Absentee checking in

So I have been kind of absent lately. A very good FRIEND of mine has gone into the hospital at 30 weeks along in her pregnancy due to Pre-Eclampsia so I have been sewing items for her baby and updating all our message boards to keep everyone posted as to what is going on. I have made her little boy a Rag Quilt out of cute flannels, cloth wipes (she will be Cloth Diapering )
a preemie kimono that fastens at the shoulder for all the tubes NICU babies tend to have.

So through all this, I remembered my oldest daughters experience when she was in the hospital for a brain hemorrhage 3 years ago due to 2 Dural Arterio Venous Malformations aka AVM's. She was in and out several times and received a blanket each time to help her through her scary stay. So I decided that I really needed to make some quilts too. I have chosen 2 organizations to help out. the first one is Afghans for Angels which concentrates on parents who have lost a baby...the blankets are used so moms and dads can hold their very sick little ones, and when they die, the parents have this blanket for a memory.
The second organization is Project Linus They do blankets for all sorts of kids: hospital admissions, camps for kids including those for cancer, abuse, diabetes, and bereavement..crisis centers as well as police and fire departments throughout the city. The main site for Project Linus can help you locate a program near you if you would like to donate too.

so that is what is taking my time lately. that and a harrassing neighbor that I will leave for another day and another post.

there are just not enough hours in the day

to do all I want to do.

Homeschooling
Sewing
Pampered Chef
Breastfeeding
preparing food
cleaning house
laundry
reading
computer time
time with husband
referee
and every other mom duty and wife duty.

*ack*

When it was time...he brought it!

It is sooo good to be home!!! Very long drive with 6 kids, scary roads (the roads were clear, but the mountains and sharp drop offs scared the hell out of me!!) but it was a great time!

I will put up pictures/video later. The results were listed wrong on the site due to an error in one of the judges addition but these are the results!

Floor: 4th (8.7)
Pommel: 3rd (8.2)
Rings: 8th (8.4)
High Bar: 2nd (8.9)
All Around: 7th

He did great! His high bar routine was the best he has ever done! He knew what he needed to do and got it done! I was so proud of him. And he was so happy to have beat his "rival" in 2 events! LOL

The hotel was ehh...and there really were kids flipping in the hallways! My son included *wink*

We had some semi good food. Pita Pit where I had falafel (YUMMY!!) Wingers (food sucked!!) and a few other small places here and there. I did get an AWESOME dessert at Wingers: the Wingers Asphalt Pie



It was HUGE and so good. Oreo crust, ice cream, caramel and whip cream! I could go to wingers just for dessert again!

But alas, there is just nothing like being home!

State

Doesn't sound like a word that should cause so much terror. State. Add "gymnastics competition" to it, and you will see why my stomach is filled with knots.

My son qualified for state gymnastics. We leave tomorrow morning to begin our adventure up to Moscow, Idaho for this last meet of the season. I believe they said more than 90 boys will be there. Conner is feeling better, I know I posted earlier that he has been sick for about 7 weeks now, but the vitamin c and echinacea helped to heal him where the antibiotics did not. Now, he just feels like he lost 7 weeks of practice and has lost a lot of his power, but eh..what can you do.

So 90 boys and who knows how many hundreds of girls will be running around in leo's and singlets and team colors and invading the University of Idaho where the competition is to take place. That poor town will never know what hit them.
These are kids that can be walking down the hallway and just start flipping out. And by flipping out, I mean REALLY flipping! Do handstands, backhandsprings, cartwheels...you name it, they do it. it is in the blood. Half the time, my 2 gymnasts don't even realize they are doing it till I beg them to stop tumbling in the living room!

So my tummy is in knots. Anxious for my son to do well. I will be that mom in the stands talking every single boy on our team through the routines. My husband after watching the last video I did of a meet turned to me and said "you know Jessica, we can turn the audio off!!" Guess he didn't like my commentary! LOL

I am so proud of him. I am terrified for him. I so want him to do good and to be pleased with how he performs. That is all that truly matters-that he is happy with how he does. So I sit with my tummy in knots and I cannot eat or sleep without thinking of this weekend.
I am only glad that this year, at his level, they cannot do regionals. I can only imagine what a wreck I would be then!

What is wrong with the justice system??

Ok-it has been a long time since I have ranted, so I guess I am due...because this story just pisses me OFF


Suffolk Police have filed charges against a pregnant woman who was found shot in the stomach Thursday morning. Tammy Skinner is accused of shooting herself in the stomach, killing her unborn child.

The 22-year-old was due to give birth to a baby girl that day. The baby did not survive.

Skinner was taken to police headquarters around noon Tuesday, where she was charged. A $15,000 bond has been set.

Skinner is charged with causing an abortion, use of a fire arm in the commission of a felony, and filing a false report.

Illegally inducing an abortion is a class four felony, and is punishable by 2-10 years in prison and a fine of not more than $100,000.

A judge sealed search warrants in the case Monday.



She kills her baby...and she is charged with causing an abortion. This was a full term baby. She was due to birth that day. That woman shot herself in the stomach to purposely kill her baby and they charge her with an abortion.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!!!???
murder? manslaughter?? yes...that would be good.
But an abortion???
**shakes head**

She orginally filed a report stating that someone had shot her. They later searched the house and concluded she did it herself.
MORE

If she didn't want the baby, why not just birth it and take it to a safe haven? why kill it.

I just don't get people sometimes.

Yours, Mine, and Ours

ok-so having a *larger* family, I tend to flock towards movies, books, tv shows that have big families. It is just ME, you know?

So Cheaper By the Dozen irritated me. While being a funny movie at times, I felt it really displayed a large family in a negative manner. So out of control all the time. Like having a large family meant instant chaos and insanity. JERKS! They couldn't put some normal stuff in there?

So I admit I was a little ehn about watching Yours, Mine and Ours last night. It started off cute, but then just got boring. I don't know, I thought they portrayed the large family ok, but give us more of the day to day stuff. The cooking of meals, the doing laundry....don't concentrate so much on the kids trying to break up the parents. Give us more substance and more humor.

So while worth watching, it was not worth buying.

I am curious to see Cheaper By the Dozen 2 now.

I don't think I will ever be satisfied...should I just write my own damned large family movie???? LOL LOL

wow-things get crazy!

the last few weeks have just flown by like a whirlwind! I am just starting my own "business" with Pampered Chef. I just signed up to be a consultant and I am so excited.
Homeschooling is awesome! It is so gratifying to see the kids improving and flourishing where they were not before in public school.
and I am making new friends in the area we moved to. I am so excited. It seems like we are doing things the right way...knock on wood! LOL

so in light of all my excitement...a fun one!

You Are a Super Flirt

You love to flirt, so much so that it gets you in trouble. In almost any situation, you find yourself flirting - even when it's inappropriate. You tend to embrace all flirting styles too.. from coy to sexy to playful to serious. And if someone flirts back, you'll crank it up even more!

What Kind of Flirt Are You?

So what happens at girls night out???

ok-so the night started off with stacy and Jessica wanting to go out for dessert following the crappy day they both had.

so they decide to go to Carrabbas (since Jessica looked up the dessert menu online and it looked GOOOOOOD)

get to the restaurant and all is good. there has been some serious laughter in the car ride over..so much so that Jessica was already coughing up her lungs as she has been really sick.

the wait is a long one, so we decide to eat at the bar.

yes, the bar. we got the mormon girl to the bar!


So the bartender guy introduces himself(michael), his two other bartenders and proceeds to tell us about how the grill is famous, this whole spiel. During this he leans onto the bar, sending a brandy snifter flying at Stacy. It bounced on the chair next to her and shattered. It's a good thing she scooted out of the way because some of the glass landed on her chair right where she was sitting. Nice start eh? Good thing we were able to laugh about it.

So then we ask a zillion questions about the menu and the manager comes over and makes a couple of suggestions, we butcher the name of this pasta dish (which Jessica ends up ordering) like 10 times. After a bit our food shows up. Totally yummy and we start chowing. Stacy is busy being nosy and staring at the chick's plate two stools down. While wondering out loud what it is, she looks at Jessica's pasta and says "That's not what you ordered!!!!". OMG too funny, Jessica didn't even know. So we tell the poor bartender and he has the manager come over. They put in the order for the right dish, and when the manager brings it over, we realize it's the same sauce, just a different pasta! Still the corkscrew stuff was much easier to eat than slurping angel hair. Right Jess?

so we are eating and michael has to tell us about this server who he swears looks like matthew modine...so of course, Jessica and stacy check him out. (and he was HO!T) and all Jessica can notice at first is how tall he is. then stacy says he is thinner than matthew modine, and the guy says he weighs 206. Jessica says NO WAY! stacy says "He is so tall-thats why"
j: he is not that tall
s: yes he is..stand next to him!

so Jessica hops off her stool and stands next to the guy..who puts his arm around her the guy is like a foot taller than Jessica!
he then says "but it is all muscle"
by then, Jessica, who is feeling the effects of her coke..that HAD to be spiked says "really" like some star struck teen.
he says "yeah, feel" and flexes his muscle. to which Jessica promptly reaches up and feels him and says "very nice!!"


Stacy then remarks on the fact that some of the guys keep staring at us...she figures they are back there talking about us!
so we keep eating and Jessica keeps laughing. she says that all these comments in her head that she wants to make come out bad! like "I hope I didn't squeeze him too hard!!"


Okay so, earlier in the evening when we went to the bathroom, Jessica noticed that the big stall had both a changing table and a chair. This led to a discussion wondering why they offer a chair in the restroom stall. Jessica at first said "What? is taking a shit so tiring you need to sit down and take a break?" Of course we spent the rest of the meal coming back to the question of why, and we knew we just HAD to ask them. So after we finished our desserts, Jessica kept saying "I am going to ask him" Poor Michael. He overheard and came over and said "ok, what are you going to roast me for now!!" Jessica asked the lady bartender. Guess what she said? It was for breastfeeding mothers!!! Stacy asked her why someone would want to nurse in the bathroom. (complete with a look of shock! ) So she started saying how some people are uncomfortable, yadda, yadda. And Stacy's pops in with "but why would you want to breastfeed next to a toilet???" Then we asked if they *made* women go in there. She said no and all was good and we piped up in unison to say "Good, because we're both nursing moms!". I think our bartender was ready to die at that point since he had been trying to flirt with us all night!

At the very end as we're getting ready to leave he tells us to come back during ahppy hour, 2 for 1 wine, etc. Stacy cut him off and asked if any of the food was 2 for 1. She told him they couldn't drink because she was a bit ripe. He asked, but reported back no specials on the food. But you could have any liquor at 2for1!!!! Ya know, cause liquor isn't alcohol.

All in all it was a blast!!! We laughed the entire time and had so much fn. It was a much needed respite from our crazy weeks.

Conner's first meet-

Was a few weeks ago and it was AWESOME!!

we had a great day! Conner took 3rd place in the all around. He missed 2nd by .10 - and I could have challenged one of his scores that was not fair...but its good. for his first meet he did so phenomenal I just couldn't believe it!




results:

3rd - all around
1st - pommel horse
3rd - rings
1st - floor
3rd - parallel bars
4th - vault
5th - high bar



our next meet is tomorrow! Conner is pretty sick so we are not expecting him to place very high--but we will still have a very fun day I am sure!

time flies by when you are sick....

bronchitis and wheezing. so not fun.
been sick 4 weeks now. my lungs are weak from the pneumonia I had in August, so I get sick easy.

but here is a fun one for us!

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Rackham

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Tag...I'm it!

I've been tagged by Adria

Four Jobs You've had in your life:

~MIS help desk technician at the hospital
~ICD-9 coder and biller for Physicians office
~Receptionist/payroll clerk for a nursing home
~salesperson for Zales Jewlers

Four Movies you would watch over and over:
~Harry Potter-all of them
~Dead Poets Society
~I'll Be Home For Christmas
~How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Four places you have lived:
~Rancho Cordova California
~Sacramento California
~Twin Falls Idaho
~Boise Idaho

Four TV shows you love to watch
~ER
~Crossing Jordan
~Law and Order, CI and SVU
~Iron Chef

Four websites I visit daily
~Nurture-Sustain-Love
~Amity's
~Mama Drama
~Sewing Mamas

Four of my favorite foods:
~tacos
~watermelon
~chocolate cake
~grandmas mashed potatoes

Four places I would rather be right now
~England
~in a different body *wink*
~with my family (extended)
~on vacation

Four bloggers I am tagging
Jo
Elizabeth
Mandy
Tara

this is almost scary after the last one

which do you think is the real me??


The Sensual Vampire


What type of vampire are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

oh in a different world this could be

Congratulations, you are the Noble Queen! Indeed
you are the Queen of Queens! You are elegant,
refined, and magnificently beautiful. You are
famous for your courage, benevolence, and
wisdom. You are just and fair and the perfect
leader! You are also very rare. There are not
many people like you!

Possible
Name: Adela Element: Light
Color: White


What Queen are you? (Beautiful Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

It seems I go in spurts...

Somedays I have tons to say, then I go a month and don't feel like I have anything worthy to say.
Sigh

well, the biggest news is that after lots of prayerful study of the Word Of Wisdom Diet we have decided that as a family we really do need to go vegetarian. The Church teaches in the Word of Wisdom to eat plentiful whole grains, fruits and veggies and to eat of meat sparingly..or in times of famine/cold. So after much study and prayer, we know that this is the right thing to do. We could sit and try to keep justifying our meat consumption or say that the interpretation of the Scripture that states:
Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

so we are embarking on this new life. We are promised that if we follow it, we will have good health. Lets hope that good health includes losing weight! LOL

not tacky!

You Are a Bright Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays are all about fun and seasonal favorites. You are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

On cord blood banking....

When I was pregnant with Isabella, I considered cord blood banking. We then discussed just donating it, and was told that the banks charge huge amounts for those in need to actually get it. I was disgusted with that and chose not to do it.

On further contemplation, I now see they can treat stroke victims with cord blood. I had the awful realization that if I had gone ahead and banked Bella's cord blood for ourself (like I wanted too) my grandfather might have been able to get the transplant and have the affects of his stroke reversed.

My grandfather means the world to me. This weighs heavily on my mind today. I know that I cannot go back, and it is useless to beat myself up. But the "if onlys" are big for me today.

Massachusetts becomes first state to ban formula bags

Massachusetts Becomes First State to Prohibit Formula Marketing in Hospitals
Boston, December 20, 2005— In a groundbreaking step for mothers and babies, Massachusetts became the first state to prohibit hospitals from giving out free formula company diaper bags to new parents. Giving out these bags reduces the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding and is considered unethical by many national and international groups, including the World Health Organization. Multiple studies, even from prestigious medical journals such as the Lancet, have shown that the bags interfere with breastfeeding, causing moms to switch to formula sooner, or quit nursing altogether-- even when the bags do not contain formula samples.

For decades, formula companies used hospitals to hand out diaper bags stocked with coupons and free samples. Most parents see these as a “free gift,” but the bags are a marketing technique that implies that the hospital endorses the product, successfully boosting sales of formula at the expense of breastfeeding. “One day, formula marketing in hospitals will go the way of cigarette ads on TV,” said Melissa Bartick, MD, Chair of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition.

The new rules on formula marketing are part of a much larger update of existing perinatal regulations written by the Department of Public Health and today approved by the Public Health Council. Hospitals must follow DPH regulations in order to be allowed to operate in the state. The regulations contain many other mandates that help promote and support breastfeeding and otherwise limit formula marketing.

In banning the distribution of these items, the DPH acknowledges that there is no medical justification for the institutional marketing of formula products to new parents. The vast majority of hospitals in Massachusetts and the US give out free diaper bags containing formula to new moms, and also accept free formula for in-hospital use. This marketing practice deviates from the standards followed by health care providers and hospitals in every other respect. For example, hospitals do not give out coupons for name-brand clothing, name-brand foods outside of maternity. “We’d never tolerate the thought of hospitals giving out coupons for Big Macs on the cardiac unit,” said Dr. Bartick, an internist. Since lack of breastfeeding is clearly associated with multiple adverse health outcomes in children and mothers, distribution of formula marketing materials by hospitals and health care providers has been recognized as unethical since at least 1981, when the World Health Organization approved the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

Members of MBC on the taskforce that drafted the new regulations helped make the case for eliminating the diaper bags. The formula bags may actually cost families money: “Not only is there the expense of formula, but parents and society end up paying for medications and time lost from work to care for a sick child,” says Dr. Kimberly Lee, a neonatologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

As proof of the companies’ influence, Dr. Lee notes that parents almost always continue to use the brand of formula their baby got in the hospital—and those formulas are typically the most expensive.

These new regulations will go far in improving the quality of care to mothers and their newborns.

source: MBC

the kindness of strangers amazes me

I am working on some items to sell for the Christmas season, and I needed a piece of ribbon for a project so I had run to walmart. The kids were told to get ready and run out to the car while I grabbed my tennis shoe.

I didn't realize until I got there that only 2 of the kids put their jackets on!


So I ran in and got my stuff and went to leave when Kaitlyn walked up to me and said "here mom from this lady"

she hands me a napkin from mcdonalds and it has written on it "Do your kids need new coats?? Merry Christmas"

and wrapped inside was $300 cash!

I started bawling right there in the store. Couldn't stop.

after all that we have gone through this last month...and knowing we were not going to do much for Christmas....this happens--I feel truly blessed and know that someone was looking out for us.

Well-red is my favorite color

Your Blog Should Be Red

Your blog is full of intensity and passion. You are very opinionated - and people love or hate you for it. You have the potential to be both a famous and infamous blogger.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Murphy's Law....a force to be reckoned with

so...things have been going good for a few months. Really good...(well, excluding Noah that is) Until lately.
Grandpa had his stroke. We had a personal financial setback. and today - the car accident.
You know, I think that murphy waits until you are in a comfort zone...that you are doing well...and then he kicks the rug right out from underneath you.
and then continues to kick you after you are down.

$250 to get the car home. not too many injuries-luckily. do you know we sat out on the freeway for 2o minutes and no one stopped to help? no one even called the police.

so we are becoming the family in "Christmas with the Kranks" this year, we are skipping Christmas. I am even considering just taking the tree down instead of decorating it. what is the point? we can't do Christmas this year. We probably will not even go see the family now.

I can't even sleep tonight. Every time I close my eyes, I can feel us spinning again and see the dirt hill we crashed into rising up before my eyes. I can hear the kids scream and cry for me.

I think I need something to put me to sleep.

I think we need to round up the boys and take Murphy out so that he can stopped messing with us.

Anyone got a lasso?