My name is Stacey and I.....

well, let's just say I have plenty of issues!! I could write a book about all the things that I think are wrong with me, but I am not sure it would sell, so I will just ramble on this blog to empty my head out a bit! I would like to say that wouldn't take long, but.....

I am a big Disney fan. I have always loved Mickey Mouse. I haven't visited Disney World near as many times as I would have liked, but I will go every chance I get. I have gone more in the last few years (since my children were old enough to say they wanted to go back) than I did in my childhood years. I am kind of surprised that my husband continues to agree to go. I can't really tell if HE likes to go or if he likes to go because it makes me and the kids happy. Either way, he is the BEST!!! Truly more of a husband than I deserve! God is so good to me!

So, we went 2 times in 2009. In March, we went and we all started this Pin Trading hobby. More like pin buying, to me. I am obsessed with it! It is consuming me so much more than it should! We went back in September of 2009 and again I bought pins. We took the Disney cruise and Disney parks in March of this year - and SURPRISE! - again, we bought and traded for pins. I have joined forums, searched (ok, stalked) eBay, and http://www.pinpics.com/ until wee hours of the morning. I have made little pin monsters out of my children. My husband is much more selective and has much more self control than I do when it comes to this new hobby of mine. He is even going with me to Disney's Pin Trading Celebration in August! THREE WHOLE DAYS OF SPECIAL PIN TRADING AND BUYING!!! I just about cant wait! It is so bad that I am even having dreams about pin trading! Seriously, what is wrong with me??? Okay, don't answer that!

I follow Disney on Facebook and Twitter! Twitter is new to me and I am just now getting to know my way around it. My husband is teaching me!! He follows Kirstie Alley. Now, I am not sure how he came to choose to follow her, but she follows him, too. I decided to follow them also - you know to keep my eye on them! Anyway, she has some amazing energy! Her tweets exhaust me! She seems as bubbly as one person can be! Please, Kirstie, share the secret! If I had that kind of energy, I could conquer the laundry and house cleaning and still have time for pin collecting!

So, now tell me, do you collect and/or trade Disney pins or any other item that keeps you on edge??? Please, tell me I am not alone! PLEASE!!

Drop me a line or comment - and be nice! Until next time......

A Parent's Love

I first intended to write about the ache in my heart that is being caused by my daughter's own aching heart. Let me clarify. She is 9 and in the third grade. I think 3rd grade stinks! Especially for girls. Girls are mean! My daughter can be mean, too (I am not blind, deaf or dumb). However, she is struggling with friendships, feeling left out, feeling made fun of and unworthy. So, naturally, as her mother, my heart aches (actually is in agony) for her. I know it is a phase. I know it will pass. But, still, I ache.

Fast forward to this morning - Friday, April 2, 2010. Good Friday. As I was pondering over the trials of my child, I remembered that today signifies the ultimate heartache of a parent - our Father, God in Heaven! His ONLY son, born into the flesh so we - SINNERS - could receive forgiveness for which we have done nothing to deserve!

I CAN NOT imagine the intensity of heartache that God feels when we fail Him (as I do every day that I am alive). That He has already sacrificed His only son for ME - FOR YOU!! So that WE could live eternally in his awesome kingdom!

And I ask myself, after ALL that HE has done for ME, what am I doing for HIM? Wow! What a cold dose of reality! Because, you see, I am not perfect. And He loves me ANYWAY. Even though I am not always nice. I am not always faithful. I am not always loving. I am not always fruitful. Even though.....He still loves me. ME! And YOU!

Please remember that when, as parents, our hearts ache for our children, it pales in comparison to the ache that our Lord felt - and still feels - for us - HIS CHILDREN! He was crucified, AND RESURRECTED, for each of us and the gift of His love and eternal life is free - if you ask for it!

So, as I remember what this time of year signifies in my life, I will also trust in Jesus to take care of my child - who is also His child, because He knows her heart, her pain, her fears - and He can - and will - take those on for her (and me) because that is what a Father does!

Isaiah 53:5 - "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Until next time, May you be blessed.......

