Restless and Grumpy

I continue to feel restless tonight and now I also am feeling really grouchy. I don't know what's going on with me. It may just be that I'm ready for the weekend after a long week of work. Things seem to be going fine with me in life and work but within me is this irritated feeling that things are not as they should be. I don't know what this means. I wish I could make sense of it and move on. All I know is that I've got to somehow live through this and learn from it. I hope to get a good night's sleep tonight. This may help a whole lot. Beyond sleep and prayer and my morning walk, I don't know what else I can do.
Thanks for journeying with this restless soul!

Tillamook Cheese mmm mmm good!

We love cheese! We buy alot of shredded cheese and block cheese. We buy it for sandwiches, tacos, casseroles, chips, crackers, snacks, and more. I refuse to buy some of the cheaper cheeses because some just taste nasty and greasy and fake. Honestly its gross. There are a few that taste fine but I am picky ha ha. Tillamook is one of the best around! I love the medium cheddar and the pepper jack  and Colby jack. MMM yummy!

 Tillamook has the best flavor and is the richest tasting. So creamy and flavorful! It melts awesomely. It gives sandwiches a better taste. It is not as greasy and oily as some of the other cheeses as well. My husband and kids love the Tilla-Moos. They are a snack size single serving piece of cheese. These are great snacks and awesome for lunch boxes. I love the 2lb loaf of cheese. Its perfect for slicing, shredding, and cubing for my salads. So if your picky about cheeses you definitely need to check out Tillamook cheeses. If your not picky well try it anyways because once you taste it you will be able to tell a difference and I know you will fall in love with it! You can find Tillamook at most grocery stores everywhere in the diary/ cheese section!

Check them out on  Facebook (http://facebook.com/TillamookCheese) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/TillamookCheese) to connect with other cheese fans, trade recipes and find coupons for Tillamook products.

Oct. 4th-8th Story Times Canceled

Due to the migration to our new circulation system this week and having to limit our services, we are canceling Story Times this week.

Story Times will resume the regular schedule on Mon. Oct. 11th.

Clean+Green Pet carpet & Upholstry cleaner giveaway ends oct 22

Some of you might remember my review of Clean+Green a while back and if not you can read it Here . When you have pet some times they have accidents or are just plain stubborn lol. It is so hard to get the smells out of the carpets and furniture until Clean+Green Cat & Dog Carpet & Upholstery cleaner. I have tried it and loved it and know you will too. They definitely make a huge difference. I still use them today with our male cat who definitely leaves his odor around the house. We love him and aren't about to get rid of him so we use Clean + Green to keep everything smelling great and that is a great thing for us because with 6 kids there are enough funky smells in the house ha ha! Best part they are all natural and safe for kids and animals and they don't hurt the Earth. That's a definitely bonus!

We are giving 3 lucky winners a can of the Clean + Green Cat & Dog  Carpet & Upholstery cleaner. Awesome! Perfect timing with winter around the corner and more animals will be staying inside.

To Enter:
1. Go to Clean + Green and tell me something you found on their site

Extra Entries:
2.Follow me
3.sign up for my rss feeds
4.Blog about this giveaway this will count for 4 entries
5.add my button to your site 2 entries
6.link to this page for 4 entries
7.Subscribe to my email feeds
8.follow me on twitter (collyn23) and tweet this contest
9.Enter my other giveaways 1 entry for each entered
10.Follow me on network blogs on sidebar
11.add my blog to your blogroll counts as 3 entries
12.Fav me on technoratti
13.comment on my non giveaway blogs 1 entry for each comment
14. Post this giveaway on any giveaway site, Online Sweepstakes, Mr Linky, or other networking website-leave the link where I can find it (5 entry for each site)
15. Vote for me on Picket Fences

Restless

As I sit down to write this blog entry, I am feeling really restless. I'm not sure what that is about. It kept me awake last night for a couple of hours as my mind raced about all manor of things. I get this way sometimes and there is not much I can do about it but to try to figure out what seems to be stirring within me. It often starts like this. I can't really name it. It's a feeling I get I have to really wrestle with myself to try to understand it. Sometimes I figure it out. Other times I don't. Sometimes it's a restlessness about something really big: a lifestyle change or a close look at my life's priorities. Sometimes it's not something so dramatic. Sometimes it means doing something that I haven't done for a while or calling someone I haven't talked to for a while. Sometimes it just seems to go away and I never quite figure out what it's about. It's weird I know, but that's me: weird. I don't always get myself. I have learned that I just have to try to listen and act when I feel I need to act and follow my heart and my God towards something different or new. This is both an exciting time and an exhausting time. It will not let me go until I have walked beside it, carried it, and felt it. I just wish I knew what "it" is.
I hope and pray for God's wisdom to reveal it to me. I pray that I will trust God and to know that God is the God of "it" as well. I pray for rest in the midst of restlessness. I pray for patience with myself as I allow myself to feel to think to wrestle and to listen. In the end, I know God can work through this restlessness to make me more like Jesus.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

