Different Safety Tips for the Holidays

Guest post written by Bernardo Graham

There are many safety precautions that everyone should take during the holiday season. I always follow a few simple steps to ensure that my Christmas is a truly jolly one. One tip that you could make use of is to set your home security alarm from ADT home systemsbefore you leave to do any shopping. This tip might seem simple, but you'd never believe how beneficial it really is. Another tip that I personally always use is to not go out if it's snowing. You might also want to refrain from driving at night if it's recently rained. The rain will actually freeze over and turn to ice. It can be very dangerous to many people on the road.
Obviously, another tip to follow would be to watch the stove when you're cooking anything for the holidays. This might seem like a no-brainer, but it's amazing how many people will burn and overcook things. In fact, it's not uncommon to start a fire if you're planning to deep fry your turkey. I always sit in the kitchen when I'm preparing any holiday feast. This not only protects the home from a potential fire, but it also helps me to keep an eye on something so that it doesn't burn or overcook. By following a few simple steps, you'll be sure to have a safe holiday every single year.

Winter Storm Warning

After waiting for a White Christmas, we finally have snow today which is more than we expected. We got a winter storm warning Wednesday evening and this morning when I woke up I saw snow falling and saw snow everywhere. We will have a White New year then instead of White Christmas. It feels a lot winter season now that we got more snow. Good thing hubby's truck is all ready for the winter since he already put his snow tires on it, including my car and Mom-in-laws car.

Knitting for Fun

Written by  Constance Hayden


My knitting experience is very limited. Because I am a left handed person, it was very difficult for me to learn how to knit. Everyone who taught me was right handed and I would have to take everything they showed me and turn it around. Needless to say, many of my first projects came out looking not quite as lovely as I wanted. In fact, they were downright ugly.
I bought many books on learning how to knit, but, again mostly written for the right handed knitter. I even learned how to take a mirror to the pictures in the books and have them reverse for me. This didn't really help with the quality of my knitting. Finally I met a lady who was left handed and was a terrific knitter. I convinced her to teach me to knit properly and now my knitting projects all come out looking as they should.
I love to knit now and have managed to make quite a few projects, blankets, hats, scarves and even a sweater. They are all beautiful and everyone I have given one to loves them. Knitting helps me to relax and I especially love to knit while sitting and watching my satellite television from http://www.expertsatellite.com/. It took me many years to finally learn to do it right and my goal now is to teach as many left handed persons to knit as I can.

Denver Trip

We just came home from a trip in Denver last night. We stayed there overnight to attend my step-son's wedding. We were grateful that the weather was really good that made our trip successfully safe. Tyler was doing well during the entire trip. We stayed in a very nice hotel and got a suite room which was really nice. We are glad that we were back home safely last night.

Carpet Cleaning

When it comes to carpet cleaning, it’s really a tough job especially if you have pets in the house. We usually have one pet dog “Bandit” a Golden Retriever and a Chow mix so his got a lot of hair but we keep his hair trimmed short but now since we have another dog "Kyle" which my step daughter brought in the house, keeping the carpet clean is a lot more of a challenge because she sheds a lot. Good thing there are a lot of carpet cleaning services around Grand Junction where we could find that can give us good deal. It’s so nice to know that there are companies that offer such services anywhere here in the US. If you live somewhere in Texas, you can also find carpet cleaning services and if you are looking for one and don’t know what company that offers good services you can check online carpet cleaner review austin and you will find a lot of information about carpet cleaning services in Austin, Texas. This site will help you find the best carpet cleaning solutions austin has to offer. If your carpet cleaning don’t work might as well search on carpet repairs austin, too.

Prenatal Check Up

My prenatal check up went good this morning. My baby's heart rate was at 157 beats/min, my OB measured my tummy, got my urine checked too and everything went normal. I'm glad that everything is all good. Though my sciatic has been hurting but that's all I could deal with it. After my prenatal check up, hubby and I went to IHop for breakfast. We had a good breakfast and enjoyed our company together since Tyler was at home with grandma.

The First Snowfall of the Year Brings Feelings of Happiness

Author: Jonathan Suarez

The first snowfall of the year is one of my favorite things; it seems like the world stops as the graceful dance of snow flakes make their way to earth. For a brief moment, our hectic lives seem to fade away as the beautiful silence fills the air leaving us to breathe in the soothing fragrance of winter.
We fall asleep with the assurance that upon waking we will find that the cold barren season of fall has been replaced with a wonderful blend of snow and ice clinging like frosting to the tops of trees and houses. We are reminded of a simpler time when as children we couldn't wait to get outside and frolic in the new fallen snow.
The contest was on to see who in the snow covered neighborhood could build the biggest and best snowman, and of course we always wanted our own Frosty the Snowman in our front yards. It didn't matter how cold it was, as a child did we really ever feel the cold? We rolled and rolled until the snow balls were too big to lift onto one another, and of course Dad would have to help.
The wonderful part of the first snowfall was standing back gazing proudly at the creation we had just finished and sheer joy filling our souls. Topping off the day would be mom announcing from the warm inviting house that the hot chocolate was ready.
We all storm in throwing our winter gear in careless abandonment as we head to the family room. There is nothing greater than the feel of hot chocolate warming our bodies as we huddle to watch some family special on the direct tv specials.

