Wow. Today has been a crazy day. There has been a man hunt underway all day today in our area. Actually there have been about 40-100 police all around my parents house. The suspect they are looking for stole some firearms and a vehicle this week and shot a police officer on Friday. The officer is okay he was treated and released, thank goodness.
The suspect stole another vehicle and made his way to our area. He's actually from our county but he didn't do the shooting in our county. This morning the police chased him until he wrecked on a road near my parents home and he got out and fled on foot. The police said that he was headed through the woods towards my parents house. My mom and dad have been very worried. The cops have scoured their property, checking every outbuilding, vehicle and even under their house.
This is really scary. I made my husband call into work, he works night shift and I didn't want to be at home with the kids by myself tonight. We consider our area to be very safe. It's very rural and everyone knows everyone else. You never think about locking your vehicles, most of the time we leave our keys in our cars at our house. We never lock our doors until night. We feel that we can let our kids outside and play without anyone harming them. Now this just lets us know the kind of world we are living in. You can never be too safe. We will defiantly be locking all of our doors and our vehicles from now on. And watch our kids more carefully when they are outside.
I really hate the world that we are in now. We no longer feel safe no matter where we are. It has been almost one year since the tragedy at Virginia Tech, which is only about 30 miles from our house. We were so shocked when that happened, how could something like that happen in our area. This is just as frightening. One thing we do know though, God is with us and we trust him to watch over us through everything. In his Word he warns of the dangers to come and I believe this is just part of it. No this may not be a huge tragedy but it is enough to make us know that we are living in a different time now, you are never totally safe.
Hopefully they find him tonight and our life can get back to normal. We went to my in laws house and we were stopped two times to have our vehicle checked, by officers armed with huge machine guns. That was very scary, I know they are protecting us though, but my kids were kind of scared and asked lots of questions.
I will be praying for this man to be caught soon.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Back to Normal!
Tomorrow things are going to get back to normal around here. Colton will be back in school (yay). They got four days out for spring break, which is very unusual for around here. They had extra snow days that they didn't use so they got a long spring break and will get out of school a week earlier.
I love my kids to death. But after having both of them at home for a few days, I'm ready for school again. I did have a couple breaks. Colton went to a sleepover Friday night and Emma went to my moms. They both spent the night with my in laws on Sunday night and were there all day Monday. I got some things done around the house, but they weren't home an hour before it looked like a tornado had went through it again. And the fighting started again. Sometimes they play so good together and then other times they fight like cats and dogs. But I know that is normal. I remember some of the knock down drag out fights that my sister and I had, and now we are great friends. Sometimes its hard to remember they are just being kids.
I'm really looking forward to the summer, for the warm weather, gardens and vacation. But I am really hoping that the kids start getting along better. Of course they will get to play outside more than they have this weekend, because its been kind of cold. I'm already looking for fun things to do with them this summer to keep them entertained and not so wild. Also things that don't cost money.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Pampering!! (ooh, la, la)
Last night my mom and I went and had facials. This was the most relaxing and pampering thing that I have ever had done. We went to a school of asethitics and the students are the one who do the facials.
We weren't exactly sure what it would entail. But it was absolutely fabulous. You had to undress down to your underwear and wear just a towel, that kind of scared me at first, but it was okay. They had these white tables that you laid on and they covered you up with really warm and cozy blankets (just like spas on t.v.). The atmosphere was so relaxing, the lights were dim and they had nature music with waterfalls playing in the back ground.
They massaged my face, arms, feet and legs and back. Overall they worked on us a little over an hour and it only cost $20.00. It was my moms treat to me. Thanks mom it was incredible.
I highly recommend some pampering like this every now and then. Especially if your a mother and always give, give, give to everyone else, its nice to just lay back and relax and have someone pamper on you for a change. I realized that I need to take more time to take care of myself and maybe I will be a happier mommy.
Thank you again mom, I want one every week now:) Oh yeah she also treated me to dinner at the Mexican restaurant, which was very good.
We weren't exactly sure what it would entail. But it was absolutely fabulous. You had to undress down to your underwear and wear just a towel, that kind of scared me at first, but it was okay. They had these white tables that you laid on and they covered you up with really warm and cozy blankets (just like spas on t.v.). The atmosphere was so relaxing, the lights were dim and they had nature music with waterfalls playing in the back ground.
They massaged my face, arms, feet and legs and back. Overall they worked on us a little over an hour and it only cost $20.00. It was my moms treat to me. Thanks mom it was incredible.
I highly recommend some pampering like this every now and then. Especially if your a mother and always give, give, give to everyone else, its nice to just lay back and relax and have someone pamper on you for a change. I realized that I need to take more time to take care of myself and maybe I will be a happier mommy.
