Celebrate Earth Day.

This is how we save the earth...
One child (soul) at a time.
 ♪♫ Jesus loves the little children... ♫♪

My birthday, April 8th

April 8th was my birthday, I turned 45 and I feel 45, lol. I have been completely focused with the many responsibilities that have fallen into my lap that I have made no time for me. I'm O.K. with that, it comes with the territory... Great success doesn't come by sitting and waiting for the next person to make it happen and it doesn't come by feeling sorry for yourself over all the hard struggles that need to be endured. Aside all that, for this is not what this post is all about, Danny and I decided my birthday weekend would be a good excuse to head out of town, at least for one day. Saturday was really our only day because this year my birthday fell on Easter Sunday.
Not only was it Easter Sunday, it was also our churches 11th anniversary celebration with Elder Young coming to preach our anniversary message.
So here we go early Saturday morning together in Sissy's Jeep, South. Danny didn't sleep all that much the night before, looking and planning on line at all the possibilities we had on very limited funds. But as always God in His tenderness helped us find a way to enjoy US time.
We headed toward the ocean... My favorite of all favorite places to be... Near the great openness of Gods amazing power. I could sit for hours on a rock listening to the crashing of the waves against the shore. The night before, my husband made it sound like we were going to head up toward grassvalley and eat at some nice place. Something he thoroughly enjoys; taking me out to eat *sigh* I love when he does, but that is not at the top of my list of favorite things to do... I expressed that I would really like it if we could go to the ocean.... His response, "Too far away and we can't afford it."
So when we headed toward the ocean, the next morning, I was one happy lady.
It was the perfect day; beautiful weather, hardly any traffic, peaceful, and calm. We ended up at Point Reyes National Sea Shore Lighthouse. We spent $5. Riding the shuttle buss to different post for the day... The best part, of course, was the lighthouse... Only 300+ steps down the mountain (that meant we would have to go UP 300+ STEPS to get back to where the buss was). Oh, but it was all the worth it, going down AND coming up!

I had a wonderful time with my husband along the beach, seeing the sea lions sunning on the shore lines (from a distance of course) and exploring the lighthouse. We even spotted a whale heading North! It was fabulous!! The weather was breathtaking!! Danny had packed us a lunch, snack and waters that held us through out the day. I am blessed to have such a man... As long as I have him we will never go without because food is number one on his  priority list ,-] I absolutely love him!
As we headed home it became apparent that a migraine was taking place... Maybe the hike was to much for me or the rough ride of the jeep... Whatever the reason, I began to get sick :( Danny was very understanding and didn't hesitate to quickly bring me home. We had a great day together and some wonderful time alone.

So here is a picture of the lighthouse in all its glory. I used the PicsArt app on my Android. I love PicsArt, it not only enables you to use a filter Or effects of some kind, but let's you add graphics, different text font, along with cropping, silly stickers, clip art, frames and such.

Because of a thoughtful husband, we made time to get away from all the whirlwind going on around us and I'm glad we took that one special day.

Instagram

I have now joined the ranks of Instagram-ing, if that is a word.

Since they have opened it up to Android users.
I have found that my Android takes better pictures then my trusty old camera, (I really need to buy me a new camera, It's just not a priority at this time) and having my phone on hand at every opportunity is more beneficial. Working with preschoolers I have many wonderful moments of getting great shots of those Kodak moments.
This photo I took of one of my preschoolers doll, while patting her back at nap time, is one of my favorites. It was a rainy day and all the children were snuggled deep within their blankets. The music droned on quietly and the rain hit against the sliding glass door... Beautiful! I began to dose myself and noticed the fairy, lying there waiting for its owner to wakeup and play. I took its picture and told the fairy she had to nap as well and not dare wake these energetic children that needed their afternoon naps.I know I'd sure would love to snuggle down on days like this...
Thank you instagram for letting me share my thoughts through pictures *sigh*

I love it.

Hoops and YoYo - Coffee Coffee Coffee!!!!

Hoops and YoYo celebrate the love of coffee with me!!!

"Mmmm... Ahhhh...."
"Numnumnumnum!"

COFFEE!!!!!

