blogging

When I started blogging, I wanted to try to blog at least once a week. And for a few weeks, I think I managed this. Well, here is my(long winded) excuse as to why I haven't been blogging more lately. The husband has been hogging the computer; with the holidays upon us, I've found myself even more depressed & missing my mom; and I haven't really had a whole lot to blog about.

Thanksgiving was good. My BFF, Renae & her hubby, Dan came up for the long weekend. This was awesome as I don't get to see her as often as I'd like(every day!)& kept me busy. She loves to spoil my girls & had a wonderful time doing it. (yes, I can speak for her in this particular instance.) We didn't take enough (any?) pics while she was here.

Stay tuned for a special blog post on Dec. 16th.

Hope all is well in your world & the busyness of the Christmas season is not bogging you down.
God Bless. -Gail

Veteran's Day

I could have gone back & added this as a p.s. to my last post, but I'm glad I didn't. This is truly worthy of it's very own post. Today is Veteran's day. 11/11. I'm sure there is some significance as to why this day was picked, I unfortunately do not know it.(and am too lazy at 10 at night to go research it & find out.) I only learned in the last 10 years that Veteran's day is always 11/11.

To all the vets every where & those on active duty now; my thanks goes out to you.
Thank you for working a job that for most is a voluntary position(except when drafted or reactivated)-for putting your life in harm's way & for fighting for my freedom. I appreciate ALL of the freedoms I have in this country as an American & yes, I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN.

I had someone tell me today that he was in during peace time & "only for 4 years". SO WHAT!? You still volunteered to do it. You just got lucky that there was no call for war when you were in. It does not in any way diminish the job that you had to do for "4 years".

Do I always agree with the way this country is run? No, but that is why I have the freedom to vote; to express my views on how I'd like to see this country run. If I don't vote then I have no right to complain about what goes on in this country. Do the 3 previous sentences mean I don't like President Bush? Absolutely not! God's word calls us to pray for those in authority; to respect that authority. Please don't try to read between the lines of this paragraph. Just keep reading.

If you see a veteran today or for that matter ANY day; thank him or her for your freedom. Because without them, you just might not have had all the things you enjoy today.

God, please keep all of our military personnel safe. Be with their families & help them to stay strong. Protect their minds from the horrible things they may see or experience. Help each one to come back to their family safely & help the family to remain intact. I ask this in your son, Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

getting older

I know it has been a little while since I posted. Life has been a bit crazy & I've been in a bit of a funk & not feeling much like posting. So I need to back track a little bit YEAH RED SOX!!!!! Nothing like sweeping the world series!

My husband & I usher at the Providence Performing Arts Center. It is a great way to see shows for free, Broadway & others. November 1st I had to work a show that was called Aussie Pink Floyd. They are a tribute band to Pink Floyd. Pretty good I might add, if you didn't know it wasn't Floyd & you didn't see them, only heard them you might think it was the real thing. Now let me say, I've never owned a Floyd album, but I have seen them in concert back in the late 80's. Excellent concert, I was completely sober.
Today I worked the Guy & Ralna show. Who are Guy & Ralna you may ask?? They sang on the Lawrence Welk show back in the late 60's & into the 70's. I remember on Sunday nights we'd get ready for bed, watch L. Welk & then Disney. Now I don't remember Guy & Ralna on the L. Welk show, but I remember watching the show. It wasn't my favorite show, but I certainly didn't hate it. (I've always liked music.)
So this afternoon working this show I realized I'm truly beginning to show my age. I enjoyed this show much more than the Pink Floyd tribute a week & a half ago.
Oh, there are other signs like my metabolism QUIT! somewhere around age 30. I couldn't even begin to tell you how old I was when I found my first gray hair.(yes it was that long ago!)In fact I have more gray hair than my mother had at 73. But this one just smacked me in the face.
Well, I guess we are all getting older every minute of every day, but I think today was one of those AHA moments.
God Bless.

the children & the Red Sox

Well, as I type this post it is a little after 11pm here in New England. Tonight is the 1st night of the world series & we are halfway through the 6th inning. The Sox are winning by a commanding lead of 13-1. Please note several things here. I did not say they have this game in the bag & have won, because any one who is a New England sports fan knows that the game is NEVER over until it's over. Unfortunately I've seen bigger leads blown. Let me also note that while IMOPO I believe that the Sox DO have this game in the bag; I do not want to gloat & say yeah! Sox are on their way to winning the world series. Again, I've seen N.E. teams doing really well & then it seems they relax their game face, let their defense down & next thing you know forget it they're going home without the trophy!
SO I WILL JUST SAY LET'S GO RED SOX!