Thank you again mom, I want one every week now:) Oh yeah she also treated me to dinner at the Mexican restaurant, which was very good.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Easter Eggs!
Sorry it's been awhile since I have blogged. I really haven't had anything exciting to write about right now.
Everyone is feeling better. Colton didn't end up having strep throat. Thank goodness. I think it was more allergies than anything, because he had blisters in his throat one day and then the next day they were gone. I'm glad we didn't have to go to the doctor.
Today is a pretty nasty day. It's rainy and very windy. I hope its pretty this weekend for Easter. It seems like its always cold and rainy on Easter. The kids are getting excited about hunting eggs. I always liked that too.
I have a funny story about Easter eggs. My mom, sister, and I ran a ladies consignment shop for awhile in our town. Our shop was beside a church that had a preschool. I was working at the shop one day and my kids were with me. The preschool had a big playground that my kids would play at. Colton then 4 and Emma then 2 went to play at the playground. I was keeping an eye on them out the shop window, when I noticed them running around carrying these bright colored things in there hands. I went outside to see what they were doing and was so upset. I was unaware that the preschool teachers had hid eggs for their class and my two kids had went and found every single egg and put them in a big pile. I couldn't believe it. They were so proud of what they had did. "Look Mommy we found all the eggs", they said. I was upset at the time but it was really funny. We quickly hid all the eggs again and then I had to go explain to the teachers that my kids had found all the eggs they hid for their class. The teachers thought it was funny too. From then on my kids were only allowed to play at the playground on days that there was no preschool.
It's so funny now to think how excited they were that someone had hid eggs for them to find, but at the time I didn't find it very funny. Hopefully they will have as much fun finding eggs this year.
Everyone is feeling better. Colton didn't end up having strep throat. Thank goodness. I think it was more allergies than anything, because he had blisters in his throat one day and then the next day they were gone. I'm glad we didn't have to go to the doctor.
Today is a pretty nasty day. It's rainy and very windy. I hope its pretty this weekend for Easter. It seems like its always cold and rainy on Easter. The kids are getting excited about hunting eggs. I always liked that too.
I have a funny story about Easter eggs. My mom, sister, and I ran a ladies consignment shop for awhile in our town. Our shop was beside a church that had a preschool. I was working at the shop one day and my kids were with me. The preschool had a big playground that my kids would play at. Colton then 4 and Emma then 2 went to play at the playground. I was keeping an eye on them out the shop window, when I noticed them running around carrying these bright colored things in there hands. I went outside to see what they were doing and was so upset. I was unaware that the preschool teachers had hid eggs for their class and my two kids had went and found every single egg and put them in a big pile. I couldn't believe it. They were so proud of what they had did. "Look Mommy we found all the eggs", they said. I was upset at the time but it was really funny. We quickly hid all the eggs again and then I had to go explain to the teachers that my kids had found all the eggs they hid for their class. The teachers thought it was funny too. From then on my kids were only allowed to play at the playground on days that there was no preschool.
It's so funny now to think how excited they were that someone had hid eggs for them to find, but at the time I didn't find it very funny. Hopefully they will have as much fun finding eggs this year.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sick Again.
We are sick again. Well actually me and Colton are sick for the first time this winter, but Travis is sick again. He was sick a few weeks ago when Emma was sick and has it again. I think its only a cold for me and Travis, but Colton may have strep throat. His throat has big red and white blisters in the back of it. He has not run a fever, but he's complained alot.
I know that when I'm not feeling well I do my fair share of complaining too. But boys are horrible. I love my husband and son to death and would do anything for them, but they are such babies when they are sick.
When Emma had the flu she didn't whine or cry at all. That is not normal for her, because she is a total whiner when she is well. She just sat around very quietly and slept a lot.
Colton has whined every 5 minutes since last night. I made him gargle with salt water and you would have thought he had to drink water from the toilet, the way he gagged and fussed.
Okay, I'm sorry I'm ranting. I love my family and I love taking care of them. Maybe I'm just jealous that noone cares about mommy when she's sick:( I guess tomorrow will be spent at the doctors office. Yay!!
I know that when I'm not feeling well I do my fair share of complaining too. But boys are horrible. I love my husband and son to death and would do anything for them, but they are such babies when they are sick.
When Emma had the flu she didn't whine or cry at all. That is not normal for her, because she is a total whiner when she is well. She just sat around very quietly and slept a lot.
Colton has whined every 5 minutes since last night. I made him gargle with salt water and you would have thought he had to drink water from the toilet, the way he gagged and fussed.
