Sweet on Soldiers Drive

For the last 2-3 weeks, Hannah's schoo has been collecting things for the Sweet on Soldiers drive. We were collecting things such as boot socks, foot powder, batteries, toothbrushes, toothpaste, beef jerky, snack bars, magazines, and a few other things. The other thing we were also collecting were homemade Valentine Cards to send overseas with our donations.

The collection ended today.

I was at the school this morning, helping gather the boxes out of all the classrooms, and then counting and sorting, etc. I was amazed at the outpouring and overwhelming support our school families so generously gave. We collected over 8,600 items, and over 1,600 homemade Valentines!!

Always Check Your Child's Homework

Here's the reply the teacher received the following day:

Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Smith

Worship Songs

I've been sitting here at my desk, working on various different projects, listening to my 'Worship Playlist" on iTunes.

What are some of your favorite worship songs you like to listen to, over and over and over again?

**********************************************
One of my favorite worship songs is song by Fernando Ortega, The Joy of The Lord. I remember listening to it over and over again on my iPod when I was in the hospital after having had Rachel.

The Joy of the Lord

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not falter, I will not faint
He is my Shepherd, I am not afraid
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
He will uphold me all of my days
I am surrounded by mercy and grace
And the joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not waiver, walking by faith
He will be strong to deliver me safe
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord is my strength

An Overwhelming Day

It's no secret, I don't like going to the dentist. Although in recent weeks, I am becoming more open to going, some of my anxieties are lessening.

Rachel was supposed to have her dental appointment last week, but I had to cancel it because she had a nonstop cough that I couldn't get under control with any sort of prescription or over-the-counter remedy. So it got rescheduled for today. I already had an afternoon appointment scheduled for Hannah. I never came home between appointments. I ran errands and got things done I needed/wanted to get done. It was a busy day to say the least.

Full reports on how Hannah and Rachel's appointments went can be found on their own blogs.

But I can't tell you how overwhelmed and anxious I am this evening for my girls' future with dentists and orthodontics, etc. Perhaps it's because I am so sensitive to going to the dentist. I don't like going. And I hate to see that my girls have long roads ahead of them in the very area I detest. LOL.

Like I said on Rachel's blog, sometimes you 'forget' she was born with a birth defect. The lip has been repaired, the palate has been repaired. But seeing that Xray today of her teeth, caused my eyes to well up in tears. Our little girl has quite the road ahead of her as far as dental and ortho care. My new prayer for her is that she won't develop a dislike for going to the dentist, like her mother. It's all fixable. But it's going to take a lot of work.

Then came Hannah's appointment. I fully expected her to have cavities. But instead of having cavities, she's just lacking permanent teeth! The feeling of being overwhelmed intensified a bit with that discussion. But again, it's all fixable and able to be worked out. She left the appointment saying it was 'fun', so that was good. I hope she'll continue to think that for a long time to come. And something tells me if we keep going to a place where they show Disney movies in the ceiling and let you pick from the treasure box, she'll go on thinking the dentist is fun. LOL.

"Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
Phillippians 4:6

And the Headlines Just Get Funnier...

Not quite sure how this helps the overall economy, but it made for a good laugh this morning...

$335,000,000 for STD Prevention in Economic Stimulus Bill

Sunrise Shadows on The Pier

Oh how I would love to be waking up to this view...Webcam shot of the Pismo Beach Pier.

Going Digital Has Been Postponed

I heard on the news this morning that the Senate voted unanimously yesterday to postpone the nationwide transition to digital television that was suppose to take place on February 17th. The switch will now take affect on June 12.

The reason: not many people are prepared for the switch from analog television to digital.

Where have these people been for the last 18 months?? We've been hearing the warning of the switchover since mid-2007. Coupons for the converter boxes have been being issued since January 2008.

Honestly, it doesn't affect us, we've had satellite television for ten years, but what about the people who did plan ahead and prepare for the February 17th switchover? It just seems like people who plan and prepare always have to wait for those who don't. In more areas of life than just how television is broadcasted.


