Belated Birthday Pictures....

Twins age 10 and little man age 4 (WOW)


Beautiful girls!!


The big gift!!!


My little Batman!


At least it is still October ( I made it by one day) ;) !

Halloween!

I just have to link over to Christy at 'Mommy Brain'. She wrote a great blog entry on Halloween, and it pretty much sums up my entire take on the "day". I have a very hard time understanding how Christians have let their views on this slide. The Lord says to "flee from evil". It is very difficult to stand alone, I do understand that! A few weeks ago, I went to read for Madeline's class and they wanted me to read all sorts of scary, spooky stories. I had to decline ( much to my daughters embarassment). God calls up to be set apart....even when it is not easy! That being said, I do not think it is wrong to "dress up" , as long as the costume is not scary, gory, evil, or trampy. We always enjoy going to Fall Festivals,etc because I think that is a way that Christians can take a holiday that was meant for evil and turn it into something that is good! Be sure to click on the link:

http://lauragracesblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/halloween-rant.html

I can't get my act together....

I am trying, really I am! What has been keeping me from reaching that "unrealistic" goal, you might ask? Well in no particular order..........:

~ My lovely yearly "dr" appt ( you know the one I am talking about....ICK)

~ My dental checkup (" well Andrea, you have a teeny tiny cavity and there is nothing you can do about it" "As we age, our teeth do too" GEE THANKS!!! That makes me feel SOOOOO much better).

~ TWO hours spent registering and evaluating my children for Upwards Basketball and Cheerleading ( I promise you that word must have spread through our city, that Upwards is amazing, because the line was Tripled from last year). Oh and to add to that fun, I had one child throw a fit because she didn't see any of her friends signing up for cheerleading, and my ex-boyfriend was right behind us in the line!!!!!!! These things only happen to me!

~ Waking up at the crack of dawn every single day to make lunches, and haul my sleep intoxicated children out of their beds. This is NO easy feat!!! Then we speed to school to make sure that they are there in time for honor choir rehearsal!!! Yes, I am proud of this!!!!

~ Helping one of the twins with her book report. Could it be the typical book report where you write on paper about the story? Heck no, why make my life any easier??? We are doing a "poster", and it must be creative!!!! I am NOT creative!

~ Surviving our first neighborhood association meeting and finding out that you really don't know what the neighbors are saying behind your back. Also, some people must have alot of free time on their hands if they find it useful to argue profusely about the color of drapes that someone hangs, and whether it is visible from the street!!!!!!!

So, there you have it...just a few things going on in my life! Thankfully, it is almost the weekend and I am planning to go to an all day Scrapbooking thing! Greg has promised to take the kids away for the day!!!! I am really looking forward to Summer! ( Yes I did say SUMMER)!!! ;)

I need to either cry or scream.......

So instead, I will vent on here!!!! I think the Lord is testing me with my patience levels in dealing with people! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Situation #1......About 3 weeks ago, I went into a monogram store where I have done business before. I had noticed a cute little shirt that I wanted to have monogrammed for my nieces birthday. I picked the shirt out and told her the name, paid, and left being assured it would be done in a week. One and a half weeks later, I go to pick the shirt up. The woman smiles, gets the shirt and hands it to me. She looked quite proud I might add. At first glance, I knew something was not right. I looked closer and noticed that the name was a little crooked. I asked the woman about it and she said "well It is supposed to be like that...it makes a half circle around the emblem". Ok, I may not keep a spotless house, but I am impeccable when it comes to my clothes. It was crooked and looked bad. Then I noticed that the gift emblem was crooked. It went through my mind whether I should just accept it or not. I may look young but dangitt, I am not going to be taken advantage of. I very nicely told the woman that I thought it was crooked and didn' t she. Well she took out a ruler and said "oh well it is crooked and is off about a half an inch. Then she said "I guess I will make you a new one......But it won't be ready for another week. Grrrrr....I told her that was fine but I needed it by the following Thursday because my niece was being picked up that day by her other grandmother. Do you know that when I went back that Thursday morning, the woman looked at me and I could read her eyes ( she was a bit smug) and she said " I haven't gotten to it yet...I will do it sometime this afternoon. I have been very busy!!!!! Oh that did it! I was so mad. I waited to make sure the other customer had left and I calmly said " but I told you that I needed it by now". She said " I know, BUT I have been VERY busy and I just haven't gotten around to it". I told her that I didn't think that was right since it was a mistake on her part. Girls, she didn't ONCE even apologize. I was shaking!!! I asked her if she would rather give me my money back. She said "ok", walked to her register, took the money out and handed it to me. She NEVER apologized!!! Why I ask? I just don't get it. IF I had a store that size, I would want my customers happy. Was I wrong to think that my order should have been first on her list? I told my mom that when I went in there, I noticed that the shirt was in the same spot that she had laid it in when I had gone in the first time. She didn't even bother with it!!! I hate to say it, but she lost my business and I will never recommend her!!! I can't believe she treated me that way!

