Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa

Well the girls did end up getting one Christmas present early so far this year, bunk beds!!! They are very nice beds made of real wood and can be set up as two twin beds or as bunk beds. I was not so excited to get these beds I must admit. Tristen has slept with me since she was just a few months old and I was not looking forward to her leaving my bed. It is as if she is growing so quickly that I want to keep her my baby for as long as I can. Anyhow, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike came over on Saturday. Mike took Sean to pick up the mattresses for the beds....Thank You Mike! Then we had our Christmas celebration afterwards. I would like to say thank you so much Mike and Linda for all of our gifts, but especially for the book you gave us T'was the Night Before Christmas. This book is very special to me as a child and I love being able to share this book with my girls.The girls got their own bedding to go with their beds, Chloe got Little Mermaid and Tristen had Dora. Grandma and Grandpa also got them lots of books, which is great considering that Chloe loves to read stories to all of us. There were various other toys the girls received including stuffed animals which were stacked into piles all around the house throughout the evening hours. It took Sean and I six hours to put up these beds. Chloe gets the top bunk. All day Sunday I could not get the girls out of their beds. They would take their toys to their beds and play there. Chloe said " I love my bed and I am not getting down!" LOL
On Sunday we made a ginger bread house. I am absolutely thrilled about how it turned out. I have never done such a project before so I wasn't sure what to expect. It didn't take much talent which is swell considering that I am no artist. Basically the house was pre-built and all we had to do was make the icing and decorate the house with candies. Both the girls really loved this activity and I plan to make this a holiday tradition for years to come:)

Tomorrow night is the school concert that I have been waiting for. I am always delighted to go and watch the girls perform. I am hoping that the weather stays tolerable for this event.

I will be getting five days off this year for Christmas. I am thankful for being able to spend this holiday with my family.

Snow snow go away...

I reposted the following video as I noticed it was not working, hopefully all will be well now.

The last few days here in Iowa was awful with the ice and snow. I was unable to make it to work. Thankfully I have a great boss and awesome co workers who were able to cover my shifts. Also Chloe and Tristens concert at the school was cancelled, it has been rescheduled for Thursday the 20th. I am hoping that the weather will stay calm so I can get a good video of my stars performing.

We had a nice surprised today. In the mail the girls received Christmas presents from Auntie Sara, Cole, Carter, and Bill. Thank you guys!!! The girls were really impressed. They have never received a parcel in the mail and were very anxious to open the gifts. They took turns showing off their artwork as they drew pictures for each other on the dora the explorer aqua doodles. Tristen made a family with all her ponies and welcomed in the newest member. Chloe is excited to use her makeup, so she tells me, Now I have makeup like you mommy... LOL..
So once again Thank You guys!

Another video

I am really enjoying my new camcorder and taking these videos of the girls. This Thursday night is their school Christmas Concert, I am thrilled. I have their outfits all picked out and my camera ready to go. Hopefully I will have the video finished by Thursday night so that I can post it but, if not then I will have to wait to post until Monday.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

It was a terrific five days off of work. Thursday was quite busy with the cooking for turkey day. I made the turkey while Sean made all the fixings. Everything turned out delicious. My parents came down and ate dinner with us. I was very happy to get to see them and catch up on alot of the things that I miss in their lives. Mom stayed the night and the girls were all over her. Chloe had made a game at school called "pick a turkey" that kept mom and the girls busy for well over an hour. Then mom read them books of their choice. When it came to bedtime, Chloe slept with grandma and Tristen slept with mommy.
The next day was one of our favorite days of the year. Sean and I were up at 3:30 am with our advertisements and our list in hand ready to go. Oh the madness had begun!! We got to Wal-Mart around 4:30. It was jam packed and hard to get through the store. At five am the sale began. We were able to get every deal that we wanted there, which is a very hard task! Next we were off to Target. Target is one of the busiest stores during Black Friday. They open at 6 am and we were in line at 5:30 am. We were near the middle of the line, the line reached clear to Farm King. People were not very friendly and were set on getting their bargains. They even had the police there. The "big" deal we were wanting to get was a camcorder. I have always wanted one so that I could tape my precious babies during their events, birthdays, xmas, and so on. I must say that I have the BEST man ever!!! Sean took off through the store faster than I have ever seen him run, he gets to the back of the store where the cameras are, twists his knees badly, yet he still comes out with my camcorder!!! Sean wobbles through the rest of the store with me, gladly we didn't have very many items left to pick up. I was so happy to get my camcorder and Sean knew how badly I had wanted it, so he goes to every extent, including getting hurt to get it! I am a very lucky woman to have such a great man!! After Target I had to stop at Menards. They had comforters for only ten dollars. I picked up a few blankets and candles, quickly checked out and we headed home.
Later on that day I had decided to go in and get my massage. Oh my I had no idea what I have been missing out on all these years. Sean had purchased me a full hour of massage and it was lovely. I have never been so relaxed in all my 26 years. The lights were low and the music was soft and the masseuse was awesome. Thank You Sean!! Once I got home I told Sean that I am going to start getting massages once every couple of months because it is well worth the money. On Saturday and Sunday we basically rested. We were quite worn out from all the activities that had occurred over the past few days. Sean is still hurting quite a bit so he hasn't been able to do much:( He says it was worth it to get me my camcorder.. whatta man!!!

