Saturday Bike Ride

My titles are so original, aren't they?
Yesterday, we took the miss out on her bike for the first time. She was so excited. I went out with her first. I knelt on the ground and sort of crawled for a bit, while pushing her at the same time and moving her feet so that she was pedaling, to try to get her to grasp the concept of pedaling. But she just wasn't going to get it. So, I pushed her around the block. She was really good, however at putting on the brakes, which she did as I pushed her uphill. It was great!
So, I decided to see if hubby wanted to give it a try. Maybe he could explain pedaling to her better than I did. But no such luck. He did push her a lot faster around the block though, which she loved.
Here are some pics....


Daddy showing her how to pedal

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A Conversation With a Five Year Old

Yesterday, the day care kids were talking about how they wanted to grow up so that they could be bosses. I told them that they should enjoy being kids, and that being a kid is fun. I then told them that I wished I could be a kid again.

That started the following conversation:

E - But Miss Erica, you are a grown up that means you can fly a plane.

Me - True, adults can fly a plane, but I can't. I don't know how to. I would have to go to school and learn how to. And I just don't have the time.

E- Well, I am sure that my daddy could come here and watch all the kids, so that you can learn how to fly a plane.

Me- You think your daddy would do that, eh?

E- Yep, but he'd have to ask my mommy first, because she's the boss!

The Music Of My Life

It's Meme Time

So, we all have them, meaningful songs that take us back in time, to different parts of our lives. Let's share some of those songs, shall we.

1. Name a song or songs that remind you of your young childhood...up until age 7:

I have many that fit into this category, so this may take awhile. Most songs that come back to me and bring me back to this time in my life are, all the songs on the Anne Murray children's album, mainly Inchworm and her version of You Are My Sunshine. The album was released onto cd after the miss was born and I bought it for her.

Don Mclean's, American Pie, was also a favorite during this time. My dad and I would belt it out as we drove around in the car.

The Flashdance soundtrack also was a big thing during that time. My mom listened to it a lot, and we'd put on our leg warmers and dance and sing.

I also remember some song that went..."and you and me are free to be you and me." I think it was from a movie or tv special.

2. Okay, what songs bring you back to Junior High?

In Junior High, I was introduced to Amy Grant. So, I'd have to say her song, Baby, Baby reminds me most of Junior High. Not to mention my friend, Amy, has a video of me doing a music video to the song and I also sang it in one of those studios at some carnival where they record it for you. So, that was THE song for me then.

Oh, and I can't forget the famous, Rhythm of Life song, that we sang in the Phoenix Girl's Chorus.

Oh and in the 8th grade musical production I sang a duet with Chris Wo to A Whole New World.

3. Break down all 4 years of high school with songs.

Freshman Year -

The Turkey Song from Saturday Night Live was a biggie.

At the end of the year, my song was, Remember Me This Way, from the movie Casper. It was one of Kate and I's songs from when she was moving away.

I also remember loving Expose's..I'll Never Get Over You.

Oh, Oh, and Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmmmm by Crash Test Dummies and Loser by Beck, always put me in the cafeteria with Kate and Travis, each time I hear them.

Sophomore Year

Lisa Loeb's, Stay, was a big hit that year. I loooooved that song!

Everybody Hurts by REM also comes to mind, because it was played over and over again from the jukebox in our cafeteria after 4 students died in a car crash during that year.

Junior Year

I hear any song from Jagged Little Pill, and I think of Kress in his volkswagon bug. Excpet maybe that was Sophomore year, now I am confused.

I was also introduced to Garth Brooks my Junior year thanks to a boy I dated from North Carolina. Really, before then, I hadn't heard much of his stuff. I became an instant fan. So, his songs take me back to that year.

Senior Year

I have a ton of songs that remind me of Senior Year. The first is, The Macarena. And only because in Danceline, we were stuck doing the dang Macarena over and over and over again.

Rockin' Me Baby also brings me back to dancing with the band.

Then of course, Steve and I have a ton of songs that bring me back to our first 6 months of dating during the end of my Senior Year. Basically all of the Reel Big Fish songs from the Turn the Radio Off cd. Then of course, there's Letters To Cleo, Wholesale Meats and Fish, I would walk 500 miles., The song from Jerry maguire, Secret Garden. Oh and I Love You Always Forever, Donna Lewis.

Also, No Doubt songs and Jewel's songs bring me back to 1997.

4. Songs from College

Well, I didn't attend college traditionally. In fact, I am still in school, but I did go away to Huntington from 2001-2002. And I'd have to say, anything from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, places me back laying on blankets on the grass outside of our residence hall with Charity and Dave, listening to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack.