Edited to Add: As of this morning, 1/29, the Senate voted against the postponing. Therefore going digital WILL take place on February 17th!

Now Available on DVD

Last Fall, I wrote a post about an excellent movie we had seen at the movies, Fireproof.

For any of you who may have missed it while it was at the theaters, it's available to buy on DVD as of today!

I pre ordered our copy a month or two ago, all I have to do is pick it up.

It's definitely a must see movie for any married couple...in my opinion.

Looking for An Opportunity to Share

Rachel has a really big appointment this afternoon with her Craniofacial team.

The Craniofacial team meets on specific days of the week, so other people will be waiting to be seen with other Craniofacial defects, including cleft lip and palate.

While I'm praying everything goes well and we get answers to some questions, I'm also hoping and praying I will have the opportunity to give God the Glory for how well Rachel's Journey has gone thus far perhaps with another family just starting out.

I carry an album of Rachel's journey through pictures (the ones on her slide show). I'm always looking for an opportunity to share how good our God is.

Funniest Thing I've Read Today

I check The Drudge Report daily to stay atop the news headlines, etc. So far today, I've found two headlines that stand out in a funny sort of way...

"Pelosi Says Birth Control Will Help Economy."

and

"Blagojevich Says He Thought of Oprah for Senate."

If you haven't already, go read the articles and then come back and tell me what you think...

Some Advice to the New First Family Daughters

"...He is OUR father.
Not the sketch in the paper or a part of a skit on tv.
Many people will think that they know him.
But they will have no idea how he felt the day you were born.
The pride he felt on your first day of school.
Or how much you both love being his daughters.

...Remember who your dad really is."

Great Day of the Week

Ahhh, for the last four Saturdays, today included, we have had no daytime events, no birthday parties, no obligations we needed to be...and it's been great!!

We have spent our Saturdays lounging about, watching the Food Network, catching up on miscellaneous shows we'd taped and not watched in the previous week, we've been lazy.

It's not often that we have so many Saturdays in a row like this. So the girls are both becoming stir crazy for the lack of not leaving the house on Saturdays in recent weeks. LOL. It's been nice. A lot of times our Saturdays are taken up, one week after another, and it seems like the Spring weekends can be busy, so for now, we're enjoying our lazy Saturdays.

My Husband's Job

I was at a function for Hannah last night, surrounded by Moms I did not know. The only Mom I did know was running the function and I was left alone to talk to people I'd never met. :::gasp!::: Can we say "out of my comfort zone". I am a shy person. I don't like to go out of my way to talk to people I don't know. I especially don't like the "stand and greet" the people around you at church.

For a while I just sat, watching the girls, sipping on my Starbucks iced tea. And then another Mom struck up a conversation with me. And as always, the question of what your husband does for a living comes up.

My husband is a web developer. He programs and builds websites for online training courses. I think the things he does is interesting. But the most unique thing about his job, is that he works from home. He works from home five days a week for a company based in Phoenix, Arizona, and has worked from home for six years now.

When I tell other women that my husband works from home, I always get the most interesting responses. I have found that most of the time, women don't want their husbands home all day. This particular Mom said having her husband work from home wouldn't work for them because she'd want him to constantly entertain her, spend time with her. I'll admit and say that when Steven first started working from home, it was an adjustment, but I wouldn't want it any other way now.

Prior to working at home, Steven commuted 70 miles one way. He left at 6:30 in the morning, and didn't leave work until after 6:30 to miss the heavy traffic, most nights not getting home until after 8:00. He only commuted a couple days a week, but the days he commuted were long days.

Steven's working at home works for us. We have an office, off of the laundry room, where his computer (and mine) is. He is disciplined and works 8 to 5, rarely coming out except for coffee refills, morning and afternoon snacks, and to get his lunch.

His working at home also allows him to be a part of the girls' day. He's able to check in with how the girl's school day was. He's able to adjust his working to attend Student of the Month assemblies, Preschool Christmas performances, major medical appointments (such as Rachel's on Monday), and other things of importance. Things that most working Dad's miss out on the majority of time.

