No Computer? AHHHH!

About 2 weeks ago, my computer turned off and refused to turn back on.  Not good!  I was just about to post preschool graduation certificates and pictures. Now they are lost in the giant paperweight in my dining room. Ugh! That isn't even the worst part. I go to school online only.  With all the drama in my life I have failed my last 2 terms, and now if I don't participate before this Saturday I will be kicked out of school. Not good!  I have divorce papers that I need to sign, scan, and email back to my lawyer.  I haven't been able to do that either.  I have a claim in for my roof to be fixed with he insurance company. I couldn't even access that, and I was foolish enough to sign up for all e-documents with them. I have been totally lost without a working computer that will connect to the internet.  At least I have facebook on my phone (funny to think I had it shut down until a few months ago, and now I would be lost without it).  I never realized how much I rely on the computer, especially the internet, for day to day activities.
Today, I thought of a solution to my woes. My ex-husband has a laptop that he rarely uses. We are on decent terms right now. He knows my situation, and has even tried to fix my gimpy computer.  I sent him a text and nicely asked if I could borrow his laptop until I can get mine working.  He agreed. (Thank goodness!)  It is good to know that in a pinch if he has a way to help me, he still will.
Now, I am able to do the things I desperately need to do and the things I would like to do (thanks to a man that I have a better relationship with now that we are no longer married).

Celine Dion - Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)

Getting past Mother's Day is difficult for me. I miss my mom. I think I listened to this song at least 10 times in the car on Sunday.

The Cutest Dog in First Grade

Sean is a dog for his first/second grade play (I will post pics of the play if I can take any decent ones after it is done). To make his costume, I just cut out spots with regular paper and taped them to my brother's old t-shirt. (Yes, I know Anthony has been gone for a while. I don't know why I still had this shirt.) The ears were stapled to one of my headbands. He did most of the coloring (white is just too boring).  I love this boy!

Eric and Sean About Thor

This morning Sean was telling me that next Halloween he wants to be Thor. I explained to him that as long as I could make it, that was fine with me (heck he'll change his mind several times between now and then anyway).  He told me that he would need two metal plates on his chest. Eric asked him what he was talking about. Their conversation proceeded like this:

Eric: "If you have metal there that would make you a woman."
Sean: "No, it wouldn't."
Eric:"Yes, because only women need to cover up there."
Sean:"Well, Thor isn't a woman, but he is a hippy."

More Good News

I knew that I had lost a little over 10 pounds since the departure of John. I didn't  think about what that meant when it comes to clothes until last week. I was trying to find something dressy but not fancy to wear to court on Friday.  I went into my closet, looked at a sweater I haven't fit comfortably in about a year, and decided to try to wear it.  The really exciting part is that it fit and looked nice again.  I think I am getting some curves that aren't as lumpy again! Today, I put on a shirt that buttons up the front.  In the past, I have had to either tape or pin it together for the gap in my chest.  Today I forgot to do that.  When I got to work, I was worried that I would be showing off a bit too much. I checked in the bathroom mirror. NO GAP!  I love that my clothes are fitting better!

WooHoo!!!!

I haven't weighed myself in almost 3 weeks because I thought that with how much binging I was doing the scale would not be nice to me.  I, also, have had very little fast food in the last 3 weeks.  Last time I weighed myself I was about 180.  This morning I thought, "What the heck?" and went a head and stood on that dangerous contraption in my bathroom...the scale.  I am down to 174!  I couldn't be more exited!  It was a great way to start off my busy week with a new schedule!

A Week Of Pictures

Yes. I let the dogs on the couch.  Aren't they so cute, though?

We made pizza for dinner about a week ago.  Noel "decorated" this one. I am still looking for the smiley face.

Eric and Sean "decorated" this one.  One side is fire and the other is an explosion.

Noel fell asleep watching tv Monday right after dinner.  Jasper joined her.

I just thought it was cute that they were sleeping right next to each other.  Jasper seems to always wake up when the camera comes out.

Noel made her own tuna sandwich today.

She cut the middle of her bangs a couple of weeks ago because she was tired of growing them out.

I tried to even it out the best I could by cutting the rest of her bangs.  They are a bit crooked, but I'll fix them as they grow.

My New Baby

Jasper

Jasper is a full bread Chihuahua. The kids love him.  The best part for me is that he is a little over a year old, so he is young enough to be puppylike, but old enough to be potty trained.

The Boys at Bedtime

My Pretty Girl

I made this dress 2 years ago.  It finally fits!

She loves to have curly hair.

The prettiest little girl ever!

