Totally Tuesday

I am completely dragging! I've been going to bed when I should be, but lil peanut Nihiser will not allow me to sleep... Between the frequent urination and the insomnia, I'm quite grumpy right now!!! Work is about to release me on my own (thank goodness because I'm sick of this leash!) I have one  more class next week and then away I go!

It's still quite odd to me to come home to dinner being made and homework already done... I mean, I really don't know what to do with myself. So I came home and ate dinner tonight, then I was alloted time to watch my shows, I helped my husband fold laundry at this time. I have to say I am not sure if The Weekend to Remember Conference is still resinating with my husband or if it is the layoff that is doing it, or if it's a little of both... Either way I like it. :)

I mailed off some of my ebay items today. And I purchased items for my new hobby of bow making... I've been spending WAY TOO MUCH on the bows I've been purchasing and once I read the directions, I thought, hmmm I can do that ! So I bought the stuff and tried. You know what, it is easy and I will be making my girls bows from now on. I made about 10 tonight, the kids are loving it!

I also have been bidding on shoes for the new baby... You have to see these. They are on my wish list, but the are a MUST HAVE item!

YES THAT's Right! HIGH HEELS FOR BABIES!!!!!

Ok, enough randomness for one night, I'm off to try to sleep... hence the word try but in any event... TRY.

Can't wait to order more ribbon tomorrow!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):)::):):):):)

Woo Hoo... This weekend  we have an Easter Egg hunt...4000+ eggs, a birthday party, yada yada yada, here we go... and soon my husband will be leaving again. :(

Hope he's home for the birth...

Love,

Amanda

Weekend Randomness

Good Evening! Wow , what a week and weekend... Last Sunday my husband was notified that he would be laid off work... emotional moment, I mean really, we have four kids and one on the way, and yes I make a wonderful salary, but not enough to really survive on for a long period of time. Soooo we went into planning mode. He is now a stay at home Dad, until further notice.... I think it has been an eye opening experience. :) And I must admit that I do enjoy coming straight home from work and dinner being ready or close to it. I have came to the defense of my husband a lot this week though... At our Family Life conference one of the speakers said something that resinated with me, everyone is quick to judge and kick in the slow jab of "Oh, he's Mr. Mom", ummm NO, he is Dad! I don't think that his masculinity should be challenged simply because he is staying home.  I digress... Tuesday and Wednesday were quite a blur, Thursday the girls had scouts so we did dinner and then picked them up. Friday I just couldn't bear it... I took PT and came home to relax... The girls had scouts again, and after pizza we picked them up... Now here is where it gets interesting and where my OPINION is going to come out... Be warned :) My hormones are a bit of a mess right now....  hehehehe...

Saturday started at 4 AM! Yes it did!!! Angel Food delivery, always fun, but makes for a long day. I spent the next 5 hours handing out food. Josh delivered the big girls to me and we headed off to Wal-Mart to work the FINAL Girl Scout cookie booth... all was well at the booth, however it was quite the eye opening experience. For those of you who don't know my husband requested a few years ago that I not shop at Wal-Mart. At the time I found it to be completely stupid... but rather than fight, I complied, and God am I glad I did. (The reason for this is he finds it incredibly irresponsible for Wal-Mart to over work, under pay their workforce but the main reason being that they provide benefits for same-sex couples.) Now that I have been shopping at Target and various other stores, I seemed to forget the culture of what you get when you go to Wal-Mart... OMG let me tell you... I saw it all! Children dressed hmmm how to put this, very unappropriately, adults dressed worse, please don't get me wrong, I don't judge people on what they wear, I go to the store in sweats, BUT (and this is a BIG BUT!) if you are excessively overweight, I don't believe you should be wearing leggings as your main form of clothing... in public, also on the other end of the spectrum just because you are skinny, doesn't mean that you have the right to show up half naked... I mean really! Have some decency... I think the two occurences that did it for me were the fact that some idiot got mad because the car in front of her wasn't turning fast enough so she decided to honk the horn and drive on the sidewalk (nearly hitting the GS Leader, myself, and my children) rather than be patient... And the REALLY!?!?!?! award winner goes to, the couple (young (under 30)) I would say that found it necessary to PARK in the fire zone to go do their shopping... I mean we have all idled in this area, while someone ran in, BUT REALLY you are that lazy that you can't park, walk, and then shop... From here I took the girls to lunch and we headed to the grocery. The rest of the evening is a blur...

