My CornerStone Trio

Christmas is only 41 days away from today. I can’t believe how fast it has come this year. It seems like just last week, we were in Florida celebrating Christmas. Guess that is what happens when you get older, time goes by way too fast!

I have been thinking of what to get my kids this year for Christmas. Of course they have their own list of things that they want. From cell phones, to iPods, to new Samsung HDTV’s. You name it, they want it. And of course, the older kids get, the more expensive the gifts get. But, fortunate for me, my kids only get 3 gifts at Christmas. I’ll explain why later.

My 2 year old is getting a Barbie Jeep. I found a great deal on it at a Consignment sale that I went to a couple of months back. I paid $50 for it and it looks brand new. I was thinking of getting her a Mr & Mrs Potato Head and a new bed.

My 13 year old daughter wants a horse. Of course, that isn’t going to happen. She wants a camera, which, she may get that. She will be getting a lot of clothes. She may get a new CD player.

My 15 year old son will be the most difficult to shop for. He wants a cell phone, a guitar, an amp, and so on. I am looking for good deals on guitars. That may be what he gets along with some lessons.

I think that we have lost the reason behind Christmas and it has gotten too commercialized. I enjoy spending the time with the kids and seeing the joy on their faces on Christmas morning. But what I want my kids to learn more than anything is that it is better to receive than to give.

My children and I have just recently gotten over a stomach bug that attacked so suddenly that it left us all scratching our heads and wondering where it all came from. (and no, it wasn’t the H1N1)

It all started on Tuesday evening around 9pm. I put my 2 year old daughter to bed and was getting ready to relax and enjoy the evening. Then I heard her call out to me, “Mommy, I need to use the potty”. She is being potty trained and so anytime she tells me she has to go, I drop everything and go and take her to the potty.

I went in and got her. She used the potty and as I was taking her back to bed, without any warning at all, she throws up all over me, herself, the floor, and the couch!!!

By the time I got that her, myself, the floor, and the couch all cleaned up, she was puking again! I figured it out then, that it was going to be a long night. And it was.

My poor baby girl threw up everything she had in her and then proceeded to dry heave the rest of the night. I would have to leave the light on until she feel asleep and then I would turn it off hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep myself. That was wishful thinking.

Every time that I was about to fall asleep, she would move which would trigger her throwing up. I ended up with 3 loads of laundry from that night. We both had to change clothes about 3 times as well as blankets and sheets!

By Wednesday morning, she was back to her old self again. But we were both wore out.

So life continued as normal until Friday morning! And it started all over again, except this time, it was me that had the stomach bug. I felt horrible!

Then I get a call from my son at school telling me that he is throwing up and is sick and I need to come pick him up. I thought to myself, you have got to be kidding me!!! I didn’t want to move from the couch much less drive to the school and pick my son up.

But I did it! I wasn’t sure if I would make it or not, but I did. So now, my son and I are both home sick. by the time we got back home, it was nap time. Oh, blessed nap time. I was looking forward to this time so much.

I did get to take a nap with my daughter until I got woken up by my 13 year old daughter coming in from school telling me that she had just thrown up on the bus and she was sick.

ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! I couldn’t believe it. I felt like total crap and here my other 2 children are sick and I have a 2 year old that I have to take care of. Are moms not allowed to be sick?

What was even harder is that my husband wasn’t here to help me, he had a Philadelphia job to do and so I was all alone!

I had counted on my older kids to help me with the 2 year old so I could rest and get better, but that plan quickly flew out the window when they both came home sick.

Needless, to say, I did survive. I feel 100% better now and all of my kids are back to their usual selves!

The one blessing with the stomach bug was that it was a very quick one and we all got it at once, so we got it out of the way! But I thank God that we are done with it!

Howdy everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last post, but I have been sick and my children have been sick. Nothing too serious. I am sure I will blog about it later. But for now, to get my creative juices flowing, I am going to do a meme. Now, you can always go over to Luna Nina’s site to get a new meme every week. I have never known her to miss a week, so even when I miss one, you can always check out the meme over there.

Anyway, here is the meme for this week.

Week 354

I say … and you think … ?

1. Alarm :: clock ( I don’t like alarm clocks)
2. Guest :: coming over
3. Worm :: fishing
4. Puppies :: cute but messy
5. Honor :: roll. What my kids USED to be on.
6. No! :: What part of NO do you not understand!
7. Stomach :: virus, ugh
8. Counter :: on the counter, there is acne treatment
9. Waffles :: yummy. Especially homemade ones
10. Plates :: to put the waffles on

There you have it. My mind is a little weird this morning, but I am sure I will be back to normal soon, whatever that may be!!!

Lately, I have been blogging on some quick and easy ideas to help keep those extra, unwanted pounds off during the holidays that always seem to creep up on us when we aren’t paying attention.

You can find the first 2 suggestions at my early posts marked Holiday Dining and Holiday Dining 2.

Today I am going to briefly speak on something that none of us want to hear much less do. That is exercise.

Now I am not going to beat anyone over their head about sweating it out and killing yourself with exercise. But I will tell you that a little bit goes a long way.

The best time to exercise is in the morning. Do about 30 minutes, three times a week. It doesn’t really matter what you do. Whether it is aerobics, walking, running, using Kettlebells, strength training. or even playing on a Wii Fit! As long as you are doing something. That is the most important thing here.

Yes, it sucks, I know. But just doing a little will make such a huge difference, then you won’t have the feelings of guilt or feelings of having to get the weight off after the holidays.

Good luck!

I can’t believe it but my little baby girl is potty training right now. I have so many mixed feelings about it all!

I am so glad that she is healthy enough to be potty trained, but it has just gone by way too fast. Seems like I was just bringing her home from the hospital last week.

Well, I have read and watched so many things about potty training because I wanted to do it right. Of course, all of my well meaning friends give me great advice on what to do and not to do!

I started about 6 months ago, buying a potty and letting her get use to seeing it, letting her get used to watching me go to the bathroom, and talking to her about it and what it all means.

I started potty training her 5 days ago and since that time, she has had about 25 accidents and has used the potty by herself about 12 times.

For the first 2 days, I put panties on her, but it seemed like every time I did that, she peed in them. We went through 8 pair of panties the first day. Of course it was a good thing that I had already bought a couple of packs of panties in preparation for this or else that Honeywell Barcode scanner would be very busy!

I bought pull-ups for night time use and when we go out, but I am not entirely convinced that I will be using them much at all. To her, they feel like a diaper and so she feels like she can pee in it.

The only thing that really seems to be helping is to put a long t-shirt on her and let her run around being naked from waist down. A lot of the time, I don’t even ask her if she needs to go, she will just come and tell me that she went. But we have still had a few accidents even with this method.

One of the main things she is struggling with is going #2 in the potty. She has no problem squatting down and letting it go, but put her on the potty, that is a different story all together. Even when she had diapers, she would find a corner, squat down, and use #2. I am going to have to figure something out on this one.

Overall, I think she is doing pretty well. I will be so happy when the Potty Wars are completely over. I know that could be a long wait, but I am hopeful!

   Have you ever had one of those days that you wake up and you KNOW you need a cup of coffee?

I woke up to one of those days this morning. The cobwebs in my mind took a lot longer to get rid of than usual. The kids were more rambunctious than they normally are, and of course, the potty wars aren’t helping at all!I was not in the best of moods and really didn’t want to face the day yet. I felt that I needed a few more hours of sleep!

I went to fix me a cup of coffee and was thinking to myself how great would it be if I had my own Nespresso machine. Make my own espressos and cappuccinos. I mean think about it, how great would that be.

I wouldn’t need to go running to the closest Starbucks or coffee shops, I could have my very own whenever I wanted it, no matter what time of day it was.

Now that I am really thinking about it, I think I am going to put that on my Christmas wish list.  Then on mornings like this morning, I will get up looking forward to my cup of coffee and would be excited to make it!

Hey, its a thought!

I absolutely love to go visit my sister, her husband, and my new niece, who, by the way, is only 4 months old. And yes, I spoil her every chance I get! After-all, isn’t that what Aunts are for.

I was just up visiting with them a couple of weeks back and I must say, I had a blast.  My sister is not one to stay at home and just ‘hang out’. Oh no, we are constantly on the move when we are there.

They live up in North Carolina, which many of you know is where I am from. To be honest with you, it is where my heart is. I love it there and have even thought of the possibility of moving back there someday. Well, if God opens those doors, I certainly would not hesitate in moving.

She has been doing some remodeling lately. New carpet, new floor tiles, new paint, and so on. She definitely has a great sense of color and style when it comes to redecorating her home. She has done a fabulous job.

She has everything ready for the holidays and my hat is off to her for doing it all in record time. I know her home will be filled with lots of fun, love, and laughter this holiday season as it is on any day of the week.

It is just so refreshing to be so close to someone in your family that you can go and visit whenever you want and their home is always ready for you and open to you and your family!

Thanks sis!