National Coffeine Awareness MONTH

National Caffeine Awareness Month

Yes... It is Caffeine Awareness Month... Sadly I have to say that 'CoFfEe' is my worst enemy, but I cannot live without it. My plan was to post everyday about my favorite drink, but as you can all ready see (it being the 13th of March) it didn't happen. 

For one; running my own business keeps my head quite full of 'stuff' that at times I seriously think it is spilling out of my ears (extremely overwhelming). That I cannot think straight enough to blog, get on Facebook or anything for that matter, it makes me quite sad, because blogging is relaxing to me. 

Second; we have encountered some obstacles that have become quite overwhelming to me with no resolve in the foreseeable future. TRUST IN THE LORD; *sigh* trusting has become extremely real to me through these circumstances, all I can do is pray.

Anyhow... getting back to what this month is all about - COFFEE!! - Oh wait, it's caffeine awareness, not just coffee, lol.   



Food Group?



Caffeine is in many foods and drinks as we know... tea, chocolate, soft drinks, ice-cream (if it is chocolate or coffee), wight loss pills, pain relievers, energy water (yes, believe it or not - read the labels '-]), frozen yogurt, energy drinks, hot coco, Snapple, and of course what we know... coffee - brewed/instant, decaf, latte, cappuccino, espresso, Starbucks tea, and so on and so forth.... #WHEW!!!



L♥ve

I did not like or even have a taste for coffee until my late 30s. As a matter of fact there were many in our social group that would razz me about not drinking coffee when everyone else was drinking the nasty, strong stuff. Well, I didn't think it was all that important and I didn't feel that I needed it for anything. And I definitely despised 'coffee breath'! Well here I am in my 40s and drinking coffee. Not only do I drink the strong, nasty, 'TASTY' stuff, but I love it as well, lol.. Mind you, I still do not like coffee breath, but everything else I love. The smell, the warmth, the colors (reasons my kitchen is done in coffee - colors)... mmmm...

L♥ve, L♥ve, L♥ve it!!!    

 

Good cup of Java '-]

Day 29 ~ Something You Are Listening To... Feb Challenge

This is what I am listening to at this moment. And the first thing I turn on when I wake up in the morning (news and coffee... Mmm). It is our households morning routine. It is turned off as soon as the children come and I put on more age appropriate music for our day. :)

**My photo on 'Something you are listening to..'

Day 28 ~ Money... Feb Challenge

I do not like how money seems to control us. so you can say, I have a love/hate relationship with it. We need money to live, to eat, to succeed, and just plain survive. I thank God... He is a BIG part of my life that when I am short on money God is there to meet our needs in other means. *Praising Jesus! :) My faith is in God... not money.

**My photo on 'Money'

Day 27 ~ Something You Ate... Feb Challenge

Our pot roast before it is cooked... Yummy!!

For dinner on Saturday night we had pot roast with veggies, onions and potatoes... MMM!!!! Our absolute favorite around this house. The spices cooking in the pot made the aroma in the house absolutely scrumptious!! Our mouths were watering all day long... '-]P'
Needless to say a small bowl was left for the next day and when it was being put away was dropped :( yes... very sad indeed because left overs are the best kinds of foods.



**My photo of 'What I Ate'

Day 26 ~ Night... Feb Challenge

 A day late and not the greatest pic, but I thought Id take one from outside looking into our front room/living area or my preschool; which is used more than our living area.

**My photo of 'Night'

Day 25 ~ Green... Feb Challenge

Julians green room

Julian's favorite color is green. When we completely pulled everything out of his room to pull up the carpet (something I have done through out our whole house...) we decided to paint his walls green, (mind you, Cynthia picked the shade of green... I would of picked a different shade entirely, this looks quite ghetto to me, lol) before putting his new captain bed, dresser and book shelves were put back in his room.

We bought him bedding with other colors and with shades of green to try to balance out the bright ghetto green. It KINDA works for now... I WILL BE PAINTING IT A DIFFERENT GREEN later because everytime I walk into his room I feel like I am walking into the projects... lol.

