Applesauce Surprise

YAY!! I am starting to feel better again. It has been a long 6 weeks, but God is so gracious and heard my cry. So, since it is just me and the little guys this morning (Tim, Miguel, and Karizma, left at 3:30am to go Black Friday shopping), I just had to make them their favorite breakfast. I haven't made it for them since before I was pregnant!

Applesauce Surprise
(makes 3 servings)
-3 eggs
-9 tablespoons of applesauce (Or you can use flavored yogurt and then you have all 4 food groups represented! But, then I guess you would have yogurt surprise, which my boys love, too.)
-1 banana, sliced
-1/4 cup of Kashi cereal (or any cereal... they just prefer Kashi)

Scramble the eggs. Once they are cooked, mix eggs, applesauce, sliced banana, and cereal all together. It looks like a mashed mess and I believe this is one of the reasons why they LOVE it. I am so blessed to be able to feel well enough to hang with my boys and I feel like I am on top of the world right now!

Have a great Friday and I will post some pics from Thanksgiving soon!!

Thankful Thursday Thanksgiving

This is a list of the first 20 things that come to mind that I am thankful for. Of course, my list would be unending if I kept listing, so I had to put a cap on it. It is in no certain order, except for number one.

1. My salvation Knowing that I will be spending all eternity with my Lord, and that he loved me enough to die for my sins, is the greatest gift and for that I am so thankful. YOU can have this assurance, too. Just ask Jesus.

2. My friendship with Jesus There are so many times that I have felt such joy, such pain, such heartache, such elation and sharing them with Him always provides exactly what I need.

3. My husband Here is a man that has gone through so much the last 2 1/2 years. So much pain, medication, and uncertainty. However, he works so hard to provide. Is a sweet Daddy. Makes me laugh to no end. And loves the Lord. I am so blessed. (Plus, I think he is pretty darn cute!)

4. My arrows... my children I truly love these amazing gifts from God. They have been what God has used to grow me, mold me, heal me. There is not a day that goes by that they don't each do something sweet and unselfish for me, even the littlest one, and it is a reminder of what a blessed ministry I have as a mommy.

5. Our mountain Watching our boys get a daily dose of an adventure through the bushes and on the rocks. Knowing that they have endless space to explore and that they are safe is such a blessing!

6. My family I love my family and Tim's. Each of them provides me with something extra special in their own way. I am truly thankful for them. (Special shout out to Nat for being one of the sweetest gifts to me these past 2 months. I love you, sister.)

7. My church and Pastor Going to Grace has been such a growing experience for me. I have gained so much from my church family and my Pastor is such a wonderful example to us, as is his wife. Plus, working the nursery has been a real highlight in my life.

8. My Mommies group Through this group I have met some of the most selfless, kind, and loving women. I love each of them and count this group as one of my sweetest blessings.

9. My minivan Although it is packed to the brim, and we will need to replace it soon to make room for the baby, it has been our home away from home.

10. The baby in my womb I had not forgotten my little bean! I can't wait to hold you, kiss you, nurse you, love on you. You are a gift from God!

11. My BFF Jackie, you are so many things to me, that it would be another long list, but just know I love you and am so thankful for you.

12. KFC's mashed potatoes Something about this mixture of potatoes and gravy helps with the nausea. It has been a godsend.

13. Methadone Yes, Methadone. It has made quite a difference in Tim's ability to function physically and mentally, so for that I am so thankful. (Please note, for those of you that are not familiar with my husband's story, that Tim uses Methadone as a medication to relieve his chronic pain due to a car accident almost 3 years ago, since Oxycontin was just not a good fit for him. He is not using it for addiction or recovery purposes. However, we are grateful for this medication because it does provide many wonderful uses. We have a friend that used Methadone for many years and is now completely healed of her addiction to Heroin...however, if you ask her she will tell you it was all due to Jesus. We agree.)

