gagets and thingamabobs, taking over our lives one piece at a time...

My Mom and I were talking a while back about the internet. 

Don't worry, we are not banning it. trust me my husband wouldn't let me lol. 

He would go through borderlands and minecraft withdrawals, since he gets on his Xbox and computer and plays with his friends. :) 

Anyway, we were talking about how the internet has taken over every corner of our lives. 

We are on the internet constantly. we can even get internet on our phones,

(even without smart phone capability.) Just have them send a message in txt form. 

Our lives are permeated with it.

I was watching TV the other day, and a quote from the show sums it up.

 these kids had the internet taken away until, they learned to use it properly, 

A girl spoke up and said "I read on the internet one time, that kids used to do stuff without the internet."

And its true, today's children do not know how to do anything without computers, cell phones or electronic devices. 

When I was growing up, I watched a lot of TV  Much of my generation did. That is what we did for fun, Now I played outside as well, But a good portion of my time, was spent watching TV. I would get home from school and I would go straight for the tv. 

A tv commercial cracks my husband and I up, It's for a car, but holds such relevance for this.

The thing about it, is that, while she was sitting there at the computer her
parents were out enjoying themselves. and that is how today's generation are,
they would rather, "socialize" on face book then get out and enjoy their friends in real life.
I ran across an article today  about internet fasting and thought I would share as well.
click the picture below to go to the link. :)

 I had the great Blessing, when I was 13 of moving to the woods with no power and water. 

The only thing we had was a battery operated radio. 

We lived that way for about two years.

We hadn't set out to "rough it" so to speak, It wasn't necessarily that we made a decision 

to go without TV or such.

The simple reason we lived for two years without it, was that the price to bring the electric poles was something we could not afford after buying the property.

It wasn't that it was right there, it was I'm going to say a mile, or 2 to get it back. that's expensive when one person is paying, or even three. We had split the property, (20 acres) with my Aunt and uncle and family, and my grandparents. 

So we just lived without it, until we could afford to get electricity...We didn't completely go without TV  or movies, we had a generator, still gas was expensive, to just toss it away on a simple two hours, every day.

So, it was reserved for when we need the light at night, (Dad working on a car or running power tools for building.) Or, the occasional birthday or a special occasion. 

Instead  We listened to the radio.
Music, while we were cleaning, or such, and in the evenings
our local radio station aired Adventures in Odyssey
a christian children's program (which, I still listen to once in a while, when I can catch it.)
We would listen almost every night. We loved it.
Mom also  bought us a dramatized version of Pilgrims Progress.
I can still remember sewing yo-yos while listening. :)
Then some of my favorite memories of those two years, was my mom reading to us.
We would get a chapter book, usually a classic and we would spend the evening
 reading a few chapters of the book as a family. Some of the most memorable were:
Treasure Island, Huckleberry Fynn, and Jack London's Call of the wild.
It got to the point where we would all look forward to it.
All of us, even Dad would sit in our spots and listen to mom read,
I, many times did my hand sewing when mom was reading.
It was enjoyable and brought us together as a family.
And... we played outside. (Us, kids)
We read books, built forts and went hiking, swimming, and exploring.
and in the winter we went sledding, snowboarding,
 (not me don't have the coordination...lol.) had snow ball fights
and even a few times went "hooding"
It wasn't about about learning something (although we did.)
And, it wasn't about filling up the time  (we did that too.) 
or even about  Becoming closer as a family  (And, Yes This was accomplished.)
It was about having fun and enjoying each other.
It was about making due with what we had, learning to be content with little
and just Enjoying life and being happy with what God gave you.
 We didn't set out to discover that, but somewhere along the way it discovered us.
You know, after we got the electricity back, it wasn't the same,
we began to be super busy with our own lives and
that sense of enjoying the simple things somewhere in all the noise
 and confusion of an electronic, "internet connected, and busy world, 
It vanished.

So, pick up that book, yes, even on a kindle and read.
grab one of your children's books or even one of the classics
and read together.
Grab your tennis shoes and go for walk, get out and see the glory 
of Gods beautiful reation, change with each season. 
Go build a fort with your kids, even with blankets. 
Turn the tv off and sit down to a family dinner. 
You won't regret it, because
 before you know it, those sweet little ones, 
will be grown and off  raising a family of their own.

