Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...March 30th

Outside my window...a breezy day, where is Spring?

I am thinking...there is so much to do and so little time to do it in.

I am thankful ...everyone is on the mend.

From the kitchen...spaghetti made from leftover frozen sauce.

I am wearing...blue sweats w/ a black T-shirt that reads, "Team Edward".

I am creating...nothing of importance.

I am going...nowhere.

I am reading...nothing! I've given up on Wicked and am taking it back to the Library!

I am hoping...at least half of my Spring Cleaning list gets done before Spring Break is over.

I am hearing...Little Bill on the TV.

Around the house...Dylan is playing in his room, Peyton is watching Little Bill, and Cameron is watching Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.

One of my favorite things...Dylan peeing in the big potty for the first time this morning!

A few plans for the rest of the week: potty training Dylan, taking Grandma to a couple of doctor appointments this week, court for my cousin's trial on Thursday, more ebay listing, and Spring Cleaning.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...beautifully colored fish from our Aquarium visit last week.

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday ~ Out at a party!

Monday ~ Spaghetti, Salad, & Garlic Buns

Tuesday ~ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes w/ Gravy, Stuffing, Corn, & Crescent Rolls

Wednesday ~ TV Dinners

Thursday ~ Crunchy Parmesan Chicken Tenders, Baked Potatoes, Asparagus, & Hawaiian Rolls

Friday ~ Boys fend for themselves, Mama's Stampin'

Saturday ~ Eat a Pita Pizza & Salad

Wordless Wednesday: Down with the Sickness

If I didn't love Target before, I can't rave about them enough now. Every single one of our kids is on medicine right now, from tonsilitis to ear infections. Target's pharmacy ROCKS! They color code each individual's medicine. Peyton is purple, Cameron is green, and Dylan is blue. This wonderful system makes life easier when you reach for a certain child's medicine and there are 3 of the EXACT same bottle in the fridge! The down side? They are ALL sick at the same time. UGH!

Check out more Wordless Wednesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom.

What's on Your Nightstand ~ March

Not a lot of reading has happened this month. I am STUCK on Wicked by Gregory Maguire and I really don't understand the hub bub about this book. Perhaps if I had seen it on stage I may feel differently, but it has not grabbed my attention and kept it in the least. I'm also frustrated because I'm getting behind on Spring Reading Thing 2009 since the person who I bought my first book from, on March 2nd, has yet to ship or reply to my incessant emails. So I plug along in Wicked, due back to the library on the 31st, along with Anne Rice's biography Called Out Of Darkness and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana.

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Am I too late for the party? Once you have more than one kid, don't you find yourself ALWAYS late for the party? Hahaha

I'm so glad you could stop in for a bit. I'm so excited to meet you. Do you have time to pull up a chair and stay for awhile? We're having a glorious warm Spring day, but yesterday we were freezing. I even got the nerve up to get in the pool this morning and do water aerobics! Brrrr

Oh, gosh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tiffany. I'm a wife to Mike (affectionately known as Hubby) who teaches Special Education. I'm a SAHM of 3 of the most amazing children in the world. Cameron (a.k.a Loody) is 9. He was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes in November and our world has been upside down since. Dylan (a.k.a. Handsome) is 4 and our tornado! He REFUSES to potty train and it's something we are DRILLING this Spring Break. Peyton (a.k.a. Pretty) is 16 months and just mastered getting on and off the couch. She is my answered prayer. My entire life I wanted a daughter, I never grew up with the mother/daughter bond (my egg donor got rid of my dad and then ditched me, leaving me with her mother). Although I am eternally grateful for my Grandma, we did not share the bond I have yearned for my entire life. I mean it when I say Peyton is my answered prayer.

I'm afraid the last 3 years have been a little tough to take and blogging has been very cathartic for me. My niece, a month before her 3rd birthday, was killed in a car accident. This May 2nd she will be gone as long as she was here on earth and I'm not ready for that. Just 18 months after we lost our niece, my cousin and his girlfriend were murdered for nothing more than the thrill of it. A month after that my uncle died suddenly. And 9 months later our son was diagnosed with diabetes. I started blogging on myspace and have saved them all, which I hope to add to blogger this year. I try to hold my emotions in check on here now, but sometimes...sometimes my emotions get the best of me and I let out a rant.

I hope you enjoy your stay and leave a comment so I can come crash your party next.

Happy Spring!

Thank you 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting, and remembering to invite us, to a marvelous Ultimate Blog Party.

