Kisses for mommy

Rich and I were saying the other day that Cheyanne should have been born a baby kangaroo so that she could have lived in my pouch for the first 9 months of life. Surely that would have made EVERYONE'S life a bit more manageable.
Love,
Mama Kangaroo

Grapes Galore!

Food Lion has purple grapes on sale this week. I am sure my kids have eaten 4 pounds in the past 24 hours.

Lovely girls

Cheyanne and Isabella enjoying some play time while I got lunch ready.

DADDY TIME

Rich doesn't have a home bound student right now and it has been AWESOME!!! WE know it won't be awesome next month when that extra, much needed pay check isn't there, but right now...WE LOVE IT! He is home at about 5:00 and he is not wiped out. He plays games with us and reads to us and eats dinner with us and has tummy time with us (Cheyanne) and wrestles with us and WE LOVE IT!
Professional Goal #1: Find the job where God wants daddy and he will be happy...CHECK!
Professional Goal #2: Find ONE job where God wants daddy and he will be happy and there will be enough money to provide for a continually growing family and he can be home for dinner all of the time...PRAY and PRAY and PRAY!
I love watching my husband love our children and I love watching our children adore my husband.
Love,
Amy

Flowers, footballs, and FUN

We celebrated my 34th birthday yesterday. What a nice day. My dad sent me some beautiful flowers, a wonderful friend (who didn't even know it was my birthday) stopped by and dropped off a bouquet of tulips because I was on your heart, and my hubby made sure we ate yummy yummy ice cream cake and sang (CHA! CHA! CHA!). I won't say anything about the cake except...HERE WE GO, STEELERS, HERE WE GO!
Love,
Amy

Total, but quick rant

As I was filing pay stubs yesterday, a little slip of yellow paper fell out of one of the envelope's. This is what the paper reads. "Please note a new deduction on your pay statement for "Non-Participating Wellness." On the enrollment From, you selected "No, I elect not to participate in the Health Risk Appraisal Event." As a result, $60 will be deducted from your November pay for the months of September, October, and November. Starting with your December pay, the amount deducted will be $20 per month through August 2009." WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? HOW CAN YOU DO THAT? Breath, breath, breath.
Let me set the scene. At the beginning of the school year, Piedmont Comm. Health Care approached all of their paying health insurance clients informing them that there was going to be a Health Fair, where they would access how healthy you were. Bring your wife, bring you kids. This is the best thing you can do for your family. Blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, immunization scheduling, or whatever test they could run that would tell you how healthy you are. And if you are not what they consider "healthy" you betcha your rates will go up next year. Rich and I decided that it was NOT the best thing for our family. Considering that our health insurance premiums run us $500 a month, you would think it would be OUR CHOICE not to participate. Well, yes, it was our choice... but we will pay. We will pay hundreds of extra dollars for making our CHOICE.
UGH! UGH! UGH!

Rich's Barber Shop

Rich has been our family's barber since the beginning. He cuts all of our children's hair and even mine. I love not having to pay $20 for a haircut that I do not like and avoiding the Beauty Shop gossip is always a plus, too. He does a fantastic job and the kids are so tickled with their new do's. Well, most of the kids. Dante's goal is to grow a pony tail as fast as he can. He does NOT want a trim, but he is starting to look like an orphan. Snip, snip, poor Dante.
We are blessed to have a daddy with a haircutting gift and it is a money saver, for sure.
Love,
Amy

How do you spell migraine relief?

I have been experiencing pretty severe migraine headaches for about 10 years now. They are for the most part hormonal, but on occasion they tend to stem from a regular tension headache gone awry. I have come to the conclusion that they only thing that makes these migraines remotely bearable is a very dark, quiet room and a cold, wet cloth on my head. I did try a new homeopathic remedy called Silicae yesterday, but it did not seem to do much. There are a few others I am going to try over time. I resorted to a lot of pouting, a super neck/head massage from my sweet husband and one and a half Starbucks Mocha Frappachino's. 2 days later? Migraine relief.
Love,
A mom with a whole new perspective on parenting without a headache.
Oh, how we take for granted the small blessings, like a crazy day without a migraine. I choose loud and crazy over migraines ANY DAY.

Prayer for health...PLEASE!

We would love everyone to pray for health for our family. During the past 2 months all of our children have been battling one thing after another. This weekend has been fevers and sore throats. No Fun. Please pray that God's protection is covering our home. Pray that the Almighty erects a barrier against illness around our children and family and home.
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in your promises that ALL things are for good for those that love you. I trust that your GRACE and MERCY are sufficient even during tough times. Allow your healing hand to be upon my children and my family RIGHT NOW. Please keep evil away and help us keep our eyes and thoughts focused on you. You are the ALMIGHTY PHYSICIAN and we rest knowing that you are Sovereign...AMEN

Game time

The children have been working at building up our game collection and it has been a nice change from the Lincoln Logs and Legos. Through Christmas money and gift exchanges, we have acquired Life, Kerplunk, Zingo, Candy Land, a glass Tic Tac Toe, and a super card game called Blink, that Dante and I are enjoying in the evenings. We are spending at least an hour each day playing some sort of game. The kids would play games from sun up to sun down if I let them. What fun!

REALLY BAD HAIR DAY

Nuff said...