A New Love...

I am a HUGE cat lover and have been for as long as I can remember. A few weeks ago, a friend told me about a local rescue group, Buster's Friends. I am now going to be a foster mom for cats! I am SO excited, not sure my 3 cats at home are though... :)

Meet Pence (after Hunter Pence, of course).

Isn't he adorable?? His mommy abandoned him and another family took him in. Unfortunately, their oldest son is highly allergic to cats, so they couldn't keep him. I believe he is about 4 weeks old (maybe 3 1/2). I got him to eat out of a bowl last night - YAY!! He is at work with me now so that I can feed him every 2 hours.

He's just woke up and is ready for lunch! Falling in love already :)

A Final Goodbye

Friday, May 4, 2012, Aidan McSpadden said his final goodbye here on Earth. God has called him home at a young age of 3. Aidan was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) before the age of 2 and had a bone marrow transplant a few months ago. I was so very lucky to meet him last April at our Alana's Angels Fashion Show; Aidan was one of our handsome models and one of our Heroes. With his red hair and bright blue eyes, it is hard to not fall in love with him - then add his lovable, outgoing personality. An absolutely AMAZING child! Aidan was blessed to have two loving and caring parents, Kelli and Jared, and the most adorable little brother, Jax.

It breaks my heart that another child has died from cancer. It is not fair that children have to suffer from this horrible disease!! It amazes me how much my life has changed because of children like Aidan. Honestly, I was unaware or unconcerned about the life that these children lead. They are amazing individuals who have taught me so much about life and love. I encourage everyone to help fight cancer however they can. There are volunteer programs at local hospitals, local non-profit organizations, or you can give monetarily. Please find your way to help these children! Aidan's family has asked that people give donations to Big Love Cancer Care. For more information on Aidan and his fight, visit his website here. To find out more information about Alana's Angels click here.

Here is a slideshow of Aidan and his family. WARNING: it will bring tears to your eyes.

Aidan McSpadden - A True Hero

Today, Aidan's family and friends will say their final goodbye as they lay Aidan's body to rest. Please keep everyone who knew Aidan in your thoughts and prayers today - as they are saying goodbye to their Angel on Earth.

I wanted to give him away...

This cartoon sums it up for me...

Unless

So we took the boys to see "The Lorax" - a well acclaimed film based on Dr.Seuss's same titled book. The boys absolutely loved it (Cy was a little scared in some parts) and I for the most part enjoyed it as well. I think the main message of "unless" was a great take away for the kids, if they even understood it at this age. If you see something in this world that needs change, nothing will happen "unless" you do something to change it. Have a will to make the world a better place. I am in total agreement with this message of the movie.

However, I feel as though they took their stance on anti-capitalism a little too far. From the mayor to the songs to a large part of the story - all with very harsh anti-capitalistic views. I am not one to get very political in everyday discussions, but in my opinion, this definitely is going over the top. This is not a film aimed at political views - it is an animated film aimed at young children. Are we telling young children that it isn't ok to have a dream to become successful? The two people in this movie who were "successful" were "bad". I agree that we should always be respectful of our surroundings, but aren't we exaggerating the topic a little?

Once again, just my opinion. We will be purchasing "The Lorax" on blu-ray when it is released and as my kids watch it growing up, we will have the discussion that capitalism is not all bad as this movie makes it seem.

Golf Humor

What if you were playing in the club championship tournament finals and the match was halved at the end of 17 holes. You had the honors and hit your ball a modest two hundred fifty yards to the middle of the fairway, leaving a simple six iron to the pin. Your opponent then hits his ball, lofting it deep into the woods to the right of the fairway.

Being the golfing gentleman that you are, you help your opponent look for his ball. Just before the permitted five minute search period ends, your opponent says: "Go ahead and hit your second shot and if I don't find it in time, I'll concede the match."

You hit your ball, landing it on the green, stopping about ten feet from the pin. About the time your ball comes to rest, you hear your opponent exclaim from deep in the woods: "I found it!" The second sound you hear is a click, the sound of a club striking a ball and the ball comes sailing out of the woods and lands on the green, stopping no more than six inches from the hole.

Now here is the ethical dilemma:
Do you pull the cheating bastard's ball out of your pocket and confront him with it or do you keep your mouth shut?

