Are you still buying bottled water?

Maybe this will change your mind.



I have not purchased bottled water in over 2 years or so. It was so disturbing to see this video. I hope after watching it you will change your shopping habits as well.

Random but important

Can you hear Ray Charles singing that song? It's been raining for what seems like 40 days and 40 nights here in Georgia. The rain is pouring for hours at a time. The dogs are cooped up in the garage, the kids have been indoors for days and I think Kyra has cabin fever.

I'm preparing for Halle's school day tomorrow and we are progressing quite well I think. He are having to begin at the beginning of the 4th grade because her Montessori education did not exactly meet her needs. She really needed the one on one. For instance, in math when she is reading a number that has more than 4 digits she was reading it like this...4-5-three hundred and twenty-two (45, 322). I had to review place value and used manipulative's like the small blocks that are together in sets of ones, tens and hundreds. We worked hard and now she's got it! She is now reading numbers in the billions. I'm very excited about her potential.

Church was good today and there was a full house even though the weather was bad.

Please be praying for Tony. He had an interview for a job and we heard from a little birdy that he will be made an offer. We are hoping that tomorrow he will get a call.

It's Sunday and I love quiet Sundays like this after church, about to have dinner and the kids are winding down and preparing for tomorrow and bedtime. It's quiet and I can hear Wesley putting his guitar away that he's been playing all afternoon into the evening.

With the new week beginning I hope it goes smoothly:)

Happy Birthday to ya..MLK

It would be interesting to learn how others are spending MLK day. Today my family is going to the Bishop's Storehouse to work in the soup kitchen or prepare food boxes for the needy. There's a lot of work to be done. I want the children to have a servants heart like Martin Luther King did. What are you doing today with your children or if you do not have children please share what you are doing today?

Looking back at 2009

I can’t say that I am unhappy to see 2009 leave us. It has been a tumultuous year to say the least. There were celebrations, salutations and disconsolation, to deal with. As 2009 passes by I will remember this year as the year that I did a lot of growing up. If you are under 40 or still in your 20’s I am here to let you know that this thing called life is a never ending lesson. It’s one of those things that you just have to find out for yourself unfortunately. No one can teach you the lessons that you need to learn to complete the person you are supposed to be. You can’t read it in a book or read it on a blog, although a book about what you need to learn can point you in the right direction, there is NOTHING like life experience. You have to go through it. This is the year that made me reflective, understand my purpose and learn to relax a bit about my aspirations for my children. In an effort to make note of the lessons I learned this year I am listing and reflecting on the following events. continue reading here

Where did the New Year's Resolution Originate?

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year's gifts.

In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.

Happy New Year!

I’d like to take this time to wish my friends, family and my Followers a very Happy New Year! I pray that this coming year will be all that you hope it to be. May your wishes, hopes and dreams come true for your families. I just know that 2010 will be prosperous and I am excited for all the possibilities. A toast to you..Cheers:)

There are just 2 minutes left in 2009 so I am signing off! Happy New Year!!!!

My Child's Education; Finding what's best

Making a decision about your child’s education can be heart wrenching. It can be frustrating, even perhaps discouraging. If you’ve been told that your child has processing issues and you are not sure where to turn here are perhaps some options for you to explore. I hope that you can learn from my experience.

In 2005, Halle was in kindergarten when teachers began to tell me that she had a short attention span and that she seemed to stare off into space as though she were not mentally present. I called her a dreamer. I noticed that she was fully capable as long as she was doing something that she was interested in. Halle has a love for dinosaurs and at a very young age decided that she wanted to be a Paleontologist. She also loved to art and anything that allowed her to be creative. Teachers did say that Halle did well if someone worked one on one with her. I also noticed this and began to look at my options.

My searches lead me to homeschooling. At the time I had a thriving business and could not see myself giving up part of that time homeschooling. After a discussion with a seasoned teacher she referred me to SST (Student Support Team), a group of teachers who come together to evaluate and offer suggestions to the lead teacher. They work under the leadership of a school appointed student support team administrator. I had been through this process with my boys so with the knowledge that I had about learning disabilities (ADHD, Aspergers syndrome, ADD) I decided that Halle needed a little more one on one time. My online searches suggested homeschooling so I followed my heart and removed her from public school and homeschooled Halle for kindergarten and first grade.