In Rembrance of James Waitman Hopkins 1983-2004

September 2004 was a exciting time in my life but also a sad time in my life. 6 years ago on Sept. 24th my daughter was born a month early and was in NICU for 2 weeks. I remember that week so vividly. I was sent home Sept 27th baby less since she had to stay since she couldn't breathe on her own. She was hooked up to so many machines I couldn't even hold her. She had tubes to help her breathe. Tubes to feed her. IVs, heating machines, jaundice lights, heart monitors anything you could think of on this tiny little baby.

Me, Niece Kristina, and James

 I went home and spent the first night at home without my baby with me worried the whole time. I remember going to bed around 10 that night and wake up around 3 in the morning like I was being choked. My heart was racing, I couldn't breathe and I had a overwhelming bad feeling over me all I wanted to do was cry. I knew something was wrong. I immediately thought it was my baby girl but couldn't go see her until 9 the next morning. I remember dropping the kids off at my Mother in laws and her telling me my mom called saying my sister called saying they rushed my Nephew James to the hospital. He wasn't breathing, was unconscious, and had a light pulse. I began to cry but I still wanted to make sure my baby girl was ok. So off to the hospital we went. We got there and the nurse said since 6 am she was doing remarkably better. She went off the CPAP and was just using Oxygen tubes so she was breathing on her own she also began eating from a bottle well about 1/2 a oz but from the day before it was a remarkable change. I was so happy she was doing so much better.

 I then felt a feeling over me knowing she was going to be fine someone was helping her taking care of her. I know that sounds crazy but I believe in Guardian angel whole heartily. I remember getting back to my Mils house to get the kids and she saw me and started bawling. I knew immediately. She said My nephew James didn't make it. They said when they got him to the hospital he was already dead. They took him off the breathing tubes and that was the end. They believe in the middle of the night he stopped breathing and his girlfriend noticed it in the morning when she tried to wake him. So he was rushed to the Hospital. I don't still know all the detail nor do I care to but he was in pain and took some different pills to help with the pain and to help him sleep along with alcohol and all of it interacted and caused his death.

James and me

No matter what I know my nephew was a awesome kid, and great young man. He was so smart and funny. He was the light of the family. He could make anyone smile. He was so caring and loving. He was my best friend. Yes he wasn't perfect and did something he shouldn't have but we all do things as a teenager we should but unfortunately he paid with his life for it. I miss him so much it hurts. I cant even think of him without tearing up. I know he is in a better place and no more pain and sadness. He is with our creator or God. In the most beautiful place watching over us.

I know because of him watching over my little girl when she was in trouble is the reason she is still here with us. Because she was in NICU I could fly to AZ to go to the funeral which was very hard for me. Between my daughter being in the hospital , Post partum depression and losing my nephew I was in a very bad place for a few weeks. All I did was cry day and night. But when I brought my daughter home I knew he was there with her. She has never met him but at a year old you show her a picture she has never seen before and she smiled and when she could talk she knew his name. That to me told me it was true. He is her Guardian Angel!

James and my oldest Megan (only pic of them together)

My oldest two got to meet him and all but they were kind of young to remember. I wish all my kids got to meet him. He was a great person and he was a great cousin to them. HE loved them and all his family so much. He would of made a Awesome father and husband. Yet he didn't get the chance. He was my friend and I miss him so much it hurts. I feel incomplete without him in my life. I miss his smile and laugh. We grew up together being 3 years apart we were close. We stayed up late to play Nintendo. We made scary houses and bars. We made club houses. We were always together! Even when I was married and had kids he spent so much time at my house hanging out and going boating together. We were inseparable! I still cant believe its been 6 years. It still hurts like it was yesterday! This time a year is hard because Thanksgiving and Christmas were his favorite holidays because of all the food ha ha. He loved it oh and all the present for him ha ha. I love you James! We miss you every single day of our lives!

Wordless Wednesday & my 1000th post

I cant believe this is my 1000th post holy cow thats alot of post and to think its a few months shy of two years of blogging. We have had some great posts though. Giveaways, reviews, yummy recipes, and tons of Wordless wednesdays! So for my 1000th post to be a Wordless Wednesday post is awesome Thanks guys for reading all my post and trust me there are tons more to come so keep reading thanks and have a awesome Wednesday!

From Saturday at my daughters 6th Birthday!

Pocoyo DVD review

I like to find shows for my youngest 3 to watch while the older ones are still in school to help give me a little time to get things done. Alot of the cartoons are still too mature for my 2 year old but there are a few she will watch. She loves cartoons with little kids like Cailou and such. So when we were approached about reviewing Pocoyo I crossed my finger and hoped it was something they would love.

