Wordless Wednesday

So Thankful

Tonight we braved the Fashion Show Mall with two crazy kids to spend some gift cards that we thought only worked down on the strip. When we went to guest services, they informed us that we could us them anywhere in the United States. Huh? We can? So our plan of eating out and splurging on ourselves went right out the window! God, answered our prayers to provide us some grocery money and we need to be obedient. But I didn't want to! Mo wanted to take the cards right out of my hands and drive us home. I told him to loosen up that we came here for a family night out so let's eat!!

I really wanted Maggiano's but he didn't want to spend that much. :( We ended up at Johnny Rockets, which was way overpriced for the burgers and fries they serve there. It was definitely more kid friendly but really? Mo is so obsessed with this Money Makeover stuff that we had to share a $10.99 chicken club sandwich. Which in all honesty, was all in needed since I treated myself to the most delicious 6.99 chocolate shake. Hey I ran 4 miles today, I can drink 650 yummy calories... Reece and Raine had so much fun wearing their little chef hats and coloring. Then the staff cranked up the music and started dancing. I felt like I was in a Broadway show cuz Reece and Raine asked to go dance with the servers. I tried to get a picture with my cell phone but they were all to blurry. My dancing fools had the whole restaurant in stitches. It was too cute. We enjoyed the rest of our meal and headed to Borders to spend another gift card!

I told the kids before we left that we were going to the mall to get ourselves a Valentine present, then when we found out God gave us money for gas and groceries I couldn't buy silly stuff. I am a smart girl though and I grabbed the Borders and Macy's gift cards also. We let Reece and Raine pick out one book each and I was able to sneak in one more book for Reece's Easter basket. The Lord once again provided a little extra for our family. Time to head home it was getting late but then Mo reminded me of Macy's and how I wanted to swing by there. We looked at some bargain items for him and then some kid clothes but nothing was jumping out at us. Then I found 2 of the cutest outfits for a friend's new baby, both half price. Yay, thanks again God!

The kids really needed to use the restroom so we head to the back of the store near the women's undergarments. Mo found the clearance rack and started picking out cute bra's and panties. He said here ya go Happy Valentine's Day! It really was just what I needed, cuz I have purchased new bra's since I was pregnant with Raine. My chest size has shrunk quite a bit since I have been running and eating better so I truly needed a few half price Calvin Klein bras! I tried them on and was very pleased, I wanted to ask my hubby what he thought but I didn't think that would be too wise. I'll surprise him on Saturday! God is so good, he lead my man right to the rack I needed most in the store.

After a few hours of eating, dancing and shopping we headed home. It was a very entertaining night of spending gift cards, ya gotta love that!! As I type this reflection of how amazing God is, Mo just shouted up to me that our Verizon bill came in $25.00 under our budgeted amount!

Isaiah 65:24 proved itself so true for the Hauguel family today. Praise the Lord!

"Before they call, I will answer!" Isaiah 65:24

Isaiah 65:24 was the verse of the day sent to my email by Air1. I really needed to read this today because life has been very trying this week. The enemy has truly been testing my faith in God. When I read this story, I was reminded to have the faith of a child. God will provide!

A Story from a Missionary in Africa(Isaiah 65:24)

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator. (We had no electricity to run an incubator.) We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.
One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed.
As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.
"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. "Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon , as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby.
I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.
During the prayer time, one ten -year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of a corollary, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"
As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen?" ! I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer would be for a package to arrive from the homeland.
I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting.
Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.
Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas-that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out-yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle, I cried.
I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of, the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!"
Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted. Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child-five months before-in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."
"Before they call, I will answer!" Isaiah 65:24

Wordless Wednesday: Comfort Stone

Wordless Wednesday

2 year old tantrums

I am so sick and tired of my daughter's tantrums. Can I vent for a minute? Raine is as strong willed and stubborn as both her parents and that really makes her hard to deal with. I am the adult, she is supposed to do as I say and not melt down every time she doesn't like what I tell her. Right? I am reading Parenting with Love and Logic and I really enjoy it. I am trying to implement what they say but she is not cooperating!! Her language skills are developing quite nicely and she tells me exactly what she wants, when she wants it. Today I told her to stop barking orders at me and she said, "Doggie bark, me Raine mama, bop it (stop it)." I was laughing so hard after that one. I think I spent a total of 4 hours with her today and she lost it 5 times. Does she do that for you Deidre? When does this stage end? Reece never did this, his tantrums came when he was three and only lasted a short while. Raine is also very dramatic and sensitive so when I told her blanket was in daddy's truck she lost it. I know she understood it was in there because she asked to call dada and get it. But why did she have to cry the whole way home about it. Get over it we will get the blanket when daddy gets home. AHHHH~ I am having a heck of a week. Two more days until I get to relax and watch some serious football, hopefully my kids will let me enjoy it!