Oh and the prizes! My top three are:

58 ~ Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer from Moms Who Think

37 ~ Omron HG-112 Digital Premium Pedometer from Fat Loss Chronicles

49 ~ Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD & The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook from Pudget: Losing Weight on a Budget

My other picks are: 19, 21, 22, 26, 86, 91, 99, 109, 123, INTL 3, INTL 23, INTL 30, INTL 33, INTL 35, INTL 61, USC 15, USC 47, USC 56

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday ~ Corn Dogs, Mac 'n Cheese, & Veggie

Monday ~ Breakfast

Tuesday ~ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes w/ Gravy , Stuffing, Corn, & Crescnet Rolls

Wednesday ~ We're out of town at the Long Beach Aquarium

Thursday ~ Easy Cheesy Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, & Salad (Grandma's out of the hospital and looking forward to this dinner)

Friday ~ Eat a Pita Pizza

Saturday ~ Out

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...March 23rd

Outside my window...the weeds need pulling.

I am thinking...what an invigorating workout it was this morning in the pool!

I am thankful for...Spring Break!

From the kitchen...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.

I am wearing...my brown and pink capri sweats w/ brown and pink shirt.

I am creating...nothing really.

I am going...to call and see about treating myself to a pedicure today.

I am STILL reading...Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I really can't get into it. It's too weird!

I am hoping...my ambitious Spring Cleaning list gets done in the next two weeks.

I am hearing...Peyton screaming because the toy she is playing with won't cooperate.

Around the house...sickness is running rampant.

One of my favorite things...lounging around in my pajamas all day yesterday. This happens only a few times a year.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Basal/Bolus Pen Class tomorrow, Aquarium on Wednesday, relaxing and cleaning the rest of the week.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...my darling daughter is growing up entirely TOO fast! *sniffles*

Spring Reading Thing 2009

My gosh, could it be true? Spring is here? My favorite host, Katrina, over at Callapidder Days is at it again. I feel, in some ways, that I have come full circle, as my first post on here last year was Spring Reading Thing 2008 and my Blogoversary is in 3 days. I have a doozy of a list this Spring.

I love Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. I received The Tale of the Body Thief in December of 1992. I then proceeded to read Interview, Lestat, and Queen. I HATE reading out of order! Hubby, when we first started dating, bought me Memnoch the Devil and I never read it. I haven't touched those books in over 10 years and would love to read them from the beginning and in order. I plan on reading the entire Vampire library of Anne Rice. Oh yea baby! If I accomplish that, then I'll be reading Anne's Erotic Sleeping Beauty novels, written under the pen name of A.N. Roquelaure.

First, however, I must finish Wicked by Gregory Maguire. This shouldn't be hard, considering Interview with a Vampire didn't make it to my mailbox in time.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Interview with the Vampire
The Vampire Lestat
The Queen of the Damned
The Tale of the Body Thief
Memnoch the Devil
The Vampire Armand
Merrick
Blood and Gold
Blackwood Farm
Blood Canticles
Pandora
Vitorio the Vampire

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
Beauty's Punishment
Beauty's Release

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Angel

My precious little girl is growing at a rapid pace. When Peyton was born she was a sleeping pill for Hubby and I. If she fell asleep on us, we were asleep too. Needless to say, she recently crawled up on me and fell asleep and I laid on the couch, in utter bliss and yearning for the days of that precious little thing wrapped in a blanket and sleeping for hours on my chest. My ovaries ache! ;)

Check out more Wordless Wednesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday ~ Shells Pasta, Salad, & Garlic Bread

Monday ~ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes w/ Gravy, Stuffing, Corn, & Crescent Rolls

Tuesday ~ TV Dinners

Wednesday ~ Spaghetti, Salad, & Garlic Buns

Thursday ~ Crunchy Parmesan Chicken Tenders, Potato Wedges, Green Bean & Hawaiian Rolls

Friday ~ Grilled Cheese & Soup

Saturday ~ Round Table Pizza where 20% of our purchase is donated to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Faith

On June 2, 2006 my faith was tested. I, more than anyone else, was shocked to realize just how much faith I had. My beautiful niece, a month before her 3rd birthday, was killed in a car accident. Technically, she isn't my niece, my cousin Sara and I are like sisters, my kids call her Auntie, and Mandelyn is, in all the ways that it mattered, my niece. Actually, I use to call her Cameron's practice sibling. I digress. Without explanation, I knew it was Mandelyn's time to go home. I was...okay, for lack of a better word, that she came, she saw, she conquered and I have often said I picture her getting a hi-five from Jesus when she returned. Maybe okay is the wrong word, peace, I was at peace with the situation.

I was, am not, at peace with what occurred 18 months later. For nothing more than the freakin' thrill of it, my amazingly gifted cousin, Cody, and his girlfriend, Bodhi, were murdered. The peace I felt with Mandelyn was nowhere to be found when Cody was murdered. I have days...wow, I have days I can't even describe. For if I describe my feelings, one would think I was on a fast track to hell. Or, as Angelique says, "Going to hell on a greased pole."

