Dang you Hannah Montana!

While we were shopping today, Haylee had 50 dollars in gift cards yet to spend. Rather than getting another toy that would be donated to Goodwill in three months, I had made the suggestion that she get a new set of sheets for her big girl bed. To get her excited, I had said that maybe we could find some Hannah Montana sheets. To be three years old and to love Hannah Montana as much as she does is crazy. I guess I can thank her big sister for this....whatever Lexi loves, Haylee loves just as much if not more. I guess that is what we get for having them almost five years apart. So, we ventured off to Wal-Mart as this is where I needed to go shopping AND because the one gift card from Great Aunt Eiko for 25 dollars was from Wal-Mart. The other 25 dollar gift card was an American Express gift card and could be used almost anywhere. So, lo and behold we come to an aisle of sheets and comforters and this section was labeled "Cartoon and Teen." There were adorable Tinker Bell sheets and Dora and Diego, and then something caught her eye.....HANNAH MONTANA. As I was trying to show her the other sheets, she went right to the Hannah Montana sheets and comforter. All she kept saying was, "I want these..." So after trying to hold a debate with her, I gave in and we got them.

But as you can imagine, I had one very happy little girl and another little girl that was pouting. All I kept hearing was, "this is not fair....she gets them, but I don't." Well then she took out her wallet and started counting her dollars and trying to figure out if she had enough. She was very short financially to get anything as with the queen bed she has now everything was more expensive. She can sure sweet talk her way in to anything just like her dad because before you know it I have two Hannah Montana sheet sets and two comforters in my cart and we are on our way to the checkouts. DANG YOU HANNAH MONTANA!

When we got home, there was total chaos in trying to get the old sheets off and to put the new sheets on. I was actually surprised to find myself saddened when removing the Dora the Explorer comforter and sheets from Haylee's bed, and then being informed by Haylee that the Dora stickers on the wall "did not match" the Hannah comforter and sheets and we needed to take them down. I did not find time in the day to remove those yet, but I expect that to be a task for tomorrow. I hate to see my babies growing up so fast.

shopping......

My poor kids.....I wanted to go shopping yesterday and get so much done.....they both got gift cards for Christmas that we were going to spend and we were just going to have a girls day out since Myk had gone ice fishing with Sage for the day. We were first going to start at Christian Bible Bookstore because I wanted to get two books, then we were going to get something to eat, then we were going to lounge around the mall, and then to Borders, and then to Sam's Club and then Wal-Mart and then end our day with a stop at McDonalds's to have an ice cream treat. Well we made it to Christiam Bible Bookstore and then got as far as the mall to eat when Haylee started complaining of a tummyache. So in the heat of the moment I inhaled my lunch and we headed off towards a bathroom. I was encouraging her to try to "poop" and all she kept saying was "I don't have to poop." So, after sitting in the bathroom for 15 minutes or so, we decided to venture away from the bathroom and to make a quick stop at Old Navy for Lexi to spend her gift cards. I hated to rush her because this was such a big deal for her, but as soon as we got to the "girls" section it was a matter of minutes and she had spent 56 dollars and had to float a loan from mom as she only had 45 dollars in gift cards. So, on our way we go down the mall with a heavy bag of clothes and me trying to carry a 40 pound kid who has a tummyache and just wants to be curled up in the fetal position. Haylee had found if she put her head on my shoulder she could curl her legs up to her belly and mom could be holding her butt while carrying her.....use your imagination to picture this. :) Finally we got to the cafe court and outdoors we go to find out we forgot where we had parked. So, as I am carrying Haylee and a huge bag of clothes Lexi and I are struggling to remember where we parked. Finally we found the van and was getting all packed up when miraculously Haylee's tummyache was gone. So, now she decided it was her turn to go spend her gift card at Borders. It was amazing to see her walk in to Borders and the whole time talking about what she was going to get and then actually ending up at the "kids" section of books. Her eyes got as big as ever and she said, "I can pick out any book I want?" I explained that she probably could get two or three books. She was so excited and it did not take her more than 15 seconds and she found the Dr. Seuss section and had pulled three books off the shelf in no time flat. What a deal....there was a sign reading, "Get three books for the price of two" so this allowed her to get one more extra book. This book took her a little bit longer to find as she was not sure what other book she wanted. Finally up high there was a book called "We are going on a bear hunt." She pointed at it and asked me to get it down and then I sat down in the aisle and we looked at it and started to read it. She got halfways through and informed me that she wanted to buy that book and so we went on our way to the counter to check out. She was so excited to be able to pull that gift card out of her new wallet she got for Christmas and to hand it to the lady checking us out. Well, she needed to float a loan from mom too as she went 7 dollars over, but because of her love for reading and books I didn't care. Then all of a sudden the tummyache was back and we were once again cuddling in the fetal position and struggling to get to the car. We got to the car and got all buckled in and there was no way, no how that I was going to get the rest of my shopping done, so instead we came home. Well, we got home and there was no more tummyache and she ate a good supper, so I have no clue what the tummyache was all about.