Oh and I was introduced to Sara Groves that year, and I love her. So her Conversations cd places me back in the HUB watching her concert. It ws great!

5. Your Wedding Songs

Come What May, from Moulin Rouge, was our first dance.

Of course, Canon in D and Jesu Joy were part of the Ceremony.

I Will be Here by Steven Curtis Chapman

and From This Moment on is what I sang to Steve.

6. Songs From Holidays

I love Candlelight Carol. I was first introduced to it in the Phoenix Girl's Chorus, but then I found it on a Neil Diamond Christmas album. I love it.

Every Christmas, when I attended Hillside, I sang Breath of Heaven. So, everytime I hear that song, I am brought back to the church and to all of my friends in the pews. I loved singing that song.

And basically Christmas carols remind me of the little Victorian choir I was in and we'd go around caroling throught the holiday season. It was fun.

Okay I tag whoever would like to do this as well as Tiffany, because she loves these things.
Oh, and I made this meme up. :o)

Drainy May

Well, I definitely know I am pregnant. It is apparent in how horribly tired I am. I know my friend, Tiff, knows a supplement I can take to help me with that. Please comment me.
If I knew I was going to be pregnant, I don't know if I'd be taking a class right now. But, at the same time, I am glad I am, because in a little less than a year, hopefully I can be doing web design from home to make an income. We'll see. I still have lots more to learn.
Last night, after dinner, I hit the couch and fell right to sleep. I slept until 11:00 P.M. The hubby put the kids to bed and everything. When I woke up at 11:00, I remembered that I had a homework assignment due. It was discussion questions, so I thought it wouldn't take too long. I had lots of reading to do first. But then I realized we had another assignment as well, which was an image creation in photoshop. I started it, but by that time it was midnight, and I just couldn't focus. So, I only turned in half of my assignment. I feel bad, because I know I am not giving my classes 100%. But, really, with all that is on my plate, I just can't. And the point of these classes, is for me to learn web design, photoshop and all that jazz. And I am learning. I am sure my professor thinks I am the biggest slacker. Oh well. I have an 80% in the class at the moment, but there are only 2.5 weeks left. So, hopefully I can start devoting a little more time to it. I did waste nap time yesterday. I surfed the net and watched a tv show also. I should have been doing my homework. But, I had such a stressful morning, I just wanted to veg. I had no idea that I would crash all night like I did.

Tiffany called me yesterday to have me pray for her and how she's been handling discipline with her son. While talking we realized we are both struggling with our oldest kids right now. They are both just pushing our buttons so horribly. And Tiff and I both felt like we were failing. We were getting too angry too easily and we needed to change our manner and methods. So I prayed for us, and I think I really needed it.

Oh, how I really need to make it a point to pray in the mornings, to do devotions in the mornings. I just know it would help me so much. This morning, I had to get up early to run to the grocery store. I was going to get a few needed items last night. But, well, like I said, I slept instead. But it felt so good to get some rest.

4 more weeks to go and then I'll be in the 2nd trimester and hopefully will have some of my energy back.

Sure Was a Crazy Saturday

Well, folks, what a weekend. Well, really, what a Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, I took a home pregnancy test, because I am pretty late. But ever since having my second child a year ago, my periods have yet to be regular, so I didn't think too too much about it. Or maybe I just ignored the hmmm..I could be pregnant symptoms, because I didn't want to be pregnant. Anyway, I took the test and waited for the negative result that I wanted. But the darn test just laughed at me, as it showed me a plus. Plus meaning pregnant. I did the calculations, from the date of my last period. And I am actually 8 weeks pregnant. 8 WEEKS?!?!!?! Can you believe it? I am still in shock myself. We weren't trying to get pregnant, and I was using birth control, not just well..apparantly.
So, we are excited, but at the same time worried. I mean, we need a bigger vehicle...we are possibly going to try to move back home now...so, well it's definitely a life change. But it is such a blessing, isn't it?!?!?!

Then Saturday night was crazy too.
The paramedics came to our house Saturday night. It was pretty crazy.

First some background info:

The miss took a small bite of a chocolate chip pecan cookie several months ago and cried that it hurt her tongue. I thought maybe she bit her tongue or something.

In Arizona, the miss had a bite of a Mexican Wedding Cookie and was immediately in tears that it was hurting her tongue. We believe it had walnuts in it.