As if losing these 2 precious people weren't enough, a month later my uncle died unexpectedly. I remember the phone call, I remember my hysterical crying in my husband's arms, and I remember my emotions shutting down for a good 6 months after.

Over and over in my head the thought, God will not give you more than you can handle. Yet, a few months after my tears returned, my first born looses 11 pounds (15 total in just 12 days) in just a matter of days, his color drains, his breathing is labored and I thought, when the doctor asked if I was home alone, that he had cancer. Not that Type I Diabetes wasn't bad, but diabetes wasn't a death sentence. Let's not forget my diagnosis of Lupus (which I still am not completely on board with) and prediabetic just 2 weeks after Cameron's. God will not give me more than I can handle? Seriously? My faith was strong. My faith was a foundation I didn't realize was rock solid just 33 short months ago. Today...ah, today I look at the last 3 years and say, WTF?

I have failed the test. Miserably! I feel like Jesus on the cross, "Why have you forsaken me?" Harsh, yes, but true. My desire for church is gone. I open the bible to read, and I always find something else to fill my time. I'm on my knees, pleading with Him right now to find me again, to fill me with His love and to let me know all is right.

Happy 80th Grandma

I didn't realize it growing up, but the first blessing God ever gave me was my Grandma. She holds a very special spot in my heart. God bestowed the duty of raising me to her and I am grateful. My mom and dad were teenagers when I was born and my mom tricked my dad into joining the Army to get rid of him. He believed we would join him once basic was over. In the time period that he was gone, my mom egg donor proceeded to walk a line paved in gold by Satan. She whored herself out for drugs and during my high school years, I am proud embarrassed to say, she was the biggest drug dealer in our town. When my dad got out of the military he felt that he couldn't fight my Grandma for me and therefore we didn't have a relationship until I was 24 years old. I digress, this post is about my beautiful Grandma.

Now I do not mean to imply that it was all peaches and cream with Grandma, because let's face it, she was my disciplinarian as well. We didn't always see eye to eye and still don't. We are both stubborn as hell, and this has caused a couple of rifts in the last 5 years. Our longest was almost 2 years. She knows I'm the one she can count on when the chips are down, but the chips have to crumble before she'll come to me and by then I'm not very supportive and want to jump up and down screaming, "I told you so!" This usually involves the egg donor. You see, I've written her out of my life and Grandma still believes there is hope.

Growing up with my Grandma was THE best. She was a hoot and every one of my friends called her Grandma. Well, there are 2, that still to this day, call her by her first name. These two are the one's who have more right to call her Grandma than any other friend ever did, seeing as they are practically siblings, my BFF Angelique & her brother Pete. Grandma would dance at my parties (she was the most active senior citizen I've ever known). Oh yes, I had THE best birthday parties and the older I got, Grandma's rule was to make sure the house was clean when she got up in the morning, and with that, she would go to her room. On the weekend, before I could go out with my friends, I had to clean the house. This meant that I couldn't stay the night at a friend's house on Friday's, but they could stay at mine. We would wake up Saturday mornings, Grandma and I, and she would go outside to tend to the yard (Grandma would rack the dirt because she could) and I was responsible for inside. The sooner I got up and got everything accomplished, the sooner I had the rest of the weekend to myself. I didn't receive an allowance, but if I was going out with friends to the mall, movies, or mini golf, Grandma always handed me $10-$20. Although I have a sister from my egg donor and 2 brother's from my dad, I was raised an only child. If Grandma told me to go to my room, I'd go. Hell, I had a TV, VCR, phone, radio...who wouldn't go?

In 2003 my Grandma came down with a rare muscle disease, Polymyositis. It has been hard to witness this cycle of life. A year later she fell and broke her right hip, having 3 screws put into place. A year after that she had her left hip replaced. Last September she fell in my house and broke her foot, adding another screw to her bone structure. And on Friday, her 3 screws were taken out of her right hip and that hip was replaced. I realize she won't live forever. It's a fact of life, but if I've learned nothing these last 3 years, it's that our time here on Earth is limited. Unfortunately, I don't know if she's right with the Lord, and that scares me more than anything. My religion has been a bit of a ... hard pill for her to swallow.

Our plans today were to take her to Disneyland. I was going to buy her the big light up cake hat with all the characters and have matching shirts made up. Instead, she lay in a hospital bed, looped from liquid vicodin. Nonetheless, my amazing Grandma turns 80 years old today. I love you Grandma!

I have more pictures to post when I pull out all my CD's!

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...March 9th

Outside my window...it's a blustery day.