14. Caller ID Need I say more?

15. My country To have the freedom to love my God, homeschool my children, vote, express my opinion... it is such a gift.

16. Our military God bless the men, women, and families of those in our military. Please pray for our troops!

17. Clearance racks If I am wearing something new, most likely it came from the clearance rack (or Natalie's maternity closet).

18. Harlan Pepper, our dog Watching the joy he brings our daughter is immeasurable. Plus who knew that this floppy eared, silly looking dog would be a good guard dog?!

19. Tylenol With the headaches I have been getting this pregnancy, Tylenol has been my constant friend.

20. My blog readers Reading your comments, getting your emails, hearing about what you thought about my posts, well, it brings sweetness to my day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!!

Guess Who's Turn It Was This Time...

I forgot to mention, and I thought it only fair, that I also stuck my foot in my mouth this past weekend.
We had the pleasure of going to have a nice lunch with our good friend's, the Cecil's. As we were enjoying our food, Christine was asking what we were going to be doing for Thanksgiving. I proceeded to tell her about how we spend every Thanksgiving with my parents and how much I look forward to the homemade gravy my Mom makes. "She makes it from the turkey droppings," I said. "OH, NO, I meant to say, drippings, TURKEY DRIPPINGS! NOT DROPPINGS! Sorry!"
The Cecil's were very sweet and totally overlooked it, but Tim did not let me live it down all day. I suppose he will bring it up at Thanksgiving and make some joke about it then.
Sorry, Mom, it was totally a slip of the tongue and not in any way a slight on your wonderful recipe!!!!

Sticks Foot In Mouth: The Jr. Edition

The setting: IKEA

The person whose foot ended in mouth: Walker

The victim: Who else?!? ME, of course.

We like to go to IKEA and look around when we happen to be in the area. We usually grab one of those little paper measuring tapes when you first walk in, just in case we find something cool and need to check measurements.

Walker asked if he could get one too. As we are walking past all the cool model kitchens, I feel little hands wrapped around my hips. "Aww," I thought, "he (Being Walker) is so affectionate!" I start to wrap my arm around his little neck and look down with adoration at this sweet little man to notice that no... he was not giving me a hug... and, yes, he was measuring my hips with this tape.

"WALKER... you NEVER measure a ladies hips, Buddy!!!!" He looks a bit taken aback.

Tim then says to Walker, "Did it fit?" (He was wearing a mischievous grin. You really didn't think he was going to get away without being the ring leader of foot in mouth in this post, did you? Come on, the apple does not fall far from the tree, folks.)

Walker replies, "Well, I couldn't get it to go all the way around."

Nice. Real nice. Way to make me feel special, guys.

Thankful Thursday

Whoo....I had one of the hardest nights last night. Just not feeling well at all. I only got about 4-5 hours of sleep and was just exhausted. I did wake up feeling better physically, but feeling a little beaten down in every other area of my life. However, God does hear my cries, it says so in Psalm 18:6... my personal favorite:

In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears. (Psalm 18:6)

So, maybe my heart was still a little troubled, but God was going to use someone to help take care of the other things, while he allowed me to just focus on healing my heart. 5 angels showed up on my doorstep bearing mops, soap, and lots of other cleaning potions. My house is spotless; even the walls were wiped down. The bathrooms, kitchen, floors, bedrooms, everything... clean. Even my livingroom furniture was moved around to make room for the Christmas tree! You know that you are very loved when someone is willing to wash your underwear... my sweet sister in law, Natalie, was at it again (I wish I would have taken a picture of her wearing her 'employee of the month' t-shirt). God has been using her in immeasurable ways in my life lately. I had always thought I was supposed to take care of her, have her 'learn' from me, etc, because I am 10 years her senior, but I have really been gaining so much from her lately.