The DVD was 49 minutes long and it was called Meet Pocoyo which is the first one of more to come. My kids weren't sure if they liked it at first but after about 5 minutes they were totally focused in it. They loved the music and animals and little boy Pocoyo. It was fun, educational and it kept them entertained the full 49 minutes yay! Nick Jr is now airing the show as well some my kids look for it to come on everyday. It now has become one of their favorite DVDs to watch during rest time. Overall I am pleased with the show and so are my kids.

About Pocoyo :
The CGI-animated television series brings children into the bright and exuberant world of Pocoyo (“little me” in Spanish), an inquisitive and fun-loving three year-old boy and his animal friends, Elly (the elephant), Pato (the duck) and Loula (his pet dog). Pocoyo is packed with music, dance, and humor, and encourages children to “learn through laughter™”.
Pocoyo is visually very different to any other pre-school program. The innovative use of CGI animation allows Pocoyo to become a very real child-- he moves, talks, plays and learns like a toddler, and he can sulk and throw tantrums like only a toddler can!

Glum about Glee

I'm feeling a bit glum about the Glee episode tonight. It just didn't do much for me. I've never been a fan of Brittany Spears' music. I can't say that tonight's episode of Glee changed my mind. I did love John Stamos as the dentist. I'm happy Finn is back on the football team. I'm glad Rachel and Finn are still together. I still feel sorry for Artie. I also still need to get a life.
I hope you have a life and are having a good week. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

The Dentist drama. I lived to blog about it.

Before (top) & after (bottom)
Difference is subtle but seriously amazing and even better than what I'd hoped!



So. I've had a teeny tiny chip in one of my front teeth for years. I don't know when or how I got it, it's just always been there. I didn't think too much about it. At one point, ten years ago, I had it filled. I was told it would fall out eventually and I'd have to keep getting it filled. Before I knew it, a decade had gone by and of course at some point it had fallen out. Who knows when or how. Around the time I had it filled, my dentist at the time mentioned how my gums come down a little too low on the teeth on either side of my two front teeth. He said we could raise it up but that scared me and I never thought about it again. My chip & my gums were never that big of a deal to me.

The last few years is when I started to do more photo shoots and see myself on film more than I ever had...and that's when I started to notice both. It looked like one tooth was longer than the other. It looked like the two with the low gums were almost circular shaped and made my overall smile look a little uneven. I decided to look into, gulp, laser gum contouring. The idea really freaked me out, and grossed me out, but I found a dentist with a good rep in town and went in for a consultation. He told me my bone was in the way, we'd never be able to raise my gums high enough to look how I want, how he would recommend veneers. This would also require a surgery from a periodontist to REMOVE BONE. Um...how about NO! He kept trying to sell me on it (no, really SELL $$$$ me on it) and told me even if we just fixed the gums it would only take me 25% to the look I wanted and I'd need those veneers.

HOLD UP. I paid my dues, braces when I was 12, I have basically good teeth, I do like my smile. I don't want to bust it all out and get veneers. Maybe some day in the FAR off future but not now. Again, $$$$ and BONE SURGERY?! No way, jose. I left feeling so dejected, that I'd never get my teeth fixed up. In fact I may or may not have cried a little. But then I started to get mad. I clearly don't need all that nonsense. He tried to swindle me!

So I got a second opinion. This guy did bring up veneers in the consultation but flat out told me how pricey it was and that laser gum and shaving/contouring the bottoms of my teeth (rather than filling in a chip that would always fall out) would definitely buy me time. That we could make them appear longer, raise them up, make them look better. So I went with the new guy. I just got home from getting all the dental work. Shaving, contouring, laser gum. Easy. Scary as hell, but much easier than I thought. And guess what? It turned out even BETTER than I thought it could. I love it. He did a fantastic job! Moral of the story, if you know what you want, DON'T let someone talk you into something else. And ALWAYS get a second opinion!!! The dentist ain't so bad, folks!

Tasty Tuesday

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 1 pound size coffee cans, or three 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2.In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill cans 1/2 to 3/4 full.

3.Bake for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from cans or pans.

Candlewick books for bedtime for kids review & giveaway ends Oct 22

As most of you know with 6 kids and 20 minutes each of reading every night we read alot of books. Our favorite time to read is right before bed during quiet time. So when Candlewick Publishing ask if we would like to review some of their newest bedtime stories for kids you bet we couldn't wait.

The first book we got was Switching on the Moon. It is a bedtime poem book. I am a huge poetry lover so I loved this one best. There was traditional poems like twinkle little star and rock a bye baby but there were alot of new ones. Some were silly and some were encouraging like bedtime teeth and Bath time poem. There are many different authors and styles of poetry but overall we loved it. My kids read this one alot as well as do I. Definitely a must have for all kids book libraries.

