My Favorite Things...

Inspired by Oprah (of course) and tons of you in blogland...

In no particular order...

Damask Dishes...or really anything with Damask on it...

My all time favorite comfort food...popcorn...a little weird I know, I blame my dad

Anything coach...enough said

anything Pink and definetly cute shoes....these are the best of both worlds...

And "the nectar of the Gods" as we like to call it in our family...Dr. Pepper

What do you love???

Letting go

This morning was rough. Why do you think children fight and protest getting ready for school in the morning? I mean really, they go everyday so they know it's coming and there's no getting out of it. Any tips on how to ease the morning routine would be much appreciated.

Today I am attending a funeral for a grandparent of some friends of mine. I didn't know him well but had met him a couple of times. Kindof makes me feel uneasy inside to be getting ready to go to another funeral.

This past Sunday marked 4 months since Aaron died and I'm not sure it's getting any easier. "People" say 6 months is an appropriate time ti grieve for a loved one but that just makes me feel like I better get on the ball. I don't feel like i'll be done in the next two months.

I have definitely learned that it is harder to let someone go when you have unfinished business. It had been a while since Aaron and I had a good relationship and I missed him then but always felt the possibility that he would find his way back to himself.

Now I have to find a way to make peace with not having said all the things I wish he could have heard from me. He was a good brother and I miss him.

A few days late, but Thankful still...

I saw on another blog that they were doing a month of posting something they are thankful for everyday, we'll I realize that today is the 8th and I am a little late to the party, but better late than never. Here goes



To make up for the days I missed (in no particular order):



I'm thankful for my health and the health of my family.

I'm thankful for my house and the home we have made of it.

I'm thankful for the incredible relationship that I have with my sisters and my mom, they keep me sane (most of the time).

I'm thankful for my supportive husband and two one-of-a-kind boys that always keep me on my toes.

I'm thankful for friends that all serve their own specific need in my life.

I'm thankful for high heels!

I'm thankful for popcorn and the comforting effect it has on me.

I'm thankful for my Blackberry.

I'm thankful for endless possibilities in life.

wow, that was harder than I thought!

Happy November

S.A.D.

Seasonal Affect Disorder that is....

Interesting how a little gloomy weather can impact your mood. For the past couple of days it has been rainy, wet, and overcast...no sunshine to be seen.
The weather has been running a parallel to my mood these past couple of days, yep, I'll just go ahead and say it I've been in a general funk!

Now that I have diagnosed the funk...time to get out of the funk...

What have you found is the best way to disrupt a funk, blue mood, down day...call it what you will...whats your tried and true remedy?

Halloween Fun!?!

We have really been looking forward to Halloween at our house. Keddie has known for a months that he wanted to be Iron Man (he has NOT seen the movies so for the life of me I don't even know how he knows who Iron Man is...marketing at it's finest I guess).

Now Langston on the other hand wanted NOTHING to do with costumes. Some how or another I have acquired several 2T costumes, he could choose from a dragon, Batman, Mr, Incredible, Spiderman, a pirate...endless possibilities. He would put on a costume for 30 seconds and then want it off. I don't think he quite understood what we were doing... So last night after Keddie became Iron Man, Langston wanted to be...Mr. Incredible.

Doesn't he look happy?

We went Trick or Treating with a bunch of kids from the street. All the kids looked so cute and we had a ton of fun...

Mr. GQ- aka-IRON MAN

Now the question of the day is: What to do with all the candy????

The "C" word

Anyone that knows me well knows that I hate cancer, no hate is not a strong enough word, I loathe it. It continues to break my heart.

I lost my dad to brain cancer in 2004. For him, the battle was short and I hold firm in believing that he never had a chance of winning that war by the time the tumor was found. Losing my dad was and contines to be one of the hardest trials of my life. I miss him greatly everyday.

And this weekend, I lost one of my closest childhood friends, Becky.

We grew up together, we played together, our siblings played together. She was such an awesome person, even then. She was nice to everyone ( a rare quality to find amongst kids), she was soooo funny, always up for a good time and such a good friend.

She lost her battle with Cancer on Friday. She was MY age. She had 4 beautiful children that will not have her as they grow up. A husband that loved her more than life, and a huge following of supporters. Even as she battled this horrific disease she was positive and kept her sense of humor; a true inspiration to me on how to gracefully deal with adversity.

I will miss her so much and hope that wherever she is, she has left a legacy that will not be forgotten.

Follow up: Challenges

So last week I posted about a HUGE challenge that one of my friends had presented me with. Just wanted to provide some follow up, it went really good.