Holiday rush

We are not done getting the stuff we need for the holiday yet. I just talked to hubby, he is doing the shopping with mom-in-law and I am left at home watching Tyler. I need to stay home so he will have a chance to get what he wants to give me for Christmas presents I think. Ha,ha,ha,...We always go together to shop so this time he went without me plus it gives him more time to shop without having to rush since Tyler is not with him. I already started wrapping the presents for everyone but there are still some that I can't wrap coz hubby has to tell me whose are those stuffs and besides I don't want to open the shopping bag where some of the stuffs he bought were there. Only couple of days til Christmas day.

Christmas Presents

We have the Christmas Tree set up already and have decorated it with lights and Christmas balls. The only thing that's missing is the Christmas present/s or gift/s to add more excitement and life to our Christmas tree. We already bought some stuff for gifts but haven't wrapped them yet. We still need to get some more stuff for the children's presents though. Hubby and I decided that we will be spending less for Christmas presents this year. He already told his children not to expect too much for presents. I'm still thinking of what to give with hubby and mom-in-law. It's hard to decide what to give hubby, mom-in-law already told everyone that she doesn't want anything for Christmas except for a card. Christmas day is getting closer as the weather is getting colder for the winter season. I'm glad we don't get much snow yet here in the valley but in the mountains they have gotten more. I'm still in the search for winter boots and haven't found the one I like yet. I have search over the internet with different shoe stores online and I came across with zappos.com which sells different brands of high quality and fashionable footwear like Born, Columbia, Cesare Paciotti and many more plus they have a huge sale on these brand of shoes that I just mentioned.

Finally done with class

I'm glad my Anatomy and Physiology class is already over. Just had our final exam this afternoon. I thought it wasn't that too hard that I expected. Although I know I got confused on some of the questions but I'm hoping that my score won't be that bad.Hubby dropped me off to school this afternoon because we thought it would snow but it turned out to be a fine weather. He also picked me up after the class. Tyler and mom-in-law was with him the whole time. While waiting for my class to end they drove to Montrose and had dinner and shopped by Russell Stover for chocolates.

Touches of nature on our Christmas tree

Guest post written by Georgia Hammel


When I was putting up our Christmas tree about a week ago, I got to looking at it once all the ornaments were on and it was lit up. There just seemed to be something missing. I couldn't really place what it was that it was missing until just a few days ago. Everything on the tree was plastic! I thought that it wouldn't hurt to have something on it that looked a little like it should be on an actual tree.
I looked through some decorating blogs and resources to try and pick out something that I could easily get to put on the tree to add that extra something that it needed. When I was searching for that idea, I came across the website Cleartvbundle.com and after reading through most of it, ordered an internet package off of it.
The idea of pine cone ornaments struck me after I looked through a particular blog and couldn't believe that I hadn't thought about it before. It was such a simple idea, but once I put them up on the tree I knew they were the exact thing it needed.

Final Exam

Tomorrow will be my final exam for the class (Anatomy and Physiology) I am taking. We did some review in class yesterday and I had been studying all the lessons that we took in class. I'm hoping to do good on the exam and be able to get an "A" for the final grade. I'm glad that tomorrow will be my last day of school.

Getting a house

Hubby and I are planning of getting our own house next year, hopefully. Since the real estate is down we might be able to get a good deal for a property where we can pay less than what we are paying for rent right now. We keep checking on properties online with different real estate companies hoping to be able to find the right property that we would like to own. Though it’s still just a plan but we are hoping to make it realized next year before the contract lease of this house we live ends. We are also be checking on different mortgage companies that would help us give the best deal and lowest interest rates. As I keep searching online I stumble upon http://www.equileads.com/ a website that offers affordable and guaranteed leads if you are in the business of selling  mortgages, home loans,  healthcare insurance, homeowner’s insurance or auto insurance and other types of insurances. If you are in the mortgage business check out
http://www.equileads.com/mortgage.php and find out more information about it or if you are a webmaster, a website owner or a blogger you can also generate income for your site by becoming an affiliate which sounds good to me. Maybe I could check
http://www.equileads.com/affiliates/ so I would know to join and become an affiliate since I have my own blog.

Family Portrait

We got our family portrait for Christmas this year and we liked it very much. Tyler looked so cute and adorable in every photo. I know my parents will love to see those photos. I will be sending them copies and I already gave mom-in-law copies of those photos as well and she loved them.

Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching and there are only a couple of weeks until Christmas Day. Oh my goodness! I can’t believe how the days go by so fast. We haven’t put up our Christmas tree yet, nor any sort of Christmas decorations in the house. Oh, I take that back mom-in-law changed the table cover into a Christmas motif and put a Christmas centerpiece on the middle of the table which really looked pretty. That’s the only Christmas décor we have in the house so far. We are planning to get our live Christmas tree this week so hopefully we will be able to put our tree up before the week ends. I need to start thinking about Xmas gifts for the family too. I have been thinking about what to give for hubby, Tyler, mom-in-law and the rest of the family. Sometimes it’s hard to decide on what to give as Christmas presents. Hubby is not picky and he would appreciate anything I give him. Although hubby and I have bought some stuffs for Tyler as Christmas presents but I’m still thinking of other things to give him aside from toys. Maybe books about Christmas Stories, I might be able to find good books for toddlers that Tyler might be interested about. I better check online and see if I could find one.

Call from Canada

I just got a call from a friend in Canada. It's been awhile that we haven't communicated each other and it was nice to chat with her. She tried to call me many times and left a message on the phone and I tried to return her calls but couldn't reach her. Sometimes, I thought about calling her again but then by the end of the day I forgot and when I remember that I needed to call it was already late in the evening. So, finally earlier she called me and good thing I was home and got her call. We talked a lot of things about our families back home. She is planning to go back to the Philippines for a vacation next year. She wanted me to spend vacation in the Philippines next year too so we could meet again but I can't do it since my due date is next year. I told her my plan to visit the Philippines will be in 2012 and I'm hoping that I will be able to make it that time.