**My photo of 'Green'

Day 24 ~ Inside Bathroom Cabinet... Feb Challenge

We have only one bathroom cabinet in our house, it is located in the down stairs bathroom.

It's old and needs to be removed, but not until we know what to do with the wall behind it.

Excuse the green tape around it, but we are 'still' painting our bathroom.

Because it is in this particular bathroom (the same one used for our preschool)

I do not have any supplies in this cabinet for little hands to find...

only Julian's tooth brush[es] lol

and floss.

**My photo for 'Inside Bathroom Cabinet'

Day 23 ~ Your Shoes... Feb Challenge

I have a pair of these sandals from WalMart.

Dressing up the casual look and are quite comfy :)

**My photo on 'Shoes'

Day 22 ~ Where You Work... Feb Challenge

I have the privilege of working from home :)

It is WONDERFUL!!

We completely invaded our living area in the house.

The only things I didn't get rid of was our couches.

I mean we still do live in the house. 

Our Circle area with calendar, letters and books

 I work with little children from the ages of 2 years to 5 years

perferably potty-trained ;)



Our cubbies with a train table

I do hands-on activities; art, cooking, projects and writing 

Outside on our concrete/slab



 I believe in touching the 5 senses of the child.

Just like the 5 love languages that we hereso much about...

the same holds true for the 5 senses in teaching. If you can bring each concept to touch each sense,

then what you have taught them will live with them for quite some time if not forever through a memory.

Quite simple actually and very fun to make messes while learning.



One of our toy shelves: this one holds large puzzles, blocks and legos 



Yes, this is where I work and I absolutely love what I do.

And I will say... I'm quite good at it. ;)

**My photo of 'Where I Work'

Day 21 ~ Fav Photo of You... Feb Challenge

Compliments of Stephanie Flores Photography

This is ONE of my favorite photos of myself.

And I had to have my favorite person in the photo, as well.

So, I guess it isn't an actual photo of MYSELF....

**My photo of 'Me'  

Day 20 ~ Handwriting... Feb Challenge

LOL!!

**My photo of 'Handwriting'

Day 19 ~ Something you hate to do... Feb Challenge

I DO NOT LIKE CLEANING TOILETS!!!!

Enough said...

**My photo of 'Something You Hate to Do'

Day 17 ~ Time... Feb Challenge

 I absolutely love BIG old looking vintage wall clocks.

It's about an obsession as my coffee theme...

I had one once over my fire-place and it broke, never been replaced :(

That is my next home goal...

coffee, large wall clocks and quilts!!

Yup! I'm there!! '-]]]

*My photo on 'Time'

Day 18 ~ Drink... Feb Challenge

This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE drink in all the world!!!

And I don't think it will ever change!! '-]P

**My photo of 'Drink'

Day 16 ~ Something New... Feb Challenge

No, I am not confused and posting about 'phone'.

This is something new in my possession at this time, well,

 besides new boots I bought at WalMart.

I bought me an Android not to long ago and it's very useful.

Especially for my business,

(it has an app and device called square, where I can make money

transactions right from my phone).

Convenient? Yes... But it's not pretty in my book and

not all that is cracks up to be...

lol  '-]

**My photo for 'Something New'

Day 15 ~ Phone... Feb Challenge

We still have an old rotary phone and it still works!!

*sweet*

**My photo on 'Phone'

Day 14 ~ Heart... Feb Challenge

I had to post this as my 'heart'...

It is the best thing I have ever done...

♫♪ FALLING IN LOVE W/JESUS, 

I'm falling in love with Jesus ♪♫

♫♪ Falling in love with Jesus,

Is the best thing I ever, ever done ♪♫

♫♪ In His arms I feel protected,

In His arms never been rejected ♪♫

♫♪ In His arms I feel protected,

there's no other place Id rather be ♪♫

**My photo on 'Heart'

Day 13 ~ Blue... Feb Challenge

Again... Lil people '-]

Summer fun with lil peeps at a water-slide... Love those lil flip-flops!!

Blue is my daughters favorite color and this is her one and only baby.

His name is Mr. T and he is an orange polydactyl tabby.

A WhAt!?! A 'Polydactyl: It's just a cat with more toe's than the average cat.'

