Life's Little Blessings

Today was a pretty good day because I was able to register for the second 8 week session of my CNA course at COD.  Now I have to get my unoffical copy of my transcripts over to COD so that they can verfiy some pre-reg's so that way I can take a Chemistry and Psychology: Life Span classes.  I have to be enrolled in 12 credit hours to recieve my full federal pell grant money.

Today in church we learned about the "True" meaning of the candy cane.  I found it pretty interesting and now I look at the Candy Cane so differently but it has deepen the True Meaning od this Holiday Season.  The below information is what I was able to find about the true meaning of the candy cane. The True Meaning of the Candy Cane A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness for Jesus, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and sinless nature of Jesus. The hardness of the candy was used to to symbolize the Solid Rock, the Foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God. The candy maker made this candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It also represents the staff of the "Good Shepherd"

I can't believe it as been 5 years already since Jim and I first got married.  It seems like yestreday was our wedding day.  We have been truely blessed the last 5 years.  We have welcomed 2 beautiful and special daughters into our lives. Jim and I are still crazy in love and I know that I fall in-love with all over again at least once a week.  I also can say that I do love him more today than the first day we met.   We have gone through rough times with money and jobs, but I know that their is going to a brighter future soon.  We have a lot of plans for the next many many years together, but our plans for the next year are pretty simple.  I will be going back to school starting in Jan 2011, to finish my Bacholer's in Nursing.  I want to be a RN in either Labor/Delivery or in Pediatrics.  We are planning a small getaway just the two of us, some more quality time with girls and some weekend adventures with the girls.      Jim and I.......Dec. 2005          Jim and I.......D

So today I was able to finally meet my younger brother Robert.  i haven't seen him since he was 6 years old, but a few months shy of his 7th birthday, and I was 10 years old.  This was a reunion in the making for 19 years.  My brother Robert and I were both adopted in the early 90s and the family that adopted him was the same family that had been taking care of him since we were taken from our mom in 1985.  He looked nothing like i thought, but then again I was always told that he looked like my older brother Jimmy.  He definately looks like my mom's side of the family and he reminds us of our Uncle John ans our cousin Chucky with a beard.  I see some of my brother Jimmy in him and I see some of myself in him too. He spent the day with me and my family, then went and saw our mom who hasn't seen him since 1994, and then our Uncle Eddie and his family. Below are some pictures of the day. My brother Robert         Robert, Me and my brother Michael                          

Today was our Parish Advent Tea, and it was the 5th one and the 3rd one at the Bolingbrook Country Club.  This was my secont time going and I loved it even more than the first time.  You get to sit at a table of 8-10 women and the tables are decorated my other ladies from the parish.  This year Kathy's friend Aida, who is also my friend too, decorated 3 tables and they were all lovely.  The pictures below are her three tables and I was at the "Lemon Tree" table. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of salad, quiche and potatoes, fruit stewers, finger sandwiches and pateries for dessert.  Then we enjoyed so wonderful Christmas songs and a raffle.  I really enjoyed being with fellow ladies from the parish and their moms but most importantly I loved being with my monther-in-law Kathy.  Below are some some pictures of Kathy and I, Kathy and her friends, the table hostess and her friends.                           Kathy and I                Kathy and Aida                      Ai

We went to Target and got our yearly Family/Christmas pictures.  I absolutely loved the background they had this year.  The first 2 pics are my favorite of the family pictures.  The third picture was taken when the photographer was putting in a new pose, she had me sit down and Eva sit on my lap and then Maggie just jumped onto my back and the picture was the final result.  A few of my favorite pictures of the girls and then finally were my favorite of the specialized ones the did.  The last picture has the girls in a present being held by Santa and I have same picture of Eva when she was 3 mos old and I love the fact that they still had it.

These are my favorite of the pictures that my sisters Mary and Lorene and I had got done of our kids for Halloween.

So this morning both Eva and Maggie had their 2nd visit with the dentist.  Their dad was supposed to come for reinforcement but wasn't feeling good so I went solo.  I was dreading going for a few reasons but mostly because I really didn't want to have to hold Maggie down in the chair again.  I was very surprised and proud of both of them.  Eva did really well getting her teeth x-rayed and even Maggie let them x-ray her teeth.  She had her trusty blanket with her so I think that helped.  Maggie was even a champ with getting her teeth cleaned, she sat in the chair all by herself.  When she was done she looked at me and said " I big girl, mommy."  Eva wasn't too keen on getting her teeth cleaned this time.  She isn't a fan of the stuff they use too clean them with, she doesn't like the taste even though it was bubblegum flavor.  I did have to hold her head a little but over she did good.  They both love getting the Sponagebob toothbrushes and toothpaste when

Eva's preschool does this special event called "Dad's Night Out."  It is where the children get to bring their dads to their classsroom and experience a shorten version of their day at preschool.  They learned a new dance called the "Monster Mash" and decorated a canvas bag for trick or treating.  Eva was so excited to bring her dad to school and I know Jim didn't really want to go but he was happy that it made his little girl happy and he loves making his girls happy and putting smiles on all three of us.                                              Daddy and Eva                                     The bag that they made together

I have been taking the girls outside to get some fresh about 2x a day, and lately I have been taking them out right after dinner and when I am done cleaning up from dinner.  I am trying to get them outside as much as possible before the cold winter months are upon us.  Below are some cute pictures I took when we were outside tonight.