Because the corporate offices are in Phoenix, Steven has conference calls weekly with the team of people he 'works' with. It's very rare that he has to make a trip to Phoenix, maybe once every other year for something special or big. The seldom times he does have to 'get on a airplane to go to work', they miss him terribly, and constantly ask 'when Daddy will be home'. It's a big deal when Daddy leaves the house 'to go to work'. It's different for all of us when he's gone, I'm used to having him home as well, we're together practically 7 days a week, with the exception of a few hours here and there through the week.

When I get into conversations with other women, I'm proud and happy to say my husband works from home. I love having him home.

Home Remedies

Home remedies can often sound strange and unappealing when suggested or read about. Often times these home remedies come from the older generations and are tried and true for some people. On others, they don't always work. These are just a couple of home remedies, I suppose considered homeopathic, that I've heard about in recent weeks.

Toothache put a piece of clove in between your teeth and bite down. The tooth ache supposedly goes away.

Ear pain - warm up some cooking oil, and dip a cotton ball into in it, and then place the cotton ball into your ear canal. The warm oil takes the pain out of the ear drum. Obviously you have to be careful as to how hot you warm the oil, etc.

The newest one I heard this week. WIthin twenty four hours two different people told me to put Vicks Vapor Rub on the bottoms of Rachel's feet and then put socks on to stop her constant (and ever so annoying) persistent cough. That one really had me baffled, but these people swore it worked. I didn't end up having to try it as Rachel's cough has pretty much diminished by now. But I'm going to remember that one, and I'm going to buy a new container of Vicks sometime soon to have on hand as well!

What are some home remedies you've tried or hear about?

God is Listening

I've been thinking alot lately about the trials the Lord brings into our lives. Sometimes he uses the same trials to teach us things. For us, it was the trials of having babies both with medical issues, Rachel, her birth defect, and Hannah, swallowing issues that lasted until she was 18 months old.

Why did the Lord choose the area of our children's health to be a trial for us over and over again? Was it because we didn't learn what we were suppose to the first time around? Was the trial to see how we'd handle it - by bringing us to our knees in prayer? Or was it for us to shine as examples with joy and bring the Glory to God, which is what I believe to be the reason for Rachel's birth defect.

My Mom writes beautiful devotions and keeps a devotional blog, Beside Still Waters. And as I was looking back of some of her older devotionals, I came across this particular one:

"For He has not ignored
the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned
and walked away.
He has listened to their
cries for help."

Psalm 22:24 NLT
Isn't this verse a comforting reminder that God does hear our cries for help? It doesn't matter what the circumstances of our lives are. If we are in need, He doesn't turn a deaf ear to us. God may not answer the way we want Him to, but He does answer in His timing, and in the way He knows is best for our particular need.

"He has not turned and walked away".......We can't always expect people to hang in there with us through our times of need. Some will, but many won't. But that's okay, we have reassurance all through the scriptures that God won't. He will never leave us or forsake us...no matter what!

Some trials go on for many years, it doesn't mean that God is ignoring us. If the mountain won't move, then we are to climb the mountain and bring glory to His name in the climb. How do we do that when the suffering can be so overwhelming at times? We abide in Him and draw close to Him through prayer and Bible reading...two simple things. We can't think for minute that Satan will not try to keep us from the rest and peace that comes as we abide. Be aware!

If you are discouraged and maybe needy today.....find comfort in knowing that God is listening and He has not turned away from you. Look for ways that you can see God working in your life, even if it's in the small things and then, give Him PRAISE!!!

"Don't be overwhelmed...
take it one day and one prayer at a time."

~Stormie Omartian~

These times in which we are living, are bringing a lot of trials to people's lives - health issues, financial issues, loss of a job. They may be trials that last longer than a week, a month, or maybe even years, but isn't it comforting to know God is always listening?? If you're in the midst of a trial, remember who you can talk to, and He doesn't have Call Waiting, He's available and ready to listen when you're ready to talk.