I can't thank her and all the kids, all 5 of mine and 4 of hers (that's 9 between the 2 of us!), enough! I feel like so much was battled today, from toilets, to dirty clothes, to the sense of feeling overwhelmed in my heart. Jesus, is that kind of friend. He looks out for you. He uses others to let you know He has not forgotten you, and never will. I felt very loved today, and for Natalie, the kids, and a clean house, I am VERY THANKFUL!

p.s. Did I mention that among all the wonderful things they did, dinner was also provided, last night and tonight, and even though our small home was crawling with 9 kids and a lot of vacuuming going on, I was able to take a 3 hour AMAZING nap?!! Thank you, Jesus! (And Nat, how's some Berry Kiss for lipstick?! wink, wink)

My Week So Far

I know it has been almost a week since I have posted. I am sorry, especially to my faithful readers whom expect me to be better at keeping you entertained, even if just for a minute or two. This pregnancy has been a bit more difficult than the others. I keep blaming it on the elevation of the mountain. At least the mornings aren't as difficult as they used to be. Now, most of my nausea is reserved for the evening. Most of my pregnancies have been 'afternoon/evening sickness' pregnancies.

I am blessed that the kids are so willing to help with the little ones and around the house. It also helps that Miguel enjoys cooking so much because it makes things much easier around here. Karizma has been a DOLL and changes most of Zack's diapers... especially the 'special' ones, because true to form, I catch a little whiff and I am a goner. Just last night, after we had dessert for Karizma's birthday at Denny's, I had to borrow one of their bushes. Sorry, Denny's! The puking doesn't happen very often, but it comes with the territory.

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving! We spend it at my parent's home and my Mom makes gravy from the turkey juice left in the cooking pan. It is a special treat she only makes once a year, but when I am pregnant, which is every other Thanksgiving, she puts the gravy boat right in front of ME! Plus, we get to see my brother and his wife, Manny and Susan, during that weekend, too. We don't get to see them enough, so we look forward to that time.

This week has been an eventful one so far: Grandma Murph's (Tim's grandma) memorial was on Monday. Miguel spoke at the memorial and I was so proud and so blessed. We are very comforted to know she is in heaven with Jesus and Grandpa. Yesterday was K's birthday... Paula, a good friend, gave me a hard time for making Karizma go to the dentist and get her flu shot on her birthday. Hey, we don't come down the mountain very often, so we get it all done on that day, as to not have to make extra trips. She was fine, though, because she had her team party last night. Today she has her 'party' with her youth group. I know she will have a blast! I just pray I will feel ok when I have to drive down the mountain to take her!

