But Mom......

But Mom

This is a particularly common phrase in our household right now.

Here's a little bit of a sounds from our house


Izzie Screaming.

Caity: "But Mom, I'm not pestering her. I was just hugging her and showing her love"


Izzie crying

Caity "But Mom, I had the toy first"

Izzie melting down

Caity "But Mom, I wanted the red cup. Red is my favorite color. "


Sugar all over kitchen floor.

Caity "But Mom, Izzie did it"




But MOM BUT MOM BUT MOM


AH yes, already she has an excuse for everything and somehow it all ends up being baby sisters fault!

Aloha Friday

An Island Life hosts Aloha Fridays. The purpose of Aloha Friday is to answer a question.

To participate, post your own question on your blog.

But answer mine first!


Today’s question is:

What do you do to relax?

A very special Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I will post this warning here first. This isn't a 100% happy story. But it has to be posted today and I think even sad stories need posting sometimes. So unless you want to possibly cry (Hey, I'm crying), I would tell you to pass.



So Here we go.


A glimpse into the past.



I'm taking you back to June 2008.






Unfortunately, this isn't a story about a baby shower or a welcome baby party. No. This is the photo memory book of Caleb.

Caleb was born at 17 weeks gestation to some dear friends of ours (and cousins!) on June 5, 2008. He died seconds after birth.



At the funeral for Caleb, Jess and Chris had this table set to the side, displaying many things. The little outfit, blanket, etc that the hospital had given them. Caleb's feet and hand prints. A book they had bought for Caleb. An angel. All things meant to go in his nursery.






I share this story today, because in all its bitter sweetness, today was Caleb's due date. Today we should have been celebrating his birth (unless he was a late boy) and reveling in the miracle that each new life brings.

Instead, we all remember the loss felt that day in June. We all remember the pain and grief, felt, not just by Chris and Jessica, but all of us.

But, today, we also celebrate. Celebrate because, Chris and Jessica are not alone. They miss their son, oh yes, they do. But they also have hope. And they have love. And they have the miracle of new life in their home.

They will finalize the adoption of Andrew on March 4th, 2009. And then they will officially be a family of 3, but We know, that they don't need that final paper to be a family. To be parents.

They've been parents all along.



For more PSF, click Here

13 Random things I love

Thirteen Random Things I love 1. Chocolate -- any way shape or form. 2. Apple Pie -- Yummy. 3. Strawberries 4. Rocky Road Ice cream 5. Smores 6. Paranormal books 7. Warm fuzzy socks. 8. Dr Pepper 9. My girls -- of course! 10. Scrapbooking 11. Sewing 12. Cross-stitching 13. Yummy candles

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Isn't it amazing

How everyones all for equality and expressing your feelings/opinions until your feelings/opinions are not their own.


I guess that's the way the world works. Everyone is all about sharing your feelings, as long as your feelings coincide with theirs.

I hope that I can change that for my children. I want to raise them knowing that they can disagree and be boisterous about it, they don't have to sit down, be quiet and take it.

Works for Me Wednesday -- Toys worth having

Well I was going to tell you my laundry helper tips. But then I remembered this week is themed. So here's my list of toys worth having.

1) Peek a Blocks/Roll a Rounds -- Both of my girls, my nieces, and almost every kid I know LOVES these things.

2) Baby Dolls -- For general stores, we love the Little Mommy dolls, great size, easily cleaned. For better quality, we love waldorf dolls.

3) Aqua Doodle mats

4) Crayola's Color Wonder everything! No more worries about markers, paint, or anything crafty!




Check out more Works for me Wednesday posts for more toys.

Wordless Wednesday -- Little Monkey

FOr more Wordless Wednesdays, click HERE or HERE

Fun With Food

As always, Another photo, with a purpose. The wonderful folks at Five Minutes for mom are hosting another photo contest. This time sponsored by Prego and good for a prize of $500 worth of groceries!

The theme, is Fun with Food

Here is my entry






For more info and to enter yourself click Here

This weeks Insurance Battle

Some days, I really wonder why we have insurance at all. Lately, it seems we have to fight for anything from them.

Caity's newest drug protocol starts with Flowmax. YES that Flowmax.

Our insurance company declines to pay on it, because its "experimental" for children/girls.

So, our urologist contacts them and does what they call a prior authorization. Hopefully they approve it and we only have to pay our copay.

$125 a month for one medicine of 4 is a big pill to swallow.

Tackle It Tuesday

Running a touch late today. I've been busy doing stuff. Then the election, and voting, and yeah. It's been a busy run everywhere morning here.

So




This week I tackled the mountain in my basement also known as the dirty laundry pile. Yes, it really was that bad. In my defense though, the dryer hasn't been working correctly, but its fixed now.

So I did, 9, YES 9 loads of laundry.

Um, so, no I haven't folded and put them all away yet. But hey -- they are washed!


Look here tomorrow for my Works for me Wednesday post with a laundry tip!


ETA: So it doesn't look like I never do laundry. I shall add that Izzie's clothes have to be washed seperately than the rest of ours, due to allergies. And Caity's seperately too. So I have lots of smaller loads to make up the 9 -- not 9 huge loads. And we did bed linens and towels too!

For more Tackle it Tuesday, visit 5MFM

Did you Vote?

MIL took the kidlets tonight, so DH and I could go vote without having to take them.