Mother and daughter Apron set give away at seamingly smitten :)

This is a beautiful apron set and she has great patterns as well. :)

 

My little one year old blessing

So my precious little sunshine turned 1 today...

*insert panicked breathing and that sad sigh that starts in a mama's heart that means your baby's growing up*

I doesn't seem that long ago when I carried her and delivered her. I can still remember little details 

that made it so special to me. 

the Lord blessed me with a wonderful pregnancy.

i still had a few aches and pains, and no it was not a walk in the park.

but by no means was it as hard as some pregnancies of friends and families

I had a "morning sickness free" pregnancy. Not once did I get sick or throw up,

for which I am very grateful.

In it's place,

 I was plagued with terrible migrains,( It felt as though I was taking a ton of tylenol) 

heartburn that never quit. (I was eating tums like candy, which helped me with my calcium intake)

And, my hips were out of alignment (I have one leg shorter than the other and I have always had hip trouble it was just a horrible pain, because my center of alignment  was off and it made walking, sleeping and sometimes even sitting a challenge.I will probably have hip trouble with every pregnancy, but I digress)

My pregnancy was a joy. I loved and enjoyed every minute.

In the words of my husband and a good friend

I have a "nesting" type personality.

When I had suspicions that I was pregnant with aurora, 

I got excited and told my friend Missa (she is one of the ones I tell nearly everything to)

even before I had taken a test. 

I was just so excited to be a mama. 

I even enjoyed my labor (well, as much as you can )

I wasn;t a perfectly calm person through the whole pregnancy and labor 

there were yimes I cried over stupid stuff and I yelled at the closest person standing to me

and i remember during one point the nurse came in and showed my friend Sharon, who came to help that day a few massage techniques that may help to ease the pressure.

When the nurse did it there was instant relief,

she had hit the pressure point that just relieved the pain from the contraction.

Poor sharon, she tried it and nothing

this is how the convorsation went

 (which is hilarious to us now but trust me afterward 

I felt so bad and had to apologize for being so  mean :( 

Thankfully she is a true friend and did not take it personally)

Nurse: "ok, try to massage here" *demonstrates*

Me: *smiles because for a split second there was no pain. :)*

Sharon: * tries a few spots, than innocently asks* "Does this help

Me: " try here *points*

Sharon: "How about Now?

Me: No, Your doing it wrong your not doing what the nurse did!

Willie: Jessica, stop yelling at Sharon, she is doing her best.

Me: I know *sigh of frustration* I don't know what the nurse did,

but it felt better.

When it got to the pushing I was ready to see my sweet girl. 

I pushed her out in four contractions and because I never got 

an epidural I felt those contractions.

at the point of the "ring of Fire" 

a couple of things very clearly ran through my head

mainly because a nurse said that when her head crowns 

that was what was called and you will know just as I was starting to push. 

The Johnny Cash song "ring of fire",

I get to see her soon,

and as she was coming out,

I can feel her whole body from her little head to her

teeny tiny toes.

Then it happened she was there in my arms and I fell in love at first sight...

The year that followed was full of

fear, uncertainty, at times frustration, exhaustion a complete helplessness

a feeling of inability.

 but with those finite human responses

 came spirit filled response that can only com from our heavenly father. 

LOVE, Satisfaction, Energy (which at times felt directly heaven sent)

Capability, and a Confidence that no matter how many times

 I felt I couldn't do this my heavenly father was right There. and the Big one Love, 

you know the kind of  "fruit of the spirit love...

joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control

He sent friends and family who were more than willing to answer

any question no matter how stupid it sounded. and I am sure a few of my "new mama " 

questions merited a hardy laugh and a shake of the head .

So reflecting on her one year (and nine months) ;) as my daughter I cannot

understand how God could have Blessed us with such a ray of sunshine...

Because that is exactly what she is, 

A BLESSING

In whom we will never stop thanking him for

" 'Nite, Nite"

Rora is a night owl ...