School Conferences

Sean had the girls parent teacher conferences on Friday. Both are doing really well in school this year. Tristen is adjusting to the school routine and plays well with the other students. Chloe's teacher said she "sparkles" in class and is a great student, but she does need to work on her talking and keeping her hands to herself. So to say the least I am a very proud mum. Tristen was very lucky to be able to spend a few hours with grandma and grandpa Parker. She tells me that she had a great time and enjoyed teasing grandpa. I really wish there were more hours in the day so both of the girls got time to spend with their grandparents because they do miss them immensely everyday.
This Thursday will be very exciting for the girls. My mother and father are coming up to spend Thanksgiving with us. We are going to have turkey, green bean casserole, scalloped corn, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and so on. Also my mom is going to be staying the night. The girls are thrilled to be having a sleep over with grammy. I am going to rent some new movies and pop some popcorn and we are having a jammy party.. Yeay!! It has been a little while since the girls have seen my mom due to the fact that she lives about two hours away, so this is quite a big deal to us.
On Friday Sean and I are going to be doing our once a year date!!!!! This consists of getting up at four a.m. to go shopping for the Black Friday. Obviously Sean and I don't get out much alone, but we make an exception for the busiest shopping day of the year. I am not sure what we plan on purchasing, and to be honest I don't really care, I am just looking forward to enjoying this time with my man.

I hope that everyone has a fantastic turkey day......gobble gobble....

My Family

This post is dedicated to my family.


My family is very important to me and I am thankful for them.
Chloe is a very special little girl. She is very well versed and always up to try new things in her life. She does her best with whatever it is she sets out on. I will never forget the day that I brought home Tristen, Chloe was very eager to begin her role as a Big Sister. She is always looking out for her sister and gives her lots of love. She is getting awesome grades in school and I am very proud of her. I know that oneday Chloe will be a successful woman. Chloe has not had the easiest life in her six years on this planet. Her biological father has dumped on her and so have his parents. Sean has been very good and has accepted Chloe as his own. I couldn't ask for a better man and love him very much.Tristen is an incredible girl also. She is such a split between Sean and I. She is very loving and always willing to give ya hugs and kisses. She is just too cute... wants to be like her big sister, enjoys dancing, putting on makeup, hide and seek, school, sharing time, and reading books. She is also doing a great job in school. I am very thankful to God and to what he has given me in this lifetime.

Minature earth video

Here is Tristen... she has dressed her self up as a "rockstar" she tells me LOL.