The 2 topics are not related tonight. Emily has been sick as I posted the other day. Let me just tell you it was a very sleepless night last night. Tonight it seems her fever broke & hopefully she's turned the corner & will be getting better quickly! However, I don't know if she had a nightmare or what tonite, but it took me a few minutes to get her calmed down. Then Rachel woke up & now they're both laying on the couch with daddy. (NOT SLEEPING I might add!) Ahhh, comes the chore of trying to get them back into their beds. Wish me luck!

children & life lessons

So my little ones are feeling a bit under the weather today. Hoarse voice, croupy cough, low grade fever, etc. Mom's not feeling great either, but completely different symptoms. But it is amazing how amid the confusion & sickness, God can teach you a life lesson. My oldest daughter (by 2 minutes)is fussing & whining at me all morning. If she wants something it's ah,ah,ah,uh,uh,uuuuhhhhh. I do not tolerate whining well. So I'm trying to get her to tell me what she wants or what is wrong. All I get is more whining & fussing. I'm like Lord, please just give me the strength, help me figure out what she wants. God just tells me(not audibly- just one of those thoughts that pop in your head,)this is how you talk to me sometimes. You should be able to articulate what you want to me, yet all you do is fuss & whine at me. If you just tell me what you want, what the issue is, I can help you out. Gee thanks, God.
I don't know why my 2 year old throws temper tantrums- I NEVER DO!
Any one want to buy some swamp land in Florida?

Have a blessed day!

happy anniversary shout outs

So today's post is dedicated to couples celebrating years of wedded bliss! As my husband & I are quickly approaching 4 years(Feb.) We have several friends who are celebrating today. So Happy 17 years to our friends Steve & Maria I., may you have at least that many more.
And to Mike & Jen L., Happy 6 years. May you have many more years. And may both couples continue to keep Christ at the center of your relationships.

Today our church did an outreach project at a therapeutic riding stable. I had to stay home with the little ones so I didn't get to see all they did, but I guess they accomplished quite a bit. This is a stable that helps children overcome some part of their handicap by building relationships with the horses.(At least that's my understanding.)

God Bless.

how cute are children?!

So my girls love to sing & dance. I've been singing Jesus Loves Me to them since they were in-utero. So that is definitely one of their favorite songs; in fact we have a children's cd in the van that they ask me to play Jesus loves me. Another of their favorites is Twinklestar, for those of us not versed in two year old language that would be twinkle, twinkle little star. Daddy has taught them to sing "Take me out to the ball game" - now that is cute when they sing it! 1,2,3 strikes your out! Just visualize little fingers trying to do 1,2,3. And certainly not last or least is Happy birthday.

We eat honey boats at our house. You might eat them at yours too. This is what us adults would call "honey bunches of oats". I love my children, especially when they're sleeping. :) No, I love my children all the time, but sometimes they just really try my patience.

I hope you have a blessed day.

Red Sox - do they really stink???

I just need to vent here. My hubby is much more a Sox fan than he is a football fan. For this I'm eternally grateful. I am not a football widow or for that matter any kind of sports widow unless the Red Sox make it into the playoffs.

So last night was game #2 of the American League Championship series. Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox. Indians draw first blood. This is okay because in game #1 they did as well & Sox ended up winning 10-3. The Sox do okay, get a few hits, get on top. Indians answer with a few of their own. So just over halfway through the game it is 6-5 Sox. Indians come back, score 1 more run & the game stays tied 6-6 going into the 9th inning. And the 10th inning, and the 11th inning. Then the Sox bring in one of their newer acquisitions to pitch, Eric Gagne. At this point it is 1 in the morning. Yes you read that right 1 am. And we are still watching baseball!!! (I think we must be "loco en cabeza. [for those of you who've never taken Spanish that is crazy in the head.]) We have to get up for church in 5-6 hours!!!! Well, at this point my husband says the Sox just lost(by putting Gagne in)I'm going to bed. YEP! He was right. Final score in case you don't watch sports & didn't catch it in the news(yeah, that would be those of you who could really care less about this post!)Indians 13- Sox 6.

I probably wouldn't have been so upset about the lack of sleep & staying up to watch the game if they'd at least won.
Sometimes the Red Sox really stink! (I don't have a poor sportsmanship attitude at ALL!)

COME ON RED SOX LET'S GO ALL THE WAY!

p.s. The boys(cowboys that is) lost to New England. I am not having a good weekend here. NO, I am NOT a bandwagon fan when it comes to the boys. I've been a fan since the '80's- in fact I went to the Bengals-'Boys game in Cincinnati where Cincy was in their prime. Bengals beat them something like 50-3 I don't remember the exact score, just the fact that the 'Boys got their butt beat & it was ugly & it was freezing cold that night!