Vacation near the Ocean

I haven’t been to all the States here in America but have been to couple of them like Florida where hubby and I got married and spent our honeymoon, Utah where we visited the Latter-Day Saints  Temple in Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas, Nevada where we usually spent summer vacation with the children. I am hoping to be able to visit other places here in the US where we can spend and stay near the ocean. I miss going to the beach where I used to live back in the Philippines where there are so many beach resorts. Hubby grew up in Florida so he loved the ocean though he doesn’t like the humid weather. I told hubby maybe in the near future we could spend our vacation near the ocean and enjoy the beach. He suggested that South Carolina have nice places to visit and stay in a hotel near the ocean like the Myrtle Beach Hotel. He said we could find a lot of hotels that are near the beach. I told him since you like golf maybe he could find a beach resort that we could stay and he can also enjoy playing rounds of golf during our stay.  As we were talking about it. We started checking online for Myrtle Beach best hotels and got so excited and came across with http://www.horizonmyrtlebeach.com where we thought has all the amenities we would like if we wanted to spend our vacation. Hmmm, hubby and I were in la,la, land as we were imagining how fun it would be.

Two Meetings

Only have two meetings for my class to end next Wednesday and I am excited about it. This afternoon we had a test and I was glad that I did good on that test. Got an A for that test and I am hoping that I will do good for the Final Exam next week so I could get an A for my final grade in my Anatomy and Physiology class.

Counting down the days until Christmas

Guest post written by Gina Peppers


This time of the year is some of the most exciting days of the year. But if you have kids they can be some of the most stressful too! I have three kids and it can be really tricky keeping track of all of them on a normal basis. Luckily, I actually got most of their presents taken care of this year on Cyber Monday. Plus, it helps because they always ship packages during the day when the kids are at school so I can get them wrapped before they can get home from school.
Now I just have to worry about keeping them in line and me from going crazy until Christmas comes. I thought that I would do something special for them to help them count down these days, so I went online to look for an advent calendar. While I was online, I found this site clearwirelessinternetservice.com and after looking through it, signed up for internet service through it.
I was just going to buy an advent calendar, but I decided instead to do a DIY advent calendar because that way I could put three pieces of candy or put activities on each day that they could do together.

Getting ready for church

Everyone is getting reading for church. I can't believe how the days go by so fast. There are only 20 days til Christmas and we haven't put up our Christmas tree yet. I'm hoping we can get our tree this week and put it up. We will have another family portrait for Christmas this afternoon. It's going to be the whole family including grandma, and all of hubby's children and their family.

Buying a house

Hubby and I are considering about getting our own house next year while the real estate market is still down. We are on the hunt for a nice, bigger but affordable house for sale since we are renting now and we can get a house and pay a monthly mortgage less than what we pay for rent right now. Checking at homes from the different real estate websites online are exciting. We haven’t checked and walked in at those homes that we liked yet but I have already some properties in my checklist that I would consider. We are not looking for brand new house but even an fixer upper home will be fine as long we get a good deal for it. We can always fix it and customize it and there’s nothing to worry about the materials to use because I know they can be bought anywhere even online. Even stainless steel kitchen sink or a butcher block countertop is available online or can be bought at a nearest supply stores. I told hubby that when I have our second baby I would like to have a rocking chair in our bedroom so it would be easier for me to just sit on the rocking chair while feeding the baby especially at night. I have seen a lot of different brands of those rocking chair online like adirondack chair. I am hoping that we could reach our goal to get our own home next year.

Kicking baby in my tummy

I often feel my baby move inside my tummy even if I was only less than 5 mos pregnant. During the ultrasound the baby was just moving around, turning and kicking his arms and legs everywhere. Well, the echo tech even liked it because she was able to get good images of the baby's anatomy. When the Dr. came in and double check the ultrasound images he told me that my baby is floating very close to my skin because the placenta lies behind him. No, wonder I could feel every single move my baby makes. Sometimes, when I lay down I thought there was something crawling on my skin but it was just my baby. it's a weird feeling every time my baby squirm inside my tummy.

Christmas trees; The hunt

Thanks for the article from Antone Medina


When Christmas rolls around, this is a wonderful time of the year for family bonding. Year after year, we experience many wonderful memories that involve purchasing our Christmas tree. We will gather the family in the van and I set my Adt Home Security before we go get our Christmas tree. When we arrive at our Boy Scout funded Christmas tree location, we spend lots of time looking through the trees. Many trees are too short, some are too fat, many are too tall and skinny, but when you find the one that is right you know.
Our family takes great joy once we stumble across the perfect tree. It is usually about 6 foot and medium sized on the bottom. It cannot have bare spots; at least where the front is going to show and it must not show any browning. We bring home our wonderful tree and start to decorate, we spend as much time as we need and enjoy each other's company, singing Christmas carols and stringing the lights, placing the ornaments, stringing the icicles and finally, placing our beautiful star on top.
Christmas tree shopping is a wonderful event cherished by the whole family. Everyone enjoys having a real Christmas tree and since we started our tradition of finding our own tree, we have never gone back to an artificial one.

Another baby boy

Yes, another baby boy in the family that's what it appeared during my ultrasound. Though it would be neat to have a baby girl but hubby and I are very happy to have another boy and to know that the baby in my tummy is developing healthily. So far the Dr. said that there's nothing to worry about because everything looked perfectly fine. The ultrasound technician was very thorough in taking images of the baby's anatomy. So we were glad to find out about the fact that the baby is healthy. I'm sure Tyler will be happy when he sees his little brother in April. I would like them to be close to each other and love each other as they grow older. I would love them both to be mommy and daddy's boys.

