Our favorite three and some stress relief

How do all you ladies do it? Lately I've been feeling stressed and pulled in so many different directions. I've been finding that reading some of our familar favorite stories is a great way to help me and the girls unwind. Of course after they're asleep my mind starts racing again. But I thought I'd share our top three bedtime or really anytime stories. We can't seem to get enough of these stories. Click on them to check them out at amazon.com I'd love to hear about your kids or your favorite children's stories too.

Now on with the complaining. So this next part is a vent pure and simple. I feel like if I get it out of my head maybe I can destress...a little?

My husband is after me that the house is not clean enough and why didn't I have time to do this or that?

My dad wants me to help him figure out how to help my thirty year old brother who still lives at home and is working as a waiter.

I also need to figure out how we can afford to send my daughter to private school because it the same cost as public school, which is only half day, when I have to pay for before and after school care.

I feel like I'm not giving enough to my students that they are always the one's I run out on and that I need to be putting in more effort.

I'm on too many committees and I tired of hearing everyone complain (to the principal) and then we all need to meet and discuss even more than we already do.

The one thing I do know is that being with my girls make me so happy. When I pick them up at daycare they smile and run over. Then we head home for a craft or a little playing outside before dinner. Then after a bath nothing beats snuggling in bed and reading a few books.

Rainy day flowers

So we are stuck inside today because of the rain but I actually don't mind so much. I got to do a little more organizing which seems like I'm doing a lot of lately. I'm also hoping to see some greener grass and some new flowers appearing as a result. So as usual rainy day=craft time :)This time we recycled our egg cartons to create our own flowers. Here's Gillian hard at work. I figure she can glue them on paper and draw her own stems which we will finish later since they are still drying. I love using items that I would normally throw away to create something else.

A special gift and a little help

So in the mail I received a sweet surprise yesterday from Kristin and I was so excited. I love the colors and the style. It is perfect for me and it's something that I would want. She said that she never made a bracelet before...I definitely think she should start. I will think of her every time a wear it. Once I think of a little something to share I will pass along this generosity award. I know how getting a little present in the mail made me feel. It brightened my day and I'd like to do that for someone else It is really hard to take a picture of your own hand but I tried. Isn't it pretty :)

I also had to share a side note about my littlest helper. She has taken on the responsibility of feeding our dog. Much to Sonny's disappointment because he starts to drool as Alyssa takes her sweet time putting his food in piece by piece. Finally I gave her an old measuring cup to speed her up. It's a good thing Sonny is a patient dog.

Spring cleaning and organizing

I do not like to clean which I have probably mentioned before but I always feel better after I do. So now that spring is officially here I've been trying to clean up and organize. Our playroom was a disaster so hubby and I headed over to Ikea for a book shelf to put everything away on. I'd been feeling like I was constantly tripping over a toy. Hopefully this will help.So how do you organize toys? I'd especially love ideas for barbies, babies and dress up clothes. My girls are so girly and I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed. I still need to do more organizing and give some away. My next project will be to go through their tons of stuffed animals. I don't even know where they all come from.

My crazy girls

First I want to thanks everyone for the good thoughts and prayers that you sent my way. It made me feel better and I really appreciate it. I'm so glad I started blogging and made so many new blogging friends. You guys are all awesome!!! Jeff is also feeling much better and we both went back to work today although I feel like I could really use so more time off.

So today I decided that the kitchen floor needed to be cleaned. I mean really cleaned so I pulled out all the chairs and even got out the steam cleaner. I do not like cleaning, I mean who really likes to clean. So I turned on so music to help me get going and aparently it got my girls going too. This is the scene that I came out to see. So I grabbed Alyssa of the chair and we all took a dance party break. That is just what I needed after a weekend like I had...some time to let loose with my girls. We rocked out to one of our favorites, Hit Me With Your Best Shot which I think was so appropriate. Gillian knows all the words and has some killer dance moves. It makes me smile to hear her sweet voice singing them.

A crazy end to a wonderful weekend

So I'm going to start with the good stuff. It was Alyssa's turn to get in on the action. Lately she has wanting to be just like her sister. She couldn't reach her pedals but had a blast scooting all over the yard with her feet. She's even wearing Gillian's old helmet. Then she played some basketball with her daddy and laughed hysterically every time she made a basket. Look at her go!

Even Sonny loves a game of basketball and tried to steal the ball from Jeff.

Then it was time for the crazy part. Our water heater went out and I still don't have any hot water. The repair guy will come tomorrow and I can't seem to get a straight answer from Sears whether they are coming from 8-1 or 12-5. They keep changing it on me and seem fine with the fact that I should wait around all day.

Then it got worse. Jeff started complaining that he didn't feel well and then at 11:30 he ran to the bathroom to throwup and I heard a thud. I went running and he said that he passed out but was okay now. I kept talking to him and then he wasn't saying anything else. So I went in the the bathroom and he had passed out again. I yelled his name and he was unresponsive. I freaked out but I checked and made sure that he was still breathing and had a pulse and ran to call 911. He was conscious before the ambulance came and alert and aware. This happened once before in June after which he had his gall bladder removed. He is in the hospital still and hopefully will be out tomorrow morning. I am beyond stressed and I just feel like I can't catch a break. I feel like so many things are going wrong and I just want things to go smoothly for once. I just want everyone in my family to be okay and healthy. Is that really too much to ask?

