All Aboard!!

I leave "tonight" at 12:30 AM on an Amtrak train headed to New York.  It will be a very bittersweet trip.  The bitter part is....my main purpose for going to NY is to see my grandma who is dying of cancer.  I am afraid to see her, because she is so weak now, but I don't want to miss this last opportunity to see her face to face.  The sweet part is....that while I am there, I will be able to see family members that I have not seen in many years.  I will also be seeing my mom, which I am VERY excited about. 
The 13 hour train ride sounds exciting to me.  I plan on sleeping most of the way, watching a video, and doing lots of Algebra.  I just pray that my stuff and myself are safe throughout the night.  I will be returning home next Tuesday morning. 

Don't put off until tomorrow what you should do today!!

This will be short, but I learned a huge lesson today.  I have been in the process of changing email accounts.  I was told by Intergate that I had until tomorrow the 22 to get everything done.  You know me, I put everything off until the last moment.  I did it again today and I LOST almost EVERYTHING!!!  Intergate deactivated my account a day early!  There is no way that they can retrieve any of my emails or addresses.  I really must stop putting things off until later!!!  Hopefully this is a lesson learned for a long time. 

My SPECIAL Day!!

Yesterday was the BEST Valentine's Day I ever remember having. It started out with cooking a brunch with Jeff for a couple's retreat. I love working with my husband!!!! While in the midst of working, Jeff surprised me with a beautiful rose and a kiss! I felt so special and loved. Later that day Jeff and I went out on a date. I could choose anywhere I wanted to eat. I thought of all those nice restaurants that would cost us at least $25.00 to eat at and said no thank you. I chose my favorite fast food place....Chick-Fil-A. I have only eaten there a couple of times, because it is so expensive. To me this was a total treat, but for much less than the other places!! Chick-Fil-A was having a special night for all of us Valentine diners. Jeff and I were seated at a reserved table. It was decorated very nicely. They even gave me a fresh flower and a heart shaped brownie!! This may not sound romantic to you, but this was perfect for Jeff and I. I LOVED IT and I want to go back again next year. We also went shopping while we were out. I found an incrediable pair of jeans at Christopher and Banks for $5.00!! (They were miss sized. According to those jeans I can fit a size 6!! HAHA!!! I felt like the Lord put thse jeans there for me. They were the last pair left. All those dear size 6 ladies couldn't wear them and all those dear ladies that are "lucky" enough not to be a 6 passed them right up!!) The day was just perfect in every way, except for one thing. The children and I were going to decorate heart shaped cookies when we got home. I had been on a mission for days to find fun Valentine sprinkles for the kids to decorate cookies with. We ended our date last night without the prized sprinkles. I was very disappointed, but everything else was so wonderful....I could over look my lack of sprinkles. I got home, took the cookies out of the freezer, and made the frosting. While in search for food coloring to make some pretty pink frosting, I came across two brand new packages of Valentine sprinkles!!!! They were exactly what I was looking to buy!!! I do not remember buying them after Valentine's Day last year, but I must have!!! You should have seen me jumping all around the house like an idiot. I was so excited that God had not allowed me to find any sprinkles in the seven or more stores that I searched. I was also so thankful that He allowed me to find them right BEFORE we decorated the cookies!! My God is so great and concerned about all my "little" things. I went to bed last night feeling loved by my dear husband and loved by my God!!

Potty Training 101

I have been very busy potty training Joel for the past week. Through all this potty training I have learned a few lessons that I would like to share with you.

• You can never have enough clean underwear the first day of training.
• Boys can soak dry underwear while going potty on the toilet.
• Don't start them too young. They get this whole potty training thing MUCH faster when they are old enough to understand it all.
• Potty training children sometimes fear having the first bowel movement on the potty. I have learned the trick.....refried beans morning, noon, and night!! After two days they can't help but have a BM!!!
• Be careful how hard you grab and yank on the zipper to your little boys jeans. You just might grab and yank something other than a zipper.
• Do not play hide and seek with a potty training child. When they are looking the other way for you and you scare them when you run up behind them...they will scream VERY loudly and wet their pants.
• Get very excited with every success. They really are proud of themselves. I am cherishing every huge, potty training smile I have been shone!!!
• Stick with it...even if they seem to be having a horrible attitude about it!!
• You will so enjoy seeing your little boy out of a diaper and into underwear!! They are so cute running around the house "ALL GROWN UP"!!