here she is in front of her entry(btw, I just love those cute lit'l doggies too).
Holding up her medal with a little annoyance that I kept taking pictures(yep, I guess she's at that age where mom with the camera makes her annoyed). She wore this medal ALL day and so did NOT want to take it off, even at bedtime. She was really happy she won this year, because she won Principal's choice when she started elementary school and now she has won again in her last year of elementary school-her words, not mine.

Poor Kaleigh was so sad she didn't win. She was crying that she didn't win, but she was still very happy for her sister. It's hard being the younger sister. Alexis keeps shining and Kaleigh wants to be just like her. Kaleigh submitted a poem and we liked it a lot. She just has a hard time when she doesn't get the awards too. We did, however take them out that night to get their free frozen yogurt that all 3 girls got for entering the Reflections contest-so in the end, they were all happy. Laney submitted a cute picture of her school and playground, but she left so quickly after the assembly that I didn't get a picture of her.

Exciting News!

New gene for childhood cancer neuroblastoma is discovered
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2...

I'm so excited for this. They are finally getting closer to being able to actually fight Neuroblastoma and make it go away. There's still a long way to go, but we're finally one step closer! YAY!!!!

I want to Win!!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme


TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.


1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
I really want Eric to find his passion in his work again or a new job to give him his passion back. It would make us all happy.
2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
We have all our kids come down the stairs from youngest to oldest one at a time to see the tree and what Santa has brought us.
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
I would ask for an all paid trip to Italy for 2 weeks spending it in a villa.
4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
We do a lot of activites and pack up a box of food for the food bank and deliver it.
5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
We played a lot of card games and when I was older my grandma taught me how to play poker(with play chips of course).
6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
I make cookies for all of us to decorate on the morning of Christmas Eve.
7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
I would love to take the family to Disneyland or New York City.
8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
Donkey Kong Country Returns, DSi for Kaleigh, Laney, and myself, and the Wii Fit with balance board.

I know giveaways are hard to win, but I thought I would toss my hat in and I think you should too. Who knows, YOU just might win!

Another New Freebie!

Okay, so I gotta give a shout out to Shutterfly and their amazing promo they have going on right now. I love, love, love doing Christmas cards and they have some of the cutest ones. Check them out http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards. Well because times have been thin this year I thought the cards were going to get the boot, which would be so sad due to we are having our family pictures taken this year. It's the first time since Christian was with us. We just haven't had it in us to update our family pic, but it's about time now with our 3 new family members, so it would just be down-right awful if I couldn't send out cards. Enter Shutterfly! By doing this little shout out they have offered me up 50 free cards and if you check them out you can see if you get 50 free cards too! How awesome, and Merry "early" Christmas!

Day 23

Today I'm grateful for the medical world. I'm thankful for the modern advances in medicine and that I can just drive a few minutes to get to a hospital. Thinking of all the people in the olden days who died from illnesses because of the lack of medical advances is sad and makes me glad that we have what we do. I'm thankful for all the hard work researchers do to make our lives healthier and longer and for the research to save children when they need saving.

Day 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22

I have gotten a little behind again(much ado has been happening around these parts of the woods) so I'm combining all these days into one HUGE thing. I'm very grateful for my children. I'm grateful for their smiles, laughs, tears, anger moments, bad moments, misunderstandings, love, but most of all- I'm grateful that I have them. I have been in a state of turmoil over losing babies, a son, and now the possibility of ever having that one last baby my heart aches for. I should be grateful that my house is filled with the six children I have, but alas, my heart has been aching for more and I have spit on what I do have(really not intending to, but kind of what happened). I want to be able to be happy with what I have, I need to be happy, but it's a hard thing to do when your heart and mind are playing tug-of-war against one another. So, a new day, a new chance to be ever so grateful and love all that I DO HAVE! So, this is my blessing for these days and I vow to remember it and cherish all my children and pray for their continued health and happiness. Giving thanks and praise always to the Man upstairs for all that He has blessed me with.

Day 17

I'm very grateful for nap time! I know it's a silly thing to be grateful for, but one that is needed a lot everyday. I love my kids, but they can be a handful sometimes and this blessed time of the day known as nap time, gives me the recharge I need. I get to sit and either craft, blog, or catch up on house duties that I have fallen behind on while playing with my children. I love this time also because of the quiet it brings. When all the children are sleeping and nothing is on or making noise in the house, it is SO peaceful. I get a lot of thinking done during these times and it is great! I love to just sit in a quiet space and hear myself think and appreciate all that I do have. It helps me put life into perspective in a very deep way.

I also love that I get time to browse other blogs and get inspired to make something or try something new, like making the homemade baby wipes. I've also tried out making my own dryer sheets, and let me just tell you, they work like a charm. You just cut 3 sponges in half and put them in a container and pour some fabric softener in and let them soak. Every time you need a dryer sheet, pull a sponge out and ring it out and throw it in the dryer with your clothes. You then put it back in the container when your load is done. Reduce Reuse Recycle baby, that's what it's all about. It may be a small thing, but I feel I'm doing my part and saving some cash at the same time. This is what my glorious nap time lets me do. I love it and will miss it when it's gone, because, oh yes, it will be gone soon. My babies are becoming not so baby anymore and nap time is slowly drifting away. I will HATE it when that day comes! But for now, I am extremely grateful for it.