My Scrubs

It’s been almost two months since I quit working at the nursing home. It feels so good to be home and just take care of my baby boy and be a full time housewife. Though I sometimes I get bored but I get over with it easily since I get myself busy with the house chores and Tyler. Every time I opened my closet to get some clothes to wear I always see my set of scrubs and miss wearing them and thought about my work at the nursing home. Well, it’s only temporary coz I will be going back to healthcare again after I give birth if I didn’t go into the LPN Program. I guess by the time I go back in the nursing home again I would need new scrubs coz I don’t know if my old ones would still fit on me. I got some ua uniform scrubs which I really like. It won’t be hard to where to buy uniforms because I could get them online through blueskyscrubs. They different unique scrubs at very affordable price. You can even buy wholesale nursing uniforms from them at very reasonable price too.

My Birthday

It's another year to celebrate and be thankful for the gift of life that God has given me. Me and hubby had lunch at International Buffet without Tyler. Mom-in law volunteered to watch Tyler at home to give me and hubby time for ourselves together since it's my birthday. We did had a good lunch and went to the grocery store to buy some foods for Tyler. We also went and shop for some clothes which I need for the cold weather. For the birthday presents. Hubby gave me a ring with my birthstone which is really nice and mom-in-law gave me a very nice birthday card which made me cry as usual every time she gave me one because of the very meaningful and thoughtful words she put in the card. I got a birthday cake too which is sweet. Ha,ha,... To my hubby and mom-in-law thanks for everything. I appreciate all the love and all the things you did and do for me. I love you both so very much.

A Holiday Memory

This guest post from Errol Chang


I look forward to television on Thanksgiving because of all the memories it holds. To this very day it would not be the same without watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I can remember the kids sitting in front of the television watching with delight as those big balloons passed overhead and waiting patiently waiting for Santa to arrive. The sounds of the marching bands had everyone pumped up for the turkey that was about to be brought out of the oven. Family coming from out of town, everyone helping in the kitchen, more laughter coming from the kids and love throughout the house. What a wonderful day and so much to be thankful for. Now the kids are grown and many have moved away, but the love for the parade is still there. It's now Grandpa and I, sitting in front of the tv, but not the small little screen anymore, it's a big screen and our Direct TV HD Channels bringing the parade up close and personnal. I can't help but wonder, what it would have been like to have the kids all sitting around watching, laughing and loving these big balloons and to see Santa Claus on this very large tv set.

Excited for Ultrasound

Hubby and I are getting more excited for my ultrasound tomorrow. I'm 19 weeks pregnant now and tomorrow is my schedule for the ultrasound to check how the baby is growing and for sure we want to know if it's a girl or boy.  I'm just hoping that the baby is growing good and developing normally. Will post the ultrasound images of my baby later tomorrow.

Getting Ready for the Winter

Post contributed by Patricia Singleton

I just started getting ready for the winter weather this past weekend. All too often I've been caught unprepared and had to deal with the conditions as they were. Experience has taught me the things that I need to do for the types of weather conditions I'll be likely to face around these parts.
I actually just finished preparing my car on Saturday for the winter by checking the radiator system and the antifreeze level among other things and will get started on the house this week. During my preliminary checks (as I call them) on Sunday, I made sure to recaulk and weather strip the doors and windows, check to make sure that the walls and attic's insulation hasn't suffered from the past year and that the insulation on the water lines are still up to code, so to speak. I also went to the store on Sunday to stock up on extra food and supplies. I'm thinking about checking the generator either tonight or tomorrow. After that the only thing that is left is the storm windows and doors (along with some plastic covering from the inside). I'll probably get started on that this weekend. That will be all for this winter. Hopefully, it won't take too long as I also plan to cozy up in the living room and watch some satellite TV from www.cannonsatellite.com with my family this weekend.

Snow Tires

Thanks to hubby the regular tires on my car has been changed to snow tires. I won't worry too much about driving on a snowy road. First thing I told hubby when I woke up this morning was asked him if he could take my car to Discount Tires to put my snow tires on. He was meaning to wake up early to go there coz he needed to change his trucks tires to and put his snow tires on the truck too. Since, I couldn't go with him to drive my car, Mom-in-Law did it for me. I needed to study this morning for my quiz this afternoon. I'm so glad the vehicles were taken cared of. I hate driving when it's snowing though. I'm hoping it will not snow again this afternoon so I can drive smoothly especially coming back home coz it gets dark so early.

Keeping My Home Safe While Visiting My Best Friend

A guest post written by Wm Rowe


Whoever coined the adage “Never say never!” was a wise person, because I have discovered that the phrase inevitably holds true when a person uses the word “never” in regard to any situation. At least, this is what I have experienced in my own life, which is how Dawn came to be my best friend.
Dawn and I used to work together and she was one of those people who just rubbed me the wrong way; her mannerisms irritated me and I told myself that I would never become friends with her. After working with her for a few months, I discovered that she and I shared something in common: we were both suffering from discrimination at our workplace. We started spending time together during lunch and as we got to know one another, we started connecting on a personal level which led to visiting each others' homes and meeting each others' families. I tend to shy away from close, personal relationships and I had not had a close female friend since I was a child, so when Dawn and I started connecting so quickly, it was exciting and scary all at the same time.
Time has passed since Dawn and I first met and our friendship has grown from questionable to solid and true. She has taught me to look beyond the superficial make-up of a person and focus on the similarities people share as well as how they make you feel. Dawn has been there for me through significant health problems, through heartache and joy, and I have done the same for her. We spend time shopping, sharing meals, and just hanging out, usually at her house because her Internet connection speed is much speedier than mine. Each time I visit her, and I visit her often, I make sure to set my home security alarm from www.Home-Alarm-Systems.com/ so I can continue to come home to happy pets and safe belongings.