The next book we got from Candlewick Publishing was Tuck me in! This is my 2 year olds favorite book. It is a cute book with baby animals where you put their blanket over them and tuck them in goodnight. She love tucking in all the animals. We have to read it every night and nap time. I think she pretty much has it memorized. It is so cute. Definitely a cute book for the younger kids.

The next book we got was Moon Dreams. It is a cute story about a little girl named Luna who loved the moon but wondered where it went during the day. Her dreams take her on a fun journey as she searches for where the moon goes. The pictures are adorable and the story is fun. This is a great book for the wondering kid. My 6 year old love this one!

The next book we got from Candlewick Publishing was the Interrupting Chicken. Now this one reminds me of my kids lol. The papa chicken was trying to tell little red chicken a bedtime story to put her to sleep but little red chicken kept interrupting the story and changing the story to make it better so she wasn't falling a sleep and papa couldn't finish a story. Finally papa made little red hen tell him a story and they both fell a sleep. Definitely a cute and funny book. My 8 year old loves it and thinks it is silly she changes the story the way she does. My 6 year old tell little red chicken to be quiet and listen to the story ha ha. Its cute and a definitely fun book to have.

The last book we got was A Bedtime for Bear. This is a very funny book. Bear has a sleepover with mouse but bear finds out how hard it is to sleep when they both like different things. Bear like complete silence to sleep and mouse well isn't as quiet as the saying quiet as a mouse goes. It is a fun and intriguing book. My kids love it and have read it many times already. They love the silly little mouse. The pictures are fun and adorable. This is another must have book for your kids for bedtime. This will soon become one of their favorites!

Overall we were very pleased with all the bedtime books we got from Candlewick Publishing. They were all awesome books. You kids will love each and every one of them. So if your looking to build up your kids book collection then look no further than Candlewick Publishing they have all types of fun books you and your kids will love.

We are giving one lucky reader the Book Tuck Me In. My daughters favorite!

To Enter:
1 Go to Candlewick Publishing and tell me a book you like

Extra Entries:
2.Follow me
3.sign up for my rss feeds
4.Blog about this giveaway this will count for 4 entries
5.add my button to your site 2 entries
6.link to this page for 4 entries
7.Subscribe to my email feeds
8.follow me on twitter (collyn23) and tweet this contest
9.Enter my other giveaways 1 entry for each entered
10.Follow me on network blogs on sidebar
11.add my blog to your blogroll counts as 3 entries
12.Fav me on technoratti
13.comment on my non giveaway blogs 1 entry for each comment
14. Post this giveaway on any giveaway site, Online Sweepstakes, Mr Linky, or other networking website-leave the link where I can find it (5 entry for each site)
15. Vote for me on Picket Fences

On the Road Today

I continue to be amazed and sometimes overwhelmed by the vastness of the service area of TriState Habitat for Humanity. We serve eight counties in three states. After serving on staff at a Habitat affiliate in Tennessee that serve only one small county, this is a big change.
Today, the geographical vastness of our service area was made real to me again. I traveled to the town of Bethel, Ohio in Clermont County. We are going to have an information meeting for those interested in applying for our home ownership program in November in Bethel and I wanted to check out the site. It took me an hour to get to Bethel from the TriState Habitat for Humanity central office in Butler County, Ohio. It was about an 80 mile round trip. The good thing is that I was able to travel on the Interstate for most of the way. However, I also realized that I was not really at the outer limits of our service area. I would have to drive another 20 minutes to reach the eastern boundary of Clermont County. Also, Clermont County extends several miles further south from where I was today to the Ohio River. While it didn't take me quite as far to reach Bethel, Ohio as it does Rising Sun, Indiana at the other end of service area, it still was quite a hike.
As I drove back to the office from my meeting, I found myself praying for all of those living in our huge service who live in sub-standard housing. Tonight, as I go to sleep in my nice apartment sheltered from the rain and the chilly night air, families will go to sleep under leaky roofs in drafty homes. This just reminds me again of how much work there is to do to eliminate poverty housing from the face of the earth.
I'm grateful for this drive to Clermont County today to see a different part of our service area. I'm grateful that God has called me to this place at this time. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve the poor. I'm grateful for honor I have every day to partner with families to build safe, decent, and affordable homes.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Hexbug Nano

I am always trying to find toys that my girls and my son can play together that aren't too girly or too boyish. So when I got a chance to host a Hexbug in home party I immediately thought this might be one of those things and wanted to see if my kids would like them.

