Forget-Me-Not Friday

I found this link from Mrs Cox's Slice o' Heaven and thought I would join in!

The original link comes from Coffee With The Mrs. Who of course I just added to my reader along with Mrs. Cox! She has a super cute logo for this but I am not great yet with adding pictures unless you give me the little link box under it!

So here is the deal:
The saying goes, "You learn something new every day." Sometimes, the lessons we learn or the stories we live out are worth jotting down so we never forget.
Forget-Me-Not Friday is a place to share one special moment from your week. Post that moment on your blog and leave your link on Coffee With The Mrs. page.

For the first time ever, my kiddo's got to go outside and play in the snow! Not because we haven't had snow (we are in Colorado) but we just have never gotten to it and had the snow gear to do it.

We chose to do it last Saturday after I promised. The day turned out to be frigid with the high temperature being 11. The kids had a great time and I got to watch snow angels, brushing off the tables and siblings. Of course we had hot chocolate afterwards.

This is my Forget me not of the week.

Coffee Mrs. Thanks for the opportunity to remember this great day!

LT

Focus Friday

Thanks to Thrifty and Chic Mom for sponsering focus friday! Here is the link:




Update:

1. Smoking is somewhat better but not at half like I want, so it goes back on the list.


2. Commenting on blogs, this is a score! I wanted to do 14 for the week and I did at least that! The cool thing is I actually got some e-mail from people that I commented on their blogs...too cool. Funny, I got less comments on my blog this week!


3. Reading my magazines = Fail. Not even one, I did finish my book though, does that count?


4. Charter school application = Fail. I will take it by the school on Monday. I did carry it around with me for 2 days.


5. Tires rotated nope, but not the first priority.


6. Dentist appointment - Yes, on Friday so wish me luck! I haven't been in a long time.

So that leaves this week:

1. So smoking is a given. Reaslistically lest shoot for 3 days out of 7 for smoking half.


2. Charter school application - If this is on the list next week tell me I am bad for not getting it done.


3. Call two preschools to set up appointments to see them. My daughter needs to be in a structured preschool. We have an awesome Daycare but she is out growing it.


4. Magazines - Yes, lets shoot for reading 2 this week. This means that I have to put my books down until I get it done!


5. Convert the boy's crib to a toddler bed. It is so past time to do this and he will enjoy it so much! I just have to take the one side off as the crib converts to a toddler bed with the one small side.


6. Sort out the to buckets. I try to do this at least once every 2 months. Here is the before picture.

So, I guess that is enough for this week! Look for my comments on your blogs, as I plan to keep doing that this week too.

10 Things I am Thankful For

I have been wanting to do this post for a while now so, no time like the present.

Of course I am thankful for my family, that goes without saying so they will not be in the list but here they are anyway!

1. I am thankful that I have a job. I have a good job too, at least in my eyes. I have health insurance that is less than my husband can carry us for, I have a flex plan for our daycare and our health needs, and I have paid days off and holidays. Yes, in todays economy I am lucky indeed!


2. My husband has a job. May be redundent with number one but without 2 of us working we would not make it, trust me I know, we have been there. So while we are on the subject of jobs I just have to practice my linky love and refer you to Good Father, everytime he posts I hope it is to say he has a job! Try Good Father! You will like him, at first I was like what does a dad know about blogging, but alot of the blogs I read kept referring me to him and so I finally gave in and added him to my reader, so glad I did.


3. I am so thankful for my daycare provider I can't even express it here. My daughter has been with her since she was 3 months old (she is now 4 1/2). We would so not make it without her.


4. I am thankful that my children still have one living grandparent. Grammy, my mom. I know that 4 take away 3 is one, but one is better than none! Here you go:


5. I am thankful for the bikers. Someday I will explain this when I can actually scan pictures and show you. This group of men and women have been our lifeline for more years than I care to count. Births, deaths and flat out good times, I love you guys!


6. I have been very thankful this week that we can afford to pay our gas bill. It has been in the negative numbers at night for most of the week and I have thought this to myself many times this week! (It is negative 6 as I type this).