Okay, I'm sorry I'm ranting. I love my family and I love taking care of them. Maybe I'm just jealous that noone cares about mommy when she's sick:( I guess tomorrow will be spent at the doctors office. Yay!!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Happy Birthday to my Hubby!!
Today is Travis' 28th birthday. For his birthday he got a car. Well actually we got the car just to be a gas saver but it happened to land on his birthday when we picked it up.
He had to go back to work tonight, so we aren't doing anything. I might make him a cake tomorrow but we really don't have any money right now to do anything special.
We picked the car up today and its real nice (for $500 anyway). It has been taken care of well. We are just praying that it really does save us some money and lasts for awhile before anything major happens.
Hope everyone has a great weekend:)
He had to go back to work tonight, so we aren't doing anything. I might make him a cake tomorrow but we really don't have any money right now to do anything special.
We picked the car up today and its real nice (for $500 anyway). It has been taken care of well. We are just praying that it really does save us some money and lasts for awhile before anything major happens.
Hope everyone has a great weekend:)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Car Insurance!
My husband finally found a cheap car (that we could actually afford) to help save money on gas. A friend of his at work sold him a little car for $500. It didn't have any problems only alot of miles and its 14 years old. The guy basically wanted to get rid of it because he had too many vehicles.
We were so excited, hopefully it will save us money on gas and last at least until we can afford something newer.
So today I called to get insurance on it, so that we can bring it home this weekend. We have been through State Farm for 11 years and have never had any problems. My husband has hit a few deer and had a few speeding tickets. We haven't had any wrecks at all and no tickets in four years. We were figuring our insurance may go up about $20-30 a month. Boy were we wrong it was going to go up $80 a month. Even if we dropped collision and comprehensive on the truck and raise the deductible on the car it was only going to be about a $20 difference for six months.
Needless to say we were not happy. I spent the entire morning researching insurance companies and getting quotes on line. Everything else was cheaper. We finally decided on Progressive, we used our current policies and got almost exactly everything that we had through State Farm for $70 a month less than what they were going to give us. That means only $10 a month for the new (old) car. We can handle that. Paying $80 more a month didn't seem to make much sense, since we only paid $500 for the car in the first place.
We hate switching companies, but State Farm just wasn't very affordable. They said the reason it was so high was because the car is a Nissan, and it doesn't have any good driver discount built up on it yet. That doesn't make any since to me. It looks like the good driver discount would apply to the driver, not the car. I don't know to many cars that wreck themselves:)
Anyway I'm not trying to sway anyones decision about their car insurance. But what I can say is that if you haven't checked different quotes lately, you may want too. You never know, you may save quite a bit of money. When your on a budget every little penny counts.
We were so excited, hopefully it will save us money on gas and last at least until we can afford something newer.
So today I called to get insurance on it, so that we can bring it home this weekend. We have been through State Farm for 11 years and have never had any problems. My husband has hit a few deer and had a few speeding tickets. We haven't had any wrecks at all and no tickets in four years. We were figuring our insurance may go up about $20-30 a month. Boy were we wrong it was going to go up $80 a month. Even if we dropped collision and comprehensive on the truck and raise the deductible on the car it was only going to be about a $20 difference for six months.
Needless to say we were not happy. I spent the entire morning researching insurance companies and getting quotes on line. Everything else was cheaper. We finally decided on Progressive, we used our current policies and got almost exactly everything that we had through State Farm for $70 a month less than what they were going to give us. That means only $10 a month for the new (old) car. We can handle that. Paying $80 more a month didn't seem to make much sense, since we only paid $500 for the car in the first place.
We hate switching companies, but State Farm just wasn't very affordable. They said the reason it was so high was because the car is a Nissan, and it doesn't have any good driver discount built up on it yet. That doesn't make any since to me. It looks like the good driver discount would apply to the driver, not the car. I don't know to many cars that wreck themselves:)
Anyway I'm not trying to sway anyones decision about their car insurance. But what I can say is that if you haven't checked different quotes lately, you may want too. You never know, you may save quite a bit of money. When your on a budget every little penny counts.
Bean Cakes!!
Well, I finally got caught up on my laundry today. I can see the bottom of the hamper and I got everything folded and put away. It made it easier by thanking the Lord for my family and all that we have while doing it. I need to go about all of my daily chores in that manner and remember that my job at home is just as important as anything else that I could.
Part of my saving money and sticking to my grocery budget is making more beans. My husband and kids aren't totally on board with this. I grew up on beans and corn bread and I wasn't all that fond of it when I was younger. I eat anything though so I never, ever went hungry. I have found a new recipe for pintos though. A friend of mine told me about bean cakes. We had never heard of them before, but we are now hooked.