Getting Back on Track

I have made some decisions lately that make me feel like I am getting my life back on track.  I think that if I can get me straightened out, it will make life easier for my kids. These are the decisions I am starting to make:

1. I am going to pay tithing.  I have struggled with this my entire adult life.  I fee like it is something I need to do however.
2. I starting having family home evening with my kids.  I am realizing that they don't remember the basic stories that they learned when they were little.  They seem to not remember how to be reverent during prayer either.  I am also using it as a time to play with the kids and answer questions that they may have (last night was all about them wanting a puppy).
3. I am putting more effort into my job.  I don't want to be there forever, but since I don't have another job in sight, I am trying more and hoping for a promotion or schedule change.
4. I am trying to find more time for alone time with each kid.  They need the attention and are asking for the alone time.  It is the least I can do for them.
5. I am scheduling my personal chores throughout the week so that I make sure everything gets done.  My poor dog doesn't get bathed as much as she should be and I am not good at keeping track of what I have and haven't done.  Most people would probably say that this is simple and easy to do, but I have never been the best at keeping my house the way I really want it.
6. I am going to budget each paycheck and pay attention to my spending.  I have done a lot of listening to Dave Ramsey's pod cast in the last year or so.  I wanted to implement changes in the out goings of money before, but didn't get much cooperation.  I now have no one else to answer to or someone that would have to answer to me.  The more healthy my budget gets, the better I can get the things for my kids that they need like clothes and food.

I am hoping that by making these changes life will get easier for the kids and me.  I am feeling positive about the changes I have already put into place and the ones that I am just starting. My kids are more important to me than anything in the world, and I know if I take care of me, I will be able to better take care of them.

My Poor Girl

Last week, Noel had the flu.  She was running a fever off and on for a few days and had a cough. She went without a fever for three days (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). Then, yesterday when I was making her lunch and getting her ready for school, all of a sudden she had a fever again and the cough was worse than it was last week.  I took her to the doctor and found out that she now has pneumonia. I was quite concerned when I was told this and felt awful for not taking her to the doctor last week.  The doctor assured me that the wouldn't have done much last week because she had the flu, which is a virus, at that time. They gave her a nebulizer treatment to see if her oxygen levels could get up to a more acceptable level.  When that worked, they gave me prescriptions for two antibiotics and one for the nebulizer (thank goodness I still have one from 2 years ago when she was sick).  Last night was difficult, but she seems to already be perking up.  I am hoping that when I take her back in today, they will say that she is improving at the rate they want or better.

The fun part for Noel is the dinosaur mask they gave her for the nebulizer.

The End of an Era

When I was 16, my mom had a Toyota Tercel.  She bought it earlier that year brand new.  In October, she decided that she couldn't make the payments and told me that if I could pay for it, I could have it. I worked a lot for the rest of high school to make the payments on my little car. 
Now, here I am, 32, with my little car sitting in my driveway, not able to run safely. I have put about $2000.00 into it to try to get it to run properly (I have a suspicion that the mechanic may have something to do with that).  I gave up on trying to get it to run almost a year ago.  Due to my emotional attachment to the darn thing, I talked about selling it, but never did anything about it.

 Last night, a man came to my door to ask me about my car.  He said that he used to have one and would like another one.  I told him how long it had been sitting and the reasons why.  He still wanted it!  Before I knew it, my precious little car was sold.  I am more excited about that than I expected!  It is one big step to getting rid of more clutter.

Valentine's Party

Noel was sick today and very upset that she was going to have to miss her Valentine's parties in school and daycare.  I told her that we could have one just the two of us.  We went to Target and found pink frosting with Valentine sprinkles, went home, and made cookies.  It was a lot of fun!  I miss spending this kind of time with my kids.

More Fancy Noel

Eric Gets His Wolf Badge

Last month, Eric earned his wolf badge and enter the bear den.

Noel's Picture

Noel made me a picture this morning. She said that the one on the left is Daddy, the one on the right is Mama, and the one in the middle is Noel.

When Times Were Simpler

Eric was very excited to have a new sister in 2005.

Sean had the best "curlies."

Noel made a mess of everything she ate.

Super Bee, Superman, and Pebbles costumes were made with imagination.

Super heroes were often found in my kitchen.

Of course, the goofy poses for pictures is something that will never change.

Sean Wins

I didn't even know there was an awards ceremony until Sean got home from school last Thursday and showed me the awards he got with a proud smile.  I couldn't have been more excited for him though!

Fancy Noel

Noel loves Fancy Nancy books.  She lately has been wanting to be "fancy" as well. The result is her being picky about her hair and wearing a lot of dresses or skirts.