Birthday shout outs & Red Sox

So today is a good friend's birthday. Sharon is from Oct to July older than me. We met when we worked together in Cincy. I thought she was pretty, but snobby* I'm being nice here I really thought she was a b---h! We ended up living together & becoming awesome friends. She's helped me through some difficult periods in my life & I think vice versa. We have often been envious of each other's lives. She was married & having children I wanted that. She envied the fact that I was single & able to pick up, move 12 hours away from all family I knew & go to Bible school & follow God's will for my life. Just goes to show you that what you think the other person has isn't always the best for your life. See commandment #10 Thou shalt not covet.....anything that is thy neighbor's. That would be Ex. 20:17.
Another thing about Sharon, her b-day is on the 13th. I've always liked the 13th & am not a superstitious person. This means that every 7 years she gets to have her b-day on Friday the 13th!
So Happy Birthday Sharon! Hope it was a great one! Hugs to you, girl.

Also another birthday shout out is our nephew Jaden- he's going to be 3 on Tu. the 16th. He's from Oct. to Mar. older than my girls, so it is nice that my girls have a cousin close to them in age. (I never did.) Can we please make these little people stop growing?!

Congrats to our friends Mike & Jen on the birth of their new daughter, Kendal Marie. She was born on Wed. the 10th after only 4 hours of labor. That is just not right, Jen! All of us mommy's who've had long labors are really envious. She is beautiful.
Makes me want to have another one.(at least for a few minutes- then I usually ask myself do I really want those sleepless nights back?)

So tonight is game 2 of the American League Championship series. The question on all Sox fans minds is have the Sox truly broken the "curse" & can they win another world series? I think they're on their way, but I've seen N.E. teams blow too many leads, or pull it out at the last minute. So as a Sox fan I always say it's never over till the fat lady sings. Stephen King said it well last night when the score was about 10 -3 in the 7th inning. The reporter asked him if he thought the Sox would win. He said "I've seen them blow other leads, so...."

We here just have 1 thing to say- GO RED SOX!!!!

false alarms, pregnancies & wonderful husbands

So, my friend, neighbor & landlord(all the same person, in case you couldn't tell!) is 9 months pregnant with baby #2. Her actual due date was Oct. 4th. Alas that day has come & gone & there is no baby as yet. Now most women would not be happy about being late, but would probably not stress about it. And just to clarify she isn't stressing about it either, however she is sooo done being pregnant. Not only that, she's a hairdresser & has exactly 8 weeks maternity leave. Her last day at work was 10/2 & she has to be back to work 12/3 & she's already booked solid that week (& probably most of the month of Dec.). Her 1st child was about 2 weeks late, so let's do the math- she only had about 6 weeks at home with a new born. As any mom can tell you, especially those who go back to work it isn't a fun thing to do. Not that you don't like your job, but you have this amazing, new wonderful little miracle in your life & now you have to entrust him to someone other than his own parents - even if it's family! So the long & short of it is she'd really like this baby to get here! To the point she decided to try castor oil. She said it was not all the horror stories you've heard & it did give her some contractions. Well, about 1:15am she calls me & says can you come sleep upstairs? The contractions are about 4 min. apart & after calling my dr. he said come in. Imagine every one's disappointment when she calls me a little after 3:30am & says they sent me home I'm only 3 cm dilated. :( So needless to say I got very little sleep last night.
Which is where the wonderful husband comes in. He didn't go to work today due to the holiday, & the rain(sprinkles) we had. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about this especially after today! About 11am he tells me go lay down & take a nap. Gee twist my arm honey! I don't think I could hit the bed fast enough. He shut the bedroom door, took the phones away from me & said don't worry I'll entertain the girls. I got up almost 2 hrs. later feeling much more refreshed & almost my normal self. This is what I woke up to. He loaded, ran & unloaded the dishwasher. The girls were very quiet the 2 hours I was in the bedroom. Let me just paint that picture for you- we have a small 2 bedroom 5 rooms total apartment. They were sitting at the table eating mac & cheese w/hot dogs for lunch. Can you say WOW! Thanks honey- you made my day.

Now for the pregnancy part. People, people, people DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT ask a 9 month, late, pregnant person "So how you doing?" This is just asking to get slapped. Okay, maybe that's a little strong, but let's just think about this. How the heck do you think she's doing???? Do you expect her to say "Great, I'm gonna go run a marathon tomorrow, since the baby isn't here yet!"??? I just know that when I was in those shoes I was ready to start cussing like a sailor.
Well, on those rants, I need to get to bed & catch up on the sleep I lost yesterday.

I just have one more thing to say before I close- Go Indians, beat the yucky Yankees!

Red Sox

The Red Sox swept the Angels. My husband is happy, mostly. The Indians almost swept the Yankees, but alas there is at least 1 more game. We will see what happens. Hopefully in the next couple of days we'll be able to sing "Nah, Nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, goodbye" to A-Rod, Jeter & the rest of the Yankees. And then we'll be playing the Indians.
My brother grew up in OH, but now lives in NY close to Buffalo. (Do you see where I'm going with this one?) So he is a Bills fan, but as far as baseball is still an Indians fan. My nephew, his son, is a Sox fan so when that game happens there will definitely be a little family sports tension going on.