What are Hexbug Nano? well they look like little robotic ants lol. I know great we are trying to kill ants and we get robotic ants but at least these ones don't bite ha ha. They are small and got like eight legs and crawl all over the place. They have habitats and stuff as well to put them in to watch them go around and around their path ways. My kids all loved them. They just fell in love with them and played with them for hours. Even my niece loves hers and plays with hers as well all the time. They reminds me of a bug version's of Zhu Zhu pets. They come in all different colors and plus there are different kinds of Hexbugs other then the Nanos as well. Like spider and more. They carry them at Walmart, toys r us, Kmart, Target and more. This is definitely the must have toy of the season. Your kids will love them and they are reasonable too!

Thanks to Momselect and Hexbugs for allowing the free products to have this in home party!

Gorton's & Ortega team up for We Love Fish Tacos giveaway

We Love Gorton's and Ortega products in this house. Gorton's has the best seafood and Ortega has the best mexican food. Now I know you think the two might not mix but they sure do. MMM MMM good. We love fish tacos.

Our favorite recipe is:

Gorton's Beer Batter fish tenders

Ortega whole grain taco shells

coleslaw

shredded cheese

salsa (optional)

Cocktail sauce (optional)

Tartar sauce (optional)

Onions chopped

Gorton's is giving away an all-inclusive vacation to Mexico ($5,000 value) Plus tons of other awesome prizes! Gorton’s Seafood & Ortega are inviting consumers to share their favorite seafood tacos made with Gorton’s & Ortega products, creative toppings and fiesta ideas. Gorton’s & Ortega products used in your favorite seafood taco and up to ten creative taco toppings. Ends Oct 7, 2010

*See official rules on http://www.welovefishtacos.com/  for complete details.

There will be
1 grand prize of trip for 4 to Allegro Playacar resort in Playa Del Carmen Mexico for 3 night plus 12 Gorton's and 12 Ortega VIP FREE product coupons.
 
10 First place winner of 12 Gorton's and 12 Ortega VIP FREE product Coupons
 
20 Second place winners of 6 Gorton's and 6 Ortega VIP FREE product coupons
 
and 3 Voter's Choice winners of Genuine Fiesta Dinnerware for 4 and 12 Gorton's and 12 Ortega VIP FREE product Coupons

Winners

I got 5 lucky winners to post today so its gonna be a good day for 5 people yay!

The First winner is for the Zutano Giveaway...
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

278

Timestamp: 2010-09-27 21:09:27 UTC

lfhpueblo said... 278
4. I voted for all three of your girls.
Lauralee Hensley
lfhpueblo@msn.com
___________________________
The next winner is for Aden & Anais giveaway..
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

146

Timestamp: 2010-09-27 21:14:26 UTC


pamalot said... 146
I voted for for your girls #4
pamfreecycle@gmail.com
_______________________________

The Next winner is for the Nuk Giveaway
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

42

Timestamp: 2010-09-27 21:15:02 UTC


stacythemagnificentmommy said... 42
 i follow you
hancoci_s@msn.com
____________________________________

The Next winner is for the Terro Fruit fly giveaway
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

34

 Timestamp: 2010-09-27 21:15:35 UTC


Soggy Cereal Mom said... 34
Entered the smart knit giveaway
mommieseatsoggycereal@gmail.com
___________________________________

The last winner is for Convertible Designs
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

161

 Timestamp: 2010-09-27 21:16:08 UTC


jsc123 said... 161
 I am registered for Convertible Designs Promotions as jweezie43@gmail.com .



__________________________________

Congrats to my lucky winners you have been emailed and have 48 hours to claim or a new winner will be chosen congrats!!

I AM: 50 things challenge

Just uploaded a new video to my main channel.

Yes, this video is very different than my comedic parodies you're used to!

Had a new idea & wanted to try it out. I came up with this idea, at first, from putting myself out there on the internet and being known to my viewers as only a youtuber or comedian. In my "real life" I'm known as a dramatic actress and a model in various circles of friends and those that I work with. I don't consider myself only ONE of these things. I want all my worlds to know that I'm more than just one thing...I'm FIFTY different things. Then I realized, this doesn't stop at just youtubers, or entertainers. It's EVERYONE! We are all real people with feelings and lives and families. We often forget that about each other and therefore treat one another poorly...or unequal. One person is not better than another. When you talk badly to someone/about someone, that person is someones daughter, son, wife, husband, mom, dad, etc. How would you like any of your friends or family to be treated poorly? I challenge you to make your video response to my video! Doesn't have to be fancy, do it however you like. Spread the word! Get your family & friends in on it! It's about what we ARE (not what we're NOT, only POSITIVITY here) and WHO we are. Get to it!



Thanks for watching & don't forget to subscribe!