I am thinking...2 more weeks until Spring Break!

I am thankful for...my Grandmother, see my post about Grandma here.

From the kitchen...Penne w/ Spring Vegetables.

I am wearing...purple sweats, grey T-shirt w/ Eeyore, and slippers.

I am creating...a Spring Cleaning To Do List.

I am going...to call our landlady and tell her our dishwasher has taken a dump. How does a brand new dishwasher take a dump?

I am reading...Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

I am hoping...2009 is still our year!

I am hearing...Tigger & Pooh.

Around the house...the bedrooms need cleaning, and the linens need washing.

One of my favorite things...catching up with old friends I haven't seen since high school.

A few plans for the rest of the week: cleaning, listing spring clothes on ebay, and reading.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...I believe I can see her tonsils.

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday ~ Easy Cheesy Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, & Salad

Monday ~ Barilla PLUS Penne w/ Spring Vegetables, Chicken, Salad, & Garlic Rolls

Tuesday ~ Mickey Mouse Chicken Nuggets w/ Baby Potato & Vegetable Blend Steam in a Bag

Wednesday ~ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Stuffing, Corn & Rolls

Thursday ~ Daddy's picking up Pizza after Cameron's 10 hour long field trip
Friday ~ Grilled Cheese & Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday ~ Out

Wordless Wednesday: Supermodel

One of the things I love about Cameron is his sense of humor...it's mine. ;) The other night I was taking pictures of him and Peyton when all of a sudden he broke out into a supermodel pose. I snapped it real quick, where he gave me the stink eye...and well, here is the progression of pictures!

Supermodel

Stink Eye

Supermodel Part Deux

Is Gene Simmons his daddy?

Check out more Wordless Wednesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Tackle It Tuesday: Stamp Pads

I suppose the reason why I never post about my tackles is because...well, I'm tackling! LOL Today, while I tackled a very special project, I remembered my camera, a little into the project, and took semi-before tackle pictures, as well as the completed project.

I love stamping. I'm not a big scrapbooker, so I utilize my skills by makings cards. I HATE to purchase store bought cards, but will resort to such a thing if I HAVE to. Case in point, my Stampin' Up demonstrator just lost her mom. I do not have a sympathy card set, therefore, she did not get a sympathy card from me. TERRIBLE, right? I didn't buy one because I hadn't been to the store. I get to her house Sunday, where all these beautiful, hand made, stamped, sympathy cards are displayed. UGH! I digress, back to the tackle.

I have a TON, okay, not a ton, I have 41 stamp pads that had been tossed in a drawer, right side up, but not functional when I needed to grab one instantly. This also caused problems by buying double pads once in awhile. I purchased the stamp pad organizer for my birthday present, name labels for the end of the pads, and took out my handy dandy, albeit blank, color inventory chart. I put together the organizer, slapped the name labels on the end of each stamp, marked off my color inventory chart and I'm in business! WOO-HOO!


Disclaimer: This might also work against me, as now I having a running tally of which stamp pads I do NOT have and absolutely NEED! Hehehe

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...March 2nd...MARCH, I can't believe it's already March!

Outside my window...the clouds are rolling in, half dark, half sun. I suppose rain is in our future despite the 70+ beautiful day we had yesterday.

I am thinking...Cameron's blood sugars have been really excellent!

I am thankful for...God's blessings. I am amazed at how much love he bestows upon me despite all my faults.

From the kitchen...Quick, easy pasta dish.

I am wearing...navy blue sweats and a navy blue shirt with red, silver and blue sparkles in the shape of a butterfly (same thing I was wearing last Monday).

I am creating...birthday cards.

I am going...to place an order on Amazon to get the Anne Rice books I don't have. I got to prepare for Spring Reading!

I am reading...Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

I am hoping...Hubby gets the Administration job that he has been busting his butt for the last 18 months.

I am hearing...Peyton drumming on the pots and pans.

Around the house...the kitchen and living room need a good cleaning.

One of my favorite things...spending time with the girls Stamping and creating and learning new techniques. Good times!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Grandma has hip surgery Friday, go check out Curves and see what they can offer this big 'ol girl, and get the brakes done on my van.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...Pretty playing with the Tupperware again.

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday ~ Grilled Cheese & Soup (Mama's Stampin' Club was rescheduled - Daddy & Kids need something quick and easy)

Monday ~ Rigatoni w/ Parma Rosa sauce, Salad, & Garlic Sticks

Tuesday ~ TV Dinners

Wednesday ~ Tacos

Thursday ~ Spaghetti, Salad, & Garlic Buns

Friday ~ Chicken, Potatoes & Gravy, Broccoli, Cauliflower & Carrots, Rolls

Saturday ~ Out