After those two years it became necessary for me to regain the success I was having in my business. Our finances were getting tight so with a heavy heart I sent Halle back to public school in 2008. Third grade was not good at all. Academically she did well in language arts, spelling and all other subjects that did not directly deal with numbers. In math Halle was behind. Although the information that was being covered had already been covered in home school she failed to retain it and the teachers also felt that she was unable to retain the math she learned from the previous day. Shortly after taking an assessment test to evaluate her abilities Halle was hurt in school. She ran into a brick wall while running from the trailer to the inside of the school building. She was sent to the bathroom with 3 other students and without an adult present she was being chased by the boys who accompanied them. She hit her head above her left eye. She had 14 stitches and her skull could be seen through the hole. I decided from that point that I would find an alternative to public school.

I later in 2008 placed her into a private Montessori school to complete the third grade. She is currently attending the school now and is in the middle of fourth grade. I strongly believe in the Montessori way of teaching but this situation is proving not to be the best environment for her. The work load still requires a lot of one on one for Halle. So here I am again at the same crossroad. I know what needs to be done. I have to be the one to teach her. I now have removed her from school again and have enrolled her into an online K12.com school. Halle remains on grade level with the exception of math which I believe she is a half grade behind. All the decisions I have made in regard to her education have all been in the thought and mind of what is best for her individually. I certainly could have just sent her to school and let the teachers work it out or let her fall through the cracks. I could not and I am at peace with my choices because I made them for Halle and I was not willing to settle for the status quo.

When you get to know Halle you realize how special she is. She has an interest in learning and desperately wants to be successful in school. I am excited to home school her again but this time online. I’ll be her coach and with the help of a teacher that is provided by the K12 program, I know she will reach her goals in mathematics and excel beyond her wildest dreams.

I’ve learned three things through this, the first is;

It is okay to change your mind. If you make a choice and later feel that something else would work better than it is okay to make a change to a better situation. What is important to make sure of is that your child is on his/her grade level or above.

Secondly, do not try to recreate what goes on in the public school classroom. Make sure you cover the basics; reading, writing, math and language arts. You can cover all the other subjects as well. They will fall into place. You will find that your schoolwork will take about 4 hours. So much of the public school day is fluff.

Thirdly, do not let family or friends discourage you. They seem to have all the answers but none of them would have the heart that you have to remove your child from public school for a better education or situation.

Halle is a 4^th grader and currently being homeschooled. She will be 10 years old in 2010. I am her homeschooling coach. I am still running my business from home. I just had to rearrange my priorities.

Happy Birthday Tony!!

Today is Tony's birthday! Happy birthday honey, I hope you had a great day. I love you so much - even when I'm on the computer:)

Yummy yummy for my tummy:)

Sunday I baked 4 sweet potato pies. I've been trying to perfect the recipe for quite some time. I didn't have trouble with the taste of the pies but it was the texture I couldn't get quite right. I planned to bake one for my brother-in-law Marvin who had a birthday on 12/13. The same day I baked an apple crisp. It was the perfect day for baking since it was very cold and rainy outside and no one wanted to venture out for any reason. The pies came out perfectly and the apple crisp was really good too. Tony ate it on top of his oatmeal as well as ice cream. Now I’m ready for Christmas. Here’s the recipe.

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch pie

Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) sweet potato
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a soufflé, and then will sink down as it cools.

Now remember I made 4 pies so you will need to double the wet and dry ingredients. I used 6 medium sized sweet potatoes.

"Look, - I just answered the questions."

96 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I found this today. I thought it was very cute. I posted it so you could take the test. I had no idea that I would score a 96. Shoot, I don't even cook every night. Well I do every night except Wednesdays. It depends on what's going on. Anywho take the test and post here. I'd like to know your score. By the way, there's a test for men too:)

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today is my birthday. I'm 44 today. Lots of calls and posts on Facebook wishing me a happy b-day. I had fun today. I took a long nap and it was fun. I even received flowers from Melaleuca. Another year gone by. Tough year. I'm looking forward to 2010.

