Wow almost 3 months has passed by

It is amazing to me how time flies, almost like a blink of an eye!  Since I last wrote, I now have a "temporary" daughter.  Brian's brother's daughter is living with us.  She is pregnant and her mother kicked her out of the house. Brian's brother is disabled and unable to take care of her like she needs at this time.  Later on she does plan on moving in with him.  I am unsure how that will work out.  They are too much a like and tend to argue and then it becomes a very tense atmosphere, which will not be good at all for the baby.  Brian and I worry too, over her being so young, she is going to need a lot of help with the baby.  It will be a rude awakening for her, that is for sure.  She is due May 18th and our "temporary" custody is up the last part of June.  I keep praying that she will just stay here, but I think, in her mind, she wants to go live with dad because of her boyfriend.  He lets them be together on the weekends (which I DO NOT uphold) and so she of course loves that!  We have told her, if she and her boyfriend get married then we would turn our back porch into a room for them.  I know that is taking on more, but I would rather do that, then see something bad happen to her or the baby.
In September I took Logan out of public school and began homeschooling him once again.  He is doing well, but he does have his day just like any other kid.  I, personally, believe he does so much better with one on one, then with a classroom setting.  He is wanting me to continue schooling him, but Brian is tossed in his thinking.  I think we will wait and see how his testing goes before making the ultimate decision.  I also have been doing some pre-school with Isaiah.  I do tend on schooling him next year. I really love teaching my kids!  I love seeing them actually learning and to think "I" am the one that is teaching them.  It gives me great pleasure!!!  I would love to teach Zack as well, but he is pretty settled on public school.  He is a very smart kid.  He makes the "A/B" honor roll and we are very proud of him.
I have had several surgeries.  In October I had to have my appendix taken out along with a 4 cm cyst on my right ovary.  Then at the end of November I fell and broke my left leg.  I had to get a plate and 7 screws put in it.  Then in January I had to go back and have 2 of the screws taken back out.  My ankle hurts really bad.  It swells up like a big grapefruit all the way around.  When it swells that is when the pain gets bad.  I pray that this will soon go away!!
As of 3 days ago, I started watching my intake on food once again.  I did a calculation and according to what I weigh I need 2970 calories to stay at the weight I am.  Wowser!  I don't believe I eat that much at all!!!  I mean that is totally insane!  Anyway I am not doing any specific diet, just eating healthy.  No this is no resolution, this is life.  I have to do something for "me"!!  Well, it is for my family and God as well.  I want to live a life pleasing to God and live longer as well. I have been reading up on "HCG" drops.  I did buy the drops at Wal-mart for $12.36.  I am going to do the drops, but I am not going to follow the 500 calorie plan. I mean come on that is very low and sure I would lose eating hardly anything.  I just want to see if the drops do actually help keep the hunger pains away.   Here is a link to what Dr. Oz says about the "HCG" diet plan.  HCG diet plan review by Dr. Oz

Airing out DIRTY laundry

Growing up I was always taught not to air your dirty laundry to anyone.  Well I normally don't, but on occasion I will admit I have.  Sometimes I just need someone to talk to.... to listen to me.  Here lately I feel like I am taken for granted.  It is not just the Holiday rush of things, it is just ALL the time.  I know I am homemaker, and very proud to say that I am.  I am glad my husband is able to provide for us without me having to go out and work.  I am glad I could raise my children and not have a daycare do that for me.  I am honored to be a stay at home mom, but being at home DOES NOT mean that is all I do.  I don't sit around the house eating bonbons with my legs propped up reading the newest magazine.  I barely have time to sit let alone read!  Come on I have a 3 year old, who spins entire cicles around me!  I do more than take care of Isaiah.  I have laundry, sweeping, dusting, mopping, folding, ironing, grocery shopping, bill paying, account management, cooking, dish washing, dish drying, taxi cab driving, daycare provider, and my list could go on.   Now if I were to sit down and see what the annual salary were for these individuals..... well let's just do that, shall we?

Laundress: 57,000

House Cleaner: 20,000

Dish washer: 22,000

Accountant: around 31,000

Personal shopper: 30,000

Taxi driver: 20,000

Daycare provider: 16,000

Okay so my worth would be...... $196,000 per year!!!  So who wants to say I sit around all day eating bonbons and reading a magazine?  Well, they have not actually said that, but the implication is there!