Spaghetti Clipart

Today I'm beginning a new series on pasta clipart, beginning with spaghetti clipart. These days I'm on a serious diet so I'm not eating spaghetti very often, but when my waistline was less of a concern I used to eat spaghetti at least once a week, that's how much I like it. There are countless variations on the spaghetti theme, even when you keep the same pasta base. You simply make some changes to the spaghetti sauce recipe. I'm a big fan of white cream sauce, but there are lots of great tomato-based sauces as well.

This clipart image of spaghetti could be useful for those with websites about food, or a website promoting their own restaurant.



This image was found on clker.com. Visit that site for lots of great free clipart.

Laughter Is the Best Medicine

Laughter is indeed the best medicine. It can heal my soul in ways that nothing else can.
I was feeling a bit hermit-like this afternoon after I got home from church. Even though the sermon was about going out and serving the community, I felt like I just wanted to go home and veg out. It was a beautiful day and I really wanted to just shut the blinds and watch Netflix movies.
As I was settling in on the sofa, my phone rang. It was my friend Karen. She was running errands and called to say she'd like to stop over for a visit. While I was anxious about the cleanliness of my apartment, I told her to come on over. I scrambled around to pick up a few things in my apartment and made sure the bathroom wasn't too disgusting.
When Karen came over we just sat and talked for a couple of hours. I don't know what it is about our friendship but it's a wonderful thing. We share one another's burdens and continue to catch up with another on the many years that we were apart.
Most of all, we laugh. We share funny stories. We laugh at ourselves for our frail human weaknesses. We laugh about life. We laugh sometimes to keep from crying and sometimes we cry because we are laughing so hard.
By the time Karen left late in the afternoon, I felt much better and even left my blinds open for a while longer. I felt newly energized and glad that Karen had come over for a visit. I felt so blessed and gave thanks to God for reconnecting me with such a wonderful friend. In many ways, I felt healed and delivered from my depressive funk.
God knows that laughter is a form of grace for me. I'm glad that when I'm with good friends like Karen, grace overflows in my life and heart.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

What makeup can do

Crazy how makeup and hair can transform a person, isn't it!
Made up last night, lounging today. A girl must have it both ways!

Liberty!

I'm watching the PBS series Liberty! about the American Revolution. It's a very well done program. I like the balance between the interviews with historians and actors portraying Revolutionary leaders in costume. All of the actors words are taken from actual letters and documents from the period.
I really enjoy history and learning about different periods of history. I love it when I get to learn about the lives of the people involved in those events. I wish that when I was learning history in school there would have been more about the people connected to the events and less memorization of dates and boring facts. In Liberty! the American Revolutionary period comes alive for me. I'm learning about and being inspired by these incredible people who lived through these challenging times.
I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

my readers get a choice!... plus fossil of the weekend #81

today's a big hatching day... only it is not for a person (or a dinosaur... or anything living in fact)!

it was 25 years ago TODAY that the royal tyrrell museum first opened!!!

now as my coverage of the dinosaur winter OH-lympics is dreadfully behind, i'm left with a choice. delay my posts about the 25th anni or pause my OH-lympic posts, and bring you the tyrrell stuff "live" (technically a day or two after they go down...). rather than make the hard call myself, i leave this tricky decision with you, my readers...

do i keep on posting vancouver, and touching on drum after that. or take a week off the OH-lympics and bring you the tyrrell's 25th anni? leave your preference in the comment section.

(i will disclaim as i'm leaving for drumheller as i write this, that i have no idea just how interesting or uninteresting the anni will be from a blogging point of view... just so you're forewarned)

to celebrate, i kick off the several weekends of fossils from the tyrrell's new celebration exhibit "alberta unearthed". this new display consists of 25 of the tyrrell's most impressive and cool fossil discoveries covering the entire range of palaeontology the province has to offer. (it is definitely worth a trip to see!)

the first highlighted fossil is this amazing 3 dimensionally preserved albertosaurus, prepared by tyrannosaur chronicles friend darren tanke!

Study X review and giveaway ends Oct 15

With school being back in after a long summer break kids are drag with studying and homework again. Mine are really trying to get used to the whole schedules and routines again. A month in and they are getting better but now starts test and all so they have a lot of practicing to do. I try to find fun catchy ways to study and memorize their stuff so when I heard about Study X computer program I though hmm this could possible be helpful and fun at the same time since my kids love playing on the computer. It was worth a try at least right?

So when Study X arrived I read it over and put it into the computer before the kids so I could see what it was all about and all. I loved all the different things the kids could do to learn there stuff for their tests. There was Flash card quizzes, Study games like ping pong, mazes and more. There was question and answer sheets, note cards, you could even make up practice quizzes and tests with fill in the blanks or multiple choices or matching. I immediately thought this will be great for spelling for the kids and my oldest for math and science and history.

