big helper!!

abigayle is such a big helper!!

she loves it when i do dishes

because she gets to put the

soap in.

well... actually she has decided

all on her own that this is her job.

while doing dishes the other day,

she pushed me out of the way

to get the soap

then pushed the bottom drawer back in

so she could open the soap holder

and begin squirting the soap in.

she was very determined!!!

and she did a good job.

amazing what they pick up on

all by themselves.

when she was finished she

closed the little soap door

and put the soap back away,

shut the dishwasher door

and actually started the dishwasher

ALL BY HERSELF!!!

i had to hurry up and finish filling it

while she was pouring in the soap, lol.

look at how proud she is!!

she now does this

EVERY time she hears me doing dishes,

even when i've just started =)

the papa dance

so... in this video,

we have proof

that blake and brayden

have the mcallister blood

running strong through their veins!!

LOVE IT!!!

decompression

chuck was next to dive yesterday at school.

he had all his gear on

and his teacher decided he wanted

to do a sur-d-02 drill.

to explain what that is,

it is when a diver needs to decompress

on surface instead of in the water.

so... at a certain feet under water,

they stop decompressing

and quickly surface,

climb out of the water,

walk as fast as you can

(running is not allowed)

strip down to your undies

(hopefully you are wearing undies

or... well i'm sure you can figure that one out)

and jump into the decompression chamber.

if i remember correctly,

they only have 3 minutes to do all this

before the body starts off-gassing.

chucks body off gasses all the time but

this off gassing is very dangerous!! lol.

anyways... chuck and his team

did this from the ladder on the barge

to inside their building and into the decompression chamber

in 1 minute 32 seconds!!

almost set a new record!!

he jumped into the chamber

and was blown down to 40 feet deep in 30 seconds.

he was surprised how quickly

he was able to clear his ears in the chamber.

i am thankful he was able to!!

once they started decompressing

the chamber started filling with a fog like substance.

he said he was soaking wet with sweat

when he was finally able to leave.

the 8 minutes he was in there

to decompress actually counts as a dive.

when the doors were opened

and he climbed out he not only saw his friends

and class mates but he saw

the recruiter and a few potential students

looking right at him,

standing there in his sweaty undies and all, lol.

i'm wondering what their first impression

of the school actually was, lol!!

i'm so proud of my husband

and this obvious natural talent he has

to be a commercial diver.

i pray for his safety and his his happiness

in this new career path we have chosen.

he is taking a test today,

and graduates on june 21st!!

that means there is only 3 weeks left!!!

italian grilled cheese

all righty!!

i'm feeling a little better.

maybe it's because i just had the best sandwich ever!!

a friend and fellow blogger

posted this recipe yesterday

and i must admit, i've had it not once but twice!!

here is her blog!!

i've changed it just a bit

only due to product i had on hand.

i used whole wheat bread

but yummy crunchy crusted bread would be better!

pesto,

provolone cheese, mozzarella would be great too!

and tomatoes.

assemble: butter, bread,

pesto, cheese, tomato, cheese, pesto

bread and butter.

grill and enjoy!!

so... her picture looks much better than mine

but believe me,

it tastes GREAT!!!

ok so... the link didn't work.

anyone know how to link her page to mine?

if so please leave me a comment.

until then, she is the author of the bee hive

in the 'my blog list' section on my blog.

sorry jamie!

sorry

I didn't sleep well last night,

I have a headache

and I'm really tired.

Not really in the mood to blog.