#1 Rule

My #1 rule in the house has always been "no running". We don't have carpet in our common areas, just in the bedroom and there is absolutely nothing soft about falling on the tile.

Last night - Nolan vs. Tile

Tile Won

Yep, I'm Handsome

Nolan has needed a haircut for awhile now - too shaggy for my liking. He decided on the way to get his haircut that he wanted a new style. "Making my hair spiky is cool". We cut it shorter than we ever had before and made it spiky. The entire time he was getting his haircut, he was staring in the mirror. When his hair was spiked to his liking, he got down from the chair and just stood in front of the mirror examining it. About a minute later, he exclaimed "Yep, I'm handsome". I tried really hard not to laugh, because let's face it - he is handsome. :) But the fact that a 5 year old would admire himself and declare himself handsome is hilarious to me. I seriously thought that I wouldn't have to deal with this from a boy. When did boys become so vain? I thought that was a girl trait. Boys are supposed to get down and roll around in the dirt and not care? At least until he is a teen, right? Not Nolan - he likes to play, but he wants to look good while he is doing it. Oh goodness...I can only imagine what the teen years are going to bring.

Tomorrow is the day

As some of you may know, our son, Cy was born with a sensorineural bilateral hearing loss. My husband and I were found to both have the Connexin 26 mutation, which is the cause of Cy's hearing loss. He has worn hearing aids since the age of 9 months and has adapted super well using the hearing aids. We had a stint when he would take them off (one day I had to go to the daycare to find them in the outside trash can - that's a whole other post).

Cy has been a part of the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program in our county since his diagnosis (around 3 months). They have been an amazing help at adapting to our new normal. ECI's role is coming to an end at the end of March because Cy will be 3. Once he turns 3, he will then be in the school district's system.

Tomorrow, Cy is undergoing a 3 hour eval with the school disability coordinator, speech therapist, occupational therapist, and two coordinators from the day school for the deaf in our county. I really hope he is not intimidated by all the new faces. He has been in speech therapy since his diagnosis and has done amazingly well. Tomorrow will tell us where he is relative to his peers and if he needs services. I think he will still need speech therapy, but I am really hoping that he will not need any other services.

This will definitely be a new step in our journey with hearing loss. Hopefully, it will be a great one!

Texas Weather

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Where did the nice weather go? I have loved wearing flip flops and capris all week - today I am in a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. BOO! I want the warm weather back.

Tomorrow is our bone marrow drive with Alana's Angels and I really hope there is a good turnout. Weather always plays a part if people participate or not - praying for nicer weather!

Daddy's Boy Now Prefers Mommy

My little guy, Cy, has always been a Daddy's Boy! Whatever Daddy is doing, Cy would be right there. Absolutely adorable, but I will admit I was (a little) jealous.

The past week though, he wants me! Everytime he goes to bed, he asks for me. We sing a song and then I lay him in bed for the night. If that isn't precious enough, he will then grab my hand and just hold it close to his chin. I am telling you - I melt everytime he does it.

I am absolutely blessed that he is my son. My kids are amazing and it is the little things like this that make my life complete. Do your kids prefer you at bedtime?

Chicken Picante - 30 Minutes or Less

Tonight I made Chicken Picante - a favorite of my kids.  It takes 4 ingredients and less than 30 minutes to make.

What you will need:

3-4 chicken breasts
1 cup rice
1 cup picante sauce
1 cup chicken broth

I use a 14" skillet.  Mix rice, picante sauce, and chicken broth in skillet.  Place chicken breasts on mixture (I flatten the chicken to about 1/2 inch for even cooking).  Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese (optional).

Note: I normally make 1 1/2 cups rice so I add an additional 1/2 cup of picante sauce and 1/2 cup of chicken broth.

That's it!  Tasty, quick meal that everyone is sure to love!

I saw this on another awesome blog - Adventuresinmommyhood  Hilarious and oh so true!! 

Ben and I just had this conversation the other day.  He didn't quite understand why I loathe taking the kids with me to the grocery store.  The next day, I went while they were taking naps.  He was SO surprised when I walked in less than an hour later with the groceries.  Yeah - it is quite a bit faster without the kiddos!