7. I am thankful for the internet. It have given me many things, the first was my birth mom. Yes that leads to adoption, of which I was adopted by my wonderful parents when I was 3 months old. The internet has also given me and income when I needed it through ebay, this wonderfull connection of blogging, and quick access to my bank and bill paying.


8. I am thankful we came home to the small city we live in. We started here, left for 7 years and then came "home". I think despite the fact that our family is in the big city to the south of us (only 1 hour away) we made the right decision of where to raise our kids.


9. I am thankful for the people that have touched are lives that are gone now: My Dad, My Husband's Dad, My Husband's mom, Doug "the biker", Jon, Steph, Jan. We miss you and think of you often!


10. I am thankful that this format blogger uses is not what I have to deal with on a daily basis! I keep looking for my Microsoft Word edits, so I guess that means I am thankful for Bill Gates??? Oh No Help me someone!

LT

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Me: Cutie Bug, should I put you up on the Blog this week?

Cutie Bug (with a look of concern): No, no Momma, I might fall down!

The uncle B look! T-shirt with sleeves cut off and our super cool derby hat!

Blogging!!!

Oh my gosh! Can I just say how cool this blogging thing is?
I just got my first follower!!! How cool is that??
Come on you all, you remember what it was like to get the first one?
Since it is a person who has an Etsy site I just have to link to her!!
Here she it:

woof purr creations

I found her through The Funky Monkey

Who always has great giveaways! Maybe I will feature a few tommorow (but I am not promising anything!)

Since Woof Purr (Kim) brought up the subject of Pets I may as well run with it!

We currently have just one dog. He is Ti. Theisen to use proper names! This picture doesn't do him justice but I just spent like 20 minutes trying to find a picture of him and I have nothing digital!! I have tons of dog pictures but they are all well...pictures, like actual snapshots with negatives! So I just snapped this. He is about 10 and is a Border Collie/German Shepard Mix. My daughter says he is "Her" dog but really he is mine!









We have always been dog people, have lost 3 in the last 10 years. The following photo is my daughter about 3 years ago sitting (yes sitting) on our dog Akita, he was a rescue from our local Human Society. He was a Lab/Rot mix and the best kid dog ever! I sure do miss him.









So now you know we are dog people, will probably adopt one in the next 2 years.
Thanks Kim for bringing up the pet subject and we will see you all soon!
LT

Focus Friday

Wow, is it Friday already?



Update from last Friday:

1. The eating bettter went well...better. I made a conscious effort to buy better dinners so we all could eat better. My husband weighed in actually at 6 pound less for the week and that put him in second place for the weight loss program he is doing at work. His theory is simple, fewer calories. I hope in the next month we can find some time to sneek in some exercise too.
2. Smoking, well sufice it to say this is going back on the list this week. Maybe 3 days out of 7 I hit the goal, that would work for this week and add a day!
3. Blogging went better too! I did miss the Saturday links I wanted to do but I did manage a post on Tuesday and joined a wordless Wednesday, also here we are on Friday, Yea!

Goals for this week, I think I am going to keep it simple however when I look around my house I keep adding "simple" things to my list!

1. First up goes the somking
2. Next is blogging, not me especailly but I want to write at least 2 comments a day on someone else's blog (or 14 for the week). I think it's time that I let people know I am there and that they touch me on a daily basis. These comments have to be over and above the endless giveaways I comment on.
3. This one may sound silly but I want to get through 3 of my magazines this week. In the past I searched alot of sites for freebies, and found them (samples mostly). In the course of this I ended up with free subscriptions to about 10 magazines a month! Needless to say I now have piles of magazines all over my house that are unread.
4. I will get my daughters application to a charter school turned in
5. I will get my tires rotated
6. I wil make a dentist appointment for me

Thank you to the people that read and commented on my blog last time. I did have time to read some of your and plan on commenting on some tommorow. Have a great week everyone!

LT

Wordless Wednesday

Yep, she's a woman.

LT

Full of Words Tuesday

I wish I knew the name of the artist who drew this, so that I could give proper credit, however I don't. I can tell you who's blog I got it off of.