History is Being Made

Whether or not you voted for the new President, history is being made today. Not only our we swearing in a new President, but it's the first Black President of the United States. Things have definitely changed in the last 60 years and it's exciting. Who's watching history in the making - whether it be on television, on the internet, or listening via the radio?

Fun Times

Last night we met up with some friends at Disneyland. And then met up with even more friends once inside the park. Our group count was 14.

We had an entire side of the car on the Disneyland Train, our own boat on Pirates of the Carribbean, And while I don't know for sure, because I sat out with Rachel, I think our group even had their own expedition car on Indiana Jones. It's times like these that are so much fun!Disneyland unfortunately closed early, at 10:00. Despite being a Friday night, they are still operating on Winter/Low Peak schedule. But we weren't ready for our fun to end...

...so we met at a Denny's half way home! LOL. Some ate breakfast, afterall, it was after midnight and the wee hours of Saturday morning, others had burgers. But we had a great time of fellowship and just hanging out. Rachel was a little confused, she thought it was dinner we were having that late and kept asking what was for dessert. LOL. Hannah, she must have thought her parents were nuts cause we never do anything fun THAT late at night.

It was a fun evening and we didn't get home until after 1:30. And I'm sure a lot of caffeine will be needed to stay moving today...

A Little Perspective

I got this email a few days ago from a friend, who at the end of her day, had a little perspective that she wanted to share. The email was so good, and a great reminder of exactly who is in control of how our day goes. It is with her permission and a little bit of editing that I share this email.I wish I could tell you I wore my Christian Woman badge proudly today. But as it often happens, I started the day with great expectations and somewhere along the way fell considerably short of my goal.

All the "simple stuff" turned out to be not so simple.

The morning went well until I took the kids to school and pondered yet again the question, why do people in our small city have no idea how to drive? Only 2 1/2 hours into the day and my unruly side was coming out.

I made it to the County of San Bernardino Recorders Office in record time. Finally got M’s Birth certificate, I know he is almost five, but I need it to register him for Kindergarten. Went to Target found some awesome stuff on clearance. But what I went for was gone. Went to the mall for the School Cents meeting, got chewed out a little bit. Tried another Target no success. On to Costco for gas. Got gas decided that as long as I'm there I should pick up what I need. Remembered ‘M’ should eat at some point, so I got him a hot dog and churro (because what mom doesn't want sugar and half eaten food in their purse). Went inside, got my things, got in line and thought this was a bad idea. Came home did a few things around the house. Went to Auto Zone for light bulbs for hubby’s car. Picked the girls up from school. Tried to talk to a friend while ‘E’ was screaming at me, "I want to go home". Came home, and yes, ‘E’ is still alive. As usual the evening had its moments with homework and just general stuff.

Dinner went okay until the reason for the email.

Dear Hubby and I were cleaning up, when ‘M’, a.k.a. Vomit Boy, informs us that he has to throw up. Hubby tells him to go in the bathroom.

A few seconds later he is crying standing in the hallway (mind you - I just cleaned the carpet) covered in vomit saying, "I didn't make it" we looked in the bathroom, and it is covered!There isn’t a surface in all the bathroom that he missed.

All the while, ‘H’ in the shower.

We had no idea where to start on the mess, but between Dear Hubby and I we cleaned the bathroom.

Finally the reason for the e-mail. God has a way of changing my outlook in unexpected ways. When ‘H’ got out of the shower she said, "Mom, aren't you glad we don't plan our lives? But Jesus does.”

To which I responded, "I wish He’d planned mine with less vomit, but yes I am glad."

She then went on to say, "Jesus has a plan, maybe he wants ‘M’ to get all his vomit out before he is a teenager". And if you have any idea how often Vomit Boy erupts, you'd know he is well on his way to meeting that goal.

I'm not sure what God's plan is.

For some reason His plan often involves throwing my plan out the window. For this I am learning to be thankful. To check my own attitude at the door, trust Him a little more each day, and listen to the wisdom of my eight year old.

My steps are ordered by the only One who knows all the details.

I hope this made you laugh, but also that it encourages you. Keep going, be awesome wives, moms, and friends. Don't worry so much about falling short. Keep running the race girls, just watch out for the vomit. And be grateful for lifes lessons.