Hats for a Cause

Less than 2 weeks ago, a beautiful young girl Kaylee was diagnosed with leukemia, specifically pre-B ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia).  She has since started losing her hair.  Right now I am working on a few knitted hats for her.  I have finished one that is a basic beanie with a flower that is a dark teal cashmerino wool - super super soft!  I am going to make a pink hat as well as I was informed that pink and purple are her favorite colors. 


For more information on Kaylee, visit her page at Praying for Kaylee.  For more information about Alana's Angels and our Heroes with cancer, please visit us on Facebook or online here.  These children have changed my life in such a way that I thank God everyday that I met them.

Unconditional Love

This morning the kids were bouncing off the walls, as usual. Being the smart mommy that I am, I made chocolate chip pancakes - and of course, that didn't make them bounce off the walls any more than usual. The entire time we were getting ready for church, they were doing anything but what they were supposed to be doing. At the beginning of every church service, the band and congregation sing songs, some of which are relevant to the sermon that day. Today, we sang a song that really hit home with me. There is a line that is sung repeatedly throughout the song, "Your love never fails never gives up, it never runs out on me." Today, I welled up with tears when I sang these words. God loves me unconditionally for me, faults and all. His love is amazing and all encompassing. That really got me thinking about my children and life. God loves us and we are just as he planned, even if we are a bit crazy. His love never fails never gives up, it never runs out on me!

Celebrate

We had a great night out tonight for Ben's 30th birthday with the kids, my parents, brother and sister-in-law. The kids had a blast and they even got to eat a bowl of ie cream with Papi! The boys were bouncing off the walls...but that's not too different than every day. Hope it is a somewhat peaceful weekend, but you never know with our family. :)

Clutter, Clutter Everywhere...

I made it a point this year to start to declutter my house.  Toys, clothes, shoes, things I haven't used in over a year is getting the boot.  Those of you who have been to our house know that we have WAY too many toys.  Trust me - this definitely applies to other areas of our house as well. 

It seemed unrealistic to get every thing extra out of our house, but I am trying!  :)  The problem now is that I have more visible clutter than when I started.  I have organized myself into piles on our dining room table...YIKES!  My list of things to do tomorrow (on my day off) includes putting the "decluttered" mess into bins for storage, donation or JBF (Just Between Friends).  Never hurts to make a little money while decluttering.  :) 

I highly recommend finding a JBF sale in your area for kids clothes and toys!  I have found a lot of clothes for the boys there and they have a 1/2 price sale day.  I bought a Janie and Jack top last year for Brynne for $1.75!!  Seriously, you cannot beat that deal.  One thing I have learned with JBF is to label the bins by season.  That way, I only have to get into those bins for each sale.  This Spring sale will be pretty small for me.  I have sold a bunch of the clothes Cy and Nolan have outgrown already!  Yay for me.  I am putting most of the money into our stash drawer so we can go to Sea World without having to pay anything out of the bank account.

I am definitely looking into organization tips and will share those as I find them helpful. 

Happy Thursday morning!! 

It's Only Wednesday?

So this is my new blog. Welcome to those who are now following me...oh wait, no one yet. So pretty much, I am just writing this for me! :) I am so super blessed to have such a wonderful family, even if they do make me crazy. Hence, the title of my blog. I am now BONKERS! But - what mom isn't?


My kids are everything to me! Right now, they are at daycare and school and I very much welcome the break. I can honestly say that my kids would not be as smart as they are if it wasn't for the wonderful teachers at our daycare. I am going nuts with potty training though! By 2 1/2, Nolan was completely potty trained and pretty much sleeping through the night without a pull-up. Cy, on the other hand, absolutely refuses to go to the potty. We have tried numerous methods...and still nothing. I have heard time and time again to just let him go when he is ready, but I have a hard time accepting that. I know I am probably just being stubborn, but he should at least be trying. He will actually refuse to go on the potty and then waits until he is in a pull-up to go! AAARGGGH - pulling my hair out! Brynne actually sat on the potty after bath time last night and she just turned 1. Is it true that boys are really that different than girls?


V-Day night was pretty calm - kids were in bed by 730 and I fell asleep at 830 on the couch. Super romantic...sorry Ben. :(


Off to lunch (running errands). Oh happy day!