I just have one thing to say. GO RED SOX!

mom

It is 6 months ago today, that my hero & one of my best friends passed away. -my mom
It has been a long six months as far as missing her; yet it seems like it was just yesterday. This is the best & most recent photo I could find of my mom with my girls. L-R Rachel, mom, Emily
This was at Thanksgiving last year. She was actually feeling pretty good at this time & we took a walk up to her mailbox to get her mail.
I still find it hard to believe she's gone. And knowing that she's in a better place with our Lord Jesus Christ, that her body has been restored & she's not suffering, not being poked & prodded day in & day out; makes it marginally better. But it doesn't take away the pain of missing her. She fought a brave fight against her illness, myelodysplastic syndromes. And if you didn't know her you wouldn't have even thought she was sick. To learn more about this terminal illness go to www.mds-foundation.org.
It is amazing looking back, the things I have learned from my mom. Look for these in a later post, probably mid-December if/when I do a birthday tribute to her.
For now, I'll just sign off- I miss you, mom.

Red Sox, my husband & 2 year olds growing up

So, I started this post yesterday & must've hit the back button, 'cuz I lost EVERYTHING! At that point I was just too tired to try to put it all back together again so I went to bed. (Good thing the king's men weren't too tired or humpty dumpty would've never made it!)

Last nite the hubby showed me how to add pix to my blog- look out!
So this is him & me after the Red Sox win against the A's Wednesday nite.
This was my first ever Red Sox game, at the legendary Fenway park. While I enjoyed myself, I did tell the hubby that we could've just as easily watched this game in the air conditioned comfort of our very own living room for a lot less money!(and sweat) Wednesday was a beautiful day, but it was a bit of the new england humid. I did learn something at the game though. The cardboard drink trays make excellent fans to fan yourself with. It didn't help that our seats were directly behind home plate underneath the overhang. What I'm trying to say is we had excellent seats, but air does not circulate under the overhang! This was a belated Father's day present for the hubby- he enjoyed it & I guess that's all that matters! (He hadn't been to a sox game since before we got married, so like 4 years or so.)

Wednesday was a bit crazy though, I got the call early in the am saying that I had tix available to me. Well the girls were officially 2 & 1/2 on Wed. & I had scheduled their Christmas pix for that morning. Can I just tell you how stinking cute & good they were for the pix?! Oh my goodness, I could've spent a small fortune on the pix. So by the time we got home, fed them lunch & packed everything up it was time to get on the road to head to the game- it was a 5pm game. Well, as we dropped the girls off at our friend's house I clocked the hubby in the head w/the hatch to the van. Obviously not on purpose. Thankfully he has a hard head so you can't even tell I hit him.

The girls are getting so big & grown up it just kills me. I told Emily to stop growing the other day- in typical 2 year old fashion she said "Okay, momma." She has no clue! I feel somewhat sorry for this child as she is such a mini me. It took her over 1/2 hour to eat 1/4 of a hamburger the other day + I had to bribe/threaten her with ice cream.
Aahhh, the joys of parent hood.