Seeing Small

Have you ever hit the small button on the top of your Blogger Blog that says "Next Blog"? Well, that is how I found Curt Smith photography. (Please be careful if you do this, as it is also how I got the spyware I couldn't get rid of). I have probably been following him for close to a year. His photos are outstanding if you are into that sort of thing. I would post some here but I don't have permission, in fact someday I should probably tell him I am following his blog...maybe next Focus Friday.

Today was inauguration day. Today was also my 40th birthday. A historical event in 2 ways for me. The above picture in some ways does say it all. I Can't tell you what it means to me to have a president of a different race inaugurated into the office today. I see great things for the next generation, my children being 2 of them. You see, my children are biracial. Officially they are Mexican-American. I am White, my husband is Mexican American. My husband is full blooded Mexican if you are allowed to use that term. His parents spoke Spanish and then English. They both passed away before they were able to give my children the gift of being bilingual, this is one thing in my life I wish I could change. I hope in 4 years, then in 8 years, then in 60 years my children have even a small understating of what today meant in American History.

This was not meant to be a political post, sorry for it becoming that in many ways. So, yes every 4 years the country inaugurates a president on my birthday. This year it was a big one but I have to say I so don't feel 40. Twenty-five maybe, but 40 no.

Focus Friday you say? Well The eating better was easy to do, I just started paying attention to what I buy and we have done well. The scale at hubby's work says down 5 pounds. He also pointed out that he was also down one pair of heavy shoes and about 3 layers of clothing (We are in Colorado, so some weeks you need 4 layers and some weeks you need one).
Smoking sucks! Sunday was way better, I hit my goal! Monday and Tuesday were about average. I still have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to go so wish me luck.
Blogging? Well, I never did have time on Saturday to do the giveaway post. This will be my biggest challenge as it takes so much time to link! I have the basic HTML knowledge to do it but I sure with there was an easier way....Anyone?? However, here is the post for Tuesday and when I am done, I plan on getting Wordless Wednesday already to go.
So there you have it, the update post for Tuesday. How about 4 facts? O.K.

1. 2 things I want to blog about are: What I have learned from other bloggers (Yes, this will take alot of Linky time). And 10 things I am thankful for.


2. I will now give you a link to one of my favorite bloggers just to practice. Pioneer Woman she rocks! She has like 4 blogs in one and I have to follow all 4 of them in reader because I don't know how else to do it.


3. I was married on May 20th so my husband could just think of the month and the 20th and see if there was an important day he needed to remember.


4. I love posting picture of the kiddos so here:

1. This is my mom and dad and daughter and son. I love love love this picture because of the way my dad is looking at my son. We lost my Dad to Non Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL) Cancer in May. That is a story for many other days.

So... With this picture and the one above I say see you all soon!! Thanks for tuning in!

LT

Focus Friday

So...I have to say that if you get a huge outbreak of Spyware on your computer it does become hard to blog! I decided at t he beginning of the year to blog and what happens??? I get spyware. It was so bad I had to reformat the entire Hard drive. The good news is that I did get a chance to save my pictures to a zip drive. Of course before this occured I didn't even know what a zip drive was......but I do now! and they are all safe! So you want to see one? Well I know that the last me me I saw was picture number 6 in my file so here it is:

This is my Girl at 2 1/2. She is now 4 1/2. These pictures were done at Wal-Mart.

So on to the post title. focus Friday. One of my favorite bloggers threw down the challenge of Focus Friday. This would be Thrifty & Chic Mom. Here is her button assuming that it works right.

Mom says: To participate in Focus Friday all you need to do is write a post on your blog what you will be focusing on in the coming week. I don't have an update from last week because this is my first.
So my focus occurs in 3 parts:

1. Try to eat healthier. My hubby joined the biggest looser contest at work so I will focus on trying to make healthier choices while I am at the grocery store.
2. Trying to cut my smoking in half. Yes, you may send me all the negative comments you want. I KNOW I should not be smoking, maybe you don't know how hard it is to quit. I currently smoke a pack a day. I would like to start by cutting this in half. A start is better than nothing so please support me instead of criticizing me!
3. The last is I hope to blog at least 3 times this week. I know (sorry I just lost my train of thought while I was making sure I spelled criticizing right) I can do this, my goal is Saturday's I do giveaway links, Tuesday (hubby's bowling night) I do a general update of life. And then I just have to add one more day right? I can do it. I will not count the fact that I want to do a Wordless Wednesday too.