So, this morning I decided to skip out of church, sleep in (Myk was up early once again ice fishing....he left the house a little after 7 a.m.), let the kids sleep in, and we ventured out one more time to try to finish up my shopping. Well, to say the least, after many hours in Eau Claire again today we got the shopping done and my girls were real troopers, but more happy to get home and run and play.

The lion's mane....

I had a friend in high school who had naturally curly hair and she would complain and complain about how hard it was to manage her hair and I would tell her to be quiet because I had to spend 50 dollars every few months to get myself a perm to have the curls I so longed for. Well, Myk has come up with a new name for Haylee's hair....the lion's mane.....her hair is so difficult to manage and when we leave it down it kind of reminds of a lion's mane.....it flows wherever it wants to, gets in her eyes, and is just down right unmanagable. We have no clue what to do with her hair; cut it short, leave it long; but one thing is for sure, it almost every day gets put up in some kind of pony tail to keep it out of her face and to kind of manage it. Any suggestions of what to do?

Me and my Grandpa.....

It is just amazing to see the bond that Haylee and Grandpa have.....these pictures are from Christmas.... The one picture is Haylee helping Grandpa open up an envelope and the next picture is Haylee explaining to Grandpa what the pictures are in the calendar I made them.....the calendars will be another blog spot......

I don't want to grow up....

Cause I always want to be a kid....My husband the Guiter Hero! I am so tired of hearing the song Slow Ride and Painted Black....LOL.... gotta love my biggest kid of all! :)

Sick kids....

Sometimes I wish we could live in a germ-free bubble. My eldest baby was sick today. She woke up at 6 a.m. this morning telling me she did not feel good. She had a headache, was dizzy, had a stomachache, and felt hot. So, we took the temperature and it was 102....UGH.....so I put her in the shower thinking maybe the water would help the headache. Well instead of it helping the headache it got rid of the stomachache....how that happened is beyond me. :) So, I put her back to bed and told her to go back to sleep, but before that had a good dose of Advil. She went back to sleep until 8:30, but then woke up with a "worser" headache, was dizzy, and was hot. She decided to lay in my bed and watch TV and I swear she did not get out of my bed at all today. I took a break around 9:30 and got her a Mr. Pibb to drink and took my lunch break at 12 noon and she ate a few crackers and had another pop, but she did not leave my bed, so I know she was sick because she didn't move. Finally around 8 tonight she appeared out of my bedroom and came to the couch to watch some TV with us and now at 9:00 had her final dose of Advil and is now back in her own bed hopefully for a good nights sleep and will wake up in the morning refreshed and feeling back to her old self.

My babies.....

Just got home from my babies Christmas church program. Lexi is an old pro at these things, but Haylee....wow.....this was a whole new experience for her and boy she sure could belt out the refrains of every song they were singing.......she seemed like a pro at it herself! I am so proud of them and how they love attending church and how they love attending Sunday School and learning so much about God and how much he loves them....

A tradition!!!!!!!!!!!