Saturday night, I gave the miss a huge pecan that was in a salad I was eating. She had a big bite of it, and her whole demeanor changed. She said that her tongue hurt and her tummy hurt and she walked upstairs and put herself to bed. She never voluntarliy goes to bed. I gave her some benadryl, becuase I remembered the other instances and figured she was having an allergic reaction. I started working on a homework assignment downstairs, and the hubby checked on her. She had a ton of saliva coming out of her mouth in bubbles and her pillow was drenched in saliva and mucous. We had her lay downstairs on the couch next to the computer, where I was working. She then started gagging, sat up and threw up. We googled allergic reactions, lol...because we had never had experience with them. She was having a moderate to severe reaction and there was a possiblility it could get worse, to where shock would occur....so we called 911.

She ended up being okay. I have determined that she is allergic to tree nuts...which includes..hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds and so forth. Peanuts are legumes, so that is why she doesn't have a peanut allergy. Tree nuts, however, are found in many things, even sauces, so I'll have to read labels carefully. And, an allergy to tree nuts, puts you at a hugher risk for having anaphylactic shock.

So, she is going to the doctor today, so that I can get her an epi pen, because it was just too scary. And all she had was a bite.

So, was it a crazy Saturday, or what?

A Bit of Our Trip

Here are some pictures from our trip back to Arizona. The mister got to celebrate his birthday with friends and family, and it was so nice.

About what I wrote below..

I just read over my post below and realized that it sounded awfully whiney.
I mean all the stuff that is making me feel overwhelmed, is such small stuff in comparison to things so many others are going through, like deployments, disease...and what not. So, I am sorry for being whiney. I just needed to come on here and vent a bit.

I promise, happy-go-lucky Erica posts will follow from here on out.

Overwhelmed

Well, it's been awhile since I've blogged. We got back Sunday night from a week long trip back home to Arizona. I will post some pictures later this week.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed so far this week, but I guess that is normal when you come back from vacation.

My photoshop class started last week, and I am struggling in it. Most people in my class are graphic design students, which means they can draw. We were given a simple assignment, to make an ice cream cone using photoshop...either hand drawn or mouse drawn. And my ice cream cone looked like something a 3 year old did. I had to use the brushes to make it. I was going to turn it in, but then I looked at everyone else's assignments.
They went all out. Their cones were amazing, and were much more than cones. Our big project, is a huge ad campaign for an ice cream company, complete with logos, slogans, ads...things like that. So they all took their incredible work and then turned it into the beginning stages of an ad or a logo. The stuff was incredible. And it made my triangle with a half circle on top look pitiful.
I am feeling very out of my element. And I wish I could draw.

Want to see just how incredible my classmate's work was:





Now, don't even THINK you will see what I did. Just picture what your 3 year old would draw, it looked like that.

My next class, if I survive the photoshop class, is advanced scripting.

Also, we still don't have the padding for our carpet replaced downstairs, our back gate somehow broke while we were gone...a huge slat of wood, is just laying on the side of it....we came back from our trip to discover that ants are starting to take over our front room, and we still have an a/c problem.

We are headed to Home Depot now to resolve that issue. I am tired of it being 89 degrees in here all day long.

Okay, this is such a downer post, I am sorry. I am just sharing what is on my mind at the moment.

I will post another one soon about our trip...It will be a happier post and filled with fun pictures.

The Real Me

***<<<*WHAT?*>>>***

What is your biggest dream?
Honestly, my biggest dream, was to be a mother. And I have that. I have been blessed so much!

What is your biggest success thusfar?
Being a mom.

What is your ideal job?
My ideal job would be something that would bring happiness to others, spread the love of Christ and allow me to do something I love. So, I would LOVE to be a Christian recording artist. But there are so many other things I could also do, that would allow me to do the three things I listed.

What was the most important thing you learned from your parents?
To work hard.

What do you look for most in a friend?
I like them to have my same beliefs and values....be someone that I can talk to....someone who I can relate to...someone who will accept me.

What is your philosophy of life?
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
Mother Teresa

What's your biggest fear?
It's always been being attacked, killed, harmed by a psycho person..like who breaks and enters or something. And the fear has grown beyond me and to those same type of people hurting my children.

What's your biggest joy?
Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, how great is His love, His peace!!!!!

***<<<*HOW?*>>>***

How would YOU describe yourself in three words?
Empathetic, Generous, Loving

How would someone else describe you?
I would hope in the same way.

How do you measure beauty?
Beauty is from within....it is in the genuine smile...in the loving heart....in the warmth of a caring hug. It radiates from within and it also spreads. A person's true beauty can be seen by the beauty it brings to others.

How important is family to you?
Family is very, very important.