PRIORITIES

I am back to work and so exhausted. I told Mo I need a vacation from my vacation to clean up and put stuff away. I really need a day alone in my house with no other bodies present. I will need the computer taken away also as it is a distraction for me or shall I say a priority. When I was younger my mom used to watch soaps on TV, in fact she still does. I think I watch soaps too, but they are true stories about real people. They are all my friends on FACEBOOK or the blogs they write. I am also trying to cook some new dinners in our home so I am constantly looking up simple yummy recipes on the internet. I need the internet to read all about the NFL playoffs. FLY EAGLES FLY!

PRIORITIES, what are yours because mine are really off right now. I have piles of papers to grade, thank you cards to finish writing, presents to mail, pictures to upload & edit, laundry to fold, tons of clothes to put away, tons of clothes and toys to donate, and Christmas needs to be put away. I am seriously thinking of calling in sick to get all this done. Anyone want to come help me next Friday?

Home From Reno & Park City

We are back at home with so much to do. When I finally upload pics I can blog about all the great times we had in the snow. We had so much fun in Reno with the Brewer fam. Mo wants to move there. I knew he would! Happy New Year!

Christmas Jammies

I love finding cute Christmas jammies for my kids. Last year they wore the warm fleece zip up kind but since Reece is getting so big it's hard to find cute one piece pajamas. I found these soft fleece two piece sets online at an after Thanksgiving sale. Raine loves anything Disney and Reece loves anything Marvel comic. They were very excited to open their new jammies and couldn't wait to put them on.

Heading to Park City on Christmas Day

On Christmas day, we woke to rain pouring down. We loaded up our snow gear, presents, food, wood for crackling fires, Dublin dog, and two very excited kids. Reece and Raine couldn't wait to see their uncle Brian and the snow covered mountains in Utah. Every time we crossed over into new state Reece would ask if we were getting closer and how much longer till we get there? Raine fell asleep an hour into the drive so I started reading The Tale of Despereaux to Reece. I am hoping to read the whole book aloud to him before I take him to see the movie. (such a teacher I know) We read about 6 chapters before Reece needed to go to the bathroom and became too distracted. We pulled off the 15 and took a quick pee break. Raine woke up so we had a snack and the kids played with some of their new toys. They were such great passengers. We watched Horton Hears a Who and The Batman cartoons. I wrote thank you cards and Mo navigated through some serious rain showers. It was getting dark so we all took a little power nap. I woke to flurries of snow out the front window. Mo was on the 80 cutting over to Brian's town. The weather was amazing, it went from rain to snow in seconds. The road was so snow covered we almost missed the Kimble Junction exit. After very careful navigating and patience we arrived at 4850 Meadow Loop Rd., our favorite place to visit! All in all, another super successful Hauguel family adventure.

Merry Christmas Eve

WOW, I can't believe it's here! Our family has been having so much fun lately. December has been full of adventures. I have 2 weeks off for winter break and will fill you in on all the exciting things we have been doing.

~I had friends over for Bunco

~Played with the kids in the snow

~Finished Christmas shopping & shipped presents to east coast

~Made treats & gifts for neighbors and friends


~Went to the Festival of Lights at the Springs Preserve with the fam and saw Santa & Frosty

~We picked out a real Christmas tree

~Reece sung Happy Birthday Jesus in his Christmas program
~A friend created my cute Christmas cards

~I had an extremely busy final week of work before break

~Reece suffered an ear infection

~Attended a Christmas card party and addressed envelopes
~Las Vegas saw snow and CCSD canceled school=SNOW DAY

~Played with the kids in the snow

~Finished Christmas shopping & shipped presents to east coast

~Mailed off my Christmas cards

~Went to the Magical Forest with the Castillo Fam

~Stayed up wrapping presents until 1 am three nights in a row

~Enjoyed a delicious Christmas Eve dinner with the Feldmans

~Attended Cornerstone's Christmas Eve service with my family & the Feldmans

Details about all of these memories will come as I travel 7 hours up to Park City to spend Christmas Day with Brian.

I pray that all of you enjoy your Christmas as much as I have. Remember the reason for the season and make some great memories with your love ones.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

SNOW in Las Vegas

Look how happy Raine is to feel the cold, hard snow.