Smoke Detectors

Is your house equipped with smoke detectors?? Because our house is only ten years old, we have a smoke detector in every room of the house, with the exception of the kitchen/family room for obvious reasons. But the office, each of our three bedrooms, the formal dinning/living room, even the laundry room, all have smoke detectors. But the one place that does not have a smoke detector is the attic.

'The attic?' you might think. Yes, the attic.

On Christmas night, some long time friends of my parents, experienced something you'd never want to experience, let alone experience on Christmas night. Their attic caught fire, which caused not only damage to their roof, but also damage to the second story of their house.

The firefighters told them it took the ceilings collapsing before a smoke detector went off. And that perhaps a smoke detector in the attic might have helped alerted them a lot sooner, before the flames became too big.

It is because of the Curtis Family that we now have a smoke detector in our attic. I bought one Tuesday and installed it in the attic myself.

We aren't too sure if we'll be able to hear it, should it go off. But living in a single story house, we thought that perhaps if it was going off, it'd be just enough of an annoyance for one of us to get up and check things out.

Rowena, is a gifted photographer. And believe it or not, she captured the horrific event of their house in flames. She captured her husband carrying out their iMac, the firefighters carrying out pictures. They are amazing pictures. To read more about their story and see her pictures, you can visit Rowena's website at www.rowenacurtis.com.

To the Dentist

Anyone who's been a follower of my blog for any great length of time knows how much I detest going to the dentist. My old dentist I've gone to for over 18 years was nice. I had no traumatic experiences. I just don't like going to the dentist. So much so, that for years we paid out of our insurance network for me to go to my dentist.

That changed last October. I changed to a new dentist where I was 100% covered with our insurance and I loved him! I wrote a post about how much I loved the new dentist and how gentle he was.

Over the weekend I had some things contribute to my waking up with the worse toothache on Monday morning (what a way to start a Monday). I made steaks for dinner on Saturday night and chewed on my sensitive side. And there was some stress in my life that resulted in me clenching my teeth. Monday, the toothache was so horrible I couldn't get a handle on the pain. I tried prescription Motrin. I tried Advil. I overlapped. I overdosed. I was in soooo much pain.

Tuesday morning I called and got an appointment to be seen. They couldn't get me in until this morning.

Again, my experience was nothing but pleasant and good.

However, my tooth is deeply troubled. And I do mean deep. I have a rather large pocket that may be caused by my tooth moving when I clench. Food is collected in that pocket and decaying and the decay is starting to affect the bone. Thus the reason for the nasty taste I've had in my mouth.

The dentist worked on my bite and adjusted the crown. They also cleaned out the pocket and then squirt antibiotics up in the pocket. The antibiotics work over twenty three days. Thankfully, I have an appointment next Wednesday for cleaning and they made note on my chart to have the dentist take a look at the tooth then as well.

I would very much appreciate prayers that I can get a handle on my clenching so I don't end up with major, major dental issues. It might come down to having to get a night guard.

"Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore"

We're waking up to this being the sixth straight day of the wind blowing here in Southern California, and it can leave anytime now!!!

The leaves are officially all off the trees. And the change in the pressure is wrecking havoc with everyone's sinuses, not to mention the wind stirring up allergies and asmtha. Why bother combing your hair and doing anything with it. LOL.

Not only have we had the winds, but the last two days, our temps have been 80+ degrees, and dry! I much prefer the cold, calm days we were having this time last month.

Where Do The Socks Go?

For years, when I heard Mom's talk about how socks went missing, I just didn't understand how it was possible. What did they mean when they couldn't find the matching sock??

Now I can relate.

Hannah is down to only a handful of pairs of socks and I have NO IDEA where they've gone. No idea!

Things Look 'Blah'

The evidence of Christmas has been gone from our house for almost two weeks now and everything looks so bare and blah.