So there is no number 4, if anyone actually does read this blog let me know what else you want to know about me. Here are 4 facts to get you started: (Oh my Gosh, if you get interrupted 3 times you totally lose your train of thought!)

1. I am an Advanced Age Mom (I, know there is some sort of cute acronym for this but I can't think of it now!) I will be 40 next week.
2. I work for the government. In what cute compacity you say?? I am an administrative specialist for a Colorado Transit agency. (Nice title huh?)
3. I didn't really want to have a child when I did, but if you skip the Nuva Ring for 3 weeks it can happen (I am really glad it did).
4. I have been to Sturgis South Dakota during bike week 9 times. (You think that is something my husband has been 18 years!)

So there you go with my post of the week. I hope I can figure out how to link to Thrifty Mom!

More Great Giveways

Feisty Frugal and Fabulous Is giving away Soap Nuts! Ends January 17

Feisty Frugal and Fabulous Is giving away TinyBigs today! Ends January 16

Feisty Frugal and Fabulous Is giving away LemonHead products! 3 bandeez and 3 clipeez (color and style of the winner's choice) Ends January 16

Feisty Frugal and Fabulous Is giving away a $25 gift certificate to the Cricket & Monkey Ends January 14


Jamie's Precious Peas Has Disney feature running from Jan 1-14 to celebrate: Disney: What will you celebrate? Here are some awesome giveaways from her.
Jamie's Precious Peas Is giving away an Elizabeth's Attic tote bag of your choice! Ends January 21

Jamie's Precious Peas Is giving away a picture frame of choice from The Innovative Life. Ends January 21

Jamie's Precious Peas Is giving away a darling Minnie Outfit of your choice from Snuggle Bug Baby Boutique. Ends January 17

Hope you enjoy the giveaways!

LT

Giveaways

O.K. Here it is, my first list of giveaways from 2 of my favorite Bloggers. More to come later!

The Funky Monkey Is giving away a Handy Hold All from simply sarah Ends January 10th

The Funky Monkey Is giving away a set of Cap Trappers. Ends January 9th

The Funky Monkey Is giving away a set of hotSACKS Ends January 9th.

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls Is giving away a sampling of products from Eco-me! "Eco-Me specializes in 100% natural do-it-yourself kits that are good for you and the environment, too. Ends January 9th

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls Is giving away a fun mom tee from Promom Couture Ends January 8th

Don't forget to check out the great giveaways from 2 of my other favorites:

Jamie's Precious Peas

and

Barefoot Mommies

LT

Re-Introduction

So, just because you intend to blog doesn't mean you actually will. I did intend to start blogging and I didn't, do you know why? Because I got stuck reading other peoples blogs! As you can see by the list on the right side, I follow just a few! Sadly this list doesn't include everybody I read but I didn't want the list to run 3 or 4 page lenghts.....

I do have to thank one blogger for introducing me to the concept of Google Reader. If you haven't tried it you should! I used to have a seperate bookmark for each blog until I started reading Twas Brillig . Brillig has an awesome story, she is actually one of those people that I went back for and read every single blog entry she ever wrote, seriously I did. Usually I don't do that, when I find a new blog to follow I usually just look over the last 10 entries or so and then keep up from there. Brillig is very tallented writer just try her and see.

So what is coming for me? O.K. I don't usually do New Year's resolutions but I would like to keep up on my blog writing. What will it be? Well, I just jumped into the giveaway world (please check out my left sidebar for the buttons I follow the most). So I will be blogging about current giveaways as well as my own family. Here is my Cutie Bug and my Angel, now 4 1/2 and 2 1/2.
So stay tuned!!!

LT