As merry as the day is long

Last night at 10:45PM I sat in the loft area with Halle working on homework. She had several projects that were due on Friday, almost all of which she started on Wednesday. Without going into every assignment we ended the evening practicing for her spelling test today. So into the night we went "c-o-n s-t-i-l-l-a-t-i-o-n-s", NO listen to the word and hear the letters". "Listen and spell it again c-o-n-s-t-e-l-l-a-t-i-o-n-s, Yes that’s it"! "Ok now retriever"…..into the night we spelled, circled nouns and looked up definitions.

Now I understand why most mommy blogs have titles like Confessions of a Suburban Housewife, Redheaded Temper Tantrums, Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins, The Mommy Trenches, the list goes on. I certainly named this blog perfectly. As my children get older, more and more gets plied on my plate. Last night Tony sat in the loft area with me while I was working with Halle and he said “I cannot get over how long our days are”. Sixteen hours of the day are spent doing things for other people, the children or taking care of responsibilities. That leaves 8 hours in which we must feed ourselves, spend time a little time together which is when we usually end up nodding in and out of sleep on the couch together and actually sleeping in bed. There’s no room for anyone else. Now there’s talk of Wesley taking some karate classes. Between working, school, housework (which there is never time for) homework, parent teacher meetings, fundraising and more parent meetings, MY Melaleuca business, and being everyone’s Girl Friday, I am crazy.

Right now I am sitting here about to wake up Kyra for school. Wesley and Justin left for seminary at 6:35am this morning; Tony drove them. I made them a quick hot breakfast after waking up at 6:15am. I could get up earlier but I don’t. Perhaps if I woke up at 5:00am I could squeeze in a post to my blog. I listen to XM radio in the van as I travel back and forth because if I don’t I would never know what was going on in the world. There is ZERO time to watch TV which is why we cancelled our cable subscription last year. No one had time to watch TV in my house. I opened a Netflix account so that we could at least watch movies on the weekend. Also with everyone being so busy I found that the TV was getting in the way of us connecting when we could. Without the TV I feel I have their attention more often.

In all the chaos we still have Family Home Evening occasionally on most Monday evenings for about an hour. It helps to keep everyone in the team effort. It also reminds us that our family is the most important thing above all else and above everyone else. These 6 people and our purposes are number one. All these little world’s with their own trials and tribulations, the homework, the chores, the scripture memorization, earning merit badges for Boy Scouts, the school projects, the half painted walls, unfolded laundry, the sink full of dishes, the 2 dogs pooping in the garage, the constant flow of trash being emptied from smaller receptacles into a larger one for Friday pickup. When does it end? And it the midst of all of this chaos we are supposed to be madly in love, have mind blowing sex, remember to say I love you, meet all the kids emotional needs, keep a clean house, be friends, manage finances and this house and be a good Latter Day Saint. All of this while obeying the words of wisdom and keeping our bodies clean and free of drugs, caffeine, alcohol and anything else that is harmful to the human body. I tell you if it were not for my beliefs and my commitment to the gospel I would be under the influence of something everyday…LOL.

And after saying all of this I say “This is a day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

Taking a look back at 2009

I can’t say that I am unhappy to see 2009 leave us. It has been a tumultuous year to say the least. There were celebrations, salutations and disconsolation, to deal with. As 2009 passes by I will remember this year as the year that I did a lot of growing up. If you are under 40 or still in your 20’s I am here to let you know that this thing called life is a never ending lesson. It’s one of those things that you just have to find out for yourself unfortunately. No one can teach you the lessons that you need to learn to complete the person you are supposed to be. You can’t read it in a book or read it on a blog, although a book about what you need to learn can point you in the right direction, there is NOTHING like life experience. You have to go through it. This is the year that made me think, “Why God are we here and why does it have to hurt so much”? In an effort to make note of the lessons I’ve learned this year I am listing and reflecting on the following events.

January 2009 – President Obama’s Inauguration – I received invitations from the Presidential Inaugural Committee to attend this historic event but I did not open the envelope until a month after the inauguration. I was so busy with family stuff that when the envelope came I didn’t open it. I thought it was just junk mail. A month later I noticed the envelope on the kitchen counter upside down. What made me look at it were the words Handle With Care printed on the corner of the large envelope. When I opened it I was stunned. I was sent an invitation from the Presidential Inaugural Committee in Washington, DC. and I missed out on it.

