"The Government Can"

Make sure to pause my playlist on the bottom right before watching this video.

GA Aquarium Date

While we were recently down in GA, Ryan arranged for his sister to watch the boys while he took me out to the GA Aquarium and lunch afterwards. We really had a great time (even though we both talked about how much we missed the boys being there). I was really impressed with the aquarium and how hands on they were. I was a little dissappointed that you had to pay for th Titanic exhibit and a few others, but there was still plenty to see. We then we took a walk through the Olympic Park and over to the CNN building (no we are not CNN fans!), but thought it would still be neat to see if we could watch the news live (which we couldn't). I then managed to literally "blow out my flip-flop" on the brick walkway of the park. For lunch I chose an old fav. of ours called "Wok & Chopstix". As you guessed it is a chinese resturant. It is always so quant and quiet along with clean and fresh food. We enjoyed EVERY bite! Here are our pics:


I found NEMO!

Coral Reef Aquarium...I like how you can see Ryan's reflection :)

Da...Dum, Da..Dum, Da Dum, Da Dum.....SHARK!

Grouper

Jellyfish

One of the HUGE Whale Sharks

Beluga Whale

My favorite: Sea Otters! They are like toddlers. They played with toys and instead of using the "tools" they were supplied, to crack open their food, they use the window :)

I promise, this is a Sea Dragon, not Sea Weed

The Anemone, Sea Urchin & Starfish touch pool



River Otters

Poisonous Frogs

Sting Ray & Shark touch pool

Drum Roll Please....*dddddddd*.....

UPDATE:

Ryan got the call at the end of last week to ask him to come back to JTEKT. He went in for drug testing Monday and has a training day this Thursday (30th). They called him yesterday to see if he wanted to start early, but he is still working out his notice with Broadview. We are so excited and thankful.

At the end of last week I also started noticing an itchy rash showing up on my arms, face and around my eye. Friday I went to the Dr. as my eye was swelling and found out it was poison ivy that I came in contact with Monday while dong some yard work. THey gave me a steroid shot and some meds and the next morning my eye had swelled completely shut! The Dr. advised me to go to the ER where they gave me another steroid shot and a stronger oral steroid to take for twice as long. My eye is much better (nearly 100%), but my arms are killing me with constant itching!!! Thankfully I am on the mend though! We found out through this, how much we are thankful to go back onto JTEKT's insurance as the ER trip would have been $50 cheaper on their insurance.

Well although I would love to be announcing a new addition to our family, at the moment we are not expecting. Our great news? Ryan received a call this AM from JTEKT (his old, much better paying and better insured job) and they have picked up business again. They have called back the groups laidoff right after him (who have higher seniority) and Ryan's group would be next, PLUS, Ryan is at the top of the group, so he will definitely be the next called back and I quote, "before the end of the year."! When Ryan told me I questioned if he was just pulling my leg again as we tend to play little jokes on one another, but he assured me it was not a joke and then I broke into tears. Seriously, tears! So pretty much any day now we could get that call. Ryan hasn't really felt in place a Broadview (formerly BRINKS) and I asked him if he will be sad to leave and he excitedly said, "NO!" Though I think his body will remind him that he has been sitting at a desk for several months when he does return to JTEKT. :) To give everyone an idea of the difference this will make in our pockets, his checks from BRINKS are 1/2 of what they were from JTEKT. We have been thankful to have the job at Broadview as it has sustained us, but we have struggled to make ends meet. We are praising God for all he has done and is doing and the many things we have learned about ourselves in the last few months and years.

He Peed!

This summer has been all about growing up for Thomas! He gave up the paci a few weeks ago. Actually he had a bad habit of hiding them from us and then eventually forgot where he hid them. I know this picture is totally inappropriate, but I have learned to make a big deal over their achievements as it makes them proud of it and they want to do it more. Thomas took awhile just to get him to pee on the potty. He would hold it for nearly the whole day and wait till I put a diaper on him to go. Finally he gave it a good try. He was pretty excited for what he had done, but even more so when he saw how excited I got for him.