Sunday began with church, then we headed over to the lunch buffet at Pizza Hut... The kids love this! Here is my peeve. The kids only eat cheese pizza... I realize by selecting the buffet you run the risk of not getting what you want, but I find it completely repulsive for a 350# grown man who can barely walk with assistance finding the need to take an entire cheese pizza off the buffet when there are plenty other choices when you clearly hear 4 small children indicating that they will only each cheese... I like a deal as much as the next person, but how about we use some common sense and common courtesy once in a while... Pshwew... We killed another hour and a half in town and then we dropped the big girls off at a birthday party. (they went to bed talking about the party and I believe it was one of the first things I heard this morning.) I took the little girls home and we played nap time... Then Josh decided Sera should stay with his mother. I headed back to pick up the girls and then we delivered Sera to Sheba's. By the time I returned home I was WAY TOO TIRED to cook, SO...we had macaroni and corn dogs... LOL! Quick and easy! Then it was time for baths and bed.

So that's my weekend in a nut shell.
Sorry about all the ranting, but REALLY?? :)

Amanda

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day

Today across the nation parents are recognizing their children. (Or at least they should be) Today is Absolutely Incredible Kid Day. Camp Fire USA sponsors this day annually the Third Thursday of March each year.

I encourage each of you to write a letter to your children, find a moment to share that letter with them. Many of our children are young and will not understand the letter but it's the thought that counts. I have written these letters for my children... Once I have shared them with them, I will edit the post and share them with you.
God Bless!

Amanda

7 wonders of Amanda's World

Ok so I haven't participated in a MckLinky post and thought it would be nice to start. :) Ashley posted yesterday the 7 wonders post and I thought why not. :) So here you go... NOTE: The blog is not as much the wonders of my world, but 7 interesting facts about me.

1.) I have control issues!~ I know this, and I accept it about myself. As you are aware I am a military wife. My husband is often away on excursions, whether they are two day drill weekends, two week Annual Training duties, or longer training... With four (and soon to be five) small children running around, Mommy has to have control of simple things such as dinner, homework, and such. My husband was recently laid off from his job, which in this economy, I shouldn't have been surprised. I am now the breadwinner and he is at home with fulltime Dad responsibilities, we may find this works, but if not then we'll work through it. I hate not having control of the situation. But as with all things God will see us through. I have to be honest though, it is nice to come home to dinner prepared and laundry done! I still put it away, because it is just easier this way.

2.) Family is by far first. While yes I am INVOLVED in numerous activities, I don't care, family is first. We are expecting baby number 5 and everytime we decide its time to expand our family, it is a family decision. While we have no intent on having 19 children... (I don't think that is God's plan for us) each of our children and at this point each of our daughters are a complete consideration. Their needs, wants and well being are top priority.

3.) I love moments when I can catch a quick bit of TV. I have to be honest I always thought DVR was well... overrated, now that we have it I can't live without it.  (I hope you know that is simply a figure of speech!) Its nice to escape when the kids have gone to bed and watch exactly what I want, when I have time, rather than scheduling life around TV.

4.) Cooking, oh how I love cooking! I wish I had more time to play in the kitchen. I have decided in the near future  I want to start bringing my children into the kitchen with me so that we can enjoy this passion together. I have to say as exhausting as it can be, and as much as I appreciate my husband having dinner ready when I arrive home, I will miss this aspect of evenings.

5.) Arts and Craft activities... I LOVE doing crafty things... and having daughters allows me to explore this even more! I do wish I had a bit more time to do them but I do love them. I would love to explore sewing more as I have a sewing machine, I just need lessons if you will!

6.) I love to endulge in spa days, not that I get to splurge all that often, but nonetheless when I do they are nice. Nothing feels better than a pedicure, massage, eyebrow waxing and a hair cut... I am counting down the days until my girls and I can enjoy this together. They are getting close. It just feels nice to be pampered once in a while.

7.) Bedtime, whether it is with my husband or with a bed full of little ones, I love snuggling in bed with my family and watching a movie or cartoons. I find that this is most special on Saturday mornings. How nice is it to be able to be smushed into bed between hubby and kids and listening to their little giggles. It truly is bliss.

