Happy Halloween!

I am running late, gotta go get ready for work - Cody is feeling much better today. It was a 24 hour bug.

Happy Halloweeeeeen! I will get photos posted later but not sure when since it will get busy in just a few moments and then not slow down till the kids are in bed tonight...after injesting a pound of candy like that is going to happen. It will be an all nighter....not that I am going to let them injest a pound of candy...but somehow one piece turns into another...and then another....

Have a spooktacular day! What's your plans for Halloween?

OK - here's the update on our day: At around 1:30 PM I started getting hallucinations...seeing bright fuzzy lights and blurry, unfocused vison, didn't have a headache though so I popped a couple Migraine pills and hoped like heck it would pass...around 2pm the pain felt like my eyeballs were about to explode...so I took off work and made it home feeling very nauseus...and annoyed...who has time for a migraine on HALLOWEEN!!!

I crashed for a bit and felt better when the kiddos headed out at 6pm to go trick or treating so I tagged along. Couldn't miss the fun of Jaiden's first real trick or treating! She was into it for all of about 5 minutes as you can see from the photo of her running down a driveway with her Dad. After about half a block both were asking when they could go home. It was a gorgeous night, the sky was full of stars and the fresh air felt nice and not too cold. I could have walked the entire neighborhood but I'm glad they were ready to go home because by the time I made it home I had a splitting headache. We got the kids into jammies and they didn't eat but a few pieces so far, that stash is going to last for a while I think. I had just eaten some dark chocolate when the migraine hit me...my mom is ALLERGIC to chocolate...I am hoping that this doesn't mean that I will soon follow suit...I can't imagine a life without CHOCOLATE!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

"That is going to go straight to my hips!"

I need your help

I have added a new blog to my lineup; I am goin to take all the ads off my family site and divert it to my "business" site. I need for you to check it out and tell me honestly what you think.

I designed the ad banner myself (as I'm sure you can tell) I'm very amature but the white dots in the g and the o....don't they look a little bit like eyes to you? I thought that was kinda neat...it wasn't intentional that it happened to come out like that....also if you look really closely they like a tad bit like boobies....which is sorta the heart of the reason behind starting this new business. I want to somehow give back and by doing this in some way I may be able to help out others. My Mom is my inspiration - she is a breast cancer survivor of 5 years now and I am so very proud of her and her grit and determination to not let it slow her down. She is 74 years young and still doing things that would wear me out....sometimes it wears me out to just listen to her talk about what all she did in a day. I need to get her onto blogging so you can meet her and see how wonderful she truly is.

Anyways, hope you will take a gander over at the new site and check it out for yourself. Any ideas or tips on how to make it look more professhinal and appealing would be most appreciated! Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a most beautiful day!

Nurse in Training

I'm staying home with Cody today who is sick with a stomach flu. He woke yesterday with a headache and by noon it had turned into a migraine...he also has a fever which hubs tells me you can't have a migraine with fever...he used to have migraines too so I figure he should know but was wondering if anyone else out there has information on these symptoms. He is queasy nauseous and has bowed before the thrown and deposited all that he had to give if you know what I mean so much that he is exhausted and has the dry heaves. I've given him crackers, toast and 7up and Pepto to help with the nausea. Any other suggestions....?

Ode to little Jimmy Dickens

This is a hilarious story my Mom told me this morning:

(caution please do not read if you are a chicken rights activist)

I was telling my Mom about getting locked out of the house this weekend (another story) and she told me about a story of how little Jimmy Dickens (the singer) had a similar thing happen to him way back when...that brought back memories of the little rooster that she had named "Little Jimmy Dickens" because it was so little and so loud...and that was this rooster Jimmy Dickens thing: he was little and loud...anyway I told her that her story reminded me of that mean old rooster that she used to have...she replied back that she had forgotten all about that chicken (my Mom NEVER forgets anything) she proceeded to tell me how Jimmy Dickens met his match...you see this little chicken was not only little and loud but he was also very mean. He would chase after you and attack you for no apparent reason. He got Cody when he was just a little fellow (mind you that this all took place about 15 years or so ago) Apparently he also tried to attack my mother...and no bird or anything else gets away with messing with my mamma! She took him up by the neck and was about to chop off his head with a DULL chopping axe and my stepdad came out to see what all the commotion was all about...little loud Jimmy put up a squawking fight to the very end...well my mom says "I am about to get rid of this chicken" my stepdad said "you can't do that" and she replied "well, you just watch me" and she did. You can bet I have a whole new respect for my momma now. She has some grit in her. I can see now why my stepdad is so well behaved and agrees to her every wish....she's put the fear of Jimmy Dickens in him.

Happy Friday!!!

I've been TAGGED!

