New Links

So I got into the whole coupon thing a while back with inspiration from the Queen-Mariah! So I added a couple websites I love-again thanks to Mariah-that are really useful! CouponMom is free and is the program I use to help me clip coupons out of the Sunday Paper, there's also a link on the couponmom website to get the weekend addition of the paper for 75% off. Frugal Chic Living is a blog this woman keeps with all of her tips and secrets. She also has her meals and shopping lists to allow her to feed her family for $50 or less each week. Her tips are really good and I've learned alot! Hope this helps!

Easter

Merik's posed smile




Our 2009 Easter was wonderful! Merik ran down stairs to see if the easter bunny had come and was so excited to see eggs he peed all over the floor! It was hilarious! Just like a dog. We went to church and had a great day and Merik was so cute and can now say "rezurrekted". After church we hurried to Pat's grandma's house for family time and an easter egg hunt for Merik (he's the only one old enough to walk! Lucky kid!) He definitely got the hang of that quick. After Nana H's house we went to my grandma's house for dinner and the traditional artichoke-I look forward to it every year. All in All it was a great day with lots of family time which is always the best! -but really its about the clothes-arent' they cute?

The Greatest Day Ever!

Well the day finally arrived! We started Potty Training! He started throwing huge fits everytime we went to change his diaper and he got himself breakfast so the combination was a little revelation that maybe it was time to be done with diapers! I was really scared but I decided to jump in. With some much needed encouragement from Jan and a great "potty TRAIN chart" we sat on the toilet with a pile of books. Well surprisingly he had 2 accidents the first 2 days and that was about it. (He did pee all over the floor sunday because he was so excited to see his easter basket but that was the first in a long time!) I was so impressed and shocked! Within 4 days he didn't even have to be reminded, he just went by himself; and within a week he was going, dumping, washing hands, cleaing the potty, and putting it back together. The only time I know if he went is if he remembers about a treat! Its crazy but so nice! I tried to get some cute pictures of his first times on the potty but he decided he likes his privacy, hence the screaming picture! But potty life is good!

The Berry Buzz

Going into battle!

Well today was the first day I had to go to church all by myself! Yeah I know, whiner! But I've been really nervous. In our old ward we gratefully had my mom to play with and help with Merik during sacrament meeting but in our new ward it literally takes everything out of both Pat and I to keep Merik under control and not screaming and to keep Karma-who's nap time is during the meeting, from melting down. So today as a single mom I marched into battle backpack in tow but with a secret weapon, a new mr. potatoe head! Thanks to the many prayers of Pat I'm sure, it worked and we actually made it through all of church! I am so grateful that we did it one, and two that its over!

This week was a typical busy week! Not much to report, but Merik did get his first spanking! He ran out into the middle of the street, so there it was a valid spanking, but I don't know if my neighbors who I'm sure saw the new crazy lady beat her little boy in the road would agree. Don't you love kids?

So many freedoms we don't often see

Many of you know I spent 4 months teaching english in Moscow right before I got married. I lived with a wonderful family Tonya (the mom) and Dima (her then 16 year old son). Sadly Tonya passed away almost a year after I left but I have kept in close contact with Dima and love him dearly; he is my 3rd little brother! We were talking the other day and I expressed my deep desire for him to come visit me here in the states, something we've both dreamed about since I lived there. He explained they have 2 passports there, one that allows you to travel inside Russia and one that allows you to travel outside of Russia. To obtain one that would allow you to travel outside the country you have to be over 29 or serve in the military. No way around it (well, legal way!) Serving in the military in Russia is a very scarey and dangerous thing. They are not well taken care of and for someone like him, who has no family, its a fear that he'd be allowed to be in more dangerous parts because there's no one to miss him if something happened. (That is how Tonya explained it to me when I lived there!) I so often forget and take for granted the freedoms that come with being an american! We can leave when we want, he is litterally not allowed to leave the country. At a recent fireside I attended a South African man who had served as a mission president here in Colorado talked about the whinny attitude Americans seem to have! "You are richer than 95% of the world" he said! Think about that! 95%!! He also pointed out that every news program you turn on is complaining about something, blaming someone, when we have nothing to complain about! We complain about katrina and the trailers not being provided in time-THEY GOT TRAILERS? Our country is amazing and he told us it is so because we are a nation of action. When a natural disaster occurs we don't hope they survive we take work off to travel there to serve.
I know I seriously take for granted the things I have just because of my address. There are so many blessings that come from living here that we don't even realize we have because we're so far from the rest of the world. When I spoke to Dima I remembered! We have so much!

Merik's art project

Don't you love the decor of our room? Did you notice the stripes on the wall that took forever?? Oh wait, that's not what you're noticing? You're wondering about the lovely towels on the floor? Oh, you don't think they quite match? Hmm, I'll take that into consideration.



Oh wait there's a reason they're there! Yep, you guessed it, that big white spot...PAINT!!!! Are you kidding me?

Merik was playing, stepped on the paint can and it tipped over and popped the lid off. I immediately started hyperventilating, appropriately so, and Pat-thank heavens-just walked over and started scooping it up with a dust pan. Merik was so sweet and came over and started rubbing my back saying "paint make mommy sad" "its okay mommy, be fine". Well I was determined to clean it but in pat's wisdom he convinced me it was hopeless!

I guess its officially home!