See ya'll tomorrow!

produce junction

well... lets try this again.

i wrote out this entire blog yesterday

and then comcast internet went down

and nothing saved, except the title, lol

so...

i've now been in new jersey for 4 months now

and have complained about their

very expensive and wilted produce constantly!!

while talking to a neighbor they mentioned

heading over to produce junction.

so... i decide to give it a try and

oh... my... goodness

what a little gem this place is!!!

i got ALL this for only $27.00!!

that may sound like a lot to you in cali

but over here that is nothing!!

the best part is

is that it is all fresh and oh so yummy!!!
for my $27.00 i received:
5 cucumbers,
4 apples,
12 heads of garlic,
2 huge celery,
3 bunches of cilantro,
6 zucchini,
4 lbs carrots,
2 lbs grapes,
2 huge green leaf lettuce,
a ton of bananas!!,
4 grapefruit,
6 limes,
2 jicama,
5 lbs of fresh potatoes (this is rare here)
6 red onions (also pretty rare)
4 bunches of green onions,
6 bell peppers,
and 6 corn on the cobbs.

wow!!!
what a deal!!

to give you an idea of the bargain,
this is approximately what i could have gotten
at the store for $27.00.
6 corn on the cobbs - $3.00
6 bell peppers - $8.00
4 bunches of green onions - $4.00
6 zucchini - $6.00 if it is on sale!!
6 red onions - $5.00 and
1 small celery heart $1.00
so i pretty much got:
cucumbers, apples, garlic,
1 1/2 celery, lol,
cilantro,
carrots, grapes, lettuce,
bananas, grapefruit,
limes and jicama
for FREE!!!

can you tell i'm excited!!!
i've made so many yummy salads,
soups, side dishes and yummy dinners with this produce.
wish i'd know about this place sooner
but thankful i found it now!!

coffee filter flowers

we made flowers the other day.

the kids had soo much fun

with these flowers.ab's flower is on the left

she colored and wet it all by herself!!

she even helped glue it on.

this one is brayden's.

he did everything by himself,

cut, color, wet and glue.

blake had a super fun time making his flower too!!

he did everything by himself

and i think it is beautiful!!

i just love homeade art projects!!!

crummy night = crummy day

well...it's 7:20 in the morning

and i can already tell

today is not going to be a good day.

abigayle started off on the edge of the bed

next to her crib.

i have the mattress right up next to her crib

with her crib in the toddler bed position.

it's like having a king size bed and a

toddler bed right next to each other

making lots of space to sleep on!!

well... yesterday i decided that it would really be nice

to have the crib back into a crib

and reattached the side.

she was sleeping on our bed while

chuck and i were in the living room

and she managed to roll into the middle

of my side of the bed.

so when i moved her to crawl in

she of course woke up

and stayed awake for an hour.

she slept horribly all night

since she kept touching the crib rail.

i was constantly up with her, not fun!

i will be removing the rail today, lol.

then blake came in our room.

i should have know this was going to happen

earlier than usual.

he got up while i was still up in the living room

then as we were going to bed

he woke up again.

he hasn't been sleeping well for a few weeks

and has been joining us

at about 3:00 in the morning

but this was more like midnight.

then brayden ended up coming in

and sleeping on the floor next to our bed

which apparently bothered my husband.

i should have just turned on the

air conditioner last night to make my husband happy.

we all know, if he is hot, then no one is happy!!

he was hot but i was no where near hot.

there was a nice breeze coming in from the window

i actually ended up under the sheet and blanket

but apparently he was still hot.

when he gets like this

i try to stay far away from him in bed

so he doesn't get any hotter

but with abigayle, blake and i all in the bed together

someone was bound to touch him all night long.

he went to school in a bad mood.

hope his day gets better!!

although i'm tired

i'm not in a bad mood, yet!!

the kids are grouchy already this morning.

looks like maybe today will be a movie day =)

here is a picture of what i hope

we will all be doing tonight!!!

i think she is praying for a good nights sleep!!

just a smile

hope everyone has a smiley day!!

fishing at ocean city

our kids just love the beach!!

they were looking forward to going again

and then Mark asked if we wanted to go fishing with him.

they were so excited!! mark heard a rumor that fish were catching off the shore

so we packed up and headed out.

here is Mark taking a break

Brayden had so much fun

Daddy and Ab's having a good time.