Thanks Dusty! I feel so loved :) You are always here to make me feel better and today I really needed it. The weather has turned gloomy and cold and this nasty pinched nerve just won't go away...You are an awesomest friend! And I can SOOOO relate to your comment of being from NE Louisiana and being asked if that were in cajin country or New Orleans. I get that ALL THE TIME too...people out there that haven't ever been to Louisiana...there is other parts to that state (other than New Orleans) and no its not all swamp land either.

Ok here's the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog

2. Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself

3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your posts, and include links to their blogs

4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okie, Dokie lets see what I can thinks up....

1. I really don't like to be alone, although I seem to be a loner, I've always felt comfortable in a crowd even when I don't know anyone; I love meeting people but I don't always have a lot to say so I have been labled as "quiet" I don't think I am quiet; I just don't like to talk out loud.

2. I love to cook but I hate to clean...so the latter usually prevents the former from being a very interesting experience. When I cook I tend to be quite messy...like last night when I made some apple turnovers...needing to use up those yummy apples that God gave us this year I chose to try a new recipe I found online...the crust came from the freezer department and the apples were simple to peel, slice and chop - the kiddos helped which made it really fun but tripping over each other in the kitchen made it a bit messy too...sticky syrupy apple filling was all over the counters when I was done...but the turnovers were excellent!

3. I tend to choose fun over functional...which is totally opposite from my very conservative husband but somehow he has managed to love me through 15+ years of lifes challenges. He's the best person I have ever met and always willing to lend a hand, and he loves building things...I tend to love to "find" things...so I guess I am the artistic, optimistic always looking for that rainbow in the storm...sometimes to the frustration of my loving husband that is trying to put the umbrella over me to keep me safe and dry.

4. I want to make a difference in the world. I don't know how and I often find myself wondering what my purpose on Earth must be....sometimes I feel so alone and afraid that when I am gone I would not have made any difference at all. I tend to be a bit extravagant, never wanting to do anything halfway...I dream big and want big things to happen and get frustrated when they don't happen overnight...my patience level is puny. I really need help working on that.

5. I want to be a giver. I love to nurture and provide comfort. I think that would be the greatest job in the world to be able to provide to others and bring them joy through the little acts of kindness that I might be able to provide...but I don't have a very good sense of self motivation and so the empowerment is missing...I tend to not make very good choices on my own so I tend to look for outside leadership and I need to work on finding positive sources of leadership in which to follow....

6. I am really glad there is only two more to go because I am feeling very exposed....I like to write...obviously

7. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to adopt a sibling group someday...but I am soooo frustrated right now because the MN laws require that both parents attend a two day training class during the weekday and the closest class is 2 hours away. The logistics of this is making me crazy. If we lived anywhere but here I could call upon friends or family to come stay with the kids but here we do not know anyone and we can't leave the kids alone for two whole days on their own. Our closest relative is 3 hours away...and won't come all this way all alone....in MN there are only about 2 classes a year on our side of the state...most are held in the cities which is 5 hours away. It would be just as easy to go 5 hours away as it would 2...getting away for that long is going to be the issue to overcome. There is a class next month but Scott can't go because it is also a long weekend and if he goes he will have to take 5 days of leave and he is trying to save his leave so he can retire in March...so please pray for us ya'll that we find our direction because sometimes it feels like we're just spinning in a circle and getting nowhere.

Ok, well there you go...that was 7 very random and often times weird facts about me. Now I tag:

1. Heather - my cyber friend that's been with me through a LOT and hope to someday get the chance to meet in person, especially now that she lives in Florida ;) But I would have liked meeting her in Texas too!

2. Nicole - over at QuickStartMyHeart I love her blog, her family and she's the sweetest friend...I think we may be long lost sisters because we have a lot of things in common. We may not be blood kin but she will always be a sister of mine; we are joined together by the bond of our Tonguu girls.

3. Krissie - my real life friend :) We have known each other since meeting at a scrappin party at Becca's house in 2001. She followed us to Germany...will she find her way to us in Grand Forks too??? That would be totally awesome. :) She has such a wonderful family and lives life to its fullest praising God every step of the way.

4. Barbara over at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers is a Grand Forks blogger and she has the most creative ideas for just about anything. She is so very helpful and nice too.

5. Leo from Confession of a thirty something. I love reading her blog, she is very nice and I feel like I take a mini vacation to another world every time I visit her blog.

6. Amy my newest blogger friend and the only blogger I know in Minnesota. I don't know you all that well yet but I hope to meet you and your family someday.

7. I don't know any more bloggers that haven't been tagged yet so if you are reading this and you have not been tagged, consider yourself tagged!

Hope you've enjoyed todays TAGATHON :)

I've tried everything

It's been 3 days since I woke with a crick in my neck and I still have a pinched nerve...what will make it go away? I've tried water therapy, heat therapy, massage therapy, muscle relaxers, tylenol, aspirin, motrin..but there is still a knot in the center of my back making it difficult to use my right hand or move very quickly. What should I try next?