The 4th Parade

Finally we were up early enough to make it to a parade before it started! In parades past we don't realize there is a parade until we hear the sirens of the police cars and firetruck as they run down the street that runs behind our house. We made it out there this year, bed heads and all and got lots of yummy candy!


Yay, Mom got us dressed in like 2 mins and threw us in this wagon so we can go to the parade! Like our bed-heads?


Killing time and up to something?


Here Mommy, for you!


Me too!


Such a sweet bouquet


Joseph discovered this year that if you wave they see you and in turn they throw you candy.


Thomas will pick up on that later :)


My favorite part is always the dozens of horses that trot on through. And I particularly think this covered wagon is rather neat!









The fruits of Joseph's labor and Thomas' taking advantage of Joseph's labor ;)

HUGE GIVEAWAYS AT MOM CENTRAL!

Check out Mom Central for lots of great giveaways. You just register for their site and leave a comment for each giveaway. Plus you can do extras for more entries! Here's a list of the giveaways:

WEEK 4:

Win a Play-Doh Spaghetti Factory (Open to US) Enter by August 7

Win Wisk High Efficiency Detergent (Open to US and Canada) Enter by August 7

Win a Laugh and Learn DVD Set (Open to US) Enter by August 7

Win a PBS Family DVD Set (Open to US and Canada) Enter by August 7

Win a Snack Caddy (Open to US and Canada) Enter by August 7



WEEK 3:

Win an At-home Tetherball System from Lifetime Products (Open to US) Enter by July 31

Win a $100 Gift Certificate to Alice.com (Open to US and Canada) Enter by July 31

Win a Polly Pocket Playset (Open to US and Canada) Enter by July 31

Win a Wateroos Drink Pack for Kids (Open to US) Enter by July 31

Win a Birthday Party Bash for Wii game (Open to US) Enter by July 28

WEEK 2:

Win a Swatch Watch from Jomaship (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 24

Win a Digital Frame from Kodak (Open to US) Enter by July 24

Win Crayola Play Sand (Open to US) Enter by July 24

Win a Clipo Hippo from Playskool (Open to US) Enter by July 24

WEEK 1:

Win a pair of Crocs kids' sneakers (open to US) Enter by July 10

Win a Hoover Vaccum (open to US) Enter by July 17


Win a 20th Anniverary Super Soaker (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 17


Win a free game from GameHouse.com (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 17


Win a box of Crystal Light (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 17

Win a pair of new Simple Shoes for toddlers (open to US) Enter by July 17


Plus each week they will add more items!

More News and Prayers Needed

I just found out yesterday that my mom (Beth) is scheduled for her tummy tuck on the 13th of July. Thankfully the Lord worked it out that it is on Ryan's day off so I can be there to help. It is a four hour surgery that is very invasive and she will then go home an hour later. My sister and I will be taking care of her at her home. Pray for a safe surgery and easy-speedy recovery for her. Pray for the family as we care for her. Thanks in advance for all your prayers.

Yep it's me...posting on my blog between all the busy-ness. What have we been up to? Well My mom had a hard first night in the hospital, but made rapid improvement the next day, to the point that she got to go home that day ( a day early! ). She has done well and has been working hard to get her iron levels back up to normal. I think she is getting bored though. She has the will and energy to do things, but pays for it the next day.

I have also spent time installing curtains all around the house. Finally after 4 years! I have also gotten all our cats/kittens (5) spayed and neutered so we are officially over that fun.

Also, I do ask for prayers for my sister as the Dr.'s have found pre-cancerous cells on her cervix. She will soon have a procedure done that will scrape off layers until they get it all. Pray that it will work and they can, in fact, get it all. Pray for strength for her in this time, that she can find hope in Christ through this trial.

Ryan and I have started going through a little book called The Visionary Marriage. We have read completely through it once and (as the book instructs) are going to go back through the five points in detail. Let me go ahead and say, it was an eye opener! I recommend this book to all married and soon-to-be married couples. It's just a great book to go over the details that get missed after awhile. And if you want it, I know the author! In fact, he married us!!!