Talking Tyler

Tyler is learning to talk more and more as he is able to imitate almost every word we say. That's why I told hubby to be very careful in his words. I know before he gets 2 yrs old he will be able to talk fluently. He isn't even 2 yet but hubby said he is now acting and behaving the terrible 2's. I am hoping that Tyler will be a smart and a good boy as he grows up. 

How I Get My Home Ready for Winter

Guest post written by Sidney Owens

Getting my house ready for winter is not the highlight of my year. It takes me at least a week to finish the entire process. It is important to do this though because the house needs to be as warm as possible in order to keep down our heating costs.
The first thing that I do is remove the air conditioners from all of the windows in the house. After this, I install storm windows in my windows. I like to replace mine every five years and I then seal the windows with plastic on the inside in case there are any cracks. After this, I install my storm doors in my home. The storm doors help to keep out the cold and thee wind and make my property even more secure which is a huge plus.
Finally, I make sure that my heat pump is working. I also have someone come and clean my furnace so that we do not have to deal with furnace issues when it is cold. Then, I put gas in my generator and start it up to make sure that it works. The process is long and tedious but it makes me feel like a productive man that is looking out for his family and his wallet. After I am finished, I plan to sit on the couch and watch Direct TV and know that I have a completely winterized home.

Cold and Freezing

It's not even winter yet but it's getting colder and colder everyday which makes me feel lazy to go out and even do things in the house coz it' still cold even if we have the heater on. I don't look forward to the winter cold but I would love to see the snow all around. Kinda a confusing huh? We will have our family christmas photo tomorrow at Sears. So, everyone in the family are expected to be there.

My step son is engaged

My step son just recently got engaged to a wonderful young woman with a charming personality. His now fiancée is from a small town in Nebraska and has now lived in our little town in Colorado for several years. Oh to reflect back and remember the excitement of becoming engaged. How could I ever forget that wonderful day when hubby proposed to me. My step son and I were at the mall awhile back,  he was scanning the stores for an engagement ring and wedding ring, of course I was more than happy to accompany him when he invited me to tag along. We saw so many wonderful engagement rings at every store we visited. Yes, I was constantly thinking about my hubby and the romantic way he proposed to me years ago as we went from store to store. I truly love to look at wedding rings. I have mine cleaned often. There seems to be excitement in the air as my step son’s wedding day gets closer and closer. So remember the next time your at the mall, take a moment, maybe even a few, and stop by to take a glance at the never ending beauty of jewelry. Oh what a marvelous time to remember.

Drive Thru Breakfast

This morning hubby and I had to run errand at Sam's Club. We grab Tyler with us since we didn't have anything to eat yet I told hubby if we could do Drive-Thru at Mc Donald's. I always love their pancakes and sausage. So, we dropped by and had breakfast inside the truck as we parked. We didn't want to go in coz Tyler is with us, sometimes he can't tolerate long sitting on high chair. We decided just to eat our meal in the vehicle coz Tyler behaves better plus he can't get out from his car seat. Tyler liked pancakes and sausage too. After we were done we headed to Sam's Club and got the stuff we needed.

A Sweet Thanksgiving

Guest post written by Ella Thompson


When I think of winter weather and Thanksgiving, I just imagine tasting all of these super rich and luxurious things. Also, a whole lot of really sweet things. I just think that it isn't really Thanksgiving, or really any descent meal if you can't satisfy your sweet tooth. A whole lot of times I even plan whole meals around sweet dishes.
Once I found out that I was going to be hosting our family Thanksgiving lunch this year, I looked up all kinds of sweet dishes with my clear wimax to fix.
One of the things that I'm going to fix is candy yams. They really are a classic, whether you like them with marshmellows on top or not. I'm also going to serve honeybaked ham instead of turkey, which I know that my friends are going to really love. Lots of my other friends have sweet teeth too because we Õre always going out for ice cream or Pinkberry or to get cupcakes together. A lot of the time IÕll even fix them cakes just for fun.

Ultrasound

I am getting more excited as my ultrasound appointment gets nearer. Hubby and I will find out the baby's gender on Tuesday the 23rd of this month. We are hoping for a girl but if it's another boy, we are still excited about having another boy. Tyler is growing more mature and is aware of what is going on around him. He is able to say more and more words everyday. He can express himself even better now that he can say a lot of words. I am proud of my little boy. To me he is a smart little one. Hubby and I are planning to potty train him anytime soon coz he can understand simple instructions and directions now. So, we thought that he will be ready to learn to go potty in a pot or in the bathroom. Wish us luck!

Leaves keep falling

It's fall season and what else to expect but falling leaves everywhere. Hubby couldn't stand seeing those fallen leaves on the ground in our front yard. So, he decided to have them raked so the front yard would look cleaner. Tyler and I helped raking those leaves but then while we are trying to clean the front yard those leaves from the trees keep falling on the ground. I know it will be useless cleaning them now coz I'm sure by the next day the ground will be covered again with dead leaves. But I guess it's better to rake them and not wait till all those leaves are gone from the trees coz it will be harder to clean them up.