Random Review Of The Week

Earlier this week we all stayed at the Good Nite Inn in Redlands, CA. Tim had a client meeting near there the following morning. He had stayed at this exact same motel the week before and said he had really liked it. So, when he was sent a letter asking for his comments on his stay, he gave it a very high rating. This in turn had them thanking him with a free nights stay voucher, good for a year. Well, since Timmy had to go back on business the following week, it was great to get the voucher in the mail the night before we left to head up to Redlands. A free nights stay for all 7 of us? Sweet! Can't beat that!
So, we head up to Redlands, which Tim tells us is a nice place. We head straight to the motel so we can unload and then head out for a nice dinner. Tim checks us in, we find parking, and start our stay at the Good Nite Inn.
Well, my first thought was, "We are stuck in a 'Ghetto Sandwich'!" Yeah, we got a room facing the pool, which we had all planned on enjoying, but not after our long walk down the corridor to our room. We passed 2 rooms. Each room had their door wide open, curtains wide open, with a man laying in the bed, for all to see, drinking. The first was guzzling a beer, laying under the covers. The man in the adjoining room to us was downing a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Hmm, I don't think this is exactly the family environment we wanted for our kids on our family road trip. As we are still letting the 2 previous rooms sink in, Tim is unlocking our room. I herd the kids in only to see what we have sandwiching us on the other end. A couple of guys enjoying their '40's' (and I don't mean age...for those of you that don't know, this stands for 40 ounce beers) bare chested and smoking, laughing, talking really loud. Hey, to each his own, but just not what I want to be sandwiched between tonight...or any other night, for that matter. Now, I must say in Good Nite's defense. The grounds are really lovely! Gorgeous trees and flower beds all around. The pool was immaculate. But, its clientele left much to be desired for my taste. I honestly felt like we were on an episode of COPS or Cheaters. Crazy. So, we head into our non-smoking room which smelled like quite an ashtray and decided to ask for another room, hoping to get out of the ghetto sandwich. The front desk obliged and we packed up the kids, and headed upstairs. We were no longer in the sandwich, but still wondering if the free night was worth it. Did I forget to mention the girls drinking in the parking lot of the 2nd side of the sandwich, while sitting on the hood of their car? Yeah, fun times.
We went up to our new room and decided to be content with what we had been dealt. It was a free room! Can't complain when we didn't pay a cent. (And I know you are wondering how Tim, Mr. Stuffy (only sometimes, Baby), could have given this place such an excellent review. Well, the night he stayed the week before, he had stayed in the room directly across from the office. That was the reason it was so nice and quiet and reputable looking then.) We prayed and thanked God for this blessing and went and enjoyed a nice meal and some shopping together as a family. We returned to the non-smoking, that very much smelled like a smoking room, and I ended up having one of the best night's rest in a long time. When you have a content heart, it is easier to enjoy the little things. Their mattress was just right for my pregnant belly and I was wondering how I could strap it to the top of my minivan to take home.
Would I recommend the Redlands Good Nite Inn? Probably not. Unless you ask for a room facing the office. However, I will say this: They are obviously a generous company for offering Tim a voucher for filling out that positive review. They were so helpful when we wanted to change our room. And, all in all, it was a GOOD NITE!
So, I give the Good Nite Inn a 'Hey, it was free, can't complain' rating.

Karizma's Report

Okay, so you all have read Miguel's report on our trip to our aunt and uncles house. Now it's time for you to read my side of the story. So, last week all five of us went to our aunt and uncle's house instead of Disneyland (crazy, I know). But, I told my Mom that we get to go to Disneyland all the time, and that I wanted to spend time with my aunt and uncle. If you asked me if I'd had rathered go to Disneyland, I would tell you no, because I know I had more fun with them then I would have had at Disneyland.

So, now let me tell you about our adventures with Aunt Natalie and Uncle Dan(and our primos and primas of course). We arrived at their house at about 11am, and as soon as we got there all of the boys were acting like wild animals. After we all got done saying our goodbyes to our Mom and Dad, we calmed all the kids down by putting on a movie. While they were watching the movie Auntie, Miguel, and I, were talking about how we were going to have them eat lunch, and take a nap. After we had been there for about 1 hour Auntie made us all hot dogs. It was quite a process getting them to sit down at the table which I might add was not big enough for all of us to sit down, which meant some of us had to stand up; namely Miguel. So, after lunch we decided that all the kids should take a nap which worked for Sonoma and Gracen. I have no idea what we were thinking when we said, "Oh, yeah they will all take a nap after lunch." Like that was going to happen. So, after about 1 hour of quiet time, Sonoma and Gracen woke up, so we decided to take a walk to the lake, which was not that far at all, but when you are walking with 7 kids it changes the way you look at things. When we finally got to the lake we had them race so they would get tired and go to bed earlier which was a good plan at the time, but we will see how that works later. While we were at the lake we noticed that the lake was gone. We later found out that they were draining it because there was something growing in the lake, so they drained it so it would stop growing. So taking advantage of what we just learned Auntie decided to make that our homework for the day. By the time we got back it was almost dark so we decided that Miguel would help Auntie with dinner while I gave everybody a bath (except Gracen). So, Auntie and Miguel made the best Spinach lasagna I have ever had. Let me tell you how the bath process worked. I gave Tristan and Skyler a bath first. Then, Sonoma and Zack. Lastly, Walker and Christian. It took awhile, but I pulled it off. After dinner we were hoping to get them in bed, but Uncle Dan had other plans. He did a science project with the boys. They went to bed around 9pm. After they all went to bed we watched the news to see if prop 8 passed, but we found out we would have to wait till morning to find out. I went to bed with Zack before Miguel, Auntie, and Uncle Dan. So, that ends day one.