God Bless,
Amanda

"A Weekend to Remember" Conference

FamilyLifeOk, so I know that I was supposed to blog Friday... And I tried! Let me tell you... My husband and I had the privilege of spending the weekend and celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary at a Family Life Marriage Conference. As cleche as this sounds... It truly was "A Weekend to Remember". I'll elaborate in a few...

Let me start with Friday... I left home early to drop Angel Food stuff off at the church... followed by going to work for a few hours... Nothing out of the ordinary. I met my husband at Enterprise and we picked up our rental car. I swung by the bank and withdrew some cash, and slid into Fashion Bug for a last minute purchase. (BTW I got a killer purse and a cute pair of black pumps for less than $6 each!) I picked up lunch and headed to the house to pack... I know, I know, why hadn't you packed yet? WELLLLLLLLLL I had packed four times prior for each of the kids... This was going to be a piece of cake. :) We were on the road before 2:00. From there we traveled to Cleveland. 2:20 hrs later we were at our destination... Just in time to check in, eat dinner, and get back for Friday's night session... Here is where it starts to get interesting! :)

The host hotel was The Renisannce Hotel. By the time we checked in all they had left were rooms with two queen beds, but no big deal... The hotel was not only the host hotel for the conference (which had 800 attendees) but was also the host hotel for the MAC Basketball Tourney and there was a cheerleading competition in town so there were cheerleaders EVERYWHERE~!:) The hotel was sold out both nights we were there... Now the conference got a GREAT rate for the room. Normally the hotel would cost $355 per night plus $23 a day for parking, we got it for less $100 per night and that includes parking...  HOWEVER here is where it gets a little errr ridiculous... The room was SMALL, I think my bedroom at home is bigger. The TV was an old tube tv, the bathroom was very tiny, there was no air in the room, AND finally if you wanted to use internet it was $12.95 per day! I mean seriously, what hotel charges for internet these days? Especially one that is $355 per night... I mean we were driving down 71 and the Super 8 had a sign that said $39.99 per night and free Wifi... Needless to say, we won't be staying here again! (Oh and the breakfast buffet for 2 was $35!) When we attend our next conference if its at this hotel we'll stay somewhere else and walk!

Now on to the conference...Friday was a welcome session as well as the first two seminars... I'll be honest I began to question what I had gotten us into, and what it was that "WE" could get from this. I'm not going to pretend, we are not "perfect" by any means, nor do we have the perfect marriage, but I really wondered what we were going to gain from this...

We went into Saturday and I learned so much, by Saturday evening we had already learned new things about each other and how God's plan was for what our marriage should look like. We were given assignments and asked to complete them, I thought for sure my husband would laugh this off and totally disregard what we were being asked to do... He really surprised me. I am glad he is my husband (flaws and all) because I got to see a little peak into his soul. We concluded Saturday's sessions with Marriage after dark seminar, yes its just that, sex and God's plan for sex. Yes I know right, but it was enlightening. We had a romantic dinner for two at Hyde Park... Way too expensive, but it was a nice treat.

Sunday began with FamilyLife Career opportunities, something we'll be praying about. The next session we were seperated, I believe this may have been the most powerful session for both of us. The woman to woman and man to man sessions defined our roles in marriage and in parenting. Many may feel that this is regression to where women have come, BUT God's plan for this is so powerful.

I encourage you to attend a FamilyLife conference, whether your marriage is AMAZING or in shambles, its worth every moment. I will be starting a FamilyLife Conference group. This will allow people who are interested in going to sign up at a discounted rate.

http://www.familylife.com/ for more information. The conference is worth every minute!

Soon we'll be starting a HomeBuilders small group study... We are excited to share and grow with others.

God Bless!

Amanda

Pageant Pics and such...

Wow, a lot has happened over the past few weeks... Where to even begin. The two youngest girls were part of a television series on TLC, while they weren't selected to be "featured" on the show, there will be plenty of photo-ops. :) Here are some of the photos from the day of taping.  First here are a few of :

Sera Rose

and here is

Miss Josalynne Tayte

I promise to blog more tonight... Until then, ENJOY!