Here's Tyler trying to help raking the leaves.

He always want to get involved in everything we do.

Spending less on Christmas

I can’t believe how the days go by so quickly. Christmas is getting closer and closer. I have been thinking about what presents I can give to hubby, my little boy and the rest of the family. Hubby and I are for sure will try to spend less this Christmas season.  I am always thinking about ways on how we could earn extra money to be able help with hubby especially now that I had quit working. It’s not easy at this time when the economy is not doing well. Maybe the best thing is to find ways how to spend less and save more since I can’t work right now because of my pregnancy. I have been searching and reading a lot of articles over the internet that give information on ways to be able to cut expenses and save money. Talking about saving, I thought about maybe checking out cheaper cell phone plans that is available in the market today. I am trying to check and compare prices with AT&T wireless plans that we are using now for almost 4 years if we could get a better deal. If not then maybe we could find cheaper than other providers offer, I heard that Sprint cell phone plan prices are very affordable too. I might check it out and compare both providers and see which one I could save more.

My little helper

Tyler is 16 mos old now and he has been learning a lot of things. He is learning to talk and has been learning more words each day. He would repeat every word I or his daddy would say. I told hubby to be careful in every word we say coz Tyler would definitely utter the same words. Tyler wants to get involved in almost everything we do in the house. One time he saw me sweeping the kitchen floor and he started to grab the broom from me. He started fuzzing so I gave it to him after I got done sweeping and look what he did? He started sweeping the floor too. He looked so cute and funny trying to sweep the floor. Now, I have a little helper. Great job Tyler!

Little Bear

Guest post written by Brian Workman


Little Bear demonstrates for children how to share and care about other people, and shows them how to relate to the world around them. Little Bear is just that. A little Bear. He lives with mother bear and father bear. His friends are duck, cat, owl, and hen. He also has a little girl friend called Emily, who has a doll that plays with the bunch called Lucy. These seven friends explore the forest where they live and see all sorts of new things. In one episode they had to deal with a group of frogs that was keeping duck up all night. The friends built a home for duck in hopes of getting her some quiet so she could sleep, but it ended up that duck needed to sleep under the stars where she could look up and see them at night. The stars make her feel safe. Watching this on my satellite tv from http://www.tvbydirect.com/directv-deal/NORTH-CAROLINA-NC-direct-tv.html makes the pictures seem more clear, almost like you are under those stars with duck. In the end, the frogs took the home that was built for duck. They said they were making all that noise becasue they were discussing where they could get together and meet to talk every night. Totally cute! My child adores when the problems get fixed, and claps loudly when all the problems are solved.

International Buffet

We just got home from having our late lunch at the International Buffet. We love to go there every now and then. Hubby and I took our little one Tyler with us and he ate pretty much. We were running some errands this morning. We went to some bookstores like Borders because hubby needed to get a book but it Borders didn't have it and so we went to Barnes and Nobles and hubby got the book that he wanted to get. Tyler liked the children's book area because there was a lot of books and some toys to play with. He liked to sit on a small chair with a little table like he was in a school classroom. So, we spent a little bit of time in that area so he could have some fun.

Time for Halloween

This is a guest post from Hong Alexander


With the end of October looming, chances are the kids are getting antsy for Halloween. The first step in assuring a great experience for all is to put safety first. Come up with a plan, if your kids are going off on their own make sure they will be with a group. Have a designated meeting place and time, as well as restrictions on how far away they're allowed to venture. This will ensure your piece of mind as well. After getting the munchkins ready make sure their costume is free of anything that could be a safety hazard, such as hanging pieces around the head/neck area for the little ones. Make sure that anyone wearing a mask can see clearly.
After the kids are ready, it's time to set off around the neighborhood. The kids know where their favorite candy can be found, and everyone has to make a stop at the haunted maze on the corner. After we meet at our meeting spot we head home and scan the candy. Everyone gets a ration then the rest is combined and put away. After the kids head to bed we flip on the satellite TV we got through Cannon Satellite online deals, grab some candy and turn on our favorite scary movie.

Can't go back to sleep

Can't go back to sleep after I went to the bathroom at around 3:00 am. I tried to lay down in bed but my mind is just wandering and could not fall asleep. So I decided to get up and heated Tyler's bottle of milk in case he wakes up. Then, sat on the chair and turned on hubby's computer and check my emails, facebook and just browsing the internet. It's past 5 am right now and Tyler just woke up and is now drinking his bottle. I just changed his diaper and he will just go back to sleep. Hopefully, I can get some more sleep before it get's daylight.

Surfing The Web

I was surfing the internet the other day and came across some clothing that was for sale. The website offered custom t-shirts. My imagination just started running wild about what I could have done, I was thinking about funny quotes and sayings, and then I was thinking about more serious quotes that made me begin to ponder and reflect. The site had such a variety of not just clothing, but everything imaginable from shoes, to various types and examples of art posters, to mailing labels, gift boxes, various ornaments, and even videos. I often find myself bouncing from one topic or goods to another as I am spending time on my computer surfing the world wide web. I did find some bracelets that I just had to have, I haven’t purchased them yet, but their in my shopping cart just waiting for me to point and click. Another wonderful day surfing. Now there’s something we can all look forward to.

Afternoon Thirst

Earlier this afternoon hubby and I had to run an errand, while we were out and about we decided to stop by A&W Root-Beer to quench our thirst. Why is it that A&W root-beer taste soooo good? It's a soft drink that I don't get very often, but when I do it's soooo good and refreshing. After our quick stop for a thirst cure we continued on to our final destination, Barnes & Nobble where we enjoyed some quiet time relaxing and thumbing through a few books. 