Every year the same thing happens.....It is the day of the church Christmas program, which is at 7 p.m., and I tell Lexi, "It is time to try to curl your hair." So, she runs and hides.......What is so wrong with trying to curl the kid's hair? I found her hiding underneath my bed, so after some threatening words we were in the bathroom. The curling iron was hot and so we had at it. So after six "big" curls and a ton of hair spray, it was decided to just get in the shower and it is going to stay straight. Why do I try every year to curl the hair that doesn't want to be curled? Will I ever learn?

This thing called a diet!

I am totally amazed.......not even four months ago I went to the doctor and was told that I was a whooping 198 pounds.....I don't know what happened that day, but something sparked me that I needed to change my lifestyle and do something. Since that day, I have been watching my diet, not drinking pop, drinking a ton of water, not eating candy and chocolate AND yesterday I was able to go to Younkers and splurge on myself and buy myself two pairs of Tommy Hilfger jeans (they were actually 50% off), BUT I was able to fit in to a size 12 jeans. I ALMOST FELL OVER, when I grabbed a size 16, 14, and 12 and the 12 fit. I have not been able to wear a size 12 jeans since my very early high school days....possibly maybe when I was 14 years old. My goal is to get down at least 25 more pounds, so I am going to keep on this track and hopefully be down to where I want to be by spring. So, as of this morning I am a whole 168 pounds.........that is a weight loss of 30 pounds already! That is 30 pounds in less than five months..........that is a whole lot of fat burning going on! That is also a drop of four to five pant sizes......I was a size 20 before and now a size 12 to 14.......I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! I feel so good and my body image is becoming something I am more impressed with rather than trying to hide it under big baggy clothes!

This thing called a diet!

Entertaining.....

When I was "younger" I used to love to entertain. I would love to send out invitations and wait for people to show up and have tons of food and entertainment and just have a good time with family and friends, but today for the first time I am realizing I would rather go to someone elses house and be entertained. I made a huge meal once again including turkey on the grill, a 17-pound ham, cheesy potatoes, oriental coleslaw salad, broccoli salad, steamed sweet potatoes, a fruit salad (brought by Myk's mom), cranberry steamed pudding with butter sauce (brought by Myk's grandma), cooked cauliflower with a cheese sauce, and buns (brought in by Nancy, a family friend). Needless to say we had a ton of food and if anyone left hungry that was their own darn fault, BUT now at 9 p.m. I am wiped out and my living room is trashed once again. I just sit here right now and look at the living room floor and just think to 12 hours ago when my house was so good clean and spotless. Maybe letting other people have these holidays is making more sense year by year to me......maybe next year..... :)

On a lighter note!!!!

Myk wants to go back to school and is hopefully going to start taking classes in January at night at the technical college here in Eau Claire. I am so excited for him! Work will actually pay him back for the class once he has completed the class and passed with a C average or above. He has been talking for years about doing this, and right now we don't have much going on and is the perfect time! :)

Why?

So, the eldest came home from school last night to inform me that she had to go see Mr. Strand again. Mr. Strand is the guidance counselor at school. A few weeks ago apparently this little girl that she has been playing with on breaks informed Lexi and another girl that she was going to bring in her four-wheeler in to school and run them both over. Guess this little girl was mad because Lexi wanted to play with someone else that day. Well I guess Mr. Tumm (her regular teacher) got drift of this and so he sent them to see Mr. Strand. I guess they had supposedly work out their differences and were friends again. It sounds as if this little girl is very possessive and jealous and if Lexi tries to play with anyone else she gets mad, well apparently Lexi wanted to play with someone else again yesterday and she got mad. This little girl told Lexi she was fat, ugly, and stupid, so Lexi got sent back to Mr. Strand's office again.

I tried to explain to Lexi last night that maybe it was time to find a new friend to play with on her breaks and man she is stubborn (JUST LIKE HER GRANDFATHER)! She argued and argued with me and she just could not understand or comprehend why I told her she needed to find new friends. Finally to get it through her thick skull our conversation went like this, "Lexi, what would happen if you heard Jolene calling me fat, ugly, and stupid and didn't want to be my friend anymore?" Lexi said, "Jolene would never do that." I said, "Let's pretend she did this though." Lexi said, "I would be very mad at her for saying that stuff about you and I would tell her not to say stuff like that to you." I said, "Do you see why I don't think you should be friends with Mya anymore?" It was like the lightbulb turned on in her head and she started to get it.........FINALLY!