There is not much news to report as I have been working a sixty hour week, not leaving much time for family time. That is okay though I'm sure we will make up for it next weekend.
Here is an interesting video that I found.. take a peek if you have the time...
http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm

Lazy Weekend

It was a nice and relaxing weekend. We mainly tried to prepare the house for winter. We have used plastic on most of the windows in and effort to keep heating costs lower. We also cleaned up the house a bit and the girls pitched in on this. On Saturday we did go out for a little while to Sean's friends house and we also went to Washington to pick up three new fishes for Sean's aquarium. But all in all we just relaxed... which is good for ya once in awhile.
I did get good news from Chloe's teacher this weekend. I received her report card in the mail. In first grade they use marks like O for outstanding and S for satisfactory and so on and so forth. Well, Chloe received eighteen O's and the rest were S's except for a few that were N (needs improvement). All the N's were related to Chloe's talking, which I don't see slowing down in the near future. She is a child that enjoys expressing herself verbally... go Chloe:))

Bye Bye Halloween

Halloween has come and gone again.. We had a fantastic time. On Tuesday we went to Houghton as planned. What a generous town that is. The girls got mostly candy bars and full sized ones at that. They were very sugar hyped that night. Chloe and Tristen were the most adorable little girls. They went to each house together with Sean and I trailing behind, they are very hard to keep up with when they are candy hunting. On Wednesday we started our night off by going to grandma and grandpa Parkers. The girls had been looking forward to seeing the new puppies and enjoyed holding the little guys in their hands. After getting their pictures taking with grandma and their treats we headed to Mt. Pleasant. We had planned on going to the E3 Center where there was a Pumpkin Patch, but the place was so crowded that we skipped this and went on our way with trick-or-treating. We stopped over at Koda's grandma's house which was great because she hasn't seen Chloe and Tristen in a long time, and I got to tour her new house which is gorgeous. Now we have so much candy we don't know what to do with it...lol.. All in all we had a nice time and I will be posting some pictures when I get them developed.
With all the excitement this week I still found time to watch some movies, so here is my review... The Reaping is a horror flick.. I loved it, 1408 is also a horror film it was alright.. I do not recommend anyone to watch the show Jam it sucked. We also rented the movie Meet the Robinsons this flick is an animated one for the kids and we all loved it:) I did not like Hostel 2 and I'm not sure why I rented it seeing as how I did not like Hostel part 1.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be back on Monday with a full report of our weekend. This weekend we will be taking it easy because I have a sixty hour week next week. Until next time....

Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!!!

It is almost time for my favorite holiday and I am very excited. On Sunday we got a little taste of trick-or-treating and holiday celebrations. My friend Jackie had a Halloween party at her house. There were tons of treats, scary Halloween ghouls, and games for the children to play. Tristen and Chloe soaked themselves in a game of bobbing for apples and Chloe won first prize in pin your name on the pumpkin. After partying it up we went to the area businesses and did some trick-or-treating. That was especially nice since the weather was so beautiful that the girls were able to show off their costumes a bit more than normal. Afterwards there was a wiener roast at the park and both of the girls were able to cook their own hot dogs. Once Sunday was finished we all were quite wore out.
I am not sure who is more excited about this week me or the girls. Tristen has her Halloween party at school tomorrow and that is all I have heard about all day. Also tomorrow night we are going to be going trick-or-treating in Houghton and carving our pumpkins.... since we have been so busy the last few weekends and still haven't gotten around to it. Then on Wednesday night we are taking the girls to Mt.P for some more trick-or-treating and some activities at the E Center, formally known as Hy-Vee. I love celebrating holidays with my children and am a true believer in traditions.
I will not be around the next few days due to the holidays and I go to meet my specialist in Ia City for my Rheumatoid Arthritis, yes young people do suffer from arthritis.. lol... Anyhow I hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween:)

Sean, Tristen, and Wal-Mart

Sean had quite a day and I thought I would share this experience with everyone.....




Sean had decided to get a bit of shopping done today. Tristen is pretty much used to getting whatever toy she picks out in the store, as long as she is good. Well today Tristen had picked out a Dora the Explorer toy. Sean told his bubbly little girl that she needed to wait until mommy got paid on Friday then we could go shopping and buy this toy. Sean convinced Tristen that they could "hide" this toy in the store behind another toy so that it would not be purchased and it would be there for her on Friday. Sean goes on down the next isle to get a few items we needed. He then realizes that Tristen is missing. He searches down the toy isles figuring she was looking around. He cannot find her and becomes very worried. Sean goes to the customer service desk to alert the staff about his missing baby. The store puts out a code "adam", which is what happens when a child is lost in the store. Sean goes back to the isle where he had last seen Tristen and wouldn't you know, there she was hiding with her toy on the shelf.....