February 2009 – My Dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer. We were very optimistic since his type of cancer is highly curable. It was too late since he like most men would never go to the doctor. By the time he was diagnosed the cancer had spread too much and after a series of biopsy’s and an attempt at surgery he was given 6 months to live.

February 2009 – My 8^th Wedding Anniversary – Tony and I went to dinner to celebrate the day we were wed. I am absolutely in love with my husband. I am blessed to be married to my soul mate. He is the wind beneath my wings. He is my very best friend. Sometimes the 2nd time around is the charm. There is a line in Avatar, the smash hit new movie (with the blue people) where during different times in the movie the 2 main characters would say to each other with a gentle touch, “I see you”. I so connected with that line in the movie every time it was spoken. If you haven’t seen Avatar yet I’m telling you that you must see it. You must see it in the theatre before you see it on DVD. See it in 3D if possible. It was an awesome movie, the best I’ve seen this year. Oh excuse the little rant there for a sec…as I was saying, this is how I felt that day. I felt that he could see me. Okay now I’m crying. Time to stop and move on to March.

February 2009 – On Feb. 14 it was Valentine’s Day but it also marked 8 years I have be a successful work at home Mom. I replaced my income in 2003 and my husband’s income in 2007. I help others do the same thing.

I am always looking for new partners to team up with. Wanna work at home? Contact me today!

March 2009 – Sweet Repeats consignment sale – I love this sale! Twice a year I shop for the girls here. Designer labels and the clothing is great! Looks like new and saves us a lot of money. If you are shopping retail for your kid’s school clothing I urge you to try a consignment event or store near you. Each year I have been spending about $200 on clothing for the girls. All designer labels. You can’t beat that with a stick.

March 2009 - I went to CA on a business trip and spent 3 days training and spent some time with friends and colleagues without the hubby and kids. I spent my free time sleeping and it was wonderful!

DANG! THIS IS A LONG POST…..(it was a long year. What can I say?)

April 2009 – Beyond The Canvas – As the fundraising chairperson of my daughters Montessori school I assisted in the schools largest fundraiser by booking the talent. The event consisted of lunch, an art show/auction, as well as performances by the children and talent I booked. The event was a success!

May 2009 - Started Monday morning prayer with my 5 sisters and my Mom. We prayed together for my Dad who was undergoing treatment for cancer.

June 2009- Attended luau at the Brentlingers who have a house in the middle of nowhwere. Miles and miles of greenery and very few neighbors. After driving on a dirt road for about a half an hour we reached the destination. They had a beautiful pool and the decor took us back to the Hawaiian Islands – Big fun!

July 2009 – Working my business, visiting Dad at the hospital, and took our annual family vacation to Buffalo, NY.

August – attended company convention in Florida. Tony and I were finally sealed in the Florida temple, started big push for merit badges by attending merit badge clinics almost every weekend.

My son Justin at a court of honor ceremony (age 14)

My son Wesley at the court of honor ceremony (age 16)

My mother and her sister, my Auntie Marion in the black suits with white tops in front. The rest are sisters and cousins.

My Dad passed away on the Aug. 18^th, almost exactly 6 months after he was diagnosed just like the doctors said. Lots of family visiting, we all chose the casket and flowers, we spent some time together, we laughed and cried, I worked hard and had a very successful month in an effort to suppress my grief and we all did some growing up.

My sister Debra (center) and her daughters, my nieces Sana and Jannah

Rest in Peace Dad

September – more grieving, merit badge clinics and fundraising.

October – Halloween, baking, grieving, and more Boy Scout merit badge clinics.

November - Thanksgiving with just me and the kids, nephew Dawud visited and stayed over a few days and spent a lot of time with my children. (Tony went to NY to visit his 88 yr. old Mom), grieving, and more Boy Scout merit badge clinics.

December – Job hunting with Tony, retyping resumes, faxing, My birthday, Tony’s birthday and Christmas.

I'll add the Christmas pics another time. Thanks for reading:)