My Darling Husband & crappy starting days

So let's start with the crappy starting days. Literally. My daughters are potty trained during the day- well at least the pee part. They get diapers at naps & bedtime. Apparently they've figured out how to hold their poop until that time. Now if you've known me since my girls were born I am glad they are pooping on a daily basis. Both of my daughters have had constipation issues, pretty much since they were born. Well, now it seems we've gone to the other extreme. Not only are they pooping pretty much on a daily basis, they are blowing out their diapers. This is not fun for various reasons: a)it stinks! b)depending on the extent of the blowout I am now changing their sheets at least once a day c)also along with the sheets is of course either the outfit or pajamas. There was one day I had to change Emily's sheets twice. I've always been a huggies girl since they were first born(yes, I've tried just about every other brand out there), but thought maybe they were getting too big for the huggies so let's try pampers. No better. Well, maybe a tiny bit, but I think it is because the amount of poop has changed, not because I changed the diaper brand.
I am at a loss as to what to do. I must say I did feel a tiny bit better when I called my friend Dawn & we commiserated together. Her 16 mo. old son pooped on the floor, trampled it into the carpet, then onto the vacuum cleaner(he climbed on it) & in between the ridges of the accordion hose. By the time she managed to get a hold of him & put him in the bathtub with his 8 yr. old sister, well he pooped in the tub too. She got out faster than you could shake a stick at it & then he apparently trampled all of this into small bits while waiting for the tub to drain. Oh my! I guess I'll change poopy sheets any day of the week than have to clean up that mess. (Sorry, Dawn.)
The 8 year old sister- this child is the greatest! Not perfect, but a good kid! She is my mother's helper. My daughters worship her. I can use her name as bribery.(guess that isn't necessarily a good thing is it?)
My darling husband. God has been teaching me a lot of things about him- all good, mind you. Like yesterday, I was running wicked late trying to get dinner done. He wanted to ride the motorcycle over to his mom's to let the dog out. But after I asked him (hopefully)very nicely to please take the girls with him, he graciously gave up his ride, loaded the girls into the van & went to his mom's. (I made it up to him later!) There have been a couple blow out days where we've just had to stick the girls in the tub & wash them off that way. One day as I was doing that he changed the crib sheets for me. I didn't even have to ask him to, he just did it. This afternoon, he came home & offered to make dinner. Nothing spectacular, but let me see, he's going to the store to pick up any missing ingredients & then cook dinner. I don't care if I like it or not, I'll manage to choke it down if that's the case.
I'm learning that even though he doesn't do things exactly the way I do them, it's okay as long as it gets done. This is very hard for me to do as I can be very anal retentive about these types of things.
I'm realizing what a wonderful treasure God has given me in this man. Do we see eye to eye on everything? Heck no!!! But God has been teaching me a lot & I've realized that some of the times I thought the husband was wrong, I was the one that was wrong/acting like an __________(fill in the blank).
Thanks honey for loving me in spite of my faults & for forgiving me for acting like an _____.

Two two year olds and other random rantings

Two year olds. We've all been one once in our lifetime. I have identical twin girls, who for the most part are pretty well behaved children. But some days they just work my last nerve. I think it is in direct proportion to how much sleep or lack thereof that I got the previous night. Combined with the fact that they are simply 2 year olds. They are definitely into the independent stage. I do, I do, I do. I help??
They think they can appropriately dress themselves. Although with a little guidance they don't do bad. Usually if I tell them they have the shoe on the wrong foot they understand they need to switch it. They love to help mommy cook & clean up. Most days I have the patience for it, but every once in awhile I just want to get it done! Their latest thing is wiping the table with a sponge, or trying to sweep up a mess on the floor. Then they have to touch & get into everything they aren't suppose to, like the liquid soap in the bathroom. My husband doesn't understand why I put it on top of the vanity, up by the lights. Little hands can't reach it up there; then I don't have to worry about them slathering & spilling it everywhere.

Motorcycles. I love motorcycles. I've been riding since I was about 15 years old. So in 2001 I got my motorcycle license. But I didn't have a motorcycle until the fall of 2002 when my mother so kindly gave me her 400. I rode it that fall & the next spring until the registration expired in April '03, by then my now husband & I were spending time together so I didn't do anything about getting it registered. Fast forward since we've been married I've been after the husband to get his license & he said he wanted to. Even went so far as to ask me to sign him up for the safety course. We talked about it, but never got around to it; well finally this summer he did it & he is loving it! I am so happy. Now we just need to find another bike so we can go riding together.

Dinner tonite. We had steak, baked potato & corn. We really enjoyed it, but if my husband liked vegetables he'd be a vegetarian. Instead I call him a pastatarian. The man would eat pasta 7 days a week if I let him. I personally got burned out on pasta when I went to Bible college.

Please pray for the country of Haiti. Our church is in the process of helping them bring the Willow Creek(Bill Hybels)leadership summit to that country. It is a time for great change in this country & God has really been moving. If you want to see more of what I'm talking about check out the church's web site @ communitycovenant.org, go to Sunday messages, scroll down to the end & you'll find a link to the beginnings of what we are trying to help accomplish in this impoverished nation.

Well enough rambling & ranting- I should go to bed so I get plenty of sleep for my yahoos. :)

A Birthday Tribute & other rantings

Today is my husband's birthday! He is 4 years younger than me, but a lot of people think he's older than me just because of his appearance. This is really irrelevant, because he acts like a kid- in a good way & I love him just the way he is! So Happy Birthday to my husband & may you have many, many more wonderful years & may they be filled with joy & happiness. May you also have a wonderful day today. :)
This has been a bit of a tough year for both of us. My mom passed away the beginning of April & then he lost his job the end of April. We've had a lot of adjustments to make, but the amazing part of it all is that God has been incredibly faithful. (Well, it isn't really so amazing, more just awesome.)
God has been teaching me what a wonderful gift I have in my husband, even though he doesn't always do things the way I would or do. So I guess I could say God has been teaching me alot of things also; like how to be a little bit less anal.
I've noticed that about myself lately- the older I get the more anal I get about things. Now, I am clearly not a germ-o-phobe, but there are certain times I really just don't want my children to get dirty; for no other reason than I just don't feel like dealing with that particular type of dirt. i.e. SAND!
Well enough ranting for now. Happy Birthday, my love!