***<<<*DO YOU?*>>>***

Do you believe in regrets?
I believe that regrets exist. I believe that it is easy to get hung up on them. I also believe that they can be damaging. The past shouldn't be focused on. All you should do is learn from the past, grow from it...and see where all those choices we regret, brought us.

Do you believe in second chances? why or why not?
I believe that you can't truly forgive without giving a second chance.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
I believe in an attraction at first sight. But love is so much deeper than a glance.

Do you belive that true love lasts forever and conquers all?
I do think that love conquers all. Look at Jesus' love. I think that the love we have in our lives can conquer all, but it does take work.

***<<<*ARE YOU?*>>>***

Are you trustworthy? trusting? How do you show it?
I am very trusting, always have been. And I do think I am trustworthy, although I have struggled with gossip in the past...I am outgrowing that thankfully.

Are you independent? Or still dependent on someone?
I feel that I have always been independent. And sometimes I think I can be too independent in that I don't even let God have control. It's a real struggle for me.

Are you willing to change for someone else?
I am willing to work on things if I know that I am doing something that is hurting someone else. For example, if I react in a stressed out manner in a situation and someone who that effects asks me to work on it, then yes, I will change that. But I will not change my beliefs and things like that for someone else. I will not change the values and beliefs that are a part of who I am.

***<<<*IF?*>>>***

If you could leave one life lesson behind to the younger generations, what would it be?
To realize how much you have...and how little so many others have and to keep that in mind always and strive to make a difference in the world. Share the love of Christ. Show His love to all. And help the oppressed.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?
How controlling I can be....or I try to be...mainly with my hubby. I seem to back down around friends and what not...try to make everyone happy and accomodate them. But with my hubby, it's like I feel it's my way or no way. It's not nice.

If you could have anything in this world, what would it be? why?
The opportunity to go to Northern Uganda and help out. But I may still get to do that....my life isn't over yet.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
I don't have a very strong relationship with anyone in my family from my parents down to my Aunts and Uncles. So, I would change that. I wish I knew them.....meaning knew who they are as people...what their life experiences have been..things like that.

If you had everything you've always wanted, would you be happy?
No..because sometimes the things we want...or think we want, don't bring happiness, but bring just the opposite. It's hard to remember that at times...especially when in the moment, we focus so much on what we want and how much better it will make our lives...or how much better we think it will make us. And oh how wrong we are. So, I say, I hope that I am able to have all the things God has for me to have, because He has my happiness in mind. He knows the desires of my heart. But he also knows my lustful desires as well. And I am better off without those lustful ones. So, I say God...give me the true desires of my heart....and I will be soooo happy.

Pictures

Well, here are some pictures from yesterday, as well as some that have been stuck on my camera for awhile.
Not many from last night really came out well.

About a month ago, the day care kids did a Green Eggs and Ham theme. So for lunch at the end of the week, we had green scrambled eggs. I can only serve eggs at lunchtime...not for breakfast...weird, huh? Here is the miss when I told her to make a gross face with her eggs. She actually did eat them all up.

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While in chicago, I walked past this ad and told my photographer friend that it would make a silly picture. I jumped several times and it did get some attention of those walking by. They were looking at us like we were weirdos. And just so you know, I hate the socks I am wearing. I had to buy them in the hotel gift store...they were men's ankle socks and huge on me. We had to leave most of our luggage behind on the way to Chicago.

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And here are some pics from yesterday, the 4th.

Ooooo's and Ahhh's

Well, we went to the Air Force Academy this year for fireworks. And it was only open to ID card holders, which we felt was nice and safe.
The miss was so excited to see fireworks this year and had been talking about it for days. Last year, they scared her, and she spent the entire time with her head buried in her daddy's arms.
But this year...she smiled brightly. She said, "WOW", over and over again. She loved them. The mister enjoyed them too. He watched them pretty intently and just smiled.
It was a fun night. I did take pictures, but I didn't have my picture card in the camera. And I had lost the USB connector that goes to my camera, weeks ago. So, I need the correct USB cord in order to access the pictures. And we purchased a 5 pack with all different sizes, and not a single one fit into the camera. But I am going to check Best Buy tomorrow. So, hopefully I can share the pictures soon.
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th.

De-humidify Yourself

Oh my! I went into the basement this morning to throw some clothes into the wash. I was smack dab in the middle of all the monstrous machines, which are down there to suck away all the moisture. And within 3 seconds, I felt all the moisture leave my face. It was the strangest feeling ever. What's worse however, is it depleted my contacts of all moisture. And so far, I haven't been able to rememdy the situation. I may have to take them out and have them soak for awhile. I used rewetting drops and everything. But my contacts feel as hard as rocks. I am dreading going back down there to put the clothes into the dryer. Ha! Maybe I could just sit them on the basement floor, they'd dry up in seconds.