Webhosting

Have you ever wondered about the internet and how it all works? If you figure it out let me know. The other day I was just browsing around on the internet and saw some adds pop up about webhosting. I wondered what that meant so because of the great resources that the internet has, I was able to understand was it meant by the term webhosting. I love the internet and I love the unlimited ability to search any topic known to man, and poof, up comes thousands if not millions of hits. It is amazing the technology that we have at our disposal in the world today. Who would have ever thought twenty years ago that we would have the ability to research, discover and replicate technology so quickly and be so precise. What a wonder tool we have with the internet at our fingertips. I am going to dig deeper and find out more about webhosting and the various options that are available, who knows maybe someday I will need it.

Pumpkin Monster

This is a picture of the pumpkin that my hubby made earlier, nice job, scary huh?

Religious Christmas Cards

Wow, have you checked out the calendar lately? Christmas is just right around the corner. It doesn’t seem possible that a year can disappear so quickly. They say the older you get the faster time flies by. Last year after Christmas was over I went to the store to do some shopping, Imagine that haha. I was at the mall and walked into a card shop, they had some religious Christmas cards on clearance so I picked up 4 packs. I kept two packs and gave two of my friends a pack each. I love shopping after Christmas, there are so many good deals to be had. While I was in the mall I stopped into a clothing store and found some terrific buys on a few tee shirts that were on clearance. One of the shirts had a beautiful depiction of the nativity that I just couldn’t refuse. I don’t know about you but it’s very hard for me to pass up on great deals, especially when I’ve got the shopping bug biting away at me. I find it very exciting to shop right after Christmas, I guess to me it feels like the Christmas spirit is still in full bloom and it cause my shopping fever to begin to boil.

Snow in the mountains

It's been a cold weather these past few days. While driving going to school this afternoon. I saw the mountain cap covered with snow from a distance. I felt the cold breeze when I came out from my car and I felt my body was shevering from the cold wind. Delta is a lot colder than Grand Junction. I told my Filipina classmate that it felt like it's already winter and I do not look forward to it. Although I get excited when I see the snow but I just don't like the cold weather.

Flipping Out

Contribution by Prince Raymond

One of the best reality shows out there is a show called Flipping Out on Bravo. I never miss an episode on satellite tv from tvbydirect.com. It's a show based on buying crappy homes, fixing them up and reselling them for tons of cash. If only things were that easy. The show follows Jeff Lewis and his band of misfits. Jeff has obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD which causes him to do nutty things all the time. Jenni Pulos, his right hand woman, thinks he's over his rocker, but also believes crazy people can be geniuses. Their non-relationship style relationship is what drives this show as they tend to bicker like a married couple as if they were on a real TV show that featured them as the classic love interests who aren't interested in each other. The other primary personality on the show has to be Zoila Chavez, who is Jeff's live-in housekeeper and surrogate mother. Watching her and Jeff's unique relationship and humor is always good for a few laughs. It's unbelievable how often I find myself cracking up at their silly little jokes about Zoila always taking a day off when in fact she never takes days off no matter what. The dogs (Oliver, Casey, "little" Chris) and cats (Stewie and Monkey) are also what makes this show. The shenanigans they cause leave you on the floor laughing your head off!

First Prenatal Check -Up

I had my first prenatal check up the other week and everything turned out well. I was glad to see that I gained 4 lbs after at 12 weeks. I was so worried at first couple of weeks because I haven't gained any weight at all. That's why I decided to quit working as CNA because it's stressing me out so much plus I have school twice a week aside from taking care of my baby Tyler. I had my first ultrasound and we saw the baby kicked it's legs and stretched it's arms. Heart rate was normal, urine was ok and my OB-GYN said everything looked great. I also had a series of blood tests done which they draw 5 vials of blood from me and got a message from the OB-GYN's office that all the blood tests results were normal. I am happy to know about it and hoping that my entire pregnancy will be fine.

Scrub

Since I am pregnant I know my scrubs will no longer fit me when my tummy gets bigger. I always check online for cheap scrubs because here in Grand Junction there are only few stores that sell nursing uniforms and scrubs and they cost a lot too. The other day I talked to one of my co workers who works in the nursing home as a nurse and asked her where she bought her scrubs and was surprised how much she spent just for her nursing scrubs.  She said, they are so expensive. She has been looking for cheap scrubs too. She wished she could find a place that sells cheaper from where she got them.
Although, WalMart sells scrubs too but nothing would fit me either because even their Extra Small sizes are still too big on me. When I told her that I usually get my scrubs at cheaper price and she asked me where to buy cheap scrubs so she could get them too. I said I buy them online and there are a lot of online stores that sells scrubs at very affordable price. So, she is checking them online too.

Update

It's been awhile since I posted in this blog. Time just flies by so fast. I have been so busy with Tyler and working part time as a CNA. Here are some updates on what's going on.

Tyler just turned 1 yr old last June 23rd and he is now 14 months old. He walks and runs and plays around. He is getting more independent and wants to do some things on his own. He had learned to walk when he was 10 1/2 months old and by 11 months he is already walking. Now, I sometimes chase him especially when I tell him he needs clean diapers or needs clean clothes. He would run off on me and thinks chasing him is a game. He can speak some words aside from mama and dada. He says "nana" for banana, he can say "up", "duck", "bo" for "ball". Sometimes he says words that only him could understand and he would point at things he wants. he can understand when you tell him something. He is a smart boy, he can imitate easily at what you are doing.