Blog addictions & other stuff

Well, a friend of mine recently posted she thinks she's a book-a-holic. I think I'm a blog-o-holic. I love to read other people's blogs. I can spend hours doing it. (and forsake the rest of my household) I don't think this is necessarily a good thing & must learn how to control it & not let it consume my life.
In fact I can think of a lot better things to be addicted to; the 1st one being Jesus Christ.
Speaking of this, I just started reading a book that looks to be promising. In fact I found it by reading another blog. Hmmm. Well, the book is titled "Jim & Casper go to church" & was written by Jim Henderson & Matt Casper. One a professing Christian, the other a professing atheist.
However, in being a blog-o-holic, I've found a group of people from S.C. who all know each other & are all Christians. They have some pretty interesting things to say. Especially this one. perrynoble.com -he is a pastor & in reading his blog, I haven't found anything I disagree with as yet. He has some pretty good & right on stuff to say. You should check him out.
I also found a blog that had me about wetting myself. She is a mom to 6 children & quite an interesting writer. Her blog is mom2my6pack.blogspot.com
My husband has turned me into a Red Sox fan. Although having previously lived in Cincinnati I was also a Reds fan. He gets aggravated with me when I slip & accidentally call the Red Sox, the Reds. I'm close, I don't understand why he gets his undies in such a bunch about this??? I would never confuse the Patriots with say the Dallas Cowboys. Or for that matter any other team.(in case you couldn't tell I'm a Cowboys fan.)
Well, enough ramblings for now, I need to go clean up the house & get to bed.

Thankful

Well, it has been 3 1/2 years of marriage, along with a set of twins. Can I just tell you how thankful I am to my Lord Jesus Christ? He is wonderfully awesome! He gave me this man to be my husband and we have been learning to dance the marriage/family dance. We are still learning all the steps, but of late it has been good. All I can say is thank you God, for being an awesome God & working in both of our lives.
Both of us came from broken families. We both brought our share of baggage into the marriage(of course, who doesn't?), and we are still dealing with that.
But he has been wonderful as of late. In the past we have had our moments. Tonite after dinner he cleaned up the kitchen & loaded the dishwasher for me as I got the girls ready for bed. I didn't realize quite how much he'd done until we came home from our bible study group. Which btw has been good too. We are currently doing the Truth project from Focus on the Family. One of the things the video talked about tonite was submission. God the Son, a.k.a Jesus Christ, submitted to God the Father. So why does society make marriage/submission seem like such a dirty & bad word? i.e. wives submit to your husbands.
So on the way home I asked one of those tough questions that you don't always want to hear the answer to, but sometimes you just need to find out. It was good, he sees improvement in our relationship as well. And no it wasn't on submission.
Thank you, Bill for being an awesome father to our girls & being willing to work on you & us & our relationship.
Thank you Lord for giving me Bill, & two beautiful daughters. Help me to always treasure each one of them for the unique, individual, beautiful creations you made them to be.

Pet peeve #2

JAY WALKING. Yes, this is a pet peeve of mine, however it needs elaboration. Let me just start out saying that I have jaywalked in my life time, & yes, I'm sure I'll do it again. I think it is a respect issue. It really irritates me when people, especially teenagers think they can walk directly in front of traffic. Now I'm not just talking about there's a cross walk & you step out into it. Then you have every right to cross the street & I'd better be stopping for you. I'm talking about my light is green & I'm moving & you decide to cross the street the way the red light is going. I think this is absolutely rude & have already told my 2 year olds that if I ever catch them doing that they'll be in trouble.
For anyone who's ever been to NYC you've probably learned that jaywalking is quite acceptable. Again, I do agree when done properly. Don't just saunter across the street & certainly don't do it if you don't have enough time to cross before the vehicle coming down the road is on top of you.
Here in RI I've seen people who have a green light STOP to let some one cross against the flow of traffic. Why??? Last time I checked the traffic laws if I have a green light it is my turn to go & you need to wait for your green light!
When I stated that I thought it was a respect issue, I believe it is people who don't have any respect for others around them. The world is all about them.
Okay enough venting for now.

By the way did you know 2 year olds can have the best time just running back & forth, giggling? They never cease to amaze me!

Duly chastised & other things

Well, I wasn't really "chastised" only reminded that it had been several weeks since I posted anything new. Yes, I've been slacking. I started a post a couple weeks ago, tried to save it as a draft & lost it. So I will now try to recap what I wrote & add more. Needless to say this may be a lengthy post/ramble.

