Cool Couponing Site and a Giveaway

I really admire my friend, Racquel, who like me also has three young kids, who are actually eerily spaced apart almost exactly like mine! She and her husband are super great about making a budget, meal plan, and actually sticking to it. I have a long way to go to get to that point. I'm pretty good at making it, but we aren't always great about sticking to it. Anyway, Racquel is also amazing with coupons!!! I've recently been really studying up on coupons and how to make our money go as far as possible. Racquel linked to her friend's blog to share her system. Her friend, Lauren is the one she said taught her everything she knows. Racquel saves A LOT of money on groceries, and I want to also!!! Sooooo I'm blogging about this giveaway, and I'm really hoping I win a super duper coupon organizer!

See how cool it is?


Check out Racquel's blog and Lauren's blog for really awesome tips and couponing goodness.

Sometimes I wonder...

Sometimes I wonder what on earth goes on at my house while I'm at work. Any thoughts?!? See the evidence below...

Praying the house sells soon!

I'm joining the Crazy Love challenge. So here is what I need prayers for, and I'll be praying for you all as well!

We're selling our house. Rather, we are trying to sell our house. I'm hoping and praying it sells quickly. Frankly, I don't feel safe in our neighborhood anymore. It has gone downhill in the past couple years. Recently the high school less than 1/2 block away had two incidents of guns showing up at school. Granted my kids aren't old enough to be in high school, it still worries me tremendously. The kids never get to play in the front yard. The are stuck riding their bikes and tricycles on the back patio which isn't very large at all.

So pray for us that the house sells quickly, and we can move closer to the in-laws. They are going to watch the kids for us while Jarot goes to school and I work. The other thing I'm excited for is to bring more kids home! Once we get settled in, we are going to work towards becoming foster parents and adoptive parents (one day) too! The quicker we get settled in, the quicker that can become a reality.

Where is God? From Storing Up Treasures

Recently I read this blog post and it really spoke up to me.

I wanted to share this post from Storing Up Treasures, one of my favorite blogs. Courtney, the woman who writes it, is such an inspiration to me. She is a mom to 10 kids, some biological, some adopted. I'm not sure how she does it all, but you can tell the immense love she has for her children. I know I'd like her in real life because I already like her in blogdom! :)

I'm adding this book to my amazon wishlist, but I'm kind of hoping I win the contest so I don't have to buy it. So I'm entering the contest! The book seems to cover a lot of stuff I've been thinking about lately. I'm trying to grow in my spirituality! Trying to hear God speak!

If you have a chance, read some of Courtney's other posts. She is a cool lady!

What am I doing with my life?

I've asked myself this question a million times. Almost everyday, I think! I'm raising three wonderful, beautiful kids, and I'm so blessed with them. And I'm married to an amazing man. I mean, AMAZING! If I could have hand picked the qualities I wanted in a husband and a father for my kids, I would have created Jarot! He literally gives me goose bumps when I watch him with our kids. He is incredible!

But sometimes I wonder what is in store for me. What am I supposed to be doing? I feel like I'm good at lots of little things, but I'm not great at anything. Hmmm...I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. It is bad when you are 28, and you haven't figured out what you want to be when you grow up! :) I don't feel like a grown up yet. That seems weird because I have three kids. I always assume people I know through work and stuff are older than me. But more and more, I realize I'm older! Bleh! They have direction in life. I don't have direction. I love playing all day. Playing with my kids. Reading books. Reading books to them.

I've decided that I'm going back to school. I've wanted to for a long time. We are doing it now. We are selling our house. We are moving where the in-laws live. They said they'd watch the kids while Jarot goes to school and I work. Topeka isn't my first choices of places to live, but family is there. We haven't had any lookers at our house. No interest at all! Bit of a bummer. I'm not worrying about it yet, but it is a little disappointing. We've put a lot of work into this house. It is cute, and it is all done for somebody who wants to move in without having to put any work into it! And I'm going to school once it sells, well, once it sells, we move, and Jarot finishes school. So it will be a few years, but we will be moving forward. I'd like to major in social work, but sometimes I worry. I want to work in the adoption field. I don't think I could do another line of social work. I couldn't be one of those social workers who investigate abuse or neglect. I think it would be too much for me; I think I'd bring that home with me. Sometimes I think I'll major in graphic design or photography. I have interest in all of those things. Sometimes I think I'll do that and just adopt.

Adoption...hmmm! That's really been on my mind lately. Like, really, really! I've been driving Jarot mad I think! I'm obsessed with the idea. I'm not sure how or when it all started, but it did. I've always known that I wanted to adopt. Once we move and get settled, Jarot said we can sit down and have a serious talk about it. I think people think we are crazy, but there are something like 167 million orphans in this world. That is INSANITY! It blows my mind. Don't tell Jarot, but I can picture us as one of those nutty, loud, crazy families with 7 or 8 children. But don't tell him I said that!

