Never Doubt the Power of Prayer

He had a better day, I know all the prayers are being heard. Keep it up everyone! (Please click on his picture to read Stellan's story)

LT

Take Me Back Tuesday

A new meme Yea! If it wern't for memes I probably wouldn't blog (o.k. I would but it wouldn't be as much fun). You must vist A Giveaway Addicted Mommy to join in on this fabulous fun! So...here is my problem. My "wonderful" printer/scanner/fax machine is broken, So I cannot scan anything I have that is older. I know you are sorry, you were all looking forward to seeing me when I was a kid, well you will just have to continue waiting (plus I have to find my old photos, I may have to hit my mother up for some of those as well). The good news is that I have a lot of old photos lurking around the house of my hubby's childhood. Boy will he be thrilled to know he is feeding my new blog addiction.
So without further ado, I give you the oldest picture in my folders, and guess what it is a scan! By the way Kari, this wasn't supposed to be a wordless post was it? If it was I sure didn't do so good. Happy Tuesday!

Daddy and his "Angel" about 10 minutes old. She will be 5 in 3 weeks by the way.

LT

Not Me Monday - Stellan

Welcome to my first not me Monday. I don't quite know what to title this post, so I will go with what I have seen around the blogosphere today. If you are not familar with Not Me Monday or with Stellan's story please visit MckMama at My charming Kids

Today I so did not finally read Stellan's story.

Then I did not sit at my desk at work with tears running down my face. The next thing I did not do was bow my head in silent prayer for this beautiful little boy and the very strong family that stands behind him.

The next thing I did not do was bow my head in silent prayer and thanks that my own beautiful children are healthy and happy.

I also did not sit at my desk and log on to twitter, and then hit refresh until I knew how Stellan had fared today.

I also did not sit and think about how I can tell my children about Stellan's fight and how we could find a way to pray for him and spell his name out for a picture. The next thing I did not do (still at my work desk mind you) was look at every single picture in Stellan's Name Gallery

I still have so not been thinking about this beautiful little boy and his family and praying for them all day. Please join me with your own prayer.

LT

Quotable Sunday ~Kindness

Today's quotes feature kindness. It seems I am always telling my children to be kind to one another. This is a phrase I picked up from a gentleman I work with who always describes others as kind.

For more quotes visit A Daily Dose of Toni

~Kindness~

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop's Fables

Carry out a random act of kindness... someone somewhere might do the same for you. ~ Princess Diana

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. ~Mother Teresa

In this world, you must be a bit too kind to be kind enough. ~ Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux

The little unremembered acts of kindness and love are the best parts of a person's life. ~ William Wordsworth

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much. ~Blaise Pascal



The kindness we extend to others in our hour of weakness will return to us at the time we most need. ~ Harriet Johns

Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar. ~ Bradley Miller

Happy Sunday everyone!

LT

Great things to win!

The Dirty Shirt. Is giving away MY VERY FIRST TREASURY OF 50 STORYBOOK CLASSICS: PRESCHOOL STORIES. I have had my eye on these since Christmas time!

Jamie's Precious Peas Is giving away a EarthLust water bottle. These are so pretty, I have been "lusting" after these for some time.

Jamie's Precious Peas Is giving away a Envirosax® Reusable shopping bag! These are way to cute to use only for grocery shopping though!

Jamie's Precious Peas is giving away a pair of shoes from the See Kai Run or Smaller line. I will win a pair of these someday!! Ends April 12th.

Rockin Mama Is giving away an Elmo Being Green DVD! This would be a great learning experience for my kiddos!

Mom Fuse is giving away a super cool T-shirt from 2K by Gingham

Focus Friday

Please visit Ellen from Thrifty & Chic Mom To join in on Focus Friday!

From last week: Got the bathrooms and bedrooms done, of course now we are back to needing to clean the rest of the house! Oh well, cleaning has never been my strong suit. It is the thing that tends to get pushed to the back burner when I run out of time.
Good news, I did take more pictures! I am trying to remember to grab the camera when we go places and grab it more at home too.
Bad news, the phone lists and table under the phone are still not done!