They are alot like a potato pancake, but made with beans. Here's how you make them.
Drain most of the liquid off of the beans
Mash them with a potato masher (they don't have to be very smooth)
I add chopped onions to mine but you don't have to
Add about a cup of flour or so to make it stiff
Make patties and fry in a tablespoon of oil on medium high heat until brown and crispy.
We like to eat ours with ketchup, but plain is good too. This is one of my new favorite things to use up leftovers. Even my kids like these.
Our dinner menu for tonight was barbq chicken legs, bean cakes, cheesy garlic biscuits, and cole slaw(leftover from last night) and deviled eggs (especially for Emma). I really enjoy reading other blogs that post their weekly menus so I will try to start that. I'm trying to plan my menus more than I used too, to help save money and the constant "Whats for supper" question from my family.
Part of my saving money and sticking to my grocery budget is making more beans. My husband and kids aren't totally on board with this. I grew up on beans and corn bread and I wasn't all that fond of it when I was younger. I eat anything though so I never, ever went hungry. I have found a new recipe for pintos though. A friend of mine told me about bean cakes. We had never heard of them before, but we are now hooked.
They are alot like a potato pancake, but made with beans. Here's how you make them.
Drain most of the liquid off of the beans
Mash them with a potato masher (they don't have to be very smooth)
I add chopped onions to mine but you don't have to
Add about a cup of flour or so to make it stiff
Make patties and fry in a tablespoon of oil on medium high heat until brown and crispy.
We like to eat ours with ketchup, but plain is good too. This is one of my new favorite things to use up leftovers. Even my kids like these.
Our dinner menu for tonight was barbq chicken legs, bean cakes, cheesy garlic biscuits, and cole slaw(leftover from last night) and deviled eggs (especially for Emma). I really enjoy reading other blogs that post their weekly menus so I will try to start that. I'm trying to plan my menus more than I used too, to help save money and the constant "Whats for supper" question from my family.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Thankful for Laundry!
Today has been a very rainy and windy day. I haven't liked it, even though I know that we desperately need the rain. Yesterday was very beautiful, nearly 70 degrees, but I wasn't feeling very well so I didn't get out and enjoy it.
I really need to get started on spring cleaning soon. I wanted to get organized, it was one of my new years resolutions, but it hasn't happened yet. I want to start tackling a task every week. I have seen other bloggers, writing about what they tackle every week and I need to start. I'm not exactly sure what to tackle first though. Right now I need to tackle that ugly pile of laundry staring at me saying, "Fold me".
I hate laundry. It never, ever, ends. When I think I'm caught up I turn around and there it is again, just as big as before. I don't mind the washing and drying, it's not that hard to put into a machine and turn on. But i HATE folding and putting away. I don't know how others feel about this, but its just so boring. But I am trying to go about laundry and any other dreaded household task with a thankful heart. I am thankful that I have a family to laundry for, that we live in a house, we have our own washing mashine and dryer, and we have running water. I don't have to go beat my clothes against a rock down by the creek. I am also thankful that we have nice clothes to wash. We don't have expensive, designer clothes. Our clothes come from Walmart, Target or thrift stores and yard sales, but we have clothing to keep us warm and dry.
Okay I have convinced myself that I am ready to tackle that huge pile of laundry that is stairing at me and I will do it with a smile on my face (Right after I play on the computer a little longer):)
Happy Folding!!
I really need to get started on spring cleaning soon. I wanted to get organized, it was one of my new years resolutions, but it hasn't happened yet. I want to start tackling a task every week. I have seen other bloggers, writing about what they tackle every week and I need to start. I'm not exactly sure what to tackle first though. Right now I need to tackle that ugly pile of laundry staring at me saying, "Fold me".
I hate laundry. It never, ever, ends. When I think I'm caught up I turn around and there it is again, just as big as before. I don't mind the washing and drying, it's not that hard to put into a machine and turn on. But i HATE folding and putting away. I don't know how others feel about this, but its just so boring. But I am trying to go about laundry and any other dreaded household task with a thankful heart. I am thankful that I have a family to laundry for, that we live in a house, we have our own washing mashine and dryer, and we have running water. I don't have to go beat my clothes against a rock down by the creek. I am also thankful that we have nice clothes to wash. We don't have expensive, designer clothes. Our clothes come from Walmart, Target or thrift stores and yard sales, but we have clothing to keep us warm and dry.
Okay I have convinced myself that I am ready to tackle that huge pile of laundry that is stairing at me and I will do it with a smile on my face (Right after I play on the computer a little longer):)
Happy Folding!!
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