My kids are always asking me about my blog and when do they get to type on it etc. So today I created their own blogs. They both loved them and are excited to create their first post.
Calvin's http://www.calvinbud.blogspot.com/
McKenna http://www.rosebudmckenna.blogspot.com/
Homework and then a piano practice for their recital tonight is on their agenda next.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Last day at Legacy
So Friday, May 9th was my last day at Legacy Traditional Charter School. Will & I decided to go ahead and submit my notice after I found out that the insurance benefits would be over $800 per month and would take a huge portion of my wages along with the long hours being required. It was difficult because I really grew to like all of the people there! To be honest I've never worked with a nicer group of people ever but overall it just wasn't worth it for us.
Today my list is about a mile long from laundry, cleaning to helping Will with real estate stuff and I'm so excited to get going on it. First I had to pay some bills online which led me to my blog of course. ha ha
Hope you all had a nice Mother's Day! I certainly did.
Today my list is about a mile long from laundry, cleaning to helping Will with real estate stuff and I'm so excited to get going on it. First I had to pay some bills online which led me to my blog of course. ha ha
Hope you all had a nice Mother's Day! I certainly did.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Happy Mother's Day 2008
I would like to pay tribute to just a few special Mother's in my life....
My beautiful Mom....Sherri (March 2008)
My Great Grandparents on my Mom's side my Great Grandmother, Ruth Crandell was a special lady and I really enjoyed spending a lot of time with her the last two years of her life...she taught me many valuable lessons.
This is one of my most favorite ladies in the entire world....my Grandma Glenna Crandell Hathcock Devine. She's my Mom's Mother. She is an extrodinary woman and the best Grandma anyone could ever have. I love her very very much!!!
My beautiful Mom....I could go on and on about her. She is the best Mom ever and I am so extremely blessed to have her as my Mother. She is beautiful inside and out. She is always there for me. She is a wonderful Grammy to my children and both McKenna & Calvin love her dearly. She calls us usually every couple of days and always bakes us great treats! We miss her constantly.
This is my Grandma Myrtle Gilliam and my grandpa Bob at her side just last month. She is my Dad's Mom and although I don't see her often I have appreciated her recent efforts to be more involved in our lives and expresses sincere love.
This is Maggie Fitzgerald....Will's Mom and she is holding our nephew Jarom. She gave birth to one of the best guys in the world, my husband Will. I can never thank her enough for that alone! We love all love her very much!
This is Carole Wright...Will's step Mom along with his Dad Mike, our nephew Jarom and niece Mailey. Carole is a wonderful lady and has always had a special place in my heart. She is super fun too.
Dancing Mamas....need I say more? Maggie has taught all of us a dance or two and so has the lady next to her Janie who is my sister in law Julie Wright's Mom.
My pretty Grandma Glenna....one of the best role models I've ever had! I admire her so very much!
My beautiful Mom....Sherri (March 2008)My Great Grandparents on my Mom's side my Great Grandmother, Ruth Crandell was a special lady and I really enjoyed spending a lot of time with her the last two years of her life...she taught me many valuable lessons.
This is one of my most favorite ladies in the entire world....my Grandma Glenna Crandell Hathcock Devine. She's my Mom's Mother. She is an extrodinary woman and the best Grandma anyone could ever have. I love her very very much!!!
My beautiful Mom....I could go on and on about her. She is the best Mom ever and I am so extremely blessed to have her as my Mother. She is beautiful inside and out. She is always there for me. She is a wonderful Grammy to my children and both McKenna & Calvin love her dearly. She calls us usually every couple of days and always bakes us great treats! We miss her constantly.
This is my Grandma Myrtle Gilliam and my grandpa Bob at her side just last month. She is my Dad's Mom and although I don't see her often I have appreciated her recent efforts to be more involved in our lives and expresses sincere love. 
This is Maggie Fitzgerald....Will's Mom and she is holding our nephew Jarom. She gave birth to one of the best guys in the world, my husband Will. I can never thank her enough for that alone! We love all love her very much!
This is Carole Wright...Will's step Mom along with his Dad Mike, our nephew Jarom and niece Mailey. Carole is a wonderful lady and has always had a special place in my heart. She is super fun too. 
Dancing Mamas....need I say more? Maggie has taught all of us a dance or two and so has the lady next to her Janie who is my sister in law Julie Wright's Mom. 