Sean has now informed me he is not going shopping with the girls by himself ever again..LOL

I remember

By popular demand I am doing my I remember post.... please bear with me.... lol

I remember when I was able to go to the local candy store and purchase candies with pennies and nickels....

I remember when I got my first car, a spray painted black ford escort which I loved....

I remember when I began driving at the age of 16 and gas was only .99 cents a gallon....

I remember when I shared a bunk bed with my sister Nicole... she got the top bunk...

I remember when I moved out of my parents house for the first time....

I remember when I gave birth to both of my girls.... there are not enough words to describe those experiences... I am truly grateful to God for his two precious gifts....

I remember when I graduated high school... I was the first one on my fathers side of the family to do so and it was a major accomplishment for all of us....

Fun, Fun, Fun

An exciting weekend it was indeed. We started off Friday morning with Tristen's first school field trip, I felt very lucky to be able to enjoy this with her. So, Friday morning eight a.m. the three of us pack up to begin our day. We met with Tristen's teacher at the school where she rode the bus to our destination and we drove.... Sean and I were not so brave as to ride with the 40 excited, screaming, and jumping children. Kathy's Pumpkin Patch sets down by Donnelson so the drive was not too bad at all.

This is the entrance to Kathy's Pumpkin Patch... there were pumpkins all around... very festive like:)

When we arrived they lead the children to the inside of a barn like structure to inform them of their day.

Next we went to the play area. There were lots of toys to play on and even a corn pit.

Here is my personal favorite picture of our day. Tristen is burying one of her friends in the corn:)

After playtime the children went on a wagon ride. The wagon ride took us around the perimeter of the pumpkin patch and lead us to the soybeans maze.

Tristen was very good at the maze and helped me find my way out:) Our next stop was to pick out our pumpkins.. there were lots to choose from and Tristen picked out two lovely pumpkins.. one for her and one for her sister. We shortly thereafter hit the picnic tables for our snack and then back to the play area for one last time on the slide before the field trip day was over.

Saturday Chloe and I went to bingo at the community center. It was a fundraiser for the firemen and we had lots of fun. Chloe won on the second game, for her prize she chose a light stick (to use for Halloween) and some pencils. I didn't win.. go figure lol.. but we did have a great time.

On Sunday we paid a final visit to our little secret park out in the country for a cook out before winter begins. Sean made his famous hot dogs and chips. The girls ran wild playing on all the toys and were pretty tuckered once we got home. We had planned on carving our pumpkins that we got from the pumpkin patch but, the lil ones pasted out, so we are going to save that for this weekend.

We rented a few movies this weekend. "The Reaping" and "1408" were okay.. nothing to brag about but they were alright flicks. We also rented "Transformers", we all loved this movie and give it a 10.

My Career

Today I thought it would be a good idea to give everyone a little insight into what it is I do. I am a consumer support specialist and work in an assisted living center during the overnight shift. I have been with this company now for about a year and a half. I supervise twenty people and assist them with completing goals that are set up in order to make their transition to the community a success. All of my clients suffer from some level of mental retardation or mental illness and the age of my clients are varied in range. For alot of my clients this is the first time that they have lived on their own, and that truly makes this a big life experience for them. I have been in health care for most of my time in the workforce, usually in nursing homes as a Certified Nurses Aid. I have seen it all including the smiles of a resident as you sit there and listen to them tell their stories, the happiness when the family sees the resident get better and be able to move out (although that didn't occur as much as you would hope), and I have been there to hold my residents hand as they drifted off into another world that we do not know. I love being in the health care business and helping my clients. I am thankful for being gave such a position to assist wonderful people with their activities of daily living. The assisted living center is much more suited to what I enjoy doing. Sean has told me often that he could not do what I do, but when you see someone smile and take pride in what they have accomplished it makes it all worth while.

Hello there Tuesday

Today both Tristen and Chloe had school. I had to have a discussion with Tristen's teacher due to the fact that Tristen was taking one toy for show and tell, and bringing back home five toys. I told Tristen not to do this because she is going to make her friends cry. Apparently my little speech worked because today she only brought home her one toy:) Right now in school Chloe is learning how to add and subtract. They have worked their way all up to the three's and are now taking timed tests. On all of the tests Chloe has received one hundred percent.. she is such a smarty pie:)) As you can tell I'm a proud mumsy. lol
Well I did my civic duty today. I went to the community center and gave away my blood for the vampires... lol I try to donate every 55 days even if afterwards I feel like crap. There is not a whole lot of other news to report, so off I go......