Polydactyl cats are noted for their extra toes, usually just on the front paws,

but often on the back paws too. Which Mr. T's mother had extra toes on all her paws.

**My photo for 'Blue'

Day 12 ~ Inside your closet... Feb Challenge

Yes, I was brave enough to share this photo of my crowded closet.

What more can I say... ???

'-]]

**My photo of 'Inside My Closet'

Day 11 ~ What makes me happy... Feb Challenge

This was not hard for me... My husband makes me happy, after 24 years I think it should. One day our children will be gone and all we'll have is one another.   

The depth of My love for him scares me at times... I seriously have to pray about it. I know that may sound funny but it is honestly true. You can never put ANYTHING or ANYONE before our wonderful God and Saviour or it can lead to a distructive end and I definitely have to check myself on a daily basis. Let me just share this in the shortest way possible... There is a scripture in the Bible that goes like this,

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:8

Danny loves me like no other with a Godly love (much different then lustful love, even in a marraige) and it has mended, healed, delivered, sacrificed, and renewed... not only me, but our marraige, our love, our spirituality, our life...

No, I am not saying he is a God or even putting him before God for my husband has many faults of a man and I have many faults as a woman... But GOD's LOVE never fails and coveres a multidude of sins [wrongs, dissapointments, heartache, untrust, hate] And when TRUE love [form God] is the center of a life it makes the greatest difference in all the world...  

**My photo of 'What Makes Me Happy'

Day 10 ~ Self Portrait... Feb Challenge

This picture was taken at my bedroom door by ME♥

I had taken a few because I really don't like my picture taken...

to send to my husband. I didn't particularly like this one but I didn't think it was all that bad either.

He loved it and uses it for his phone screen saver...

♥sigh♥

That is all that matters to me and what its sole purpose was for...

**My photo of 'Self Portrait'

Day 9 ~ Front Door... Feb Challenge

 I borrowed this from Google... But I absolutely love country doors and I love where there are two rather than one door.

Sweet!! ♥

**My photo of 'Front Door'

Day 8 ~ Sun... Feb Challenge

Summer fun on a slide with the sun on our backs....

I have a special place in my heart for lil people. They just make my world go around... I think I will make a great 'Grandma' one day '-]

**My photo of 'Sun'

Day 7 ~ Button... Feb Challenge

One of my favorite sweaters. It is the color grey.

**My photo of 'button'

Day 6 ~ Dinner... Feb Challenge

 One night when my husband came home we decided to order out for Pizza: YAY!!

Now, who doesn't love pizza? Probably many people... I, for one, do not neccessarily "love" pizza.

But if it is what everyone else wants, I'll eat it.

**My photo of 'Dinner'

SeRiOuSly BEHIND!! :(

with only 6 days left to the month... I am seriously behind in my February Challenge :( I'm very sad, lol! Didn't I say being consistent is one of my GREATEST challenges!?! 

*SERIOUSLY*

Actually, it's a horrible down fall of mine...

*sigh*

I do not like the fact of giving up entirely...

should I since it's so far into the month??

Playing catchup almost feels like 'What's the point'?

"I'll do catchup... I just have too..."

2/5/12 ~ 10am... Feb challenge

At 10am I usually have my first cup of coffee.

Why so late in the morning, you ask? Well, I run a preschool and the moment I get out of bed I am on the go... Here is my morning routine:

put the dogs out in their pen (because they sleep indoors), Turn heater on to take chill out of the house or else everyone complains when getting outta bed becuase our house is so cold (we sleep with it OFF), sweep up dust and dog dander from the night, wake Julian (which is a chore in itself), preparing his breakfast and lunch for the day, wiping preschool table (I wipe it the night before but I just need to know it is freshly clean before we use it), welcoming children and their parents, setting up morning play time, get Julian out the door ~ say our good-byes... everyone is gone; parents, Julian to school, Cynthia and Sean off to work. Time for snack, circle time, project... it's almost coffee time, lol... after all that, the children get to go outside, I clean up our 'MESS' and I finally have a chance to make my first cup of coffee :]

YAY!!