The next morning when I woke up Uncle Dan and Auntie were already making breakfast. We had peanut butter pancakes with strawberry milk. After breakfast we got the kids dressed while Uncle Dan was figuring out where to take us later (he took the day off). He decided to take us to an open wildlife preserve. After a few stops and wrong turns we finally made it. When we got there it was freezing! After we changed diapers, ate lunch, and got a lot of warm clothes on we were ready to start on our adventure.

We took great pictures while we were there. Here is a few.






Me and Zack. He was sitting in the hip hammock. After a while I had to put him down. When I did it felt like I was lighter than air. I am sure some of you know how that feels.



Aunt Natalie took this of herself holding Gracen in the sling.




Sonoma refused to let go of Zack's hand and when Zack finally had enough of her holding his hand, he pushed her hand away and she was so brokenhearted she ran to her mom for comfort. Zack did not even feel bad, he just kept walking.

When we got back to the car it did not take long for the kids to fall asleep. I was riding home with Auntie and when we first got to the preserve we both had to go to the bathroom. But, of course there are no bathrooms out in the middle of nowhere. So, we had to hold it for 2 hours. Luckily, I forgot that I had to go, I don't know if Auntie can say the same thing. So, as soon as we got in the car we told Uncle Dan that we had to go. When we started to drive we started looking for some place to go. The only place we could find was a winery. Well, we had to take what we had because we could not hold it any longer, so we took turns going to the bathroom. I forgot to mention that there was this HUGE dog laying in the front. We had no idea if he was friendly or not, so we risked it and Auntie went first. We felt very relieved when we left.

On our way home we picked up baked chicken from Albertsons. We had that and mashed potatoes for dinner with strawberry milk. For those of you who don't know, I LOVE strawberry milk. Auntie was so thougthful when she got that for me.

While I was at their house I was treated with hugs, kisses,and a lot of love. I am so happy I chose them instead of Disneyland. Auntie and Uncle Dan, thank you for opening your house up to all five of us. Auntie, I had such a nice talk with you in the car. I hope everybody enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Miguel's Report

Hey everybody, it's me Miguel. While we were at Aunt Natalie's house she gave us some homework to do. The project was, at first to write one full page of what we did while at her house. Then, we agreed to make it a blog on my Mom's site. So, here you go, Auntie!

On Monday, the third, we had a choice. Either we could spend the night at a hotel somewhere up north and the next day go to Disneyland, or, we could spend that time at our aunt and uncle's house. Karizma and I made that choice pretty quick. ( Now, for those of you that know us well, you are probably thinking, " They picked Disneyland for sure!". You are wrong!) We chose Auntie's house.