July 14th. Here in RI we have a thing in downtown Providence called "waterfire." What this is are pods in the water & volunteers go along load them up with wood & then go back & light them on fire. All the while there is music playing in the background. This apparently started in 1994, but I don't think it gained popularity until probably 2000. Well, having been in RI for 11 years now, I had never seen it, nor had my husband who is a RI native. So we decided to check it out(obviously on 7/14). Loaded up the bicycles & downtown Providence we went. The bikes were a mistake & we got there a little later than we had planned on. It was definitely interesting, but I don't think it is all the hype they have made it out to be. Would I do it again? Yeah, probably on foot. But it isn't like it is going to become a regular outing with us.

The girls have been doing pretty well with the potty & have even started pooping in it. We did have a week or so where it seemed we were in a bit of rebellion, though. We had more accidents than mommy liked & this is when one can truly appreciate hardwood & linoleum floors.

There is a "house contest" going on in RI. For a mere $100.00, 100 word essay & several other "guidelines," you have the chance to win a 4 bed, 1 bath house. Having thrown away $100.00 probably many times over; my husband & I decided to enter. So hopefully, if it is God's will, we will be the proud new owners of a home by the end of the month! My prayer is that God would put exactly the family that needs to be in this home, in it.

The weekend of the 27th of July was a busy weekend for me! Being the birthday & all, as my good friend Dawn (a.k.a. Martha, jr. or Raven)often reminds me it was holy week. Even today, I'm still celebrating!
I went to the Women of Faith conference in Boston on Fri & Sat. & I laughed & I cried. It was a great time. Then Sunday afternoon after church a few of the ladies got together & went up to the Charles river in Boston & went for a "moonlit" canoe ride. Yes, the 29th was a full moon, however due to cloud cover we didn't get to see it until our drive home. We still had a blast though! Thanks Joyce, Jojo & Chris!
Still celebrating in grand fashion the husband has been absolutely awesome this past week! He & the girls got me a spa package for my b-day, so I went & pampered myself on Tue.
Let me just pause here a minute & ask all the parents a question. Do you ever have those days when your children are just being children but they are totally working your last nerve??? Well, Fri. was one of those days for me! The dh came home from helping at sports camp at church, we put the girls down for a nap & I went to pick blueberries in about a bazillion degrees - BY MYSELF! Just me, God & the bushes! It was actually enjoyable & amazing how quickly I was able to pick a good amount!
Then on Sat. some ladies & I went to super suppers, came home, the dh went out, came home, we ate dinner & I went & played cards with some ladies from church. But it's better than that- when I came home from super suppers, dh had fed the girls lunch, ran the dishwasher, emptied it, reloaded the remaining dishes that didn't fit the 1st load, washed the ones that don't fit at all & well, lets just say my kitchen looked pretty nice.

I think I need to go pamper the dh now so will close this post. I will try to be more diligent in posting. Thanks Sandy for the encouragement! :)

Friday the 13th

Well, here it is Friday the 13th. Although many people are superstitious about today, it is actually one of my favorite days. I'm envious of my friends whose birthdays are on the 13th because that means they get to have a Friday the 13th b-day. And no I don't like Friday the 13th movies. In fact if you know me you know that I thought the movie "Sixth Sense" was too scary.

So I was looking & noticed that it has been a week since I blogged, so I thought I'd start with the really fun things the family has been doing this week.
I just started meeting with some friends of mine on Tuesday mornings for a Bible study. They've been meeting for probably close to a year now, so you say why did you just join them? I'll tell you. We are doing an awesome read for anyone who has children; "To Train Up a Child" by Michael & Debi Pearl. It is a bit ouchy, because it is very biblically based. So as you're reading the book & they suggest you should discipline your child this way or that way it is sometimes a bit hard to swallow. Actually the whole premise of the book is in the title. Training your children as opposed to disciplining them.
Thursday we went with our friend Viv to a house on Wallum lake, had some wonderful Christian fellowship & played in the water. The girls absolutely love being in the water. And mom felt like a horrible mom as I forgot to put sunscreen on their faces so they had pink cheeks & noses.
Today, Dad & I packed up the girls, our bicycles & a picnic lunch & went to the East Bay bike path. We had a wonderful time, went to Haines Park for our lunch & then back to the carousel. We rode the carousel a couple of times & then went down the street for some ice cream. Between yesterday & today I've never seen two little girls sooo tired.

Tomorrow promises to be just as exciting. Grammy promised the girls that when mom said they were potty trained we'd all go shopping for new outfits from head to toe. So it has been 5 weeks & we have only had a handful of accidents. All in all they're doing quite well.

Well, enough rambling for now.

the continued saga of potty training......