Second situation....For my birthday, I bought some clothes and I ordered two items off of Anntaylor loft.com Well I got my shipment confirmation over a week ago but still nothing. I got online today to track the pkg and something wasn't right so I called DHL. Well they called me back about an hr ago and basically told me the pkg is lost and I need to contact Ann Taylor. They won't budge on helping me. I felt like a fool. I call Ann Taylor and am told that they will need to put a search to try to find the pkg and it will be another 3-5 days!!! I was spoken to like I was a child!!! I tell you, I put my head down and cried. Then I decided I would come here and vent. What a day......I had my yearly appt this morning, and now this!!!! Surely tomorrow will be better, right? :(

Where have I been?

Well.......I have been busy with Noah's two parties and helping my mom take care of my 2 year old niece! I am WIPED out. I don't know how I forgot so quickly that two year olds are exhausting but I sure did. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! My poor mother was so tired when she left today. I think she will spend the next two days in bed!!!! I am hoping that DH gets home soon and that my kids cooperate tonight. Madeline and Meredith's Birthday weekend is what is on our schedule next! Hopefully, I will be able to upload some pics in the coming days. Until then, just know that I am alive, just very very tired!!!!! ;)

Don't quit....

So we pull up at the soccer field, and at 2pm, it is blistering hot! I notice that we are playing the same team we played a couple of weeks ago ( with the annoying mom) and lost 4-3. I also notice that we are short TWO players ( two of our older players at that). Let me back up...we lost one player at the beginning of the season and so we are already playing with one less. To put it simply, the other team had all 9 of their girls and we had six. That meant, that all six had to play the entire game. IT was SOOOOOO hot. I sat under my umbrella and I was still sweating. We started off with 2 scores right off the bat. I couldn't believe it. The girls all played really well, but by the end of the 3rd quarter, they were exhausted. The other team was hot too, but at least 3 players got to sit out during each quarter. We were tied 4-4 at the end of the 3rd. Our coach came walking over to the parents and said he was going to call the game. The girls were just dehydrated and done. He said he would ask them one more time, and then that was it. He walked back over and apparently they all said "no way...we are not quitting". So.......we start the 4th tied. Would you believe that we scored two more times, got called for a handball, so the other team got a free shot, we successfully defended our goal and ended up winning 6-4? WOW! I screamed so loudly that I am sure that other mom was quite annoyed with me. So, even when things look difficult and you are exhausted, and you think about stopping...dig deep and DON'T QUIT! You just might get the victory! :) How is that for a Saturday sermon? ;)

Busy Weekend....

Ay yi yi! Yesterday we had Noah's party. It was his very first *real* party. We had it at an indoor play place and it was a success. I have tons of pics, just need to upload them and resize! Today I have got to clean my messy house in preparation for my mom's arrival tomorrow and the big family cookout/party. Tomorrow is Noah's actual bday and he will be FOUR! Next weekend, it will be M and M's turn. So, after I survive these next two weekends, I will feel alot better! (BIG BREATH ANDREA!!!!!)

Time is marching on.....

Oh yes it is, and it is going at full speed ahead! When I was a child, I distinctly remember thinking to myself that I had TONS of time until I got old. By old, I meant the age of my parents, who were probably in their 30's! Here I sit today, and I have just finished celebrating the 5th anniversary of my 30th birthday! Somehow, I have to face the fact that I am a full fledged adult and my children are growing up just as fast as I am. October is an exciting month for our family, and I am about to be the mother of a FOUR year old little boy and two TEN year old young ladies! WOW, where did the time go? Why did I wish so many days that they were older? Why didn't I count those days as precious, and cherish every moment? Ah, time goes so fast......I wish I had known that when I was younger!