We arrived at Auntie's house around 11:00 A.M., with enough stuff for people walking by to think "Are they moving in?" After saying our goodbyes to Mom and Dad, we hung out for the next few hours. Later that day we decided to go for a walk. After 15 minutes of preparation for our voyage, we were ready to go with our 2 strollers and 7 small children. We walked to Lindo Lake, which is very near to their house, and let the kids race each other to certain points around the lake. "Oh , we'll get them in bed by 7:30-8:00", we were thinking. While on our way home we were told that we would eat Auntie's lasagna made from scratch. The plan of attack was for K to give all the kids a bath, while Auntie, Walker,Tristan, and I would help with dinner. Well that didn't work. What actually happened was Auntie and I made dinner while the kids went crazy in the playroom. The kids must have been hungry though because sitting them down for dinner was relatively easy. Then I had the BEST lasagna I have ever tasted! (by the way, thanks again Auntie!!!) After dinner I helped to do the dishes while the kids played with each other. Then when Uncle Dan got home I was talking to him about unroasted coffee beans in his garage and he said "Do you want to help me roast some?" And I, being a lover of anything that has to do with coffee (Shh, don't tell my Mom), said yes. So we turned roasting coffee into a science lesson for the kids. Uncle Dan got the older kids (Tristan, Walker, Christian, Skyler) to sit down in the kitchen, and it turned into the "Uncle Dan The Science Man" show. While I prepared to roast beans in an air popcorn popper, Uncle Dan told the children all about the coffee bean. Then after roasting (which is very easy) we let the kids see coffee beans go from green (before) to brown-black (after). The kids loved it!. Then we turned the kids loose so we could watch the election. I must admit, I was sad when Sen. McCain gave his concession speech, meaning Sen. (now President-elect) Obama had won. The kids went to bed around nine that night, while Auntie and Gracen and I stayed up late anticipating a yes for prop. 8. But to no avail, as we would have to wait until morning.

On Wednesday we were served plain and peanut-butter pancakes with sausage. Yummy! Uncle Dan got the day off so we contemplated what to do. Then Uncle Dan said that he wanted to drive to an open-trail wildlife preserve in Santa Isabel. So while everybody else got the kids ready, and food packed, I decided to do something nice for my Mom by washing her van which Auntie had gotten vacuumed the day before. After drying the van off we were ready to leave, but not before checking the news to see if Prop 8 had passed. And, Praise God, it did. We were all so happy.

We left for Santa Isabel with Auntie, Karizma, and our kids in one van and Uncle Dan, their kids, and I in the other. We then stopped at a nearby gas station, where Uncle Dan treated us to Coke and sunflower seeds. While opening the seeds, he told me to get 3 cups from the trunk. He than proceeded to pour seeds in 1 of the cups, and give me 1 empty cup, and 1 with seeds in it. What was the empty cup for? "It's your spit-seed cup." The other was his "spit-seed cup". Thanks, Uncle Dan! We than drove with K-love (a Christian radio station 100.1, FM) playing on the way to the preserve. On the way there, Uncle Dan kept commenting on how beautiful and scenic the drive was. Then we got lost. After ending up in Julian, 2 miles away from our destination, and getting gas, we finally found the preserve. When we got out of the car we realized it was pretty cold, so we got the kids dressed while uncle Dan made PBNJ sandwiches for everybody. Then we started our hour long trek. On the trail we crossed a stream, saw wild turkey, and contemplated bringing one home for Thanksgiving dinner, and even saw wild cattle. The kids had so much fun running around like crazy chickens, screaming and laughing the whole time. But, of course children have limited energy bursts and they got tired pretty quick. So we had to take turns carrying tired kids. At one point, I was carrying Sonoma in my left arm, and Zack in my right, with my hands clasped together for support.



And we took this picture with wild cattle in the background, which I am not sure if you can see in this picture.



After putting all the kids back in the car, where they fell asleep within 10 minutes, we drove to Julian to get some Mom's apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Then we were on our way home. We then had chicken for dinner and popcorn and a movie 'til Mom and Dad got home. I have to tell you though, I really enjoyed the time I got to spend that day with Uncle Dan. We got to talk the whole time about stuff, random stuff, but it was really cool to hang out with him. I mean it was just me and him, chewin' and spitin' seeds, and just talking. I mean, what 15 year old kid wouldn't love spending time with one of his uncles?? I know he enjoyed the time too, because he told me that he wishes that I could ride to work with him just so we could have our "car talk". I even gave him a mini Bible quiz. Uncle Dan, if you are reading this, I just want to say I love you, and I hope we can spend more time together. I had an awesome time with you!!

So that concludes my report. Thank you, Aunt Natalie and Uncle Dan!! I love you guys!!! Also, thank you for taking the time to read my blog entry.