My pretty Grandma Glenna....one of the best role models I've ever had! I admire her so very much! 
And this is Sheri Gilliam....a very special Mother....she's the one on the right...Anna is her pretty daughter on the left....Sheri was my step Mom for about 11 years and to be honest even though her and my Dad divorced she has always remained my step Mom and very close to us. She has been a good Grandma to my children and is one of the nicest most genuine ladies I've ever met.
Nana.... or otherwise known as Dona Prosser is Will's Grandmother. She is Maggie's Mom and a neat lady. She is a great example of a hard working and determined lady. We are glad to see her smiling face every chance we get.
We can't pay tribute to these Mother's without Maggie having some dogs in the picture. Maggie is just not Maggie or Mimi without dogs in her life. We love them too!
Of course there are lots of other ladies out there that are wonderful Mother's and have made a special impact in our lives and I wish them all a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! I just wanted to pay tribute to the ladies that (my husband and I) have Mothered us in some way or the other and let them know how very much we love them and appreciate them. So Great Grandma Crandell, Grandma Glenna, Grandma Myrtle, Sheri, Nana, Maggie, Nana and Mom....Happy Mother's Day!
Mother Dear I love you so very much! I miss you so much and wish you were here with me to give you a big hug. You are always there when I need you. You have given me so much and continue to help me through life. I love and admire more than you will ever know!
Being a Mom is one of the hardest, yet most wonderful & rewarding things we as women could ever experience and I'm so thankful to be one myself, especially when I had several doctors tell me I wouldn't be. I want thank my Heavenly Father & Heavenly Mother for their love and for the opportunity of having these Mother's and to be a Mother! I feel so very blessed to have so many wonderful Mom's in my life! Happy Mother's Day!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Pictures of our House
Some of my family members have requested that I post these. We love our new house and although we still have many projects it's coming along nicely in the 2 months we've been here. Some of these pictures are from March including this one of the front all of our these now have beautiful flowers everywhere.
We still have a lot of painting to do and decorating but it will come in due time. I'm not patient so of course I wanted it all done the day after we moved in. ha ha The paint you see was already done and with 20 plus foot ceilings in the living room those colors will stay. Although I love red we might tone the kitchen down a little to blend in with the rest of the colors...in our other house my kitchen was red so it's not that I don't like a red kitchen. :o) We absolutely love the house! I'll post some of the upstairs at a later date.
Monday, April 28, 2008
My Sister Brandy...
Yes I'm bragging! My little sister is amazing and I'm so proud of her! I've been meaning to brag for awhile on my blog about her and am just finally getting to it. :o) Brandy is my one and only sister who lives up in Utah along with my other favorite lady...our Mom. Actually they live across the street from each other and I'm the odd ball out down here in Arizona. They love the snow...I love the warm sun, but I love to visit them and miss them both very much.
Anyways, my sister has done many great things and continues such as she was in the U.S. Army for 8 years serving our country. She has been a writer, editor and reporter and now a co-host of a talk TV show that airs weekdays for 2.5 hours.
She works for the LDS church in many capacities such as: running a camera for various things including General Conferences, other live broadcasts, Temple dedications and concerts/plays; being a floor director; makeup artist to the General Authorities including Prophet Hinckley, President Monson, President Faust and other General Conference speakers; she has flown to Spain with the church; she has helped produce LDS films and has even been in a few herself along with other family members.
Brandy has her own video business called Inventory Video Specialist for home & business owners in case of a disaster. This was inspired by our own house burning down to the ground when I was 15 and she was 12 years old which was very devastating for our entire family. Check out her commerical for it at http://www.ivsutah.com/ it's pretty cool and I bet you can't recognize the actors!
Anyways, my sister has done many great things and continues such as she was in the U.S. Army for 8 years serving our country. She has been a writer, editor and reporter and now a co-host of a talk TV show that airs weekdays for 2.5 hours.
She works for the LDS church in many capacities such as: running a camera for various things including General Conferences, other live broadcasts, Temple dedications and concerts/plays; being a floor director; makeup artist to the General Authorities including Prophet Hinckley, President Monson, President Faust and other General Conference speakers; she has flown to Spain with the church; she has helped produce LDS films and has even been in a few herself along with other family members.