When I put away everyday decor in the month of October to bring out my Fall decorations, I sometimes forget how I had things decorated over the span of the few months of decorating for the holidays. Usually I take pictures of how I had things before dissembling and packing things away until after the New Year. I've referenced back to how I had things and some table tops are the same as they were back in September. Some of the everyday decor I've tweaked and changed a bit.

But what I am having the most trouble with is my kitchen counter.

One the end, I kept out my snowman teapot and sugar and creamer to display through January. It is after all, winter, and snowmen are representative of the winter months. But it's the corner area where I have my Kitchen Aid that is the most barest place in all our house. I cannot figure out what to put there to liven things up and add some color. It's way too early to bring out my Spring stuff. And yet, I can't remember what I had in that spot a year ago, following Christmas.

Anyone else have decorating dilemma's such as this after the holidays?

Couple's Ministry

A few months back, our church put together a Couple's Ministry. It is the desire of our Pastor to do something once a month that brings couples together in fellowship and fun and a time together.

The first event was a couple's dinner hosted in early November. A nice dinner was served, there was a comedian, and a great devotion by a guest pastor. The last weekend of November had the Couple's Ministry meeting up to view Christmas lights. We skipped that one because they were going on the opening weekend of the holiday festivities, and we knew how crazy it would be with people.

Tonight, is the next Couple's event. They are having an evening of cookies and worship around a bonfire. They are also providing childcare at another location! It'll be a nice evening, but the winds have been blowing so hard the last two days here in Southern California that I bet the 'bonfire' part of the evening will be cancelled. We shall see.

Steven and I have recently been asked to serve as part of the committee that comes up with and plans these events. I think it'll be a fun ministry for us to serve in together.

Doubt VS Faith

Doubt sees the obstacles. Faith sees the way.

Doubt sees the darkest night. Faith sees the day.

Doubt dreads to take a step. Faith soars on high.

Doubt questions, "Who believes?" Faith answers, "I".

From the book, The Remarkable Women of the Bible,
by Elizabeth George.

This Weekend!

Looking for something to do this weekend??

Do you like live music?? Like the Blues??

If so, come out and support a local band that was recently voted "Best Local Band".For more information, visit www.riversidebluesclub.com.

EARTHQUAKE!

I hate earthquakes. I hate them. Hate them. Hate them. Just ask anyone in my immediate family.

Growing up, I would literally freak out when we had big ones, I would get terribly upset and it'd be hard to calm down. I've gotten better over the years, but rather than burst out outwardly, I inwardly freak out, so as not to freak out my children.

Tonight, at 7:49, we experienced a pretty big one. It was 'only' 5.0. But it was strong, and it felt long. Me and the girls were home alone when it happened, it was scarey.

Things fell out of cupboards.

Off the walls.

It took a long while to calm the girls down, all the while trying to hold it together myself. I was scared. Thankfully my Mom remembers how freaked out I get and she looks out for me and called to see if me and the girls were okay.

Hannah asked who made Jesus mad. Which thinking about it, what an awesome question from an eight year old. LOL. I explained to her it's the earth shifting, etc, etc. She finally went to sleep, but after a lot of questions and lots of hugs and reassurance. I told her there could be aftershocks and that Jesus would keep us safe. She seemed good with those answers.

"Whatever, Martha!"

I remember hearing this show mentioned over the holidays, but I can't remember who mentioned it. But with nothing to watch on television last night, we discovered "Whatever, Martha!" was on the Fine Living Network and tuned in to watch.

"Whatever, Martha" is a talk show like television show that has Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis, and her best friend watching old episodes of Martha Stewart Living and giving their "witty, irreverent, comedic points of view". It was absolutely hilarious to watch.

If you're looking for something funny to watch, I highly recommend checking your cable/satellite listing for "Whatever, Martha".

Facebook

Everyone has heard about MySpace. It has it's reputation for appealing to the 'younger' generations, okay, and some of the older. I'll admit it, I have a MySpace page. But it's not kept up and I don't really use it much.

Slowly, everyone is beginning to learn about Facebook. It's similar to MySpace, but much more classy and grown up-like.