The only cause they can come up with is Vaso-vagal syncope. Here's the explanation I found on the internet~This is caused by the triggering of a paradoxical reflex, which causes a fall in blood pressure and loss of consciousness. There are multiple terms to describe vaso-vagal syncope, including vaso-depressor syncope, neurocardiogenic syncope, cardio-inhibitory syncope, and neurally-mediated syncope, all of which refer to the same reflex. This reflex usually occurs while standing upright although it can on occasion occur while sitting, after exercise, or after a meal.

Please say a prayer for Jeff tonight and for my sanity too. Hopefully I'll get some sleep but without him here I'm sure it will be hard. I'm not sure when I'll get to post again but hopefully I'll have some good news to share and no more stress.

Aloha Friday

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!
It thought I'd give this a try this week

My question is:
What is the last thing that happened to you or that someone said that made you laugh really hard?

Please check out An Island Life for more Aloha Fridays.

Sneaking Out

We have been stuck inside for several days due to this stomach bug that will not leave my house. Gillian did only get sick once and I thought Alyssa was done but Monday and Tuesday it was back. Gillian and I did get to sneak out over the weekend in that beautiful 60 degree weather while Alyssa napped for a quick bike ride and some bubble and chalk fun. Looking at this picture with the snow in the background which is now gone makes me laugh. It looks like it will be another gorgeous weekend and I can't wait. I'm so glad that my husband will be home this weekend so we can have some good times all together.

No more throw up...I hope

So after a very long and yucky 24 hours, Alyssa seems back to herself this morning. She even wanted to play with her dolls and gave me one of her sweet smiles this morning. So hopefully I am done with the throw up. I washed so many blankets and clothes yesterday, I feel like a did a months worth of laundry.

Hoping everyone has great weekend!

Unexpected friendships and awards

It's time to pass along some awards I've received and share the love. So thanks to Abby and Kristin.

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement (? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Thanks to Sarah for passing on some awards to me. Please check her out through the link above. I have enjoyed reading her blog and it always makes me smile.

As I said I am still a newbie when it comes to blogging and I have to say I really don't know why I waited this long to start. I can't believe there was this amazing community of people with such wonderful ideas to share and some many great stories to hear. People that are going through the same things that I am and then some that live in a completely different world than mine and I love hearing about that too. It was such an unexpected surprise to find such unexpected friendships in the blogging world. So thanks sending some love my way and here's some right back at you.

I have chosen to pass along the Sisterhood Award because that is exactly how blogging makes me feel. Please check them out as well I look forward to reading their posts and their comments always make my day brighter.

Living in The Moment
Brittany has the best stories and I love hearing the one's about school. I can totally relate to the first year of teaching. It is wonderfully exhausting but well worth the effort. I appreciate all her comments and getting to know her through her blog.

I also want to send these awards right back to Abby and Kristin.

Kristin is the best friend I could ever ask for. I love her to pieces!

I am so happy to be getting know Abby and write now she is having a give away. Please check it out she makes such beautiful things and you would be lucky to win one.

Lastly I want to pass along these awards on to Lori from I'm No Supermom. I not even sure how I came across her blog but I noticed her prayer requests and something made me send her an email sharing my story with a total stranger and asking her to say some prayers for my father in law who is battling cancer. I'm so glad that I did.

I know that I'm suppossed to pass these to more bloggers but I really want to stick with the spirit of these awards. I'm so glad I found these blogging friends and I want them to know how much I appreciate them. As a said I am still getting to know other bloggers out there and I'm sure there are so many more unexpected friendships that I will find but for now check these ladies out they have truely made my days brighter.

Extra special banana bread

Over the summer my daughters were visiting their cousins while I spent the day at a teacher's workshop. Gillian came home talking about how much she loved banana bread and my sister in law came said that she couldn't get enough of it. I thought well...I make banana bread too and I don't remember her liking it so much, maybe we should try again. Let's just say Gillian was not as impressed by my banana bread so I went back to my sister in law and asked for her recipe. So yesterday we tried it with the secret ingredient and all I have to say...

Who doesn't like banana bread better with chocolate chips?

My daughters are both pretty much done with the snow and am I too so we spent our day inside baking, coloring, dancing and playing the Wii Fit. I love getting a snow day but in June I won't be so happy especially with no AC!

What's wrong with my entrecard?

So I'd love for some help on this if you have an entrecard. I am having some trouble with mine. All I see is a black box where my card should be. When I login I see my entrecard and it seems to be uploaded but on my web page there is nothing. I am not very savvy when it comes to technology so any help would be appreciated. The tech support on their website does not seem to have an answer. I am using explorer as my browser if that helps at all. Any help would be appreciated.

So if you have dropped your card on me and wondered why I haven't dropped back...this is why. I think my next step will be to delete that sad little black box of my page. I can't use it anyway.