It's a fact.
a fact that can be exhausting for her mama.
Her sleep schedule has always been a late one.
with bedtime being at 11 pm ...
W are usually up then so its not that bad, unless she decides that she is going to
stay up until two am and believe me she is very capable of it.
Anyway...
since she was born one of the few
 thing`s that has helped has been music.
If I could I would put a youtube video on of the particular song
But the singers name is Brian E And  I have never heard of him since we were in Kalispell. The Song is Come thou fount .
Rora has never been one to just
lay down and go to sleep, which can be hard on her mama.
But when she was just a few weeks old I learned a trick... a very simple trick,
but so helpful... She was crying and I had been walking and singing
Willie was out cold it was about 1 in the morning I had sang every hymn I could remember
every Sunday school song, even some lullabies I was now on Come thou fount again.
It was working, but only if I was walking up and down
Th Lord, sent me an epiphany.
I had recently gotten a new phone and had put music on it.
I'm not sure why I chose but it was soothing maybe it would help.
I put it on repeat and let it play after about the second go around she was out.
sound asleep.

PRAISE THE LORD!
As she got older it didn't work quite as well, you see she was more alert
and had more energy.
The cry it out method never worked... the only thing it got me was a fussy,
clingy baby who for two days after would hold on to me and cry everytime I tried
to put her down. So, I would have to pack her around until she was confident I wasnt going to leave
her.
We tried the baby whisperer method... didn't quite work either, although it was closer.
I tend to try a whole bunch of things
 and make a method that works out of a hodgepodge of methods and ideas. 
Because Rora is unique... just like any other baby 
and she doesn't fit in to a  cookie cutter image of what 
someone thinks that ALL babies should be.

Here I am on a bunny trail ....
Ok back to bedtime. The bedtime situation is interesting
You see we even went through a period of every Saturday night
she would stay up. Occasionally we would have an odd night where she
would stay up  but without fail
Our darling ray of sunshine would be up ALL NIGHT. 
I think we went through this for about two months. It didn't stop until we committed it to prayer. 
Now, she is sleeping lots better. :) 
We have finally found a good bedtime routine it took a lot of trial and error, but we found it.
So this routine takes anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half
We start by  10 pm sometimes earlier, like 9:00.. it just depends on her tiredness level. Anyway,
We start by telling Daddy Nite, Nite If we don't , we can't because Daddy is for playing and even if he just smiles,  she wants to play. she has been this way, practically since she was born. Daddy is her bestest buddy.
                     We turn on Pandora through our ps3. I have a lullaby  station that plays instrumental hymns, lullabies, and soothing music Next, we read Stories this is one of  my Favorite  times. she cuddles up in my lap and we read together. I know she  isn't old enough yet to completely understand what I read to her, but she loves it. 
(In fact just the other night, she was getting tired and  there were these two books in her way and she was fighting with them getting very frustrated. I grabbed one of them  and she picks up the other one toddles over  and brings it to me to read. It just melted my heart. 
By the time  the story was finished  she was sound asleep. She also has been picking books up and 'reading' them  she sits down on the floor opens the book and jabbers away. 
But I am  getting on a bunny trail... 
So, after reading stories, we cuddle for a few minutes. By this time, 
she is usually calm and beginning to relax and getting sleepy. After that we walk, since 
I don't have a rocker. I sing along or hum to the music. We pray. I tell her that her family loves her. (Jesus loves you, Daddy loves you, Mama loves you... ect. all the way through her cousins.  
And just depending on how tired she is she may be fast asleep.   She doesn't always go down for bed or naps so easily. (we use a simplified version, for nap time, I sing and we cuddle, sometimes we read a story ) Sometimes she throws  a fit because she hates going to sleep and missing something. Sometimes  she sleeps for only 15 or twenty minutes other times she just wants mama. 
So we start out in her bed and halfway through the night she wakes up to nurse and snuggles for a while then we try going back to her bed. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't.
But our best plan has been to take things slow and give her just a little independence  at a time when she feels ready... We will be there to guide her and direct her... but when she is ready to take the next step in her growth like running... or sleeping all night in her bed we will be there cheering her on telling her we love her  and that we are right here for her and just how proud of her we are. 
And we'll take it one step at a time. :)

Update: School days

Ok so we have been super busy ... and this last year or I should say almost two years has been quite 

the adventure. as you know 

Willie has been busy with school and has finally made it to the almost end stretch... oh boy. :) 

He will now be entering into his upper division classes which consists of two semesters. 