Brandy has her own video business called Inventory Video Specialist for home & business owners in case of a disaster. This was inspired by our own house burning down to the ground when I was 15 and she was 12 years old which was very devastating for our entire family. Check out her commerical for it at http://www.ivsutah.com/ it's pretty cool and I bet you can't recognize the actors!
Brandy has done a ton of charity work for homeless shelters, domestic abuse women shelters and so on. She has a big heart! I've probably forgot to list a million other things that I'm proud of her for because really there are so many. She definitely is a go-getter and always has been. Brandy has always been a hard worker even at an early age when money was tight and she needed braces she went and worked at a hotel at age 11 cleaning rooms earning $36 usually for 2 hours of fast paced hard work and saved it to pay for 1/2 of her braces. She was always looking for odd jobs to pull weeds or sell you rocks and was smart with her money usually saving it all. She's still very good with money and is one of the smartest bargain shoppers I've ever seen.
Brandy is the Mother of my two beautiful nieces Adia almost 6 & Kyah 1.5 yrs old and married to a wonderful hard working man named Tyson. I'm very proud to say that they were married in the Bountiful Temple and seem to compliment each other very well. I've seen Brandy emerge into a wonderful woman and a caring Mother & wife. Here's a cute Halloween 07 picture.
Brandy's newest accomplishment of being a co-host on television began last November but actually aired on TV in January 2008. I think she is doing an outstanding job and looks absolutely beautiful! 
She has worked for many TV stations and Associated Press, been in movies, interviewed hero's...but best of all I get to call Brandy my sister. I love ya sis!
I've put the picture that http://www.kjzz.com/ has on their website showing the KJZZ Cafe team and their clip about it below. Brandy you're awesome! Thanks for being a great role model to me and my children! She is living proof that if you put your mind to it you can do anything you want to!
KJZZ Cafe -
Hosted by: Danny Allen, Brandy Vega (my little sister), Steve Anderson and Andy Waits
Channel 14
Time: 6:30 am - 9:00 am
When: Monday-Friday
KJZZ Café is a time and place where viewers gather together to talk about the significant matters of the day with friends they find thoughtful and intelligent. The Café features three hosts that are grounded in the life experiences shared by most Utahans. As hosts, they will serve up news and issues with a hefty side of observation, analysis, and opinion. Much of that opinion will come from viewers, as the Café opens up its microphones in the studio, on the street, over the phone, and on the internet to serve as a voice for the community. KJZZ Café is dedicated to news and issues that are important, interesting, and inspiring; after all, not all legitimate news is bad news. KJZZ Café is “News Worth Talking About”.
News that is thoughtful, intelligently provocative, relevant, fair and balanced.
To view more of Brandy or clips of her on TV click on this link
http://www.kjzz.com/news/cafe/18148639.html?video=YHI&t=a
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Woe's of a Working Mom..what should I do?
This week has been interesting to say the least. I started working at Legacy Charter School on the 9th and none of us are used to it still. I thought it would be nice to work at the same school my children go to and had applied with the district but then this job at Legacy presented itself. I accepted it somewhat reluctantly because I honestly enjoy my freedom, being home when my kids are and like doing BPO's for Will; however we thought the kids can transfer to Legacy & be with me even more plus I'd be earning a little extra money & the biggest benefit would be health insurance. So, this week was my first full week and I'm amazed what can happen to a household in less than 5 days...
1. My house is a wreck even though Will has really stepped up in helping me especially in the mornings getting the kids ready for school...he has even helped around the house.
2. My kids have gone to bed late every night this week! So have I...averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night and I need 8.
3. I'm not keeping up with my calling like I should. Have been a bit stressed out & tired.
4. I've not read my scriptures all week!!!
5. The kids were 30 minutes late for piano lessons this week.
6. The toothfairy forgot McKenna TWO nights in a row! Poor Kenna!
7. I don't remember if I've made a home cooked meal in the past 8 days?? Thank goodness for frozen foods & fast food joints.
8. I haven't played with my kids in days and have been snappy with everyone.
9. We have weeds in the front yard.
10. The laundry well Calvin ran out of clean clothes and had to wear a church shirt to school!
11. Last night we were up til 9:30pm doing homework with McKenna! She had a major project that was due today that she hadn't even started so everyone ate tv dinners and I had 4 oreo's for dinner at 8pm!