We will see what the next few days bring and I have an email in to Mr. Strand to see his take on things as well.

Where does the time go?

The last couple of weeks around here have been crazy. Last week I think every night of the week we were in Eau Claire doing something or at church completing projects down there. Then on the weekend when you think I could get so much done Saturday was completely gone as helped dad in the morning butcher 11 pigs and in the afternoon then was back down at church for another youth event. I was very disappointed that only three girls showed, but guess when there is a basketball tourney going on for the 7th and 8th grade boys that their time is directed elsewhere. I just cannot believe how busy these kids are and so darn young at that. Then Sunday went to church and and the girls had Sunday School and then once again we ended up running to Eau Claire. I wanted it to be a short trip, but it ended up that we did not get home until after 4, so there went my day of cleaning and laundry AGAIN! We are having Christmas on Myk's side of the family this weekend and my house is totally trashed. Last night I made a goal of at least cutting wood with the chainsaw outside (as we were almost out for the woodstove again) and getting some laundry folded. So got done with work at 2 p.m. and cut wood until almost 5 and got a huge pile ready to be burnt, so felt good about that at least.

I love working from home cause I can be doing laundry all day long, but when it comes to the folding of the laundry it seems to never get done. I have baskets and baskets of laundry sitting around that needs to be folded. So last night at 8:45 I started folding laundry and folded laundry until almost 10 o'clock, but I think Myk and I got all the baskets folded and put away, BUT now today did another three loads, so once again have baskets of clothes to be folded.....Thanks to my dear husband he helped out immensely last night and kind of helped with the laundry burden. Anyone know of a cleaning fairy?

I have so many goals for 2008, so hoping that as soon as the holidays are over I can start implementing these into my life and my kids' lives and make my house and life less chaotic and cleaner. WISH ME LUCK!

Maybe what I am doing is really working?

As you probably have all heard, I have taken on the youth group at church. Before I accepted the position, I prayed and prayed that I needed a sign that this is what I was meant to do....I never really received the overwhelming sign that I was looking for, but accepted the position anyway. While I was organizing things, I had this overwhelming feeling of peace and a feeling that this is where I was meant to be and took that as my sign. Normally I would have stressed terribly about organizing the event, but not once was I stressed or feeling overwhelmed, which is not the norm for me. So my first event went off without a hitch (although I was hoping to have had more people show up, but oh well). I decided I had a great bunch of kids that did show up and so I am going to totally concentrate on these kids and make this work.

Well, last Sunday "my kids" went to the tree farm and we cut down the Christmas trees for the church. We all had a great time and they all learned that next year they need to dress warmer. We came back after getting the trees and ran a meeting and voted in my new president, vice president, and secretary for the year. I am very excited to get these young adults in to their positions as this is their youth organization and I am just the advisor. I want them to make this group into something they want it to be, not something that is mine.

So, last night we had a decorating party after the Advent Vesper service to decorate the trees and sanctuary and I AM SO PROUD OF MY KIDS. They stepped up to the plate and showed the congregation what a great group of kids they are and the kids mingled and worked so well with the adults. It was amazing. They made me so proud. I had so many comments from the elders in the church and it warmed my heart to know that maybe this is where I am really supposed to be and these kids really do like me....could it be true?

We have another activity going on Saturday night at the church to decorate our new youth room and then to play a game of Salvation in the dark, so I am very excited to see the kids again.....

This is all new to me!

Well, this is going to be my first official blog. My bff told me to start one and so thought I would give this a try. This weekend has been a long hard weekend of deer hunting and some Christmas shopping. I like weekends like this......didn't get a darn thing done, but yet had fun being in the woods, getting some fresh air, spending time with my husband, and Lexi even came out hunting with us this afternoon. It was pretty cool to see her in the woods with us today and she even seems interested in deer hunting and it was so neat to watch her with Myk after he shot his doe and she watched him take care of it. I just love watching my kids take everything in all the time......I love watching the wonder and amazement in their eyes and just watching them take everything in. Sometimes I wish I could be a kid again!