And enjoy it outside as I watch children play

*sigh*

**My photo of  '10am'

2/4/12 ~ Stranger... Feb challenge

Last year we were at a Fall carnival and this is one of the people that were giving hay rides, fabulous memories!! The hay ride is always the highlight to any harvest or fall festival! So If you are ever at one, be sure to take your children on a hay ride and give them beautiful memories.

**My photo of  'Stranger'

2/3/12 ~ Hands... Feb challenge.

Hands for day three was another challenge. I wasn't sure which one I wanted to use... so I posted two pictures '-]

I work with children and I love being around them in a structured fun setting.

My daughter, Cynthia, came to visit me at work one day on her day off (this was before I opened a home preschool). Our fun for that day was painting... She would always participate in whatever project we were doing in class when she would come to visit. As time progressed Cynthia decided to paint her hands... my little friends could not believe she (an adult) was painting her hands! they decided to help her and liberally use all the colors to make her hands, bright, fantastic, beautiful and fun to look at!! And what was so amazing, to them, about it... she LET them!!!

Another fun picture to me but not a good one of 'hands' are these two little friends walking hand in hand to a Christmas practice in the winter of 2010. Little hands are the most precious things in the world.

I love to see little hands working; making art, cutting paper, holding a new found treasure, mastering a spoon while eating, holding a crayon, writing their name, wiping a tear, grasping a digging stick, holding mommies face, clapping to a song, leading another friend... the list is endless!!

**My photo of 'Hands'

2/3/12 ~ Words... for day 2 of Feb :)

I'm not sure what the challenge is meaning by 'words' but when I turning around (after taking a picture out my front door) the first thing you see, is my information board for all my parents (clients) to behold. It holds my license certificate, emergency numbers, and a layout of our house, for fire safety. 

I consider this board full of 'words' to be very important. It is the base for my business and holds important information for my parents; also it is imperative for CA licencing or I'll be cited, lol. It is the first thing we see everyday and multiple times a day when you first walk into my house. 

 It isn't much of a photo or something you'd see in your house of family, friends, events, or other things to make your house feel homey... Just a plain black bulletin board and very vital in my home because of the home business I run out of it.

It also holds a small poster I found online of babies that are sick of some virus or other. The babies are asking to stay home if they are showing any signs of illness that is contagious. It's a great poster with wonderful 'words' to remind my parents NOT to bring their child when they are ill. ;)

*My photo of 'WORDS'

2/3/12 ~ Todays View... for day one of Feb challenge

This little view is right out my front door. We are in February, what is considered a winter month but today's weather is mostly Sunny at 53*... not much for a winter day but a beautiful crispy day.

A little something about this picture :) It is my front yard. We use to have three beautiful trees in our yard, but my husband had them all taken out :( I was very sad and still am because I absolutely LOVE trees. But it was necessary... the roots tore up our drive way and was beginning to damage our garage floor... not good. 

Our front side walk is covered in yellow paint because I did a painting project and cleaned up as much as I could, but this is what is left over... lol. I'm hoping in the future we can transform this front yard into a preschool play yard with fencing all around it... I would love to reclaim our back yard for our personal use, but for now it is used for my preschool. 

♥We have been living here since July of 1999 :) SWEET!  

**My photo of 'view'  

February Challenge

Hey!! How has everyone been? My mind has been preoccupied with other issues that I haven't taken the time to blog or maybe I should say, my mind hasn't been able to function in blog mode... lol.

My friend, Kim, decided to take a February photo a day challenge [on her blog] that she asked us to join her... Now I have to admit, Ive tried to do a 30 day challenge sometime in the past to no avail. My greatest weakness is being consistent.. So we will see how this February challenge goes ;)

As a matter of fact I am already two days behind... but that is OK... I will take pics tomorrow and catch up. It's late now and I had dental work done and I'm not feeling to well... The numbness has worn off and I'm feeling major discomfort.

Hopefully this will get me back to posting on my much neglected blogs; 'Passionately Inspired', 'A Boy's Journey', and this one a 'Moments in Time'. We will see, I mean that is why it is called a challenge, right?

Blessings from ME :)