never so thankful

There are moments in everyone's life where time stops. Mine happened today as my five year old daughter ran away from me in a parking lot and ran behind a car that was backing up. You've heard that saying, "I was so scared I wet my pants." Um, yep - that happened. I screamed like I've never screamed before in my life. The man backing up his car carefully (thank goodness he was a careful driver) heard me and stopped. My Olivia was hit by a car in the parking lot of Target this afternoon. She wasn't hurt (and shockingly I didn't go into labor). She knows not to run from me in the parking lot. We've talked about it over and over. Olivia is a free spirit who doesn't always think things through - like today. I think I lost ten years off my life today, but it's okay because I got to snuggle my beautiful little girl and tuck her safely into bed. Things could have turned out so differently, and I'm incredibly thankful.

Another thing I'm thankful for is another beautiful girl who is growing inside of me. Trey took a couple of belly pictures for me this morning. Here they are!

Sean Penn ROCKS!

I went to my friend's house last night for our annual Oscar watching party. It was awesome. We had so much fun - we laughed, we cried, we noshed, and mostly we watched the Oscars. It was lovely, and it may be the last time we get to do it which makes me sad. It's a yearly tradition that I love. Gwen didn't make it this year. It was Joey, Miryam, Hannah, Benji, and me (and belly - have to add that because it played a part by running into Benji's chair often!). I have to run the kidlets to school, so I have to cut this short. The Oscars were great, but Sean Penn gave my favorite speech. Here's a video of it:

One year ago

I'd really like to write a long, rambling post - but I am just too tired! LOL. So, I thought I'd put some pictures on of the kidlets from last Jan/Feb. Look how much they've grown!

kumpi pet food

For the past four days, I have been working at a local health food store called Vitamin Cottage. I have been working for a company called kumpi which sells pet food. I am handing out samples and talking to people about the pet food. I saw an ad on Craig's List needing product demonstrators that I answered. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about the job. I didn't want to answer an ad for a company that I would feel bad about representing - then I would have to decide what to do. When I met with the owner of kumpi pet food, I knew right away that it was a company I could not only work for, but I would feel good working for. Evy Serpa is the name of the owner. She has a passion for having a pet food that is healthy and will help pets stay healthy. She uses high quality products with no artificial flavors, steroids, hormones, etc. It is a pet food that uses whole foods. She has had offers from corporations to buy her out, but she is passionate about the product and has chosen to to keep it local. She wants to make sure that the product stays high quality. I have absolutely no problem talking to people about this product, and actually, I enjoy it. I feel good about spreading the word about kumpi, and I think it shows to the people I am talking to. I have had excellent feedback in just the four days I have been working. If you have pets, and they're a part of your family as ours are, I would encourage you to check out this product. It's fabulous. kumpi

Lots of cute pictures!

We took the kidlets to the Downtown Aquarium today on their day off school. It was super crowded since it was a holiday, but we still had a lot of fun. We took a lunch and ate out back by the play area. It was a beautiful day. Then, the kidlets blew off some steam in the play area. I got a bunch of cute pictures that, of course, I have to share! Olivia was so cute with her Doodle Bear. She has been such mother to this bear. At one point, she sat down and nursed her bear, and it was adorable! Here's some pictures.









Louis loves to imitate his big brother. Last night Ray was playing with him and pulling his shirt over his head, so Louis pulled his shirt over his head and kept it like that for about an hour. Ray wouldn't let me get a picture of him!

Changes everywhere

This is the season for change! Everything seems to be changing right now. My friend Becca recently redid her blog, and it looks fabulous. I'm not quite as savvy about it as she is, but I decided to play around a bit. So far - I just have a picture that needs work! LOL. Ah well. I haven't had much time lately, but I am going to work on it.

More changes: I have a job for the next few weeks. I'll be working starting on Sunday for 18 days straight. Okay, it's not ideal, but it is only four hours a day. I'll get paid cash plus get free cat food - premium cat food. Can't think of a better perk! Well, okay, I could, but free cat food is pretty darn good.

I got some great advice from a friend - to focus on what you can control. So, I guess that's what I've been doing. Yea, I guess I'm not making a lot of money, but it helps. The money I made last week went straight into savings - just in case. I worked one day this week - that will go to the same place. The other thing I can control is our budget. My mama raised me right, and I know how to grocery shop! So, that's what I control - finding work I can do and grocery shopping! LOL. It's not much, but it's what I have right now. It's how I cope, and so far - so good. Oh, for anyone around here - Albertson's has peanut butter on sale - 16 oz for $.88 - limit 4. It's a good deal. Go grab it up.

And for what keeps me going, here's a little taste:


Cute, ain't he? :-)

more videos hopefully

Okay, YouTube is really being annoying, but let's see if I can get these videos on here.

More Videos

Here are the rest of the videos from Ray's performance last night.

Okay, I have tried to upload the fourth video FOUR times today, and apparently it is not meant to be, so this is it for today. The other two are going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Grade School Musical!

Okay - sorry. High School Musical is such a big deal with my kiddos that I couldn't resist the title. *cough* Anyway.... tonight was the musical for the K, 1st, and 2nd graders. The Fun with Music class (which is the class Ray is taking on Monday afternoons) did several songs at the beginning. They did a fabulous job. For some reason, I can't get all the videos to load from my camera right now. I'll have to try again tomorrow. I've got a couple though - I'll post the others when I can get them on the computer and uploaded to YouTube.

Here is my handsome boy before the performance.

Here's a couple of other pictures we snapped on the way!

27 weeks

Well, I guess I haven't been too chatty this past week! Oops. I did get another belly shot today - in exactly the same clothes as last week. LOL. I suppose I have a sparse wardrobe. Baby T is lower this week, and I think you can actually tell a difference in size from last week. I saw the midwife today and Baby T is measuring perfect, heartbeat is perfect, she's head down, all my stats are perfect - I've gained a total of 9 pounds - everything's looking great!

New glasses and a big belly

I'm tired, tired, tired, but I thought it was time to post another belly picture. Here's 26 weeks!

I finally went to the optometrist and got a new pair of glasses. Yea, yea, I know -it's about time since the old pair broke 3 years ago. Here they are: