The Golden Compass

a new movie targeted at children, will be
released December 7, 2007. This movie is based on a the first book of
a trilogy by atheist Philip Pullman. In the final book a boy and girl
kill God so they can do as they please. Pullman left little doubt
about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "My books
are about killing God."

The movie is a watered down version of the first book and is designed
to be very attractive in the hope unsuspecting parents will take their
children to see the the movie and that the children will want the
books for Christmas.

The movie has a well known cast, including Nicole Kidman, Kevin Bacon,
and Sam Elliott. It will probably be advertised extensively, so it is
crucial that we get the word out to warn parents to avoid this movie.

You can research this for yourself. Start with this article on
Snopes.com, then go to Google.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

Finally Circus pictures!

Over a week ago we took the kids and my grandma to the Circus (well she insisted on paying so she took us)!
We got there in time for the pre-show, where the kids could go down on the main floor and get autographs of the pretty dancers and watch little comedy shows with the clowns, and the ever famous elephant painting! The kids were right in the front row for this, Ethan got scared and came running when the elephant came out.


Do you see his trunk holding the brush?? How cute!

We had a fun time. Ethan kept clapping and saying "yeah, it's over, let's go home" after every act. Good thing the elephants came out a lot, he really enjoyed them!


Isn't it amazing that these huge creatures can do stuff like this??


I love the tigers they are so pretty!



I was amazed that I got this shot. I clicked the button when the cannon went off, hoping to get a picture and...see the red thing, that was the man flying through the air and you can see the lady just leaving the cannon, how fun!



Here is my little guy with his cotton candy hat! (the cotton candy came in this clown hat. At least it made it a little more worth the $10 for cotton candy.

Exactly what we need

The reason we don't have our own home yet, is because of our credit. Our credit isn't so great. We committed to try int to repay one persons credit at a time, we started with Josh's. We have been able to pay it down quite a bit and his score is much better in just a few years.

There is a site is for people just like us...and I know we aren't the only ones who deal with this.
If you have bad credit and are looking for a home loan, auto loan or credit card, bad credit loans is a place where you can compare all the offers for people like us.

This site even offers you a chance for credit repair help.

This is a great resource and it is nice to finally find a place for a chance for those with less than perfect credit.

Our weekend

was busy!!

It seems like every week I finally get the house into order and then the weekend comes. I feel like I am never home long enough to keep things in order. When you are running here and there and everywhere you just come in the house and throw stuff and never have time to put it away.

Monday mornings come along and the house is a war zone. LOL.

Friday night, we didn't do anything. I took dinner to a couple at our church who just had a little guy and rushed home to feed us. Oh yeah, Josh and I had a miscommunication and sat on the couch frustrated with each other for an hour and then went to bed, ugh.

Saturday, I let the kids veg in front of the TV, while I worked on some income/expense sheets I need to get in order for the business (not fun). Ethan was being so ornery, so I called my mom to see if she would take him for a few hours, while Merci was at a party. Well the party was Sunday and not Saturday so my mom ended up taking both the kids for a few hours. I went to Target and browses without any interruptions, SO NICE. Then I came home to do my algebra work and then realized we had invited Josh's parents over for dinner and a movie, so I ditched my algebra and ran to Blockbuster and the grocery. Ran to get the kids, ran home to start dinner, clean etc. Josh got home just in time to make his famous Chili...It turned out great and the movie was good. A nice evening it ended up being.

Sunday was church, where we heard some great and some sad news. Our pastor is getting re-married, his wife got killed in a car accident 4 years ago, but he is also stepping down=(
We also had a church wide Fall fest for the kids and then we rushed Merci to her party and then rushed of too out home group. The we had to pick up Merci and got home just in time for bed. I then had to work on my algebra it was due not later than Sunday. The it was time for bed.

Exciting huh!

Tactical Gear

Men love to play with guns, weather it be real guns ( I hope not), paint ball guns or a new popular favorite in my family air soft guns. Some guys really get into it. My brother in laws have air soft games a few time a month. My one brother in law is a Military Police so he "trains" the other guys on tactical training opps.
5.11 Tactical might be a great place for him to go for his equipment. The guys wear all the protective gear and have shield and all that stuff. Sounds kinda fun I may have to join them someday=)

A few ?'s

What do you do when your washer isn't working right, and the guy who we use to fix appliances (our family has used him for years, very reliable) says he thinks he knows exactly what it is. The part is about $90 and he charges a minimum of $28, but a new washer is about $300.

The washer we have we bought used, I have had it 3-4 years, and not sure how old it really is (it isn't ancient or anything) so what are the chances the old, fixed washer will last another few years??

Hmmm?

AND

If anyone can answer this...without cheating...I will be very impressed!

addition and subtraction of polynomials
(4w^2y-3xy+x^3z)-(w^2+4w^2y-3xy)+(4x^3y+2xy)
***x^2...is x to the 2nd power...an exponent***

So you tell me, when would you use this?

Good night, I am going to start bedtime and come sit on the couch and eat Tastefully Simple beer bread and dips!!

***BONUS***
Did you listen to Amy Grant growing up?? I did and I loved her.
She has a new book out and if you go to Laura Williams Musings you can enter to win a copy!

A bit frustrated

Whoever made up math is crazy. I really don't see why someone sat there all day coming up with this crap.

I start off each lesson, thinking I can do this, and then by the end I am wondering what the heck I am doing.

I hate how in the lesson they give you easy, uncomplicated samples and then in homework or testing they give you these crazy one and you have no idea what to do....uggg.

Right now I am working on Properties of exponents.
When will I ever use this??

Something I need to know

Because we plan on buying our first home in the next year or so, hopefully sooner, we need to learn all we can about mortgages.

All I know right now is that most banks and lending places will not give us a loan, until we have 2 years of tax returns running our company. The tax return we file at the beginning of the year will be our second, so we hope to look into what companies and what they have to offer, come the new year!

cheap mortgages
is one thing we will be looking for...who isn't??

Are you looking for a
remortgages?

The market is great for buyers and interest rates are low.

If you haven;t bought a house I would say now is a good time=)
I am expecting to get the house we want for the price WE want.

How do you cope?

When many things bombard you at once?
That is what is going on in my life right now=(

2 major things, 1 on each side of the family.
2 minor things, 1 on each side of the family.

It stinks, I don't like it.
I am praying, but I don't like waiting.
I want answers and changes now, rather than later, ya know?

Kinda hard to sit around and wait.
I know God will overcome in both situations, but I until his perfect timing and plan it is hard to stop and watch things unfold.

Want one!

I came across a great give a way to enter!

Domestic Diva is giving away a PINK Dyson vacuum!

Who doesn't want one of these "trendy" vacuums.

Win a Dyson “Pink” Vaccuum in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Check it out and sign-up....I mean don't sign up so my chances are better=)

Guess where we are going?

Tonight we will be going to the Circus!!!
We took Merci when she was about Ethan's age and she ended up with a fever that night, so she didn't enjoy it much.
I think I am more excited than the kids=)
We will be taking my grandma, because she loves the circus.
We got great seat for only $20 each.
1st row Club seats.

I am sure I will have lots of pictures to share!

Do you have a toddler?

If you have a toddler chances are that he/she has taken a pen and written all over you walls, or a important piece of paper or themselves.

I can't even count the number of times my kids have done this.
Everytime I give Ethan something to color with I ask him, "where can this go?" He answers "only on paper momma."
Does he listen?
NOPE.

I fins pen marks all over the place, I think I need to put the pens, pencils and markers up in a high cupboard with all the cleaning supplies.

If I ever....

If I ever go to Las Vegas, I will be staying at the
Golden Nugget Las Vegas hotel.
It is beautiful, luxurious, and amazing!

Josh and I are going away for the weekend in November ( and it can't come soon enough...after the day I am having today).
We are going to Hocking Hills and we just picked out a cabin last night. It is nice, but not very luxurious. I had a picture in my head of this huge beautiful cabin in the woods, but with our budget, it isn't happening.

When I saw this hotel, I was wishing we were going there!
But really our cabin in the woods will be a nice awaited treat!

Oh so pretty

I have the tenancy to kill plants. I just forget about them, or over water them.
I used to have a palm tree type thing in the corner, I even moved it by the window everyday, but it still dies and got spider mites...yuck.
So I think I need to invest in some
silk trees or flowers.
This site has some really beautiful "fake" arrangements.
Check it out!
Great Christmas idea for me=)

Our Pumpkins

We cheated and used the templates=)
But they are cool!

I made the bat



Josh made the Trick-or-Treat guy..I think he is so cute!

I love it

I really enjoy being able to work at home
I love the freedom to do my work when I have the time, I love that I an stop and play with my little guy whenever he just needs his momma. I love being able to stop my work and go have lunch with him, I love that I get to be the one to pick up my little girl from school, and not have to rush to get there on time. I am so thankful for the new opportunities the internet creates in this industry.

You get paid to blog, make jewelry, mail out stuff, have your own business...and many many more.

I love the internet!

Working on weekends stinks

I always thought being a real estate agent would be such an easy job. Some make a ton of money and all they do is show houses to people..how hard right?? There is definitely more than just that, but the part I know I would not like is working on the weekends. Yuck!
Just think about it, most of their work is on the weekends...I wonder if they even get a day off??
Hmmm.
I guess I wouldn't want to be a real estate agent, but I will appreciate the one we have when we buy!

Scary story

When I was pregnant with Ethan I was sick and having a hard time catching my breath. I have a history of asthma, so the doctors office told me to go to the ER for a few breathing treatments. When I got there they noticed my blood oxygen was VERY low, so they immediatley said they were admitting me. After a few set of lung x-rays they thought a spot on my lungs was possibly a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in my lungs). So I was put on blood thinners and put through a series of different tests that would reveal if it was a blood clot or not. Being pregnant I should not have had any of the tests I did, but it was either me dying(if it was a blood clot in my lungs) or trying to save both of us. It was a very scary time and even after being sent home...with no diagnosis, because they never found a blood clot and my blood oxygen did go back to normal...I wished I had a pulse oximeter to make sure I was OK.

Harvest Time

I really enjoy the Fall season, the beauty, the crisp air, the smell, hayrides, pumpkins, apples, cider...it just makes me smile.

Last weekend we went to MapleSide Farms to enjoy the fun Fall activities.

We went on a horse drawn hayride through the apple orchard
(There most memorable part was the horse pooping..we were right up front..why do kids think poop is funny?)



We then went to see if our seats for the Sunday buffet were ready, but they weren't so we went to buy some overpriced apples and yummy apple cider.
We played in the straw play area.



Then went to eat at the yummy over-priced Sunday buffet.
Good food, just kinda expensive..they didn't charge us for either of the kids so that was a nice surprise.

Then we went to get face/arm paintings and headed home!



Nope I didn't forget the getting the pumpkins part...we didn't get any, I only had a little cash (forgot to go tot the bank) and they are much cheaper at a store by us anyway!

It was a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors and each other=)


Stay tuned for our pumpkin carvings.
They are awesome=)

Collections

What is it that you collect? We all have our little things, mine is PEZ dispensers. Every year for Christmas my aunt and uncle used to buy PEZ dispensers for Christmas for all of us kids, it became a tradition, now that they live in Florida, my dad still brings PEZ dispensers for all of us!
I also have a little collection of blue M&M guys.
So what is it? Coffee Mugs, thimbles, sugar spoons, plates, salt shakers, figurines, memorabilia of a certain person, hot wheels cars (that is my husbands weakness).

Yummy Popcorn

I am certain just about everyone enjoys popcorn.
We do here at this house.
My kids especially like when my grandma, their great grandma makes them popcorn in her
popcorn machines. It actually isn't a real one, but it pops whole corn kernels, and it looks like an old fashioned popcorn stand. It is really cute. My kids especially like being able to season it the way they want.
I have recently fallen on love with kettle corn, sweet and crispy!

Adventure

Me and Ethan went on a little trip to see daddy today.



Josh is working on the big church job now and had to rent a lift to get to the roof,



so we thought Ethan would enjoy a little ride.



They went as high as it would go
(yep, I was scared, nope Ethan wasn't!)

What about that weather?

Last week right now, I was driving to get some gas, so we could go to the beach one last time with my parents. Me and the kids were in the car with our bathing suits on, sweating, since I have no AC in the Jeep.


Papa and kids

I am so thankful for that one last day of nice weather. It got up to 89 degrees that day. It was a beautiful day for the beach.


My E!

I got one last nice toasty sun burn.

Right now, today, one week later it is a chilly 48 degrees outside and 65 in our house, yet I refuse to turn on the heat, hopefully until November, but I am sure I will have to. E's toes were so old this morning I felt bad, but her refuses to wear socks to bed.


My QT's
Hopefully these pictures warmed you up a bit!
And if you are in a warm climate, can I visit?

Pain Help

I am sure most of you experience some forms of PMS symptoms, and if not I envy you.
Well why not try a free sample of an all-natural pain reliever.

PMS relief is an all natural pain reliever and has has some tremendous feedbacks, relieving many forms of pain.

With a free sample what do you have to loose?
I will order a free sample and let you know how it works.

I definitely need it for my joint pain right now, the cold weather brings many aches and pains in my knees.

watches

Watches are one of those generic Christmas gifts, especially for men.
Josh recently got a watch,after asking for a long time, I just didn't think he would wear it so I never bothered buying him one, not to mention he is kinda picky.
Well, he does wear it. Now I wish I would have got it for him, it is always nice to know they like what you bought. Oh well.
I would like a nice watch I could wear all the time, but I am picky too.
I would want a really nice watch, like a D&G watch or something. You know, one that makes a statement.
Except that they are a little out of my price range. Gotta do some saving!

We all need

We all need a hard drive to do what we do on these blogs. If we don't have a working hard drive we can't save any of our pictures, school work, documents or what ever else it is we save.
I know my husband is always wanting the bigger and better hard drives that come out, because, you know we do so much on here=)

I guess it is nice to have a computer that works and works at a quick speed and keeps everything it is I do save, nice and safe=)

We actually have a big hard drive on our computer and also an external one we back everything up on...I am scared to death to loose all my pictures of my babies...another reason I need to catch up on scrap booking, huh!

Some Recipes

Here is my husbands favorite Fall/Winter Soup.

Sausage Bean Soup
(Not sure where I got this recipe...Taste of Home or Mr Food, maybe)

3/4 lb bulk Italian sausage
( I use the Bob Evans It sausage in the roll...but you can get it from the meat counter also)
1/2 C chopped onion
1 garlic clove minced
(I used Tastefully Simples Garlic Garlic...we love LOTS of garlic)
1 can (15 1/2 oz) butter beans, rinsed and drained
( I like the mini butter beans but they are hard to find)
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes (seasoned ones taste good too),undrained
1-2 cans beef broth (depending on how much broth you like)
1 TBSP mined fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
2 TBSP shredded Parmesan cheese

In large saucepan cook sausage, onion and garlic until sausage is browned; drain. Add beans, tomatoes, broth and basil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle each serving w/cheese.
**Tonight I added chopped fresh spinach for added nutrition...and because it was already out on the counter! We haven't tasted it yet, Josh isn't home yet. I am sure it is good though!

AND

If you want the other recipe go to I know I am Not Alone ( I finally am updating!)

Blue Guy and plagiarizing

Blue Guy(Ethan's beta fish), died yesterday morning, he hasn't been looking very good, but really what can you do for a sick fish?

When I noticed fishy on the bottom of the bowl, I immediately brought the bowl into Ethan, who didn't believe he was dead because he was still moving around in the water (due to my movement). I informed Ethan that we would have to flush the fishy in the toilet, he yelled,
"NO, I still love him."

It just broke my heart.

He finally agreed, and now our fishy is in toilet bowl heaven.

This morning when I asked him if he missed fishy, he said "Yes, me buy a new froggy."
Great! Now he wants a little swimming froggy ( I love froggies by the way...stuffed ones mostly.)

***So remember that cute little poem Merci wrote the other day...what a little plagiarizer... Ethan was watching Dragon Tales today and I hear "Go away Go away, that is not how friends play" What the heck, that little sneak. We will be having a talk about lying and plagiarizing later this evening."***

Drugs

Drugs are such a common thing nowadays, it is sad. I am sure you know someone who is addicted to some form of drug. If it is weed or a hard core drug, it is still an addiction, and an addiction is very hard to stop. And even if you do stop, chances are high that you will pick up the habit in the future. Something that should be considered is a
drug rehab facility.


And what better enticement than the beauty of some of these facilities.
Lots of drug rehab facilities offer many amenities to keep you comfortable in the time of transition.

Right now someone in our family has run away due to drugs, if I had the money I would definitely offer to send him to a drug rehab, so he could begin his life over again.

Making your name known

If you are a real estate agent or thinking of becoming one, why not partner with GMAC
real estate franchise?

When you partner with GMAC they will help you learn all you need to learn to be a successful real estate agent. They provide you with more potential in many different aspects of this career. They are there for your support and success. Partnering with a large company like GMAC you will increase your income potential, and your recruitment potential.
Check them out and see if they can help you.

My first

Wordless Wednesday



Picture by Sweet Dream Photography

Indians return home after bouncing Yanks

Our Cleveland Indians are off to knock the sox of those Boston Reds!

My husband is not a sports fan, so we follow sports in this house.

I really miss it, because there is nothing like being at a baseball game or a high school football game.

We love our Indians though.

We went to a sports bar for dinner the other night and the Indians vs Yankees game 3 was on, and I really enjoyed rooting for my team along with the rest of the place.

We need a championship win.

Let's go TRIBE.

If you haven't heard...

Wendy is having a scrapbook swap...Check it out!

Lights

This is the best time of the year to sit outside and enjoy the Fall breezes.

I would love to have a big backyard, with lots of trees. I dream of Josh and I and the kids walking down a path, lighted with
outdoor lighting and the smell of Fall in the air. We are heading toward our little bonfire, with leaves crunching under our feet, with hot mugs of cider in our hands, enjoying life together as a family.

I just love crunchy leaves, mulled cider and bonfires.
Too bad I live in the city and have a little yard.
Someday=)

Poem by Merci

Me ferst
Me ferst
go awa
that
is
not
how
frends
play

(her spelling, not mine!)

I though it was really cute.
What about you?

DUH

After I got an e-mail from Wendy this morning, asking how Merci was doing, I was thinking, I gotta get my camera hooked up to the computer, so I can show some pictures of her. And then it dawned on me...we have a card reader. Duh...so all these pictures I have been taking with my new camera have been sitting on that memory card for no reason. I think I didn't think about the card reader because my old memory card didn't fit it. Oh well, now I know and so now I can update you all on Merci's surgery.

Merci was getting a little stir crazy after the 1 1/2 hr wait to get called back. She was happy to get a beautiful Snow White doll from the nurses.
Beats a sticker any day...huh??

You can see all the red marks from the tape they had on her face=(
This is right after surgery in recovery as she was coming off the morphine.

This is her belly. Not a huge boo boo.
The white things are Steri strips and act like stitches.
They will fall off when the wound is healed. About 7-10 days.

This is Merci at home, resting on the couch with all her gifts.
On the Right you can see the beautiful flowers daddy brought home for her.

And this is my cute son!
I LOVE this picture.

He has been so sweet to his sissy, before surgery he told her "there's noting to worry about sissy"
He isn't too gentle with her, but she gets lots of kisses from him!

Merci is recovering well, still soar, but she is up and about.
We had to go somewhere yesterday and first thing she did was go down the slide...kids!

A horse

Because I am a nice mommy, I made a trip to the gift shop while Merci was in surgery yesterday.
She has been wanting a Webkinz, so I finally got her one. I picked out a cute fuzzy Clydesdale horse. We sat down to figure it out today and let me tell you I had fun=)

You have to take care of your animal, feed it, love it and take it to the Dr. You can earn money and buy some really cool stuff. Everything from food to designer furniture for it's house! It is a lot of fun. I may sneak into her account and play with it myself.

If you are looking for a fun Christmas gift, I would suggest it highly. It was only $10, and worth every penny=)

You get to take care of it on-line for a year, and then you can pay to continue.

Remodeling the bathroom?

If you are remodeling your bathroom you might want to check out some shower faucets. I know from watching all those remodeling shows on tv that you add great equity to you home when you redo the kitchen and bathroom. So why not pick out top of the line fixtures for your bathroom?
I love fixtures and plan on going all out when we own a home.

Was never...

I was never a jewelry person, until I bought some nice looking jewelry from one of those home parties. Now I wear it all the time. It might also be because I realized I don't have a baby to pull on it anymore=) I really enjoy unique jewelry, it just has to be different than what I normally see.

I found a site that has some great designer inspired jewelry. You might be interested in checking it out! It might com ein handy since Christmas is right around the corner!

Thanks

Just wanted to thanks to all of you who posted a recipe! They all sound wonderful.

We had quite a few people share, from fish, to gingerbread, to soup, to a chicken casserole. Yum, Yum.

We should do a monthly recipe swap, that would be fun.

What do you think?

If you are interested let me know.

I will have to come up with a catchy title, something like Tackle it Tuesday or wordless Wednesday.

If you come up with a catchy title, I would love to use it=)

Tuesay at 11

is Merci's hernia surgery.
She seems to be OK about it.
I am sure there will be nervousness in the morning.

So keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

The only thing I am nervous about is her not eating after midnight, and clear liquids only until 8am.

I feel bad not letting her eat.

I am a bit worried about coming off the anesthesia too, that is usually the hardest part. She screamed and cried when she was a baby for a long time.

There will be PEACE in name of Jesus!