Good thing too, since they told us the wrong voting location teh first time and we went from one end of the town to the other.

But, alas, we voted and came on home. Now DH is watching the TV like the world is ending (well, you know what I mean!)

So, did you go out and do your civic duty and vote?

A Book Giveaway

Book Room Reviews is hosting a bloggy giveaway. For, but of course BOOKS.


So......since I had some other stuff come up last week and couldn't participate in the Bloggy giveaways carnival, and one of my giveaways was a book -- I'm doing it this week.

So, how bout some details!


The Prize:
A brand new copy of SummerHill Secrets 1 by Beverly Lewis. Inside this book are 5 short stories.

555 pages.

Whispers Down the Lane
Secret in the Willows
Catch a Falling Star
Night of the Fireflies
A Cry in the Dark


Published by Bethany House Publishers.

This is a Teen Fiction book.


The Rules

For your first entry, post a comment here and tell me what your favorite book genre is. Is it romance? Mystery? Fiction? Non Fiction? Paranormal? Whatever gives you your kicks.

Three ways to get additional entries (post a new comment for each one you do)

• Follow me on blogger
• Add me to your blogroll (or post my button on your blog)
• Follow me on Twitter

I will draw a winner on Saturday November 8th via random.org.


Please note, I can only ship within the US at this time.

Pardon the dust

While I spruce up the blog template a touch.


I've got some great things coming this week including a giveaway (or two!) and two reviews.

The Grand Package from MomDOT

I've briefly introduced Momdot's Christmas of Dreams blog party, but now I want to highlight the grand prize Christmas of Dreams package.

So further details are as follows.


These are the current sponsors of the grand prize package, and while we don't know their exact contribution, its plain to see from looking at them, that its going to be one killer prize package.

So for now, check out these sponsors and then head over to momdot to enter to win.


Sponsors:

• Dyson
  
  


• BabyPop


• The Shrunks


• Soda Club



• Kadi Prescott


• Uncommonly Cute


• Lollipop Book Club


• Kuster


• Silly Monkeez


• LA Plates


• Natitys Design


• Little Black Box


• Koshas



• Kidz Sunglasses


• JAS Creations


• Appledonia


• LeapFrog


• Mutsy


• Kushies


• Huddy Buddy


• Mimsi-Bags


• BottleWise



• Lets Go Strolling


• DaBib


• Sassy Baby


• Baby Legs


• Scentsy


• FeeFiFoto


• Randi100


• Organic Blankees



• Shi Shu Style


• Georgie Tees

Thursday Thirteen

Sorry I'm a tad late, I had not internet access this morning.


For today's Thursday thirteen, I'm going to talk about 13 things I am making for Christmas gifts. If you're lucky, I might link to tutorials for ya!


1. Cloth Dolly Diapers The girls love changing their babies diapers. And hey, they are reusable.

2. Pillow Case Dresses Both of my girls look absolutely adorable in these. And hey, when they are too short to be dresses, they make great tunics! So easy to do too.

3. No-Sew Fleece Blankets. Caity, Izzie, Lexi, Emmy, and Andrew are all getting one of these.

4. Homemade Bath salts. Great simple idea for teachers, and other friends.

5. Dolly MeiTei baby carrier. My girls love to babywear their dollies, and they already have pouches.

6. Taggies -- Both Blankets and balls

7. Playsilks (hand dyed)

8. Waldorf Dolls -- I'm going to try a simple one first, if its successful, I'll make a heavy baby for Caity

9. Little wooden peg people

10. Fabric Doll house/Barn

11. Cookies/Brownies/Breads in a jar

12. Pettiskirts


And last but not least


13. Playdough!

And so I nominate.........

Five Minutes for Mom is holding another Blogs can change lives giveaway.

This time, its for the kids. Sick kids to be precise.

5MFM has 10 PSP bundles to give to very deserving kids who don't get to have the fun they should.

Our job, as bloggers, is to nominate kids we feel would benefit from this giveaway.

I have had a few friends tell me I should nominate Caity for her kidney issues. But alas I think she's a touch to young for a PSP and there are more deserving kids out there.

And so, I nominate Kyler.

Kyler is the son of another blogger. My bloggy friend Sara, has spoken about him before and introduced me to his struggles. I know some of the pain that goes with kidney troubles, and I can only hope that Kyler gets to have a little fun and feel a little special every day. And I also have hope that a kidney finds its way to him.

Wordless Wednesday -- It's Fall Yall

Momdot's Next round of giveaways

Momdot, generous as ever has lined up another exciting round of giveaways for a blog party leading up to a Christmas of Dreams super prize for one lucky winner.


So Mark your Calenders and prepare to play. November 12-27th with the grand prize, A Christmas of Dreams, to end on November 28th!






For more details check out the Blog Party Info post.

Tackle It Tuesday -- The girls room

The girls lair den room is usually a cluttered mess. They play hard and never the same thing.

But this week, we've tackled it and hopefully they will be able to keep it decent.

I don't have any before shots, but here are some afters. Please note the rubbermaid bins of off season clothes have since been taken to the basement and hanging clothes are in closet!
















For more Tackle it Tuesday, visit 5MFM

Pictures to come, but

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday! The girls had a blast an dpicked out one fine pumpkin, which they will be carving with Daddy today (I'll be getting pics of that too!)


We also did a hayride and an animal show at the Patch.


It was great fun.