As far as my adenomyosis goes, I have been taking a xenoestrogen detox and have noticed some difference on it. The real test will be when I start using the Progesterone. In a few more weeks I can do that.

And because no post is exciting without pictures, I am including the shots I got of the boys at the splash pad and at home depot.

Coveted Prayers

Another UPDATE:
Well I am now nestled into the recliner in my mom's hospital room. Tonight is my night to stay with her and help care for her through the night. It is so wonderful to be able to serve my mother for a change. She has been extremely groggy from the morphine and anesthesia. She has also acquired some significant nausea. Thankfully the new round of nurses is much better than the first and very helpful in getting us what we need, which is a blessing! It will be a restless night I am sure, but somehow I enjoy this time with her in her time of need. I don't even mind the lack of sleep. Thank you all for your prayers and comfort.

UPDATE:
Mom is in surgery as I type. She got the news before surgery that they will be unable to do the elective plastic surgery because her blood counts were so low from all the problems she has had the past couple of weeks and months. She was very disappointed, but handled it with grace. It should take about an hour and then she will recover in the hospital for 2 days. I am staying with her tonight and Tiffany tomorrow. Please pray that her blood counts would improve and her pain would be minimal as it is still major surgery.

Please be praying for my mom. She is going in for a planned hysterectomy tomorrow that is pretty invasive due to her fibroids and cysts. In addition she is having plastic surgery to remove lots of unwanted skin from losing a lot of weight. All that makes it a 5 hour surgery!!! My sister, Dad and I will be up there (and not quite sure if my brother will be up there too). She is more than ready as her problems have worsened as the weeks have drawn closer. I think the thing we are all most nervous about is the recovery. It is one of the most painful recoveries from what we hear. Please pray for the Dr.s' that the Lord would grant them wisdom and steady hands. That the nurses would be gentle and kind as they tend to her needs. That the family can be of help to her and care for her as she has faithfully cared for us over the years. Thank you in advance for your prayers! They are coveted.

Getting the Best To Say the Least!

Ok, I have to admit, I really like the style and quality of the Pottery Barn Brand. There are not many of their items I don't like and I have yet to find any of their items with poor quality. That being said, we just can't afford it. Here are my tips on scouting out good deals and these are also ways you may be able to save on other great brands!

1. I skim through ebay nearly every day for deals and cheap used or new items, usually for specific items. Here's the hint. Change up your search words, ie: Pottery Barn Valance is sometimes misspelled by the sellers as Pottery Barn Valence! These actually end up being easy items to snag, because most people won't misspell the word in their search. Also someone may use different title words for the same thing, ie: Pillow Cover or Pillow Sham.

2. This is BIG! I just discovered this huge way to save, today! I had been searching for just the right chair cushions for our dining room chairs and wouldn't you know it the ones I like are made by Pottery Barn! Soooo, I saw that they were on clearance on their site for $15 each which is probably not bad for them, but add on tax and shipping and wowzer! That's $70+ for four cushions. So I gave their company a call to check on the shipping rates and see about giving me a cheaper rate and wouldn't you know it the customer service rep said that today they were giving those same cushions to their customers who call in, for 1/2 of the clearance price, PLUS FREE SHIPPING!!! Can you believe it!? Talk about cheap, I couldn't find these used for that cheap! The Rep. told me that they have deals you wouldn't believe for call-in customers.

So before ordering online, give the company a ring and see if they will work with you on the price. No matter who it is :)

HOPE!

Well I finally had my annual checkup, which I have been waiting for since the beginning of the year to talk with my Dr. about my ongoings and all the recent developments. I found out that everything looks...well...normal! However, my Dr. diagnosed me with Adenomyosis (still having trouble spelling that out). It's basically endometreosis of the uterus. Cure? He told me a hysterectomy. Should it cause my infertility? He says no.