This blog post is all over the place, but that is how I've kinda been lately. How I always am I guess! :) That is just what has been on my mind. If you read this far, thanks for sticking with me. Night!

Blog nicknames for the kids

So I'm come up with my kids' blog nicknames. I love the blogs I read when the moms have nicknames they use instead of real names for their kids. Sometimes they are based on their real names, other times, not!

So from now on, Hana will be referred to as the "Mob Boss." Because if you can refer to my kids as anything, they are definitely a mob. They have that mob mentality when it comes to driving Mommy crazy. "Mob mentality deals with the spread of emotion, good or bad," and I think the bad spreads faster and more effectively than anything else! So Miss Hana is most definitely the Mob Boss. She is the one that comes up with the most effective strategy on making the most noise, causing the most trouble, and wreaking the most havoc! She is very good at what she does. And she is most certainly the most convincing big sister I've ever seen. I'm willing to bet you've never seen a little girl that can take a situation that is not going her way and turn it around in no time flat. Not when it comes to school though because she is super quiet at school. But when it comes to her brothers, she is the boss!

Jonah and Lucas are "Hired Gun #1" and "Hired Gun #2" respectively. That pretty much sums it up. They are there to do Hana's bidding, and that's it. Okay, not really, but if you asked Hana, that is what she'd say. She puts the naughty ideas in their heads, and they carry out the dirty work. Pretty good use of little brothers, don't you think?

Quit Faking It!

So I found this on my new favorite blog, http://www.storinguptreasures.com/, and I wanted to come clean and quit faking it.

So here are my confessions about how I've been faking it...

1. My kids drive me crazy. I love them, but I sometimes feel like I'm literally losing my mind. I have three kids, and I want more. I would love to have lots more, but some days I wonder what the heck I'm thinking. I have a hard time managing three more why would I add more chaos? I want to adopt. I know I'm going to adopt, and more and more it is on my heart. But I really have a hard time thinking about it coming to fruition when it seems like I can't take my kids anywhere in public because I end up wanting to pull my hair out. I love them all the time, but I don't like them all the time. I know, I know, that sounds horrible, but I'm trying to be honest here, okay? They can really be annoying sometimes, with the whining and the crying. I get frustrated. Sometimes when they don't listen, I just flat out don't like them at that point. Is this just me, or does anybody else feel this way. For a long time, I've felt guilty about that, but it isn't just me. I just wish sometimes we were more honest about things. Honest about being a mom. It is hard some days. It is hard a lot of days. And some days I want to call in sick. But that is the thing, I can't! Some days, I phone it in. I know that sounds awful, but those days we watch too much TV and stay in our pajamas all day. And saying this feels liberating, it is nice. When I have trying days, nap time can't come soon enough and neither can bedtime. But it seems that no matter what kind of day I've had, when I check on the kids after they fall asleep, they look like little angels, and I do appreciate how truly blessed I am. Truly!

2. I've been faking like everything is okay. I have been suffering from depression for a while now, and it got bad enough that I went to see the doctor about it. It is like my dirty little secret that I never tell anybody about. My husband knows, that is it. I can't tell anybody else because I feel like they will judge me. I wouldn't judge anybody for something like that, but it is hard for me to believe that I won't be judged for it. I'm posting this as a sort of coming out. And recently, I've stopped taking my medication. I HATE how it makes me feel. I always feel exhausted, and I look it too. I couldn't make it through the day without needing a nap! I felt like I was going to fall asleep while I was driving. I just couldn't do it anymore. I literally felt like I was neglecting my kids and putting them in danger while taking the medicine. So I've been praying, and praying. I need something else, Someone, to help me overcome this, which leads me to my next confession.

3. I don't know how to pray. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I believe in God. I believe in a higher power. I have no doubt in my mind that God exists. But I pray, and I don't hear anything back. Am I not listening? What am I doing wrong? I need some direction. I'll often have a lucky break, and I know that it is God smiling down on me. Recently, when we were really short of money to pay our bills, the library called. They were sending me a refund check for $80! They had previously charged us money for books that they said we had lost. Knowing that I'm a bit scatterbrained, I didn't think anything of it, and I paid the fines. The library found the books on the shelves several (5+) months later. I had returned them, and they would be issuing me a check refunding us the money. It couldn't have come at a better time. But otherwise, I don't know what I'm missing, what I'm doing wrong...

4. I'm scared of dying. Really scared! It seems silly, but here is why. As I mentioned before, I am a Christian, I believe in God, I recently started reading my bible, but I'm still scared. Here's why. I believe that before we are born we are souls waiting in heaven to be born into our families. And if that is the case, why don't I remember it? The thing that really scares me about dying is that I wonder if I'll remember my family, my friends, or my time on earth. That is what bothers me. If I don't remember being there before, will I be able to remember being here. It isn't something I can stop from happening if I wanted to, so it probably isn't worth the time worrying about it anyway. Is that weird?