The other day it made me think more and more along the taking advantage of lines.  It was my oldest sons birthday.  He turned 13, and I had cleaned the house.  If I know I am going to have company I clean it from top to bottom so to speak.  Well Logan's room needed some major attention, try 1 1/2 hrs of it!  Anyway Logan came home from school looked at his room and there was no thank you, no nothing.  I told Brian I cleaned it, and all he said was it is about time!  HELLO!!!  To me my boys are old enough to clean their own rooms.  They make the mess, they should clean it up!  Okay not only that, but dinner was running a bit on the late side, because my lovely 3 yr old decided to make some extra messes for me to have to clean.  Well there was a remark about I thought dinner was at 6 not 7.  Umm, normally I am right on time or earlier, but this just happened to be a hard day at the office for me!  Well the dinner ended up being at 6:30 no biggie!  Zack's friend came up and so the older boys were in the livingroom bunking, and well let's just say they made a MESS, with a majorly big M!  The next morning I about choked!  My once clean house was disaster zone 101!  No one helped me clean it up.  I felt like a used up rug thrown out to the trash!  No one was even home for me to yell at them.  So dutiful me cleans it all back up as usual.  They all come back home and again not a word is said edge wise.  The only thing said, Mom I am hungry what is for dinner.  You know how much I would love to say, I don't know, you tell me!  I guess all Mom's feel washed up at some point......

Here are some pics of Zack's birthday.....

Me and my ramblings

Okay so it has been sometime since I last put my thoughts here.  It seems that Summer has been a bit on the busy side.  With the boys home my house has became a disaster area.  I clean one room to go back and find more things out.  It is a never ending cycle!  No wonder someone once said, "A mother's work is never done!"  It sure is the TRUTH!

A MOTHER'S LOVE

A Mother's love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

I realize some day the boys will be grown and get married.  I sure hope they end up with kids just like them!  LOL =-)  Although that is wishing something on their wives!  oops

I joined the YMCA last week.  I began my workouts on Thursday and had a great time.  I rode the bike for a mile, walked the treadmill for 10 minutes, and rowed for 10 minutes.  I did about a 30 minute workout.  I am proud of myself.  On Friday I did aerobics and I have to say I am much better on the machines!  I feel like I am finally accomplishing something for myself.  With my disabilities from my accident, things are hard for me to do, but I am trying to overcome my obstacles slowly.  I am hoping by December to down in weight by 60 lbs.  That would be TOTALLY awesome!!  Here is the link of the YMCA I go to.  Tri-county YMCA  Every time I think of YMCA it brings back the memory of the 80's song....

Well it is time for me to go to the "Y"!!

Things going through this head of mine

The other day I was outside filling up my hummingbird feeder and as I looked up I was staring in the eyes of a beautiful ruby throated hummer.  It was as if he was saying okay lady hurry up, I have no time to wait.  He flew to a nearby branch of my Rose of Sharon and waited some more, but I suppose I was not fast enough for him.  As I finished and walked into the house, I looked out the living room window and he had came to eat.  It reminded me of the rabbit on Alice in Wonderland.

How curious, I am thinking to myself!!!  Hummingbirds are amazing little creatures, but oh so fast that you have to carefully watch or before you know it they are GONE!

On another note, I have discovered that I am missing silverware.  When Zack and Logan were younger they would take my spoons outside to dig with and my lovely lawnmower would greet the spoon with a clankity clank sound and I knew what I had hit!  Nothing left to save!  

I realize I still have another little guy among the house, but he won't go anywhere unless I am with him.  Isaiah is truly a Mommy's boy!  I am thinking I must have a Stuart Little in the house.  I can picture a hole in behind my cabinet stuffed full of amazing gadgets and my silverware.  I can see Stuart sleeping in a sardine can and a nightstand made out of a spool of thread.  Not sure how my silverware could be used since it would be so big, but alas I know he must have them!!    I have not found any droppings, so he must even have a tiny outhouse!  This has to be the logical reason behind my missing silverware. I even bet during the night he gets inside one of Isaiahs toy trucks and burns rubber on my kitchen floor!

Has it really been that long?

Wow is all I can say!  I just have not had the words to type.  Life has been quite boring or the same thing different day.  Spring Break came and went all to fast for my boys, but right on time for me!  Of course we spent have of it with my PaPa and that was wonderful.  And yes I have already wrote about that!

Isaiah is talking much plainer these days.  He is such a cute little guy.  I just love to squeeze his cheeks.  Today I had to make a run to the post office and as we were driving he said.....

Mom, see the horsey?  I agreed

Mom, see the cow?  I agreed

A little later he said Mom I hungy.  I asked if wanted a cheeseburger?  He said cheesebuger Yes!

I guess seeing the cow made him think of a nice juicy burger!  LOL  Poor cow!  It used to be every animal that he saw in the field was a goat.  I guess since we have goats all animals in the field were goats!  At least we got that straightened out.