Ab's is no longer allowed to hold the pole on her own.

ask daddy's leg how it feels when she

flings the pole and catches him, lol.

the tide was coming in

and the waves were getting bigger and bigger.

obviously, the kids enjoyed getting wet!

Joe had to run into the water to retrieve his set-up.

it was awfully funny and from the back

it looked like he had and accident, lol.

i hope everyone can see these videos.

the boys had so much fun!!

Gabriella's Heart

after 97 days on the heart transplant list

gabriella received her new heart last night!!!

for all of you who may not know who she is,

she was diagnosed with a fatal heart problem at age 4.

she only had a few years left without a heart donor.

yesterday, God answered the prayers of many!!

although i am very grateful that gabriella has her

sparkly new heart,

my heart still grieves for the family that just

lost their own child.

please click on the link below and read this

very inspirational story

and keep gabriella, her family

and the donor's family in your prayers.

http://listeningthruthenoise.blogspot.com/

first bbq

we've been craving bbq so bad lately

so we bought a little $20.00 bbq

and set it up in the back of Chuckie's truck.

we had so much fun and yummy food!!

joe came over and helped us enjoy our bbq.

ab's was definitely enjoying her fruit pizza cheesecake bite!

she wouldn't even give me a smile, lol.

brayden and abbott watching a moving together

although i'm not thrilled with this picture,

i do think it is kinda funny.

you'd never believe how many pictures i have

of us just like this over the years.

random thoughts

today's blog is just a few random thoughts.

i'm headed to the

new jersey christian home school convention today.

i'm really excited about finally being able

to look at all the curriculum i've been researching.

to be honest, i'm a little nervous about

going so far from home all by myself.

the drive says it'll take about 1hr 30 mins

but the estimated time is hardly the case here in nj lol

things seem to take much longer.

thankfully, i do have our trusty gps!

i'm sure i'll make it there and back just fine =)

i think i've finally found the key to sleeping well

even if your baby continues to wake up - yoga.

i've been doing yoga for the last few weeks

and i've slept better than i have in so long

on days i do it.

i'll definitely be continuing this new routine =)

blake learned a valuable lesson a few nights ago,

books are not meant to be read in the bathtub, lol

he claims his sister wanted to read a few books

so he put four books in the tub.

two of them were just normal,

good but not so special books.

the other two were special books.

a mouse in grandma's house

was signed by the author and given to him from mimi.

the other was blakes favorite book

joseph and the coat of many colors.

needless to say...

i blow dried the two special books,

they obviously were soaked in water but still readable.

well... i'd better get going and get ready for today.

hope everyone has a great weekend!!

mother's day

aren't these flowers pretty?

these were delivered from my brother.

wasn't that nice?

THANKS!!!

my mom and curt also sent flowers.

my house smells soo good!!

my mother's day was so nice.

we went out to breakfast the day before

to my favorite breakfast place over here,

cracker barrel!!!

biscuits and gravy were calling my name

and mmm-mmm-mmm they were so good!!

gifts were heartfelt and wonderful!!

we had a bbq and it was so nice but sooo cold.
ab's insisted she wear her tutu and
had fun watching it blow in the wind.

my yummy dessert!

although i had a wonderful mothers day
it just wasn't the same without our families.
we missed you mom, aunt sandi, grandma,
peggy and aunti lala!!
hopefully next year we will all be together.

sorry

i've misplaced my downloading cord

for my cameras.

i promise

just as soon as i can find it

(hopefully today)

i'll post pictures.

i just cannot blog about mother' day

without pictures.

my back hurts

i'm not complaining

just explaining.

i hurt my back last week.

it was feeling better

but i woke up this morning

and it was tender again

so... i thought the perfect ending for today

would be a nice hot bubble bath.

so i start the hot water,

shoo out the kids,

add the bubbles,

slip in, grab my book

and begin relaxing.

that is where the relaxing bubble bath ended.

the kids needed to be reminded to leave the bathroom twice

then someone needed to poop.