This week:

1. Phone lists on the cork board, clean up the counter under the phone and get and cards with Daycare numbers and locations done (getting tired of seeing this one? I am)


2. Get some pictures printed out. I have photo albums and am very behind on printing actual pictures out. Sad because I have like 80 credits at Snapfish. Also found from one of my thrifty bloggers (sorry don't remember who!) 50 Free prints from Photoworks (valid until March 31st). How many I get done will also depend on the budget this week

Here are some photos take from this week, sadly this backyard now has a foot of snow on it and the bare legs have once again been put into jeans:

Want to win shoes

I will eventually win a pair of shoes from Eleven! Check out Therapeutic Reviews & Giveaways for a chance here.

Wordless Wednesday - Spring!

Random Thoughts Sunday

Oh wait! That's a Tuesday MeMe isn't it. Well today, you get them on Sunday!

Since I decided I should blog on something not related to anyone's MeMe, here you go. While I love the MeMe's I guess someday I have to take responsiblity for my own blog. I can tell you that if you get a "real post" chances are the posts are going to be short! With working full time, mothering full time and entering giveaways full time, I just don't seem to have time for "real" blogging, but I have decided to give it a shot.

Speaking of entering giveaways I just have to tell Google: Thanks a whole lot for crapping out on me on Saturday morning. What was with the can't leave comments, post or anything else gig on Saturday? No I am not spreading Spam, I am trying to enter giveaways! You have now put me behind about 90 posts in my Google Reader! I keep looking at my reader and silently telling my bloggers that I follow "Stop Posting"! I am never getting caught up!

So Focus Friday I said I was going to take more pictures so I will end this nice short post with pictures of my kids (what else right) I took today! It was almost 80 here, and we had so much fun being outside!

P.S. Happy Sunday.

LT

too cool for words!

I do not have sand in my hair mom!

Quotable Sunday ~Lao Tzu

I have always aprreciated quotes from the philosopher Lao Tzu. This Father of Taoism taught that to be truly alive you must first be.

To see more great Sunday quotes visit A Daily Dose of Toni.

~Lao Tzu~

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step (My highschool yearbook quote)

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

Have a great Sunday everyone!
LT

Focus Friday

Please visit Ellen from Thrifty & Chic Mom To join in on Focus Friday!

Last week found us watching my son's eyes for drifting. I have to ask, how often do you really look your kids in the eyes? My son is almost 3 and very busy, so when you talk to him he is usually moving! This week we started the phrase (put nicely by the way) "Cutie Bug, look at me". So here is the bad news, his eyes do not often track together! The farther away you are the more his left one drifts, closer is better for him. Being outside in the sun makes it worse too. Just not the outcome I wanted but at least now we know how bad it is.

Work on my daughters writing of ABC and name - She is getting better quickly! We will do more this week.

Cleaning and organizing - um, not so much, but now I have someting to work on this week!

Pictures - a few, I will keep this up.

Springtime in Colorado Yea! This little car is the love of my son's life, the kids are so glad to be able to go outside! And no, our eyes are not tracking.

This week:

1. And starring for the 3rd week in a row: Organize my the phone list under my phone and put the cork boards up with the lists on them. Get wallet sized cards made of the daycare phone numbers and locations done.


2. Clean bathrooms and bedrooms


3. More pictures

LT

Wordless Wednesday - Westward Ho!

One of the big highlights from our vacation last September. These little Shetlands were so sweet, and the kids got to ride them for 10 whole minutes (with parents leading of course). They had a blast!

Quotable Sunday ~Strength

It has been my great privilege to know many strong women in my life, and I have "met" many more through this new bloggy world I have also entered. So today's Quotable Sunday focuses on Strength. To see more great Sunday quotes visit A Daily Dose of Toni.

~Strength~

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength. ~Michael Jordan

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time ~ Anna Freud

To discover a weakness is the beginning of strength. When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe



A woman is like a tea bag--you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. ~ Nancy Reagan

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

Focus Friday

Please visit Ellen from Thrifty & Chic Mom To join in on Focus Friday!

Last week, pretty good! Vacuming done, and bathrooms just need the floors done. Found the table next to the front door (yea!), took the film in for developing and got 2 blog posts done (Wordless Wednesday counts right?)

Estes Park, this was the deck on our Cabin that was literally about 3 feet from the river! We are so going back this year.