Zack and Logan both made the "B" honor roll on their report cards this 9 weeks.  They are doing really well.  Zack has finally made some friends.  In fact he is with his friend Eric tonight.  Logan gets mad, because I still think he is too young to spend the night with friends.  I was 11 the first time I spent the night at a friends house.  How old were you, or your children?  Am I being to mother henish and not wanting to cut the apron strings?  I still want to keep my chicks under wing.

Okay seriously though, my kids are 12, almost 10, and almost 3.  Too precious just to let go!

Recant of the days gone by (LONG POST)

It has been since Tuesday for a post.  I have been enjoying this nice weather and have had no time to think about the blog.  So sorry bloggie, but you have came to be second to the weather.  Okay so are you wondering what has been going on in Haber land?  If not I am going to tell you anyway!  So there, nanny, nanny boo boo! 

On Wednesday I waited for Suddenlink to come and hook us up for phone service.  We have their internet already, but wanted to get their phone.  They were suppose to be here anywhere from 8:30 am to noon.  I hate a gap.  They did not show, so I called and then they said the tech guy called and no one answered.  I never heard the phone, but that could have been because I was on the porch helping Brian build a rabbit cage.  Oops!  So then they said he would be here by 5 pm.  At 6 he still had not showed up and we had church at 7.  They told me to wait until 6:30 and if he still did not come then we could reschedule.  What a wasted day!  They did not come at all and I had to reschedule for this coming Wednesday and yes for the hours of 8:30 to noon once again!  There is nothing like waiting!  I despise it!  We left church and as we getting out of the Bravada I heard a hissing sound.  My first thought was we have a leak in the tire, then I saw smoke coming from under the hood.  Great!  We had an anitfreeze leak.  After church We carefully drove it home.  Brian would not be able to take a look at until Thursday.  I so did not like this cause I had to get groceries and medication.

On Thursday morning I called my sister and she came and picked me up.  Isaiah is NOT a morning person and that is with a Big NOT!  When she got here it was a struggle to get him to cooperate to get in the car seat.  He finally settled down and was a happy camper.  I got to Kroger and did the shopping and picked up my prescription.  It was funny shopping with Melanie.  I shop with coupons and when I would pick up something she would say, "I guess you have a coupon for that too."  On some things I did and others I didn't.  My grocery bill before coupons was $228.00 and after coupons it was $146.00.  I saved $64.00!!  I went to Kroger so I used my Kroger card as well.  My aunt Teresa sends me coupons every other week.  What I can't or don't use I pass them on to my sister or whomever.  It pays off!  We left Kroger and ventured toward my brother's house to see their newborn bore goat.  Ariel, my neice name has named her Dottie.  She is the cutest thing ever!  The mother died so Brandy (sister inlaw) is having to bottle feed it. 

(this is not Dottie)

I wanted to show a pic of a baby bore goat.  They are so cute!!!

Ariel (red head) and Shayla (pig tails) both of my neices

After the visit, Melaine took me up to Mrs. Whites old farm.  As a kid I would take walks up through there and pretend I lived in her house.  Of course Mrs. White did not live there she was dead, and the house was vacant a lot of times unless it was rented out.  The house was a very old white clapboard farm house.  It had no electric or running water.  There was a spring across the way which had the best water ever in it.  There was an old iron tub by the spring to take an outdoor bath.  Nothing like country right?  Mrs. Whites house was at the head of the holler' and in reality if one would decide to take a bath in the grand outdoors you more than likely would not be seen, unless you were me.  It would be my luck some mountain man would come through the forest right at the time I dropped my robe!  Loggers are taking all the logs off the property, so it does not look the same.  The house is now gone, and nothing resembles the fact that once someone lived there.  It was sad, all that is left is memories of the days gone by.

Who are these three cuties?  Why it is Robbie (left) Tina (middle) Melaine (right)

We all grew up in the country.  Melanie and Robbie still live on the old farm place.  When I got married Brian had already bought the land we lived on so I did not take any of my dad's land when he passed away.  It is funny how time changes not only people, but the surrounding around us.  Once there was a house and now the house is gone.  But memories will never leave.

We stopped by Melanie's place to get a cooler.  By this time we were afraid my groceries had began to thaw.  Actually they were still in good shape, but it is better to be safe than not.  She took me on home and helped me get the food into the house.  I have a great sister don't I?

On Friday, Melanie and I decided to get Shayla and Isaiah together for a playdate.  We picked up McDonald's and took them to Nitro city park.  They had a blast.  Isaiah has been scared of slicky slides forever.  I guess watching Shayla go down them, made him want to.  He was slow at first, but then gave into the temptaion.

My little man is growing up!