I made up a few spelling quizzes for the oldest three which was a huge hit and really helped them and they love it. I also put in their words so they could do some of the games. Which was their favorite because it was a challenge but fun and they were learning their spelling words without even realizing it. I loved that too. That meant least fighting them to study. Now when they get their new study guides they are so eager to give them to me to study with Study X. In the two weeks we have been use it I noticed a big change in their homework scores and weekly tests. Now their spelling test they got like over half of them wrong now they miss one or two or get 100%.

Overall we were very impressed with it. I definitely recommend it to everyone even their teachers noticed a difference and at their 1st teacher meeting I told them about it and it intrigued them as well. The best part it has built in lesson stuff too like science, history, vocabulary, basic math, history and more. My oldest had a science project on living cells and Study X had that info already in it and it helped her understand it and learn it so much faster and she had fun doing it. So if you have kids in school and want to stop fighting them to studying or just would like extra studying help for them you should definitely check out Study X.

We are giving one copy of Study X to a lucky reader yay

To Enter:
1. Got to Study X and tell me something you learned

Extra Entries:
2.Follow me
3.sign up for my rss feeds
4.Blog about this giveaway this will count for 4 entries
5.add my button to your site 2 entries
6.link to this page for 4 entries
7.Subscribe to my email feeds
8.follow me on twitter (collyn23) and tweet this contest
9.Enter my other giveaways 1 entry for each entered
10.Follow me on network blogs on sidebar
11.add my blog to your blogroll counts as 3 entries
12.Fav me on technoratti
13.comment on my non giveaway blogs 1 entry for each comment
14. Post this giveaway on any giveaway site, Online Sweepstakes, Mr Linky, or other networking website-leave the link where I can find it (5 entry for each site)
15. Vote for me on Picket Fences

Penguins Cupcakes!

My father-in-law attends a Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey party every year and this year he asked me if I could make some fun cupcakes for him to take along! Obviously loving the Pen's (and my F-I-L of course!) I said absolutely. I made two flavors- Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Amaretto Buttercream and Coconut Cake with Lime Rum Buttercream. Very delicious. Brandon helped me pick out some of the most well known Mike Lange quotes (not being from Pittsburgh, I find them very fascinating and odd...) so that's what's written on the little white plaques. "He doesn't know whether to cry or wind his watch!", "Get in the fast lane Grandma, the bingo game's ready to roll", "Lord Stanley Lord Stanley bring him the Brandy!" just to name a few. I painted the old school pen's logo with food coloring and then decorated all the mini's with sprinkles. I don't know why but I'm just loving mini cupcakes with sprinkles lately, so cute!

LET'S GO PENS!

DMS Cookies for Spirit Day!

It was homecoming today at Dorseyville Middle School in Fox Chapel where I student teach so I made my home base kids cookies. Yum!

Great Meeting

I had a very good meeting this morning with the Director of the Head Start program in Oxford, Ohio. The Director seemed very interested in what TriState Habitat for Humanity is doing in Oxford and how we might be able to partner with some of the families who have children in the Head Start program. I was glad that I was able to talk with her and share more about Habitat and the twenty home sub-division that TriState Habitat for Humanity will be building in Oxford.
I really like being out in the community talking with folks about Habitat. I enjoy sharing with people the mission of Habitat and how we give families a hand up out of poverty housing. I  find that I sometimes have to really control myself when I'm talking or I would blab on forever. I get very excited and animated. I want everyone to embrace the importance of our work and the huge impact it can have on their communities.
I filled with pride when I talk about how we help to change families' lives. In ways that I can't even understand, there is a powerful transformation when families move from living in deplorable sub-standard conditions to safe, decent, affordable homes. Children often do better in school when they come home to a safe home. Frequency of illness decreases as families are removed from unhealthy environments that contain mold or insect/rodent infestations. Families are less stressed when they live in an energy efficient home that allows them to spend far less on utilities.
I cannot say it enough, I am both humbled by and filled with gratitude for this ministry to which God has called me.
I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Twilight Cookies

I was excited to make these Twilight cookies as party favors for a girl's birthday party after having such a good time making the Twilight cupcakes I did for my cousin Sarah's birthday a little while ago. The black, white and red is pretty classic and who doesn't love Twilight?! ;)

The New Adventures of the Old Christine- What's the craziest thing youve done for your kids

Christine in The New Adventures of the Old Christine has to deal with alot being a single mom. I mean some of of have been in that situation and some of us haven't but either way just being a mom is alot of work. Being a mom means we have someone or someones to take care of, be responsible for, and live for and well some time we done extremely crazy things for our kids that before kids you would never of done ever not even for a million dollars OK well maybe for a million dollars but you get the point lol.