Spooky Fun

I am hoping that everyone's weekend went well. Ours was full of family time, which is especially important, seeing how the week is filled with school and work. We started Friday off by purchasing the girls their pumpkins. They chose which ones that they wanted.... and were able to paint them with watercolors.

They had loads of fun doing this. It kept them busy for over an hour, and they were very proud of their work....

On Saturday we had a fun filled spooktacular night at the Old Threshers Grounds. They were hosting the Ghost Train, Trolley, games, rides, a hay maze, the list goes on.

We seen some very scary costumes and lots of creativity. The girls had dressed into their costumes... watching Tristen and Chloe shake their 'tales' to the music was the best.

We rode the Ghost Train and the Trolley. The girls played on some of the inflatable toys and went through mazes. Of course Tristen needed the help of her big sister to find the way out, but, all in all everyone had a lovely time. I was even able to ride the carousel with my babies.

We used Sunday as our day of rest. I clean up the house a bit and Sean gets to watch some sports. The girls either play with their games or toys inside or go out and play with the neighbor kid, Lexie. I did watch a good flick this weekend called "Knocked Up"... was a funny movie, however a bit graphic in some parts for childrens eyes.

Thank you Linda for your suggestions about the pumpkin seeds, I will certainly try that this year in hopes of planting them in the spring:)

Yet, another weekend has arrived!!! yeay!!! lol

With my favorite season approaching we have some exciting shopping plans this weekend. The girls are going to get to pick out their pumpkins... Tristen has been talking about this for three days now. If anyone knows what to do with pumpkin seeds after you take them out of the pumpkin in order to plant them the following year, please let me know. We would like to start our own patch for next year. Also we will be taking the girls to the Old Threshers Grounds for the Spooktacular Ghost Train ride. It was a big hit last year with the lil ones. We are going to get them dressed in their Halloween costumes... hopefully the weather allows for this. And of course Sean with be on the photo detail, so on Monday when I return back to work I will have these photos to post.
I have been very busy this week, that is the reason for the delay with the posts. My mom is in the hospital at the University in Iowa City. I was able to go see her on Wednesday for a few hours, but I had to hurry back so that I could pick up Chloe from the bus stop, as we dont have anyone that sits our children, I'm a little overprotective... lol.. Anyhow, my mom was moved off the ICU unit today and looks to be having a good recovery:) I hope that everyone has an awesome weekend and I will see ya'll come Monday.

Thank you:)

I would like to thank everyone for your cards, cakes, pizza and so on for my birthday. I had a great weekend!! We started off on Friday by going to this neat little park that Sean had found while he was off cruising about. It is around Houghton. It has a bunch of toys for the kids to play on, a picnic area, and a golf course! We enjoyed a fun little weenie roast there.

Such a great guy Sean is, he did ALL the cooking:) We had hotdogs, chips, and soda.... all of the girls' favorite food.

While Sean was busy cooking the girls enjoyed some fun in the sun.....

After Friday was finished we were all very worn out and slept well. Saturday came and it was time to visit my parents and sisters down in Muscatine. It was nice to spend time with my family, we don't get to see as much of eachother as we should. We started our trip off at my parents house which is where my sister Tabbatha and my niece Faith reside. Faith is an 18 month old gift from God. She truly is a princess. She is growing so fast and looks just like her mom.

Chloe really enjoyed seeing Faith and played "mom" most of the time.

Here is the cake that Tabby had made for me.

Next we went to my sister Nicole's house. More play time for the children!!!







Starting from left to right there is... Chloe, Dominic, Antonio, Tristen, Whitley, and Tyler. What a great looking bunch of kids:) While at Nicole's place we enjoyed some pizza and a water fight, which I must say that Dominic won. All in all I had a wonderful birthday and would like to thank everyone for making my day special.