I am working part time as a CNA, only work twice a week on the weekends. I will start attending one class twice a week for my pre-requisite to get in to the LPN program next fall.

The last updates are good news because First, Tyler will have a sibling. I am expecting, I'm 5 weeks pregnant now and hubby and I are hoping for a baby girl. and Second, I just past my citizenship exam and interview. I am just waiting for a notice that will come in the mail to know when I will take the Oath and then receive my citizenship certificate. Life is good so far and hope that it will be like that in the coming months.

Tyler said "mama"

Tyler has been babbling different sounds as he explores his tongue, lips and mouth. Every now and then I could hear him say ughh, huuu, ga, ummm, ye, na, ni, eeh. I have been teaching him to say "mama" and hubby teaches him to say "dada". Sometimes I thought I heard Tyler say "ma" but not so clear and one time I heard him say "hi da". Since he turned 7 mos he babbles and vocalizes more trying to learn to talk. And for the very first time this morning when he woke up and as hubby and I talk and play with him on the bed he uttered the word "mama" so clearly that melted my heart away and made me cry. I was overwhelmed with joy as I heard him "mama" twice. I kissed and hugged him and said "I love you baby". I love to hear Tyler said mama to me. Hubby told me if I have imagined me having a baby saying mama to me while I was still in the Philippines. Now, hubby is looking forward when Tyler could say the word "dada". Hopefully, he would learn it soon.

My car needs oil change

I told hubby that my car is due for oil change. I have two days off Sunday and Monday but Mondays are really busy day for us because it’s the only day that we could do errands together. I don’t know when I would be able to do the oil change or maybe by the time we can do it, my car might need tune up as well. Hubby has been planning to have my car fixed because it has some dents and ding when a drunk driver bump into hubby’s daughter’s  car that was parked along the roadside in front of our house and then hit the back of my car too. My car has a sentimental value to us and hubby and I want to take care of it and keep it as much as we can because it was given to me by my mom-in-law and she valued it so much because of the memories my mom-in-law had with my dad-in-law was still alive. Anyways, hubby is still looking for places to have it done. With the use of the internet, we could be able to search places locally that would offer us a great deal when it comes to auto repair like the repairpal.com. I find it very convenient to use this website when it comes to auto repair because it has a lot of information you can find like looking for auto repair shops in your area or even find out how much you could pay for repair with their repair price estimator. Check out and find information about common problems, reviews and recalls on different cars like Honda, Acura Integra, Toyota and other known brands before buying them. If you are looking for an easy access to locate Colorado or Houston auto repair shops or any place where you live just check repairpal.com.

Tyler is 7 months

I'm enjoying my 2 days off from work. I just put Tyler in his crib as he is asleep. He has been fuzzy earlier which I think because he is not feeling well. He hasn't been eating good. I guess he has more teeth coming. Everytime I feed him he would just suck a little bit of his milk and then start chewing and biting his bottle's nipple. He already has his 2 bottom teeth when he was 6 mos old. I checked on his top from gum and I saw some whitish color  which look like two teeth will be coming out pretty soon. Tyler has just turned 7 mos old on the 23rd of January and he is growing bigger and bigger. He has mastered to roll over from his back to his tummy although he doesn't like to stay longer on his tummy because he would roll over on his back right away. he had learned to seat up by himself first before rolling over. Sometimes he gets frustrated because when he is on his tummy he would lift his chest higher as if he wants to crawl but he doesn't know how to do it yet. He has also learned to hold his bottle during feeding time and he loved to be in his walker. he would take off and run especially when he sees our dog "bandit" run. He has learned to grab things and when you take it from him he would cry. He has also learned to put his arms up high and then cry when he wants to be picked up. Tyler is a good and happy boy. I love every minute spending time with him. It is great to be a mom!

Rolled over for the first time

I am so happy and proud of my baby because finally for the very first time he rolled over on his tummy without my help. I put him Tyler on the floor in the living room after he got tired of his jumper. We have been waiting for this time for Tyler to learn to roll over because he is already 6 mos. I have taught him how to do it although we know that he can do it because he could roll on his side close to enough to get on to his tummy but he won't do it himself. He an roll over from his tummy to his back first  though. He was on the floor for awhile while I was folding our clean laundry and hubby was watching TV. Then hubby just told me, "honey look, (pointing Tyler) that he was on his tummy. So, I quickly grab the camera and took pictures of him before he roll on his back. And so hubby and I clapped our hands and applauded him for doing a great job.

There he goes....

Health insurance for the family

I have been working as a CNA for almost 4 months now and have not enrolled to any health insurance plan from our company because it is so expensive. Hubby and I are still shopping online for cheaper health plan for the family. We are also looking into getting affordable dental plan for both of us. As I am looking and searching online I came across with Ameriplan and have check on their medical plan which I could not believe since they are a lot cheaper compared to most of the medical plan that I already checked. So, I just told hubby to check their website and see if it’s the right one that we need and if they offer vision plan aside from the health, prescription and dental plan and how much it would cost the entire family for a total health insurance package. If they were the most affordable healthcare insurance we would definitely sign up for it.

Update

Time flies by so fast I that I have not updated my blog for months. I have been so busy with work and home. Anyways, let me share you of what's going on about my little one. Tyler is already 6 months and 3 weeks old and he is great. At 6 mos, his two bottom teeth came out already which is really early compared to some of my friend's son's teeth started to come out at 10 months. Tyler had started eating solid foods (gerber) and he likes bananas, peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, prunes. applesauce but green beans. We introduce him to sippy cup last night with diluted apple juice in it and he did pretty good.