5. I'm not as nice as I used to me. I've worked at my job for over three years, and I really enjoy it. Unfortunately, at my job, I've seen a lot of bad things. It has made me think less of people. It makes me wonder if there are still good people out there. I know there are, don't get me wrong, but I wonder where they are sometimes. I think I've fallen short because I let that get to me too much. I've judged people for their actions, and sometimes, I don't like who I've become. I want so badly to believe that people are inherently good, but sometimes it is hard.

6. I'm messy and disorganized. And I can't keep up with cleaning my house. You'd probably be shocked and grossed out by my house on most days. Toys are spread everywhere, laundry is in piles, and paperwork is taking over our office. I hate laundry. I don't mind doing laundry, but I HATE folding it. That is probably why we always have piles of laundry waiting to be folded. It is such a pain in the butt. Can somebody come over and fold my clothes for me? I only have three kids, but the laundry is never ending.

7. I like junk food. I shouldn't, but it tastes so good. I need to lose weight. A lot of weight, around 80 pounds would be good. I have trouble getting motivated, and I most definitely have trouble finding time to do anything about it. I need to. For my sake, for my kids' sakes. I'll start tomorrow. That is something I keep telling myself. I need to keep that promise!

I think that is it for now. Do you have anything you need to get off your chest?

Things my kids say...

My kids are super funny. I love them. They are creative, inspiring, loving, affectionate, and they are so funny. They make me laugh a loud belly laugh several times daily.

Here are just a few funny things I've heard them say recently:
Jonah: "The interstate means you can eat as many cookies as you want!" Not sure about that one. Don't ask, I don't know.

A few weeks ago, as Jarot was bringing Jonah out of the funeral home after his (Jarot's) grandpa's funeral, Jonah turned to Jarot and said, "That was fun!!!" LOL!

Hana and I were talking about wishes. She told me that her teacher told her, "That you don't need to wish. You need to make a decision, and then you do it." I gues that isn't really that funny, but it was neat to see her talking so grown up sounding. I can't believe my baby is going to be 6 at the end of the month. :(

Dropped the ball

Sorry, I sort of dropped the ball on my 365 day photo project, so I have to get back into it. My computer was having issues, and then I was having issues. And it just didn't happen! :( That is what is great about the project because I can start over whenever I want. So I think I will. Tomorrow...I'll have to hold myself to that!

Ollie

Photo taken: 2/7/10

This handsome boy is Ollie. He is one of those puppies that you just have to bring home over the days Wayside is closed. Okay, so you don't have to; it's just me, but in my defense, he was crying and crying. Well, as you can see, he never left once he got here. That makes us 3 time foster flunkies! Oops!

What's that?

"What's that?" you ask? Well, I'll tell you what that is. That is our butter with lots of little bites out of it courtesy of Jonah. I guess I picked the wrong blog name! :) Boys!!! I say, "Boys!!!" because I wouldn't put the idea past Lucas either.

Adopt me!

Photo taken: 2/6/10

This photo is of a dog named Rudy looking for a home at Wayside Waifs. I think this has to be one of my favorite photos I've ever taken. I had so much fun photographing this dog. He is so cute; I just want to bite his little nose. But I didn't.

Snowy tree

Photo taken: 2/5/10

Day two of my 365 day photo project.

It snowed that day. It snowed. And snowed. And snowed. It snowed a lot. Beautiful, fat snowflakes. Huge snowflakes. It was gorgeous. The snow was so heavy and thick along the tree branches. My photo doesn't really do it justice. I think that is the point of this project though to help me learn more about photography.

My boys love baths

Photo taken: 2/4/10

This is photo number one of my 365 day photo project. The challenge is to take a photo each day and blog about it.

My boys love baths. Unfortunately, they love baths a little too much, and the floor ends up covered in water. My dream house would have a bathroom that was all tiled, the tub would be a clawfoot with a drain built into the floor directly below it, and the floor would be sloped for all the water to run back into the drain. Ahhh, we can dream right?!? So here are Lucas and Jonah playing in the water. I'm not sure what is up with Jonah's face, but that is typical Jonah. He makes the goofiest faces when I pull my camera out.

My Lucas

I can't imagine my life without this little boy. He is the most ornery kid I've ever met, but oh how he makes me laugh. Of course, I adore all my kids, but I have different favorite things about all of them. Lucas has the best sense of humor and he is always so mischevious! It drives me crazy somedays, but I know it is just because he is a tenacious, bold, determined little boy. And although that drives me nuts somedays, those traits are great ones to have. This picture is from their bath today! He was eating bubbles. Yep, eating them. The taste didn't seem to bother him. He thought it was hilarious, and it was. I don't think anybody can look at this picture without smiling. He really is irresistible! I could eat him up!