Family Road Trip

Yesterday evening, I had to make a quick errand run to Sam's club. As we were leaving the house, NyCee grabbed her teddy bears. She likes riding on the last seat of the minivan because it makes her feel like a "big girl."

As she was getting into the van, she placed the teddy bears on the empty seat. She then proceeded to get into her carseat and fasten her seat belt. I strapped buddy into his carseat and got ready to get into the driver's seat. All of a sudden, NyCee exclaims, "Mommy, teddy bear needs his seat belt." I stopped and thought to myself, "Seriously, am I going to strap teddy bears into a car seat?"

Free Fuel

Approximately two weeks I purchased a gift card at the grocery store near my house. Because I didn't plan to use it immediately, I threw it in my purse and went on my merry way.

Last week, I attempted to use the card and quickly realized it was not properly activated. Generally, I keep all receipts for a given period of time before throwing it in the trash. Of course I didn't follow that pattern this time around. I have the original sale receipt but not the activation receipt.

After all attempts to receive service at the store failed, I called customer service. The agent who accepted my call was very kind and understanding. He was unable to locate the transaction and advised me to fax the information to the number he provided.

As a gesture of good will, the representative advised I would receive $2.00 off my next gas purchase. (The company is still researching the sale of the gift card. I said, "Okay" and interpreted that to mean I would receive $.10 off a gallon.

I generally fill up the tank on Fridays for the following week. When I pulled up to the pump and inserted my "savings card" the sign read, Dayna Thompson your fuel discount is $2.00 off per gallon!" I received a full tank of gas absolutely free! How wonderful!?!?! That was quite the blessing!

Cast your bread upon the waters,
For you will find it after many days.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 (New King James Version)

Keeping the Faith

Please continue to pray for my cousin Cari's strength. She had a slight relapse but God is still the Great Healer.


Psalm 138 New Living Translation
A psalm of David.
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
by all the honor of your name.
3 As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.
4 Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
for all of them will hear your words.
5 Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
for the glory of the Lord is very great.
6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,
but he keeps his distance from the proud.

7 Though I am surrounded by troubles,
you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
and the power of your right hand saves me.
8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

Birthday #3 - Weekend

Friday

NyCee's birthday morning started at 530a. The only difference this time was she climbed out of bed, walked into the living room and exclaimed, "Surprise Mommy. It's my birthday!"
Saturday

Unbeknown to NyCee, her father planned a trip out here to spend the weekend with her and join the birthday celebration. She enjoyed several piggyback rides and tumble time.

A lady from my church made the birthday cake. Yes, it's Dora again but she is not really into any other characters. The cake was absolutely delicious.

I just threw in this picture because my aunt send emails asking for me to post pictures of myself.


A few of her church friends came to the party. Of course, there was pizza, soda, candy and games galore. All the kids enjoyed themselves.

I had to keep NyCee from licking the icing off the cake before I cut it and gave her a piece. I sat the cake on the table in front of her, turned around and she was eating icing!

AS the night came to close, NyCee was still full of energy.

We ended the evening with a Cinderella dress up fashion show.

She and her friends had a great time. You will notice Tyler is not in any of the birthday party pictures as he was not in attendance. He stayed home because he was coughing and feeling a little under the weather.

Not a nature lover

Despite the cute smile on Tyler's face, this boy has a set of lungs that can scream like no body's business. He loves to be outside and will crawl on the hard ground all day long, if allowed. But put the boy on soft, cushy grass and he screams bloody murder! He tries to push himself away from it and really gets upset. It's actually funny.

We went to the park this afternoon when I got off work and he played in the grass for a minute. He touched it and of course tried to eat it. So maybe he is adjusting.

"Set Me Free Why Don't Cha' Mom!"

That little face says (or in this case) screams it all.

Stand He Does

I had to take this picture with my phone so the quality is a little poor.

I tried to install the CD for the new camera but it is defective. Now you would say, "Just return it to the store and exchange it." I did. And I spent nearly 1 hour on the phone with technical support for assistance. Now, I have to go and return the camera and purchase a different brand. I have to somehow figure out how to do this before Friday, NyCee's birthday.

Weekly Update

Okay, so I finally bought a new camera that I just removed from the box. Now, I just have to install the software on the computer. I am working on it.

So, I was at church a few weeks ago and spoke to a guy I see all the time. To me, he is just a cool dude. I usually give him a high five when I see him. No biggie-do. But he threw me a little off balance when he called me GORGEOUS! I rode that for like a week. After having two kids and a roller coaster of a year, I was like "WOW! Someone thinks I am gorgeous. That's cool."

But he did it again! Dude, yeah, I'm hot! HA! HA!

Let me think what else is going on?

NyCee's birthday is this week. Pretty exciting. I realized for the past three (3) years, NyCee has had a birthday in a different state. GA, MI, and now AZ. Well, as long as she is under my care, the remainder of her childhood birthdays will be in AZ unless we are on a family vacation.

Tyler is pulling himself up on the furniture. He is still doing the army crawl but I think that is because he prefers that position. He knows how to crawl. Hey, maybe he wants to have a military career.

My goals this week:
CLEAN MY HOUSE!!!!!!
Finish a book I started last week.
Receive a wonderfully expected surprise!
And install the CD to the camera on my computer.

Well-Rested

Two Things

1. Because of my work schedule, I have learned to cook the meat for dinner at night. Generally, I follow that same principle for Saturday and Sunday. Last night, I put the chicken in the crock pot. Woke up at 530a only to discover I forgot to turn on the crock pot.

2. Arizona does not honor daylight savings time. What does that mean? Well, we do not spring forward like the majority of the country will this weekend. (There are other areas of the country that do not honor this principle either.)

For those in the eastern time zone, the time difference becomes three (3) hours. I.e., 10a in Detroit is 7a in Phoenix.

For those in the central time zone, the time difference becomes two (2) hours. I.e., 9a in Chicago is 7a in Phoenix.

Why is this important? Because inevitably, someone will call me at 0-dark thirty hours not realizing the time difference. Even though I am publishing this information on the world wide web, I guarantee you, someone will call me at a ridiculously earlier hour and then apologize for doing so. It's all good. I will still love you. I will not converse with you at that hour but I will still love you. ((smile))

My Little Dancer

On Thursdays, NyCee has started taking dance lessons. The studio offers 50 minute sessions which includes: tap, tumble and ballet. Thursday was NyCee's first lesson and Lorie captured this photo:

One of the downsides is the class is from 1:00-1:50p. Smack dab in the middle of nap time. Lorie mentioned NyCee was a little exhausted after the class but all-in-all, she did very well.

Sporadic

I realize the postings are sporadic lately but honestly, there isn't much to write about.

Tyler hasn't started walking yet. He pulls himself up onto his knees and will stand up if being held.

NyCee continues to develop and is a fast learner.

As for me, I am trying to decide when I will return to school and find more permanent living arrangements for me and the kids.

Honestly, I don't have the time to sit on the computer in the evenings.

I was switched to a different team today at work. So my works hours reverted back to 8-5p because I am no longer assigned to the east coast region.

That is the down side. The positive side is that I now have one of the best seats in my department. My desks faces the mountains and the view is gorgeous.

But now, I get home after 6p. By time I feed the kids dinner, give them baths, read bible versus, put them in the bed, wash the dinner dishes, attempt to do laundry (one of my favorite things), and prepare for the next day: I am exhausted. I still have to get in my evening study time.

So forgive the sporadic posts. I will continue to write because people have indicated they do not want me to stop. But the frequency will probably be once or twice a week.

Sleepytime Peek-a-boo

I guess he was playing peek-a-boo in the middle of the night because I have no idea how he managed to get the cover around his head.

*Now, I no longer but the blanket on him at night.*