So I decided to research the condition myself and found this out:

1. It does cause infertility
2. There is a form of natural treatment

This is wonderful news. In reading the research on it, it all started to make sense. All these symptoms I have had that we thought weren't related, in fact are! Symptoms of adenomyosis are:

1. Infertility
2. High estrogen
2. Low Progesterone which inhibits ovulation
3. thyroid symptoms like: hair loss, weight gain, difficulty loosing weight, lack of energy (even though the thyroid tests normal!)
4. PAINFUL Cramps all the time
5. Pelvic Discomfort
6. Breast Tenderness
7. LONG menses
8. irregular menses

Many of these symptoms kept making me think I was pregnant every month.

Basically what happens is I develop high amounts of estrogen from xenoestrogens ("foreign" estrogen) in my environment. This causes the progesterone to go down and inhibits the body from ovulating. So no matter how hard we try...no baby :( This also messes with the other hormones and chemicals in the body. Because of all these things my endometrium tissue cells have embedded into the muscle of the uterus and causes severe pain during menses and even throughout the month. I hoping to be able to detox my body of all the excess estrogen and then start using a NATURAL progesterone to get everything where it should be. It is hard to believe that I found all this out in a matter of minutes and my Dr. told me the only treatment was a hysterectomy. Stay tuned to see how it all goes :)

Want a kitty?

Well we are more than ready to find a home for one or two of the kittens we have left. They are both female and we can get them "fixed" and vaccinated for $11 each if you would like. We did manage to find a home for two boy kittens with some dear friends, but unfortunately a mean ole tomcat got a hold of them :( Our friends felt so bad. We would like to find homes that the kittens would be allowed indoors at least overnight, especially since they are still so young and vulnerable.

We have put an official end to the problem of over population (at least at our house)as we "fixed" our two adult cats today. It's so funny to see them so calm and quiet. And boy were they hungry when they came home!

Here are their photo opps:



Kitty #1 has the neatest coloring. Grey back, black face, white paws and whiskers :)
She is very feisty and playful and puts up well with kids.


Kitty#2 is solid grey with medium to long hair. She is very sweet and calm. She will play and get into things, but prefers to be cuddled. She does put up with the boys handling her, but I can tell she doesn't prefer them messing with her.

Coupon Giveaway Over At Rochele's!

Go on over here at check out this great coupon giveaway!

A Hard Week

It has been a rough 7 days for me and I am glad things are getting better. I am still ever struggling (beyond the normal) with my female stuff and got bad enough to call my doc as I was under tremendous pain to the point that it took Lortab and Ibprofen to get it under control. Of course they decided I needed a pregnancy test and to no shock of ours it was negative. After almost two years of this I no longer expect a positive result. I am not sure if that is good or bad, but I guess a part of me has come to terms with the fact that I may never have a little one again. Thankfully my checkup is real soon so I will get to talk some more with the doc about it and hopefully he won't suggest a fertility specialist again, but try to figure it out for himself. On top of all that chaos I had to have my tooth crowned which was basically a lot of grinding, sanding, stabbing, filling my mouth full of caulk-like substances and druelling on myself :( What did I get out of it? A horrible looking temporary crown on my front tooth. Seriously I feel like I have a snaggle tooth! In 2 1/2 weeks I get a lovely looking tooth that I am assured will look even better than my original tooth. Thankfully I have a great dentist who doesn't mind the fact that I am a big baby when it comes to getting shots in my mouth. So that was my seven days. Thankfully I am feeling better and hoping it will stay that way so I can catch up on housework and maybe rip up some carpet while Ryan is at work. There's hardwood under these nasty carpets!

Rosetta Stone Giveaway!

My friend Jennifer is having a giveaway for Rosetta Stone and this is what she has to say:

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post.

Sounds great huh?!