When Steven first introduced me to Facebook, I created my page, and didn't really participate or go on it much. But in recent months, Facebook has become an addiction. I have found many friends from Elementary School, Jr High, and High School. It's been a lot of fun to reconnect with those particular people and see their pictures and see where they have ended up in life. It's also been fun to connect with friends from church and see their day to day going ons.

If you're looking for a new place to check out in the great big world of the internet, check out Facebook.com. You'll be surprised you might 'run in to'.

Lazy Days

Ah, such is the life.

Today was spent doing absolutely nothing, at least not anything that involved being off the couch. We spent the entire day being lazy and doing nothing and watching television all day long. :::gasp::: Yes, we spent the entire day watching television. We watched Food Network and made ourselves hungry, we've cleared out all the DVD pile of movies we'd gotten for Christmas or in the last month and have watched them all, and we watched television movies that we actually have on DVD. LOL.

Steven was a little more productive than I. He researched cheaper car insurance and researched our homeowners insurance. He might have worked a little bit on the laptop, I'm not sure. But it was all done from the comfort of the couch.

It was a nice way to spend the day for come Monday morning, it's back to the grind of wearing the "Taxi Mom Hat" and getting out the door every morning for school (Wahooo!). Hope everyone else has spent Saturday just the way they wanted to!

Disneyland on New Years Day

We've gone to Disneyland on New Years Day for many years now, and I am pretty sure today was the busiest we've see it on the 1st. Years past, people are hungover, watching football games, at the Rose parade, or just home. But today, it felt as though everyone was at Disneyland. The lines getting into the parking structure were so bad I called Uncle Bart and he literally turned around and decided to not come. There was a huge line for guest services for getting in free for your birthday, so I think the new celebration promotion that started today is already proving to be a success. The Christmas decorations all start to come down after this weekend, which is why it's always fun to go on New Years Day, to see everything festive just once more before the season ends. The one thing I absolutely wanted to do today was ride It's a Small World. It reopened mid-November after an eleven month rehab and I wanted to see the changes that were done to the ride before they close it this next week to take down the Christmas decor and make even more changes. The line, although still long, was not as long as I've seen it in recent trips. I think we stood in line for 25 minutes, which is a lot longer than I would normally stand in line for, but I really wanted to ride this today.From there, Steven and the girls went to do Star Tours and I went to get Fastpasses for Indiana Jones for Steven and Hannah to ride later in the afternoon. There was a line for Fastpasses!! It took 15 minutes of waiting in line just to get a Fastpass that wasn't even good until four hours later. I stood in line and got the Fastpasses, just in case we were still around come 6:15, but at that point, I was pretty sure I was done. The girls trying to sneak a peek at Tinkerbell and her fairy friends.I met back up with Steven and the girls and we attempted to fulfill one more thing that would make my Christmas season complete - peppermint ice cream from the ice cream store on Main Street. The line was too long and I had had it. Too many pushing people, too many rude people, just plain ole too many people!

In hopes of getting on Soarin Over California, we headed across the way to California Adventure. It's always, less crowded over there. Perhaps we can escape the crowds just a bit. When we walked out into the Esplanade between the parks, the lines to get into the parks had grown tremendously, the lines to get into Disneyland stretching back almost to the CALIFORNIA letters in front of California Adventure. Unfortunately, the line for Soarin was an hour wait. So we skipped it and officially deemed it was time to go. Let it be known for the record books, that Steven lasted a lot longer than I at Disneyland today. I was the one pushing to go. Anyone who knows us, knows how big of a deal this is. LOL.

On our way out, the High School Musical 3 parade was getting ready to start, so we stopped to watch that. It was the first time we'd seen it and it was just as good as the previous 2 High School Musical parades.After the parade, we left. We made our way to the tram and got ourselves to our car. We did stop at one of our favorite restaurants on our way home for a nice New Years Day dinner. And I am grateful for the time we spent together as a family. I'm just sad it was so busy and simply became unbearable for me to be at Disneyland. Better Luck next time...

Happy New Year

It's a New Year. A new start so to speak. What are you hoping 2009 holds for you and your family???