Famous Last Words - "I can do that!"

Okay. If you know me, then you know that I am a crafty kind of person. Now, hear me correctly. I didn't say I was good at it! For instance, I love to make scrapbooks, but if you opened one of them, you would not be impressed at all. I like to go to scrapbook retreats, but I don't like for people to look at what I am doing. I can judge myself harshly enough without their help, thank you very much! So, I like to buy scrapbook page kits. Some of the kits are so detailed, it takes me an hour to put them together, so I feel like I did something. It just wasn't my creativity - I bought it!

Then there is the occasion where I will see an item in a gift store or online and my jaw will drop at the price and this is when I say "I can do that!". ha! Let me show you some of the things that "I can do!" Don't laugh!

I saw (and bought) this:



OH I CAN DO THAT.......





Yep! Didn't work!


I saw this:



And, again, I said - "Oh, I can do that!" And this is what I got:



Getting closer!!! Not too bad. So I proceeded to make about 40 of these as gifts to some of my closest friends for Christmas.



I saw this Christmas Advent Calendar:




I wanted to make some for my children and this is what they got:




Now, I have to say that I am pretty happy with how they turned out. And it was tons of fun filling the tins up and then seeing their excitement each morning. I found a lady who makes the teeniest nativity scenes and put one in the #1 tin since that was the one they opened on Christmas Eve. I was surprised at how much they loved them!

There is a local gift shop where I live called The Spotted Zebra. I love that store! I spend money in that store! I love the owners and I try to go in once a week to see what is new. But I was in there recently and I saw this piece of tin cut into the shape of a heart and painted with polka dots. Something you would hang on your door. I really like them, but they are $25 and since Valentine's Day isn't a HUGE holiday at my house, I just couldn't see spending the money. So, I said to myself (nope, not what you think!) "Surely, I can make something comparable for less than $25." And this is what I got:



Now, I am happy with this project, too. It cost me about $6 and an hour of my time.

My "I can do that" attitude is not limited to home decor (using term loosely). I have made decorated glassware, dry erase boards and clipboards! When my children were small, I made shirts, pants, and bags. I bought an embroidery machine (you know, to save money - HA!). I made ribbon watch bands, ribbon belts and flip-flop buttons! You name it and I am willing to try it. My poor friends have even been the recipients of things I "could do". Thinking about it, I am sure they cringe at the sight of my gifts!!! My apologies to those of you who have suffered from my craftiness!

So, are you as talented as me??? I want to know! Tell me your story!

Until next time.....

January Lows...

I am not talking about the temperature, either. I am talking about my mood! You know the one. The staying in your PJs, watching TV movies all day, and not answering the phone mood! Only, for me, it has lasted WAY more than a day! The whole month has been dictated by this mood! Good thing the month is almost gone!

The thing that bothers me is that I don't know WHY I am in this mood. Could it be the crashing of 8 weeks worth of holiday madness?? I love Christmas! I love the music, the shopping, the crowds, the parties, the decorations - the fact that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior! I hate that we only celebrate it for such a short time! Could it be the fact that is has been cold, dreary and rainy here more than the sun has shone? Could it be that my children turn another year older on January 2nd and that in itself is enough to depress me for life! They grow up so fast!

Most people see January as a time of renewal! A time to start fresh! Set goals! Good thing I am not a New Year Resolution kind of person. I think I must have some Chinese in me. Their New Year is February 14th this year. That is more my speed. I might be able to muster up some energy by then and set some goals! Better yet, I am all for a Spring New Year. When the weather starts to warm and the new leaves form, grass gets green, flowers bloom - now THAT is a great time for resolutions!

I have friends who are also experiencing their January Lows. We call in a Funk. I would say we could all band together and start a movement for Joyful January, but I have enough on my plate and I have already said I can't seem to get out of my PJs!!

I guess everyone experiences something like this at some point, don't they? Do you? Is it in January? Is in some other time? Do you know what causes it? Well, speak up! Let me hear from you! I am always interested in your thoughts! Drop me a line.