Now, I'm not sure if its at the end  of this summer before he starts or after he starts, but he 

also has a test called the praxis 2 now it is the second praxis test he has to compete before 

he can move on. hence the name . But he has to pass it. 

This is a KEY point in his education. If he doesn't pass it 

He has to change his major and find a different path... ugh 

not that God can't work through that, or even that God will provide  a job that might be better. It's just all that time, work, stress and effort I have watched my sweet husband go through to make it this far. 

Now the praxis is a series of tests that  grade you on your overall education. 

With the first one it took three tries (on the reading test) and lots of prayer So I'm asking for LOTS of prayer for that upcoming test this fall. 

 The next step in our school adventure is 3 semesters... yep that is how much we have... just three semester or a year and a half and you wont find a prouder wife. :) 

These are the classes that really matter  the "meat" so to speak. it really has been a big adventure to get here. I am so amazed and awed at how we have made it here. Now he hasn't graduated yet and your probably wondering  why I am so over joyed. ...

To get here has been a very hard road for my husband. in 2008 he  had to do an academic fresh start. because of  bad school choices he made at 18  at this point he is working full time at Moller  and taking night classes, Moller lays him off and he starts unemployment. There is a choice ... find work and take never ending night classes, or go to school full time, and utilize his unemployment. We all start praying and we both feel that he needs to go to school full time. The Lord made the unemployment last through the majority of his school and right when we were ready to finish that up the Lord provided a grant that would keep us afloat. :) Next came the summer... no grant money... :(  BUT, he provided a job that is a really a nice job, and if it weren't for school he would continue to work there.  the company is Federal Mogul  and they make brakes... its a factory job, but its still a good job that is gonna help us through the summer. :)

 The Lord is going to provide for us, and help us get through this next little hurdle 

Project Run and Play: Flicker Friends Guest Post: Amanda from Double St...

Check out this darling little summer dress. It is so quick and easy... you would be able to whip up a dress in no time. :)


Project Run and Play: Flicker Friends Guest Post: Amanda from Double St...: Welcome Amanda from Double Stitching ! My husband and I have identical twin daughters who turned two this spring and I love making dress...

Kraft Philadelphia

Kraft Philadelphia

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe - Swagbucks TV

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe - Swagbucks TV

YUMMY! For Mine and Willie's first sit down date, we ate at Cheddar's, and one of the dishes we always get is the spinach artichoke dip its our one constant. Its always a must and we always enjoy it's. Oohy gooy. Goodnessso can't wait to try it. <3

Stevie Wonder - I Just Called To Say I Love You

This is the ringer on my phone for Willie. <3 

I really like it. just a classic love song. 

  

Hearty Portobello Benedict Recipe - Swagbucks TV

Hearty Portobello Benedict Recipe - Swagbucks TV

Swag Bucks!

So I'm not big on joining websites for things because  they always draw you in then get you to do stupid things that end up costing you bunches of money. Not to mention it usually is a big waste of time you don't have. 

I had been hearing a lot of stuff about swag bucks and thought... ok maybe I will try it, 

I had gotten a kindle for Christmas  and love amazon.com for the fact I usually find some pretty good deals.

I signed up and that was when I became hooked.

I thought, well If I can get amazon gift cards for free that is at least is worth a little extra time...

besides... I already search a lot , I might as well get something out of it. :) 

Its fairly easy to get the swag bucks and doesn't cost anything if you use the search and swag-bucks tv.

now i don't have a lot of time to just sit at the computer especially with a growing, bouncy, giggly baby girl who loves to monopolize all mama's time. 

But here is where my new favorite gadget comes in... 

my kindle fire has a web feature where I can get on and search... 

I cant watch the videos but just clicking on them gets me points. 

Sometimes I search a little while I nurse  Aurora. or 

in the evening  when we watch tv. 

I have already gotten two gift cards  and almost have enough  for two more.

so its not that bad. :) rather enjoyable when you get stuff for nothing. :)

 helps on the pocket book too. :)

So I will continue to use swag bucks .