This week:

1. Watch my son's eyes so we can let the doctor know realistically how often they are drifting. We have a follow up appointment in 2 months to decide how to procede with his treatment but must first get a better handle on how often his eyes are really doing this.
2. Work with my daughter on writing her ABC's and her name
3. Organize my the phone list under my phone and put the cork boards up with the lists on them. Along with this goes: Get wallet sized cards made of the daycare phone numbers and locations done. Didn't get this done partly because I broke my printer, that of course I just put ink into, so the phone lists may have to be hand written.
4. Finish up bathrooms, tidy up the 3 bedrooms including sheet changing
5. Take more pictures

Wordless Wednesday

After a visit to the eye doctor today, Cutie Bug has been confirmed as having Strabismus. In both eyes. If you look at this picture, it is very obvious in his left eye.

Techinical definition: Strabismus, more commonly known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed, is a vision condition in which a person can not align both eyes simultaneously under normal conditions. One or both of the eyes may turn in, out, up or down. An eye turn may be constant (when the eye turns all of the time) or intermittent (turning only some of the time, such as, under stressful conditions or when ill). Whether constant or intermittent, strabismus always requires appropriate evaluation and treatment. Children do not outgrow strabismus!

So now we watch and evaluate every few months, since we caught it early. Second step is patching, Third step is eye surgery. The doctor assures me that the surgery is quick and a last option. So wish us luck. I do have to say that while am obviously not thrilled with this outcome we are still very blessed with 2 very healthy, happy children. Compared to things other parents face on a daily basis we are very luck that this is all we are facing.

LT

Quotable Sunday ~Time

It's time again for Quotable Sunday. To Join in just visit A Daily Dose of Toni: Quotable Sunday 3/8/09

Did everyone remember to Spring Forward? Today's quotes feature Time.

~Time~

For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. ~Doug Larson

You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. ~ Charles Buxton

Take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. ~ P. D. Stanhope

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child or a parent. ~Barbara Bush

Where does the time go? I look at my children every day and say "When did you get so big?" I think often of the song by Kenny Chesney, "Don't Blink" Life goes faster than you think. So true!


Happy Sunday everyone.

LT

Focus Friday (on Saturday again!)

Please visit Ellen from Thrifty & Chic Mom For for more information on Focus Friday (but I suggest you actually do it on a Friday instead of Saturday like me)

Last week found me putting up a list I knew I would not get done. Guess what? I didn't. Thats o.k though because I will just continue with this same list until all the stuff is done.

1. Foucs more on me and hubby, I think this one, while not completely done is still in the front of my mind all the time. My goal by putting this into my list was to accomplish just that. It was a way to remind me that besides my children, work and self I must remember that my husband gets a priority too, and no folks, it is not last. So I have to say I accomplished what I subconsciously set out to do.


2. Found the top of the printer (and the whole computer desk too!) I even took the before and after pictures.

That leaves for this week:

1. Organize my phone list under my phone and put the cork boards up with the lists on them. Along with this goes: Get wallet sized cards made of the daycare phone numbers and locations for us parents and aunt and uncle that are allowed to pick up the kids in case of emergency.
2. Clean both bathrooms and vacum this weekend.
3. Find the top of the table next to the door with all the junk mail collected on it.
4. Take pictures of the kids this week and develop the film from our vacation in September (yes really!) We forgot the digital camera and I had to buy a disposable that is still sitting on my somewhat cleaner kitchen island.
5. 2 blog posts this week. I plan on doing Quotable Sunday from A Daily Dose of Toni. If you haven't see it take a peek, it is very cool.!

Have a great week everyone! Next week I will try and get this done on Friday!!

LT

Quotable Sunday ~Family

Thank you to A Daily Dose of Toni for sponsering this Quotable Sunday!

~Family~

"Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet." ~ Vietnamese Proverb

No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished? ~Lee Iacocca

Total commitment to family and total commitment to career is possible, but fatiguing ~Muriel Fox (This is a good one for me to remember daily).

The goodness of the father reaches higher than a mountain;

that of the mother goes deeper than the ocean. ~ Japanese Proverb

This one is for the bikers:
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~ Jane Howard