Until the next blog,
Miguel

Does Your Sitter Do This For You???

On top of taking care of my 5 children 33 hours straight, Natalie did a few little extras:

-Vacuumed out my minivan
-Did all the kids laundry from the first day
-Baked them lasagna from scratch
-Had them sit and do some 'homework', which she then put in manilla folders so I could see their work... so cute!
-Uncle Dan gave them science lessons
-Potty trained my youngest and taught him how to wipe his own bottom...ok, she didn't do that, but something tells me that if I had left him there another 33 hours, she probably would have.

Thanks, Nat, for going ABOVE and BEYOND. xoxo

(By the way, this sitter is taken, so don't even think about it!!!)

Quote Of The Day

My sweet friend, Nicole, recently said:

"And, remember, no matter who is in the White House, our LORD Jesus is still on the Throne!!!!"


I just couldn't let the day go without sharing that bit of wisdom with you all. Praise God for this truth!!!

(keep reading for another new post from today)

Our Getaway

This past Tuesday, election day, Tim and I went up to Westwood (LA) to stay at the 'trendy' Palomar Hotel while he had to do some depositions. It isn't often that we get to travel without our handful of children, but thanks to the kids beloved Aunt and Uncle, Natalie and Dan, we went A L O N E. We couldn't have done it without them and the Lord knew we needed some R&R, just the 2 of us.

The room was done in a modern design, down to the faux fur throw on the bed (So comfy!!), the 42 inch screen TV, the snakeskin design on the dresser, and my favorite... the lounge chaise that I spent time relaxing on as I caught up on some reading. The bathroom was so swanky and done in black, red, and white. It had one of those sinks that is shaped like a a basin and sits on top of the counter. Plus, the soap was divine. I had to bring it home and told Tim I could see myself ordering more of that. But, the coolest touch were the animal print robes. Tim didn't sport one, but I totally did. I felt pretty cool opening the door for room service in the tiger print.

The kids had such a blast with their Auntie, Uncle Dan, and cousins... but they have been asked to blog about it themselves, so I will leave them to do a special post about that soon.

A very happy birthday goes out to my sweetheart, Timmy. You are the sweetest gift in my life. Without you I just don't think I could be complete. Thank you for being the kind, generous, and brave man you are. Your courage and strength are to be admired. I love you, baby.

Random Review Of The Week

I have been wanting to do this for awhile, because with 5 kids and one on the way, you get to try lots of products and I know it is great for me when I can read what someone else thought of a product before I have to go and purchase it and find out for myself. I will try and do one every week, but hey, I am a pregnant, homeschooling mom...so, don't hold your breath either.

TYKE LIGHT JR.
For the past couple of months, Christian has been afraid of the dark at bedtime. None of my kids have ever had an issue with the dark before, and I am not sure what brought it on, but this meant leaving the closet light on every night. Sometimes, we would forget to turn it off and it would be on all night. What a waste of energy. The other day we were buying some diapers at Walmart and I walked past a product called 'Tyke Light Jr.' It was $9.88, but looked like a good alternative to having the closet light on all night.
This 'sno-glo man' (as Christian calls him), is worth every penny! Since we got it for him, he has not only been fine without the closet light on, he has been falling asleep within minutes. He would be up for 45-60 minutes, before.

Here are some cool features:
-Has a 15 minute timer, so we don't have to worry about coming in to turn it off for him, or the batteries being wasted all night long.
-The light dims as the time goes on, helping your child ease into sleep.
-It does NOT heat up. Stays cool the entire time.
-Very light and is totally durable.
-It is portable easy for little hands to hold as they fall asleep.


It does take 3 AAA batteries, so I will have to see how long they actually last, but so far seeing him wake up well rested and having such comfort when he goes to bed, would be worth all the 3 AAA batteries in the world. So, I give the Tyke Light Jr. a 'Worth Every Penny' score.