12. Today at 1:30pm the school's nurse called me and said that Calvin had fallen down at recess and although they cleaned him up and got the majority of the bleeding to stop, that I needed to come and get him because he might need STITCHES near his elbow. So of course I felt bad leaving work especially being so new but my baby is my priority and rushed to the school. The whole way driving there the nurse's question of "how far away from home are you?" kept running through my mind. Even though I'm still here in Maricopa...I couldn't help but feel that I was so far away. So they showed me his wounds...both knees and his left elbow which was where the deep cut is. Their concern is that it is deep and full of sand & rocks. The main RN told me to go home and put him in the tub for 20 minutes to soak it and see if some of the rocks would fall out but in her opinion it was borderline for stitches. Calvin wasn't crying or anything they all told me how brave & strong he was (but I already knew that) :o) So we've soaked it, cleaned it, put medicated ointment on it and bandages. I think that I'll get Will's opinion before taking him to urgent care. It seems like your elbow would be a tough place to get stitches and might limit his mobility. I just feel like the worst Mom in the world today.
The good & bad - I went to work at the school thinking it would be the best thing for our family in the long run when the kids can go there next year but I am just having some second thoughts probably because it was my first week. I'm not sure I want them to transfer mostly because we are all totally happy with them at Maricopa Elementary a public school that is 0.5 miles from our house, the kids love it, Calvin's best friend is staying there, the bad about their current school is LICE - Kenna's class has lice all of the time is seems, their school doesn't score as high on tests but that's because they aren't an accelerated school they are public and have all types of children there, Will is so busy and having a hard time keeping up with real estate & BPO's and has been stressed so I feel bad for not helping him more, and I'm worried about them being behind since Legacy is a year ahead on each grade level - what if they can't keep up? - they are honor roll now but Legacy would be harder, Kenna doesn't deal well with change but she knows a lot of the girls there already from church, Legacy doesn't have their permanent campus yet for next year yet but it's mostly because of city permits etc. The money isn't enough to stay and the benefits are not starting until June but at least it's medical & dental & 401k etc, I have to work during the summer so that might interfer with our Utah trip but they said they would work with me not sure exactly how yet, the people seem to be very nice and they are working on everything that is a concern to me as a parent so maybe it would be worthwhile to transfer the kids?? Oh yes the teachers seem wonderful and I like the cirriculium but it would be totally different than what they are used to. I like that a lot of kids are LDS and that they will be expanding and will have a middle school. Still I've seen my house go from usually happy & clean & healthy & organized to a crazy, cranky, oreos for dinner and huge mess in only one week!
So really, How Far Away Am I ????????????????? What would you do in this situation...any suggestions???? Do you think I should hang in there and see how it plays out or am I sacrificing too much right now with my children, husband and house? Should I just stop complaining and suck it up & figure out a routine? Woe is me. hee hee (I almost feel silly posting this because my life could be so much harder and I truly am very blessed. So pipe in and give me your honest opinion please)
1. My house is a wreck even though Will has really stepped up in helping me especially in the mornings getting the kids ready for school...he has even helped around the house.
2. My kids have gone to bed late every night this week! So have I...averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night and I need 8.
3. I'm not keeping up with my calling like I should. Have been a bit stressed out & tired.
4. I've not read my scriptures all week!!!
5. The kids were 30 minutes late for piano lessons this week.
6. The toothfairy forgot McKenna TWO nights in a row! Poor Kenna!
7. I don't remember if I've made a home cooked meal in the past 8 days?? Thank goodness for frozen foods & fast food joints.
8. I haven't played with my kids in days and have been snappy with everyone.
9. We have weeds in the front yard.
10. The laundry well Calvin ran out of clean clothes and had to wear a church shirt to school!
11. Last night we were up til 9:30pm doing homework with McKenna! She had a major project that was due today that she hadn't even started so everyone ate tv dinners and I had 4 oreo's for dinner at 8pm!