Until next time....

Goodbye 2009

Goodbye 2009 – the good and the bad
I will remember ALL the times that we had
The birthdays in January where my kids turned 8
The snow in February in which the kids got to play
March brought Spring and longer days
April brought Easter – Christ arose from the grave!
May is the month we celebrated our Mothers
In June we gave thanks for our Fathers (miss you Daddy)
Fireworks in July to celebrate our freedom
The Dog Days of August – you just can’t beat ‘em!
September brought us a break from the summer heat
October brought Halloween celebrated up and down our street
Thanksgiving in November with turkey and all the trimmings
December we remember our Savior’s birth - so we could be forgiven!
Twelve months of our lives, in the blink of an eye
The good and the bad – Goodbye 2009!

Twas the week before Christmas....

and all through the house, there was still plenty to be done and the cat brought home a mouse! Well, really, it was a mole, but that would not have rhymed and I can't tell them apart anyway! All this to say that we are fairly new cat owners. We got two kittens at the first of June and I have enjoyed them way more than I thought I would! We already had two dogs and at the time, two hermit crabs (one has since passed on). So, when I say my house is a zoo - believe me people - it is NOT an exaggeration!!! We are like Noah's Ark, the animals come by twos!

The dogs, Bella and Lilly, so badly wanted these new tenants to like them. It was very interesting, to say the least. Once they all realized that no one was leaving, this happened:

GEEZ! What a life!

I also like the fact that cats can entertain themselves with the simplest stuff:

This is Boots. Having a blast in a bag from our Disney trip!

Wish our kids were that easy to please!!! However, our cat Oreo, has more expensive taste:

Not exactly the kind of mouse I thought they liked!

But again, I am loving these cats! They are so easy to take care of! After a few months of being totally inside cats, we started letting them outside during the day. They began to use the litterbox less and less and eventually we were able to get rid of it and now they go outside to do their business (and apparently hunt, too). I can tell the dogs are jealous, too. I remember seeing the movie Homeward Bound where the cat, Sassy, says "Cats rule and dogs drool!". I think she may have a point!!

I am an animal person. I do love them! I just never saw myself as a cat owner! Which brings us to the saying - "Never say never!". And don't tell my husband I told you this, but he loves them, too. He may not admit it, but I see him stopping to give those cats some attention and he talks to them, too!

I really can't see our house without pets. They are part of our family. I can't see my children growing up without knowing the companionship of pets and to be honest, I am a little leery of people who say they don't like animals. Makes me wonder what is wrong with THEM!!!

So, what about you? Have pets? What kind? Are they like family? Let me hear from you! Until next time....

My name is Stacey and I am a shopper...

I almost hate to admit this, but I do have a lot of shopping experience! I have shopped just about every where there is to shop from discount stores to outlet malls and from Department stores to Dolce and Gabbana. However, no matter where I am shopping, one thing seems the same. Some parents INSIST on taking their screaming children, tied down in a stroller, with them!

Why, oh why, if you do this, do you do it??? Please don't say that you do it because you don't have a choice. Because you do! Listen, I am a mother. I have taken mine shopping. I KNOW when enough is enough! Trust me! Please don't try to bribe them by taking them to the toy store! It will work for maybe 30 minutes and then you are back to square one. It isn't their fault. It is YOURS! Children need more rest than adults (well, most of them do). They don't have the stamina nor the patience that adults are SUPPOSED to have either! Oh, and yelling at them? Hmm. Doesn't work either!

Fast approaching are the holidays. Crowds, lines, shoving, pushing - all done by adults. Please don't put your child into that! That is like sticking them out in rush hour traffic and telling them to cross the road without getting hit! Not gonna happen, people!

If you MUST take your small child out, please respect your child's time limit. When your child starts crying uncontrollably, call it a day. Go home, get some rest and try again another time. Or better yet, get a sitter. Take turns with a friend keeping each others children for a couple of hours so you can get the shopping done. Believe it or not, you will be in a better mood and so will your child!

AND SO WILL I!!

Until next time.....