so... i lay in my nice bubble bath

smelling the mixture of lavender and poop!!

then one little girl makes her way in

leaning over, splashing

and enjoying all the bubbles

another little person makes their way in

leaning over the water talking the entire time

ab's realizes that if she could just climb in

she would have complete access to milk

and after i tell her not now,

she stops trying to climb in

she decides to lean over with her mouth wide open,

smiling with this determined look on her face.

thankfully i caught her before she fell in

but it was at this moment

i realized

this is motherhood

and i wouldn't change a thing.

although all i wanted was a nice relaxing

15 minutes of 'me' time

i received an audience,

abundance of non stop talking,

splashing and an unpleasant aroma...

i felt very blessed to have such a wonderful family!!

and a family that feels so comfortable to remind me of this

while i'm naked in the tub, lol

here are my beautiful children

enjoying my mother's day bath.

meanest mommy award

well... i definitely received the

meanest mommy of the year award last night.

but, in my defense

i believe the lesson was learned

and will not be forgotten anytime soon

brayden was mad at me.

i mean, i was being pretty unreasonable,

i did tell him to brush is teeth and go potty before bed.

well... he decided to say

"mommy, i wish you would die."

yep, you read that right,

he wanted me to die because i told him

to brush his teeth.

i immediately asked him to repeat himself

so he changed his wording to

"i wish you were old"

i really didn't know what to say

obviously this was unacceptable

but what do you do?

i told him to go tell his daddy what he said.

he knew what he said was wrong

and daddy was going to punish him

much more severely than me.

he refused to tell him,

once daddy heard what was said

he began talking to him about

kind words and how speaking like that

was unacceptable.

he was told to go apologize to me,

he was not going to get a book read to him at bed

and he was not going to play the wii today.

when it was my turn to talk to him,

i explained to him that if mommy dies

she would not be here to make him his breakfast

or take him to the library, etc.

i asked him if that is what he wanted.

he of course said no

but i wanted him to really learn how

words affect people so...

i left.

i told him that if he didn't want me anymore

i'd just leave.

i took my keys and went out into the hallway.

oh my gracious

i believe they understood very clearly at that point.

i think the entire building could hear the screams that followed.

after a few minutes i came back in

we talked about it.

i got lots of "i'm very very sorry mommy"

and "please don't die or go away"

so... i'd say my point was made

and hopefully it is remembered

that we speak with kind words in this house.

i've even received a few i'm sorry this morning.

no title

today is going to be brief.

i had a massive migraine yesterday

so i'm still suffering a bit

but i'll be ok, if i stay off the computer, lol.

an update on our food.

we had salmon and rice

the other day for dinner.

the boys ate all their salmon, yeah

ab's ate tons of rice

chuck tasted everything

and didn't complain

he said it wasn't that bad, lol

we also tried lentils with homemade cornbread.

blake, ab's and i liked them.

they were much better the next day, i must say.

homemade cornbread was horrible.

i threw it away.

searching for a better recipe.

mother's day presents have been made and shipped.

should arrive in time =0

ab's broke my laptop keyboard.

i now no longer have the

caps lock, and both shift keys.

i was working on the computer

while the kids were playing,

got up to go potty,

came back to find about 1/2 of the keys on the floor

i managed to get all but the three i mentioned above back on

not sure why they won't reattach but i'll keep trying.

until then... no capital letters or anything else that requires a shift key.

chuck is doing great in school.

two big tests tomorrow.

talked to an old teacher that is giving him great advice

when he gets into the work force.

we will be applying for a company

working the central water based states.

inland and off shore.

great company to work for,

good pay but the biggest thing

is that the experience he will gather

in only a few months

will give him a better chance at getting

higher paying jobs faster.

we won't know about this job until right

before we leave but...we'll see.

we will also be applying for jobs

on the west coast, east coast and everywhere in between =0

we'll i'd better get back to gettin, lol.

have a great day

Parenting

* Sigh *

Parenting is tough!