I told her to take a bite and taste it, even after being a little apprehensive she had fun with it.

Here she is sharing her snow with me.

She couldn't wait to get on the playground.

When we we finally pulled into the driveway this is what we found in our front yard!

Look how much we had in the backyard!

While at school today I watched the snow come down pretty hard and heavy all day long. It's been 4 years since the kids have seen snow in Vegas. They were all talking about how it snowed when they were in first grade and they went outside to see it. Well, just before school let out I took the 5th graders outside to have a snowball fight. The kids were psyched! We ran around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off. The kids had such a good time. So did I.

Red Rock with The DeRusha Family

Mo loves to take shots of nature.

Daddy and Raine start their trek.

Snack Break!

Group shot on the big rock.

Say cheese kids :0)

I am not ready to hike yet...

Yep, we headed out there again, but this time Mo and Dublin joined us. We convinced our great friends Erin & Tommy DeRusha to come with us. They were here visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday and they were excited to hike an old favorite of theirs. Mo was just as excited to get out in the wild also. He was very impressed with our children and their hiking abilities. We love the outdoors, why wouldn't mini-me and mini-mo love it too? Reece was very eager to lead the group. He felt like he was Jake's big brother & Ashley's little sister. It was cute! Raine wouldn't keep up with us and would purposely stop because I wouldn't pick her up. She is so stubborn! We took a break at the huge rock and took some pretty pictures. Hiked some more and stopped again for some snacks. Mo enjoyed shooting the scenery and came up with some cool pics. It was another great morning out on the trail.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope that all of you are as Thankful as we are. I asked my students to write a

Top Ten List of Things They Are Thankful For and then I wrote one.

10. Teaching 5th grade again

9. Free tickets to UNLV Basketball, Wranglers hockey & Bette Midler

8. Paying off a credit card last week

7. Mo's landscaping business doing so well

6. Deidre the best babysitter ever

5. Reece's preschool, he loves it there

4. Weekends spent playing with my kids

3. My awesome friends & family all over the country

2. My Beautiful Family

1. My Lord & Savior who provides me with all of this

Red Rock... Take 2

I am addicted to that beautiful place. I brought the kids out there again on Saturday, but this time with tow other children in two. After convincing my dear friend Jess to take pictures of my darlins (on an hours notice); I gave her a few hours without her precious gems Violet and Riley.

Reece adores Riley and was so excited when he heard we were bringing the Baldwin children. Violet was an awesome helper and led the two boys along the hike while I trailed behind with Raine. She was a trooper again this time, a little bit more needy bit still did her fair share of hiking. I think we probably could have hiked the whole strenuous 3 mile hike over rocks, through rocky creek beds, under huge boulders, and around rocky crevices. The kids were cruising right along and we almost made it all the way to the end where a spectacular pool is filled by a trickle down what must be a 1000 feet of vertical sandstone cliff, but we had to start heading back to the car because the Baldwin kids were heading to the UNLV basketball game and needed to be home by 1:00. The kids hustled back to the parking lot and had yet another snack. The best part of the morning was the fact that Raine wore a new pair of Dora undies and kept them dry the whole time. She even went potty on those awful national park style port-a-potty with the toilet on top of the big hole in the ground. I was so proud of her! We will be heading out to Red Rock every weekend until it gets too cold. My kids and I love it so why not! Hope you don't get sick of reading about it!

3 day week full of excitement

I had Monday and Tuesday off this week but the rest of the work week felt like a whirl wind. Wednesday I had the annual observation by my administration (yes, I nailed it and was a model teacher), Thursday a field trip to the Lied Discovery Museum and Friday was a solid teaching day minus 6 kids. What a huge difference it was in my room with out those six students. In NV they allow 34 kids in the 4th & 5th grade classrooms. Today I had 23! It was heaven. My class is a very chatty bunch of kids so it was like they were asleep or something. I had a very enjoyable week, even though I had to write an extremely boring paper for my free ipod class. I also have to write an intricate lesson plan, blogg style for the Laura Ingalls Wilder book "The Long Winter". I probably should have started this assignment a week ago. I am the queen of procrastination and work better under pressure so it will get done and get done well. As for the weekend, we have several things to accomplish. I will take the kids on a quick bike ride and then for another hike at Red Rock. Saturday night I am going out with my dear friends Erin and Jessica whom I haven't spent time with in ages. Sunday we will go to church, nap and watch football all afternoon. I will also try and complete my blogg lesson plan. Mo has several landscaping jobs in the works and will probably be busy with those all weekend long. Yay~we may actually be able to go visit friends during Christmas, that is if all of his jobs come through....