A Mom's Week

We had a busy weekend. Friday just happened to be my grocery day and we tried to fit in as much as we could into my day with the van. We decided it is time to give two of the kittens to some friends of ours, as they are now into EVERYTHING! So I loaded them up on our way to drop off Ryan. We stopped on by our friends, Gabe and Brandy for what was suppose to be a quick lunch and donating the kitties to them. Well you now how it goes when you have good friends, a shot time turns into several hours of fellowshipping and eating good homemade food. And when I say homemade I mean they even raise their own eggs and grind their own wheat! After leaving there I got a portion of my shopping done and then it was already time to pick up Ryan from work. While in Knoxville, we decided to stop by and get my craigslist mother's day gift that Ryan and the boys wanted to get me. I got a huge creative memories tote bag FULL of albums, cutters, papers, pens and more from a lady who didn't want them anymore. I talked her down to $50 from $100 which in my opinion is a steal for everything I got. Not to mention there were a few items I will sell on EBay and possibly make back the full price! Ryan laughed when I told him that and said, "you are definitely not like the normal woman who would request jewelry and such."

As for Saturday, Ryan's Co. Picnic was at Dollywood and I managed to talk him in to getting season passes at a huge discount since our tickets were free and then we just pay the remainder to upgrade them. He's so great to put up with me! I am excited to get to go more since we will not have any type of vacation this year. I forgot to take my camera, so sorry no pics of our fun there. But, I am so proud of Joseph who rode the carousel, flying bees, pigs and ducks! He is getting much more brave. The highlight as usual was the ride on the read coal train through the smokies. I promise it is a real, full size train! Rider beware though. You get a light sprinkling of coal dust all over you.

Sunday we enjoyed the day over at Mom and Dad's after we got out of church. Just a relaxing, non-rainy day.

Prayer Need

UPDATE: Thank you for you thoughts and prayers in these times for my Mom. After a much longer wait than expected, we got the news that the test was clear. NO CANCER! Praise be to God. What a huge weight that was lifted.

My dear mother, who is near and dear to me has had a lot of health dealings the last several years. After many years of dealing with fibroid tumors in her uterus, her Dr. has decided they need to go. She is scheduled for a full hysterectomy this summer. As the weeks pass by she has noticed more problems arising and her Dr. decided to test her for uterine cancer. We are all staying positive about it and patiently (as we can) waiting for the results of the biopsy. I request prayers for:

-her, that the test would come back clear (Lord willing) and she we stay on schedule for her previous plans for surgery.
-that the Lord would continue to help her as she has recently quit smoking and it would help to improve her health
-for the family that we could be an encouragement and help to her in her time of need.
-that the Lord would give us all peace in His will

Thank you!

Thanks Rochelle!

I have been wanting to have a spiffy template for my blog for some time now and thanks to Rochelle who pointed out where I could get a FREE one, I now am the proud owner of one :)

Oh Warm Weather, You Are A Wonderful Welcome!

This past weekend was gorgeous here in East TN and we enjoyed soaking in each minute of it. Saturday we grabbed some food and had ourselves a picnic at our favorite park. We played on all the playground equipment, the sandbox, and on the soccer field. We discovered that Thomas has a love for bugs as he took to a caterpillar he found. The caterpillar didn't even mind Thomas' oreo face. The boys didn't take to well to kicking the soccer ball around. They were very frustrated that it took them more than one kick to get the ball in the net while Mommy and Daddy gave one big kick. We tried encouraging them to keep trying, but they gave up almost from the start. I did manage to get some shots of the boys even through their frustration, as moms do best. I hope that they can learn to persevere through struggles and be content with their abilities or hardships. For now I want them to enjoy just being kids and enjoying these sweet times. I managed to leave sun burnt (is this really the month of April?), but it wasn't too bad and finally my white legs look less ghostly. What is one thing I learned? Ryan doesn't like it when I kick he ball and it hits him in the face/neck, oops!











Thomas cheers on "Team Joseph & Thomas", he yells!

I am loving this weather. It is so nice to be able to open the windows and it seems to make the house seem so much bigger, brighter and sweeter smelling. I have been struggling with lack of energy lately though. I wake up exhausted and ready for a nap despite the fact that we are going to be a lot earlier and I've been trying to be more active. I don't know what it is, but I am ready for it to go. Anyone else deal with this same thing?