Let me back up a bit before we get to the potty training part of this post. As many of my friends know somewhere about a year our girls decided to start undressing themselves at bedtime. After a few minor accidents of naked babies & wet cribs & then talking to other moms; we quickly remedied this situation by safety pinning their pajamas. It even got to the point where they thought the pin was part of the outfit. If we didn't put it on, they'd quickly remind us by saying, "pin, pin, PIN, PIN." (crescendo here)- & unfortunately our daughters have their mother's high pitched voice. (Now I know why my grandfather used to turn his hearing aid off/down all the time when I was around.)
So, fast forward to the potty training, our girls have been able to undress themselves for awhile now. This is a good thing when getting them ready for bed or to potty train. Not a good thing if your child is prone to taking clothes off in the middle of anywhere! Fortunately, so far our girls are "relatively" modest.
We are now in week 4 of training & we've only had 1 accident in the last 2 weeks. To me that is pretty good, especially since I'm training 2 of them. But they do still wear diapers for naps & bedtime.
The last 2 days 1 of the girls has pooped in her diaper & then promptly pulled it off & made a mess in her crib. Fortunately she doesn't seem to be artistic & is not smearing it everywhere. However, it is frustrating as I still have to change the sheets & clean her up. I usually find out about this mess as the other one starts screaming something about a mess or poop! Thank goodness they are still young enough to bag each other!
Ahhh, the joys of potty training & parenting.

pet peeves & toilet training two 2 year olds

Let me first start this post by saying that the two topics are not related! In any way shape or form.
I have several pet peeves of which I'll go into more later, but one that seems to be happening to me quite frequently of late is highway on ramps. Let me explain, I completely understand the difference between yield & stop. And I do understand that if you have a yield that it means you must allow oncoming traffic to go ahead of you.
Well, here in N.E. there are many on ramps that DO NOT have a yield at the end of them. Now I realize that drivers ed. class was many, many years ago, but if my memory serves me correctly on ramps are to be used to accelerate & blend in with traffic. So having said this here is the pet peeve. For the love of all that is good PLEASE people, if you are on an on ramp that merges into traffic DO NOT STOP!!!! Keep driving & merge. Thank you. (I feel better already!)

So on to toilet training of 2 year olds. I love my daughters dearly, but it seems since we've been potty training that the bathroom has become a place to play. We've now been at this 3 weeks & they are doing awesome. Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Marsha, for helping me get started & figure out what I'm doing. But back to the potty training. I don't even have to ask them if they have to go potty anymore(well, I still do, just not every half hour). I don't think we've had an accident all week.(watch now we'll digress) They use the big potty, but since there are 2 of them I still have the baby potty in there as well. If any of you've ever been around twins, you know it is monkey see, monkey do. So most times they'll use the big potty consecutively & once in awhile they'll use the little potty. My oldest daughter has decided that she needs to use the step stool to get on to the baby potty. Yes, you read that right, so then she sits there with her feet propped up. It's pretty comical really. She's also taken to pulling off anything below the waist, which means we have to re-dress her. Not too bad, because she tries to do it herself, but the underwear usually doesn't end up the way it is suppose to; which can't be comfortable. So playing in the bathroom: they've figured out how to turn the light switch on & off, so we go potty to play with the lights; we like to wash our hands, okay, not a bad thing, but again we go potty to wash our hands. If they get on a roll(not the tp roll, either)it can take me almost a half hour to get them out of the bathroom. I repeat myself constantly...don't touch that, are you done? go potty, wipe, let your sister go.
So, if you've potty trained at all, I know you feel my pain- now just double it!
But wait it gets better, my daughters like to watch their daddy go to the bathroom. First of all this is a bit disconcerting to him to have two toddlers stand there watching him urinate. Well, the other day my youngest daughter decided she wanted to go potty like daddy. So she pulls her underwear down, sits on the potty for about 2 seconds, stands up on the step stool & turns around & faces the toilet. She then proceeds to grab herself as if she has the proper equipment to urinate like her father. After chuckling about it I had to explain to her that daddy stands, they sit! Ah, the joys of parenthood, wouldn't trade it for the world.

possible upcoming posts

So I let a lot of my friends know that I started a blog. I even solicited for ideas for my blog. So one of my friends writes back -the S-- word & chocolate & how it can be so good for you, yet so fattening. I need to think about these topics a bit more & see if I can't come up w/an appropriate post or 2.
One that I thought about doing is pet peeves of mine. We will see.

this thing called blogging? and welcome to my blog

Well, after not really being able to take time to sit down & figure this thing out until now; here is my next post. I have friends who are incredible at blogging. (at writing in general) I have some blogs that I've added to my own personal favorites that I really enjoy reading. Some of these people post every few days, some every few weeks & others well, it seems to be every few months. I'm not making any promises here, but I will say that I'll try to be consistent in posting.

To all my friends, I'd like to say welcome to my blog. I hope it will be as entertaining as some of the others I've read.
So having said that here is my 2nd post.

first blog

Well, here is my first official post. I don't claim to have good English; in fact I hate to write papers. But I love reading good blogs, so figured I'd try my hand at it.