Happy-go-lucky-Wednesday

Another week of work has come and gone. I am happy to see the weekend, I get four days off for my birthday!!! We have a few plans this weekend. I am thrilled to get to go to Muscatine to see my family. My sister Nicole is cooking up some birthday tacos and Tabby is making me a cake.... how sweet:) The girls are excited to go play with their cousins. It doesnt happen as often as it should so these times are very special. Also, Sean and I have our big trip to the Green Thumbers to buy some more shrubs and trees for our current landscaping projects.

On Friday I get to go and enjoy lunch with Chloe at school. She is the star of the week... although in my eyes she is always a bright lil star, so she gets to have company at school for lunch. She also got to take pictures to school that way the students get to know eachother a little bit better.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will post more on Monday.

A poem that makes me smile:)

Today I thought I would do something a bit different. I don't have any news to pass on so, I thought that I could post one of my favorite poems. This poem was given to me when I started working for Rescare. I have held this poem close while assisting my clients with various tasks. I hope you like it.

Beatitudes for Friends of Exceptional People

Blessed are you who take time to listen to difficult speech,

For you help us to know that if we persevere,

We can be understood.

Blessed are you who walk with us in public places,

And ignore the stares of strangers,

For in your companionship,

We find a haven of peace.

Blessed are you who never bid us to "hurry up,"

And more blessed are you

Who do not snatch tasks from our hands to do them for us,

For often we need time rather than help.

Blessed are you who stand beside us

As we enter new and untried ventures,

For our failures will be outweighed

By the times we surprise ourselves and you.

Blessed are you who ask for our help,

For our greatest need is to be needed.

Blessed are you when you assure us,

That the one thing that makes us individuals

Is not our peculiar muscles,

Nor our wounded nervous system,

Nor our difficulties in learning,

Nor any exterior difference,

But it is in our inner, personal, individual self

Which no infirmity can diminish or erase.

Author Unknown

Weekend Fun

What a great weekend it was! Sean had a good birthday. The girls and I got him a gift certificate to the local greenery and made him birthday brownies with one candle on top. There wasnt enough room for all thirty three... hehehe.
We also went shopping for Halloween costumes. Chloe decided that she wanted to be a unicorn, and that wasn't the easiest costume to find. Tristen chose to be a cat. They both look adorable in their little costumes and are quite excited for trick or treating this year.
I finally have gotten the rest of the shrubs planted, although this weekend we are going to Muscatine where the Green Thumbers are going out of business. I forsee much more planting here in the next few weeks... yeay!!
I rented the flick "bug" this weekend. I recommend that noone waste their money on that... was truely an awful movie. I also rented "We are Marshall". It was an awesome flick and strongly recommend this one. That is enough for now... until next time....

What a gorgeous day we had today.... I just love this time of the year. Sean and I have been planting some shrubs around the house and have a few more to go. I really enjoy doing yard work when the weather is so beautiful.
I could have never thought how addictive this blogging can be!! It is a lot of fun and a great way to share thoughts and pictures. It also helps me with passing the time at work. I have added some new pictures and will continue more with that next week.
We have big plans for this weekend. Seans birthday is Friday and he will be 33 years old. I plan on baking him some brownies seeing as how he dont care much for cake. Also we will be taking the girls to get there Halloween costumes.... I think I am just as excited as the girls about this. We plan on beginning our Christmas shopping too.... yes i said Christmas as it is just around the corner Yeay!!
Well that is all for today. I will post more on Monday, I can't over the weekend due to no internet at home:( Oh how i miss my internet connection lol. Have a great weekend all and be safe.

Yeay!!! My own lil blog world:)

I thought that this would be a great way to express my opinions on certain matters and share what is going on in my life with my lovely family that is so far from me.

The kids have started school. Chloe is now in the first grade. She enjoys her days at school very much and is always so happy to go. I met with her teacher the other day, Mrs. McCracken, the feedback that I recieved made me very happy. Tristen is also doing well with her very first year of preschool. She is growing up to be such a big girl. I am very proud of my two lovely daughters.

Sean has a birthday this Friday. He wants a tree for his birthday.... he isn't one that is hard to buy for... lucky me:)

My birthday is exactly a week after his.. I love getting old.

Well that is enough for now. I do plan on posting routinely and to keep everyone updated, so let me know what you think:)