Hike at Red Rock Canyon

You wish you were with us on our hike today because you would have had a ball!

Look how happy we were, yes the whole time! I have been waiting for this day for since my kids were born. I can't wait to take them hiking again next weekend!

My kids were rock stars! We started around 11:00am and when we returned to the car it was 1:39pm. I was so shocked. We brought Dublin dog and she was more of a pain than the 2 yr old. Reece wouldn't stay with Raine and I, he would scurry ahead and then call back to us from a top a rock, it was fantastic! We had lots of snacks and played hide and seek in the wash. Then as we were leaving we found this really tiny run off from the natural spring. I told Reece to grab a stick and play in the water. Raine followed right behind her big brother except she was actually standing in the water. I can't wait to take them out again next weekend. I really need to be independently wealthy so I can be outside playing everyday! I was so excited to have another fantastic outdoor adventure with my 2 awesome angels.

MUSIC

My weekend has been spent playing with my little wonders, listening to music, organizing photos, grading papers, doing laundry and cleaning. Can I just say that without music, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy half of those things or actually get through them. It's so much better cleaning when loud hyper music is playing in the background. My kids ask for their Elmo, Mickey Mouse or Veggietale music while taking their evening bath. I can find great tunes on my satellite radio while driving around town. The best part of music is the memories it brings back. I was importing some of my cds to my itunes and it brought back so many awesome memories of college and even high school. I also realized that I need some new music. I think I will raid my friends collections soon. I was watching some clips on utube and starting making a list of artists I have been wondering about. Music is such a powerful way to express your thoughts and enjoy other people's talents. I really miss hearing my talented friends Melissa and Shontell sing...

Bike Rides

I am so thankful for my wonderful morning. I was awoken by 4 yr old arms cuddling around me and then the beckon of a 2 yr old. We all snuggled in front of the tv watching some toons until Reece asked his daily morning question, "Where are we going today Mama?". "How about for a bike ride baby" I replied. He was so excited, he ran upstairs and got dressed to go. It was only 7:30 am and I still hadn't had my coffee. We made it out the door around 10 am; which was far too many hours for Reece to wait. He was such a good boy on our 2 hour ride though. Raine is a testy lil 2 yr old and bugs her big brother. He would say, "Mom, Raine just hit me. Mom, Raine is crowding me." I tried to distract Reece by playing I spy, but he'd rather tell me a story. The first Batman story turned into a novel full of chapters. It was so entertaining. I wish I had a video camera. After a few more minutes and lots of "When are we gonna get there?" comments we made it to the red swings playground. After almost 2 hours of riding around in circles, we arrived at our destination. I felt bad cuz I didn't let them play for very long. I had to get home to feed them lunch and shower before meeting my girlfriends for lunch. We rode back home as quick as a flash. They were very thankful we went on our ride, something I plan to do with them every Saturday morning.

Halloween Traditions

Halloween traditions in Las Vegas include candy, chili, grilled cheese sandwiches and family! Ever since we have lived here, our surrogate family (the Dahirs) have always invited us over for every, yes every holiday celebration. Well first my dear "sister" Shontell, up and moves to Reno, then my goofy "brother" Kristopher moved to Virginia. Poor Mama Kris had no children left to entertain her this Halloween. We were very thankful she invited us over for her yummy chili and grilled cheese. The kids were troopers, I made them eat a sandwich before they hit the streets. Who knew they loved grilled cheese so much? Mo and I indulged in the yum-o food after trick or treating.

Can we go yet? Raine was getting tired of waiting for us to be ready.

As you can see, Reece decided to wear Optimus Prime this year. If I would have ordered a Batman costume when I wanted to, I'm sure he would have chose that. I think he may just get a halloween costume for Christmas this year...

Daddy did the door to door business while I waited in the street snapping pics. My kiddos thought they were guests in every house. They would walk right over the threshold and into the homes. It was driving me nuts. After only about 10-15 houses Reece asked if we could go home. He said he was tired of walking and he had lots of candy already! I was all for it because I don't think he will ever ask that again.

Hand me down costumes are the best! My mom bought my cousin Dylan the Tigger costume and each of her grandsons and Raine have worn it also. That is money well spent Mom! Casey James always picks the best costumes and then passes them down to his cousin. Reece just loves wearing Casey's old treasures. Thanks kiddo!