Well... being a parent is actually easy,

being a good parent is really hard.

Once you conquer one issue or problem

these kid spring on a new behavior

that needs to be corrected.

I remember back in the day when I only had one child.

I remember being overjoyed, happy, thankful, grateful but

I also thought I was overwhelmed, tired and frustrated

with shots, sickness, housework, etc.

Now with 3 kids so close in age

I look back now and think,

having only one child was so easy, lol.

And I'm sure mommies with more than 3 say the same.

Mothering has come very easy to me,

I've adjusted to lack of sleep,

nursing constantly, making baby food,

teaching to share, being kind, etc.

I absolutely LOVE being a mommy.

There is nothing in this world that I'd rather

be doing right now, period!

I just think time is going too quickly.

I mean seriously, my baby is 18 months.

She is no longer a baby, she is totally a toddler!

She has thoughts of her own

and opinions she will not alter from.

Which honestly amazes me considering how young she is.

Blake is 3 1/2,

I can remember when he was born

he was sooo tiny, 5 lbs 12 oz.

Talk about lack of sleep, he nursed every hour on the hour.

Then there is Brayden,

he made me a mommy

but that has now been 5 years ago.

Where does time go?

I had so much time with just him

and was able to enjoy so much more of my baby.

I feel like I'm missing out on the special daily

things since there is so much more housework,

more cooking, more of everything

but... then I feel so blessed.

There are so many mommies out there

that are not given the opportunity to do what I do.

Well... this blog went in a

completely different direction than planned, lol.

So, here is what I was going to say.

My newest battle is nutrition.

I am very passionate about feeding

my family healthy foods.

So many studies show that metabolism,

eating habits (healthy and non healthy),

adult weight and many more things begin in early childhood.

So, I feel that as their mother

it is my responsibility to teach great nutrition and

to give them the best start possible.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that

what we put into our bodies directly affects

how good we feel, behavior, a strong immune system

and soo many health issues

yet we struggle with healthy eating.

Well... let me clarify.

We rarely eat out,

I home make most meals without the use

of boxes and pre-made items.

I've switched all of our hamburger to ground turkey

I don't cook with a lot of salt

and I don't allow the children to drink unhealthy drinks.

Water, milk and juice are allowed.

So I guess we are healthier than some

but that is just not good enough.

We need to be eating fish weekly

and a boat load more of fruits and veggies.

But how do I do this when only Blake and I like veggies?

My husband won't even touch them,

Brayden will just not eat dinner

and Abigayle just prefers to nurse

So I go through all this trouble of making it

for it to go to waste.

Waste of my time and waste of money.

So, this is my new challenge

increase fruits, veggies and fish

without making my husband mad.

I'll let you know how it goes

I'll need lots of prayers!!

A bit of Help

Today is going to be a a busy day for us over here.

Ya'll remember that Mother's Day is Sunday, right?

Well... we are finishing up projects over here

so they can be shipped tomorrow and

HOPEFULLY be received in enough time.

But what I am most looking forward to is

starting our school work again!!

Received our reading book on Friday and

our Handwriting books have been calling our names =)

The new math program will have to wait a few weeks

but I'm still excited!!

I am teaching chores over here

and I just had to laugh when I saw how the boys

interpreted their chores over the weekend.

Above is Blake helping to clean the bathroom.

I asked him about it and he said it was his castle, lol.

Notice the water still in the tub?

I'm sure you can see how tall this castle tower is

and I'm sure you can imagine the water footprints that followed, lol.

Then as I was folding clothes,

the boys were putting their clothes away.

When I was finally able to look at their work

I found this!!

We are VERY short on space over here

but this still made me laugh.

What you don't see, is that the other

half of the drawers were empty.

I was very easily able to scoot all the now

unfolded clothes into their drawers and shut them all.

LOVE these boys for all their help!!

Maybe one day

they will help their wife

just like their daddy does.