12. Today at 1:30pm the school's nurse called me and said that Calvin had fallen down at recess and although they cleaned him up and got the majority of the bleeding to stop, that I needed to come and get him because he might need STITCHES near his elbow. So of course I felt bad leaving work especially being so new but my baby is my priority and rushed to the school. The whole way driving there the nurse's question of "how far away from home are you?" kept running through my mind. Even though I'm still here in Maricopa...I couldn't help but feel that I was so far away. So they showed me his wounds...both knees and his left elbow which was where the deep cut is. Their concern is that it is deep and full of sand & rocks. The main RN told me to go home and put him in the tub for 20 minutes to soak it and see if some of the rocks would fall out but in her opinion it was borderline for stitches. Calvin wasn't crying or anything they all told me how brave & strong he was (but I already knew that) :o) So we've soaked it, cleaned it, put medicated ointment on it and bandages. I think that I'll get Will's opinion before taking him to urgent care. It seems like your elbow would be a tough place to get stitches and might limit his mobility. I just feel like the worst Mom in the world today.
The good & bad - I went to work at the school thinking it would be the best thing for our family in the long run when the kids can go there next year but I am just having some second thoughts probably because it was my first week. I'm not sure I want them to transfer mostly because we are all totally happy with them at Maricopa Elementary a public school that is 0.5 miles from our house, the kids love it, Calvin's best friend is staying there, the bad about their current school is LICE - Kenna's class has lice all of the time is seems, their school doesn't score as high on tests but that's because they aren't an accelerated school they are public and have all types of children there, Will is so busy and having a hard time keeping up with real estate & BPO's and has been stressed so I feel bad for not helping him more, and I'm worried about them being behind since Legacy is a year ahead on each grade level - what if they can't keep up? - they are honor roll now but Legacy would be harder, Kenna doesn't deal well with change but she knows a lot of the girls there already from church, Legacy doesn't have their permanent campus yet for next year yet but it's mostly because of city permits etc. The money isn't enough to stay and the benefits are not starting until June but at least it's medical & dental & 401k etc, I have to work during the summer so that might interfer with our Utah trip but they said they would work with me not sure exactly how yet, the people seem to be very nice and they are working on everything that is a concern to me as a parent so maybe it would be worthwhile to transfer the kids?? Oh yes the teachers seem wonderful and I like the cirriculium but it would be totally different than what they are used to. I like that a lot of kids are LDS and that they will be expanding and will have a middle school. Still I've seen my house go from usually happy & clean & healthy & organized to a crazy, cranky, oreos for dinner and huge mess in only one week!
So really, How Far Away Am I ????????????????? What would you do in this situation...any suggestions???? Do you think I should hang in there and see how it plays out or am I sacrificing too much right now with my children, husband and house? Should I just stop complaining and suck it up & figure out a routine? Woe is me. hee hee (I almost feel silly posting this because my life could be so much harder and I truly am very blessed. So pipe in and give me your honest opinion please)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Back on track with Coupon Sense
Look at all of this food in my pantry! (not to mention my two freezers & frig) I've been doing Coupon Sense for about 2 years now and to be honest I've not been a faithful each week or each month for that matter. I don't seem to have the time or enjoy grocery shopping and especially do not enjoy cutting out coupons...but when I do it...it's more than worth my while. It's like being paid $50-60 per hour and that's a great hourly wage for anyone, right!?!
I racked in all kinds of FREE stuff today & was very excited: 
6 French's Mustard
6 Hormel Chili with beans
6 Tic Tac's
6 Suave Deoderant
6 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
Then I got lots of stuff for almost FREE:
Biscuits, Pillsbury Grands for $0.20
Potatoes, Betty Crocker for $0.30
Sport Drink, Gatorade 32oz for $0.50
Pretzels, Fry's 15oz for $0.50
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish for $0.50
Rice or Pasta, Knorr Lipton Sides for $0.50
Keebler Fudge Shoppe for $0.50
Hot Pockets Calzone for $0.50
Bread, Mamma Bella Garlic Bread or Garlic Toast for $0.50
Paper Towels, Scott Mega Roll for $0.75
Chips, Fritos or Cheetos for $1.00
Cream Cheese, Kraft Philadelphia for $1.00
Peanut Butter, Peter Pan for $1.00
Mamma Bella Garlic Bread Toast for $1.00
Granola Bars, Quaker Chewy for $1.00
I ended up saving $78.84 and spent $19.32 that is over 75% savings! Yippee!
To answer your questions - I would consider having a workshop where my director would come & explain Coupon Sense at my house and yes if you signed up under me I would get a free week I believe. I can dbl ck. :o)
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