I have done alot of things I would of never done before well because I was extremely shy and all as a kid and teenager. I deal with a jerk of a ex because of my kids. I have been a total psycho manic crazy lady defending my kids. Normally I am a mellow and shy and sane person but when it comes to my kids and all I can be the total opposite. Also before kids you would of never seen me out with jammies on , no makeup, hair pulled back and so unready. Now with kids it is normal for all of those things to happen I will run into walmart with jammies on kids in a tshirt. I miss having time to get all pretty with makeup and curled hair and cute clothes but now a days I am lucky if I have enough time to get kids dress and decent and myself dress and hair brushed at least lol. Life surely changes when you have kids. Big Time!!! Would I change it nope not for anything. I mean there are days I want to scream to the top of my lungs and lock myself in my room or runaway for a few hours by myself but honestly I wouldn't last long with out my kids around. I would do anything for them crazy or sane I don't care they are my world.

In The New Adventures of the Old Christine she does some funny and crazy things for her son and I totally relate to her because I would do some of the same things for mine. But honestly it is still funny to watch her make a fool of herself sometimes lol. So tune in to "The New Adventures of Old Christine" 5 days a week! Check out http://www.oldchristineweekdays.com/listings/ to find your local show times.

Happy Birthday to My little Brealyne

Today is my daughter Brealyne's 6 th Birthday. It crazy to think 6 years ago she was born a month early, nurses telling me to cross my legs and not to push and my doctor was on vacation and the on call doctor was no where close to being there. She was born with the nurse with one glove on grabbing her. She was 5 lb 2 ozs and a pound of that was water retention and she was 17 inches long. Her lungs didnt have enough surfactant in them for her to breathe on her own so she was immediatwly put on a CPAP which she stayed on for about 1 week then on oxygen tube for another couple days and so on. She has to be feed with a feeding tube for the first week and then gradually went to bottle feeding about 1/2 a oz to 1 oz every 2 hours. She came home about a week and half after at 4 lbs 15 ozs. She has Jaundice bad but my little red headed little tiny precious girl was a fighter. Plus she has a awesome angel watching over her , My nephew James who passed away a couple days after she was born. She never got to meet him but she knows him like she knew him forever so I know he is her guardian.  The one thing I remember after she was born though is the nurses told me not to buy alot of premie clothes just a couple because she was small right then but she would quickly grow out of them. Haha boy were they wrong she was in premie clothes until she was 6 monthes old at a year she was in 3 to 6 months even now at 6 she is still only in a 4 to 5 T but waist around a 3 haha.

Fast forwarding to now at 6 she is a tiny petite little fiesty red head that is moody but very smart. She just started Kindergarten. She loves to dance and dress up. She has the bluest eyes you will ever see. She is absolutely gorgeous and yes I am Bias but who cares lol. She is my little girl who came into this world fighting and she has alot to accomplish and I know she will!

So Happy Birthday to My Brealyne! We love you!!

Body Checking

I work in a large office building that has several office suites in it. Each business suite is accessed via a long hallway that runs almost the entire length of the building. There are restrooms at either end of the hallway. There are no restrooms in individual office suites. This sometimes makes for brief waits before using the restrooms and it also creates opportunities for interesting interactions with employees from other office suites. Today was no exception to this for me.
I was walking down the hallway and a woman walked out the door of her office suite into the hallway. She was not really paying attention and I happened to be walking right by her office door. I had to swerve out of her way and hugged the wall opposite her office door so that she wouldn't run into me. Still, she brushed up against me. When she saw me, she apologized and said; "I'm sorry. I didn't see you." She then said, "You know, I'm from Canada and we play a lot of hockey and I guess I'm just used to all those body checks." I just chuckled politely and went on my way down the hallway. I had no clue what she was talking about.
When I got back to the Habitat office suite, I asked my supervisor, "What's a body check?" She kind of looked at me and just chuckled. I told her that I thought is had to do with hockey but it might be that this Canadian woman was inviting me out on a date or something. Given my complete lack of interest in sports, I had no idea. Then my supervisor told me that body checking had something to do with blocking or shoving people around in hockey. I guess I was relieved.
However, I was still curious so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here's what Wikipedia says:

Body checking - Using the body to knock an opponent against the boards or to the ice. This is often referred to as simply checking or hitting and is only permitted on an opponent with possession of the puck. Body checking can be penalized when performed recklessly. Charging, hitting from behind and boarding are examples of illegal hits, due to their dangerous nature and increased likelihood of causing serious injury. In women's hockey, any body checking is a penalty and is also usually not allowed in amateur leagues and leagues with young children. Some intramural university leagues do not permit body checking, in order to avoid injury and incidents of fighting. "Leaning" against opponents is an alternative to body checking but, if abused, may be penalized for holding.

So, there you have it. Now you know in case you didn't.
I do know one thing I learned: beware of Canadians in the hallway. I know I'm going to try to avoid them.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!