While at the park I ran into some of my homeschool friends.  I sure do miss those days!  We left the park and headed home.  Later that night we had youth.  Brian did not get to help me much, due to our Bravada.  My brother came by the church and helped him put a thermostat in but our problem is still not fixed.  They found that a gasket in behind the water pump is bad, so today after my nephew's birthday party the guys are going to fix that.

I had a good week overall!  I even had a good week with freebies!

1. Tide sport sample

2.  3 stage 5 pampers

3. $3.00 off coupon on Tide

4. Kotex packet

5. Uniball red ink pen

6. Indian dream catcher

7. Address labels

8. Note paper

Have a wonderful weekend!

Life is precious

 I was reminiscing yesterday on what a miracle it is to become a mother. From a little girl I always wanted to be a mother. I would envision twins. Normally twin girls. Their names were going to be Amber and Tymber. My mom said look out “Tymber” as if a tree were falling in the woods. As I grew older I still thought how awesome it would be to be a mother, but no longer did I dream of twins. Highschool came and went and then I entered college. I dated very few guys and was always searching for someone to love me and want to eventually marry me. I did not want to date someone if they did not seem interested in marriage. What was the point of wasting time on someone if they did not want marriage or children for that matter. I had entered my third year of college and went home on a break. During the break I had a terrible accident which killed my step sister and almost killed me too. I went through several surgeries and had to learn to walk all over again. The doctor’s did not think I would be able to have children let alone walk. My dreams of becoming a mother was being taken away from me or so I thought. I was in a wheel chair for 5 months and I pushed myself hard because I did not want to be seen in the chair. I did not want people to stare at me and feel sorry for me. In pushing myself I made the bars in my back move into my muscle. I had to endure yet another surgery to remove the bars. I began to heal once again and I was able to walk on crutches. This got quite old so me being stubborn decided to get rid of the crutches and just walk. I caused myself a lot grief and pain, but I was determined to walk. In February 6 months after my accident I met Brian. We hit it off from the start. He had the most dreamy blue eyes and was just so handsome. The biggest thing is that he went to church. I always wanted someone who was a Christian and nothing like my dad. I did not want someone who drank or smoked. Well, God knew exactly what I needed when he sent me into Brian’s path. We had a whirlwind of a romance.  We dated 6 weeks and got married.  We did not have a fancy wedding.  I wore my Aunt Teresa's gown and he wore a gray suit.  We went to Greenup, Ky and got married.  My mother in law did not want us to get married in front of the justice of the peace so we found where the nearest preacher was and he owned a funeral home.  Yes I got married in a funeral parlor.  You know the saying "unto death do us part."  We took it literally!  Ha!  We were married 4 years before we decided to have children.  My first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.  I was about 10 weeks along when I started having problems.  The doctor did a D & C and told me to wait 6 months before we tried again.  This emotionally drained me.  I had been through so much and the thought of not having children came to mind.  God had helped me to be able to walk again.  Would he help me to have children?  In March exactly 6 months later I got pregnant once again.  As I progressed in the pregnancy they thought I was having twins.  They did an ultrasound to find I was having a boy.  ONE boy!  I knew his name would be "Zachary" which means "God hath remembered".  God certainly had remember us!   Two and a half years after Zack, along came Logan.  We were not sure what to name Logan.  I liked Andrew, but knew people would call him Andy and I just did not like that at the time.  We took a picnic lunch down to Chief Logan state park and Brian saw a statue of Chief Logan.  The Chief was standing tall and proud and he said "Tina what about Logan, Logan Andrew?"  I liked the sound of that and the baby kicked within me.  I guess Logan liked the sound of his name as well!  I thought we were done having children.  I have to have c-sections, so I was happy with  2 healthy boys.  Then in 2006 we decided to try for yet another baby.  Isaiah was born in May of 2007.  I had, had some problems during the pregnancy with major fluid retention and pre-eclampsia.  When Isaiah was born he had problems breathing and had to be taken to ICU.  I never got to hold my baby for 2 days.  He was hooked to all kinds of wires.  I cried and cried.  The staff did not know if Isaiah was going to make it or not.  We had different church congregations praying for him and on the 4th day around 4 am all his vitals went to perfect.  That evening they brought my baby to me to hold without any wires.  The first time in my room and alone at last!  He was so beautiful!  All my boys were beautiful babies!  Zack weighed 8 lbs 1ounce, Logan weighed 8 lbs 5 ounces (3 weeks early), and Isaiah weighed 8 lbs 12 ounces ( 3 weeks early).  The joy of pregnancy no man will ever understand.  Sure as the baby gets bigger they can feel it kick, but it is nothing compared to what goes on in the inside of us.  The changes we go through are just magical!

 I loved every minute of being pregnant even if the tidy bowl man became my best friend!