The Last Three Days

So, I wanted to share with all ya'll what's gone on over the past few days..complete with pictures...so this may be a long post. It isn't all that exciting, but I know some of my family members will appreciate the story. Although, the pictures are minimal. I left my camera at home yesterday, which actually would have been THE day for pictures. Oops.

So, on Saturday, I threw my good friend, Tiffany, a baby shower for baby #4. And, it was a successful surprise shower. YAY! I am an Usborne book consultant, and I told her I was having an open house. So, she came with her Usborne catalog in hand, ready to order some books. And she was so clueless...even when some guests arrived after her with presents in their hands. I even handed her a drink in a cup with a baby on it, and she still didn't get it.
So, here she is once I told her that she was here for a surprise shower.


Tiffany doesn't know the sex of her baby, although she is fairly certain she knows what she is having, so I had to find a theme that was unisex. She also loves the color green. So, I found some cute party stuff that was a pea in a pod theme. I thought it was pretty cute. So, my wonderful friend, Sara, helped me make prizes and favors that we think looked more like boats and corn husks. But, oh well. She also made a delicious chocolate strawberry cake. YUM.
Here's our cool Pea-bombs and candle boats...LOL..which really are supposed to be pea pod bath fizzies and pea pod candles. Sara and get quite ditzy whenever we attempt to do crafty things together...and Friday night, while working on the favors, was no exception. We thought we were pretty funny. But my hubby probably thought we were tipsy. LOL.


And here's one last photo of Miss Tiffany with a handmade blanket she received as a gift.


Then later that night, I watched Tiff's kids for her, so she and her hubby could go on a much needed date night. So, needless to say, Saturday fleeewww by.

Then Sunday flew too. Sara invited my family, Tiff's family and our mutual friend, Cari, over to her house for a barbecue / swim party for the kids. All of our kids play together very nicely. It was a lot of fun. The kids spent many hours outback in the pool, and yes, they were supervised. And us adults had some fun playing Wii sports and also Karaokee star. Well, the boys at that point played WoW. But us gals had a blast with it. We didn't leave their house until 8:30 P.M. So, again, it was a day that flew.
And I left my camera at home and didn't get any shots of the kids at play. But they sure had tons of fun!

Today has been super busy. We had our water heater leak last weekend. So last week, we had it replaced. I put a call into the insurance company, because the carpet near the water heater had gotten pretty damp. They will be out tomorrow, but told me to have a mitigation company out this morning. So, I called one up and out they came. I had to shoo the kids upstairs with some play-doh to try to occupy them, while I followed the mitigation dude into the basement, which is also used as the day care playroom. I couldn't believe how much of the carpet was showing up as wet. It was even in our walls and baseboards too. He had to rip out some of the padding, but thankfully, we won't have to replace all of the carpet.

He had to also fill the area with dehumidifiers and other equipment. We have to leave it on 24/7 until they tell us that it is dry. Then they will replace the pad and clean our carpet. It will all be good as new. Of course, it's costing us our $500.00 deductible. YIKES!
And, the kids can't go into the playroom either, because this is what it looks like down there.


So, I've had to improvise and things.
It sure was a crazy afternoon, while the mitigation dude was here. Yes, I call him the mitigation dude. I was downstairs trying to go over everything with him, while the kids upstairs were trying to kill each other over a musical note cookie cutter type playdoh toy. Geez oh Pete.I had to keep running up and down and up and down. Wore me out. I also had to clean out all of the junk that I had let pile up near my washer machine, because the baseboards over there were wet too. So, I was a busy bee...and meanwhile the kids were screaming like crazy.

So far, nap time has gone well. Even with two of them sleeping right behind me. They are usually in the play room sleeping.


I think I need a nap!

Lifted High

Well, I had a few quirks to work through, but last week, I finished my first official butterfly kisses blog design for Christina over at Lifted High Check out her blog and find out the meaning behind her chosen header and blog name.

It was fun working on it, but I learned that I have so much more to learn. It's so frustrating when you work on a site in Internet Explorer and everything is fine, but then you switch over to firefox, and it's all a jumbled mess. But as frustrating as it can be, it's also what makes it so much fun. It's like putting together a puzzle and when the pieces all finally fit together, you just feel like you accomplished something. I also love how it allows me to be creative. It's fun!