It was HARD, don't get me wrong, but it felt really good to be able to tell my story to a room full of future counselors that could use my situation to one day help others. It was empowering for me.

The next day when I woke up I almost felt a sense of relief, like a burden had been lifted (or atleast lightened a little bit). And these days, I will take any little bit I can get.
:)

Alone...never

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. -Sophia Loren

I recently caught myself in the middle of thinking that I could use some alone time. You may be thinking well what is wrong with that? Well nothing, unless you are like me, crazy obsessed with your kids. Even when they're not with me, they consume me. Well my thoughts anyway, and I often end up wishing that they were with me so I could stop worrying so much about them. Is it just me, am I crazy or is this what mommyhood is all about?

I worry that they know how much I love them but also know there's a thing called tough love.
I worry about if they'll remain friends as they get older.
I worry about them staying healthy.
I worry that they will always be nice and never bully.
I worry that I am too soft on them.
I worry that I am too hard on them.
Do they get enough sleep, eat enough veggies, will they do good in school, will they be successful, happy.....the list goes on and on......

So for me alone time is an urban legend, a friend of a friend knows someone that it happened to one time years ago. But considering the alternative, I won't complain, I will count my blessings; they are two and five (well next week, he'll be five).

The ABC's of me...

This post was inspired by Blanca (she is an inspiration)http://blancaortega24.blogspot.com/2010/09/abcs-of-you.html

A. Area Code: 936, but I've been a 281 and a 713...
B. Bed Size: Queen, but I swear the next time we move it will be to a house with a master large enough for a KING size bed (I love to have all my boys in bed with me to cuddle).
C. Chore you hate: Dishes! and that's only because at my house they sit around for a while and then are Disgusting. YUCK
D. Dog's name: no dogs for us yet, but as the boys get older, I know my days are numbered.
E. Essential "start of the day" item: the Today Show, it helps me ease into the reality that I have to go to work...boo!
F. Favorite Color: Hot Pink, I love this color so much that I have Barbie's Dream closet ( well my interpretation of what it would be... a hot pink closet). It makes me soooo happy to go in there and get dressed in the morning.
G. Gold or Silver...Silver all the way, I think gold makes me look paler (pretty sure that is not a word) than I already am.
H. Height: 5 foot 1 inch on a tall day, eh who am I kidding I don't have tall days.
I. Instruments you play: um zilch, zip, nada, nothing... But I love the piano and wish that one day I will just wake up and know how to play...
J. Job: Insurance Agent with Farmers. I am just getting started but love it
K. Kids: 2 adorable boys, Keddie and Langston, they are the great loves of my life!
L. Living Arrangements: I live with my 3 crazy boys (their father included) and there is NEVER a dull moment.
M. Mom's Name: Debby Noble, her real name is Deborah. I like to call her de-Bor-ah when she is not listening to me...
N. Nicknames: Mom, Mommy, hunny, and I guess there's still a rare few that call me "Neiser"
O. Overnight Hospital Stay: Twice, one with the birth of each child...
P. Pet Peeve: Ohhhhhh there are so many. Topping the list though would have to be people that don't pay attention to their kids or that are mean to their kids.
Q. Quote from Movie: I love movies, but don't remember quotes like some...
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty
S. Siblings: I have 6. Teresa, Brad, Doug, Anna, Alan and Aaron. They are all crazy different but are all great(most of the time)
T. Time you wake up: the first time or when I actually roll out of bed...because those are two totally different questions. I try to be up by 6:30 but most days its a whole lot closer to 7. Without my husband I would probably never be up at a reasonable time...
U. Underwear: Yes, I always prefer underwear! :)
V. Veggies: I try to like all my veggies but I just can't stand some of them. I loooove broccoli though.
W. Ways/ reasons you're late: Ha, because I am a huge procrastonator, even at something as easy as getting ready.
X. X-rays you've had: teeth, shoulderblade in first grade, back in high school...
Y. Yummy food you make: all the food I make is yummy, I just don't do it alot, my all time favorite, my chicken enchilidas
Z. Zoo animal you love: Panda Bears, I have never seen one in real life but they are so beautiful to me, one day...maybe.

Well, there you have it, those are the abc's of me...what about you?

Challenges

So, a very good friend of mind called me yesterday to ask if I would do something for her that has rocked me to my core. She is a college professor and she asked me to some and speak to her class on how suicide has affected me and my family.

Pause...Deep Breath...

WOW! I thought, she totally OVERestimates my ability to not have a nervous breakdown in front of her class, can I really help this group of aspiring counselors learn something that can help them to someday help others? I called my husband, sister and best friend for advice and much needed guidance, of course they weren't much help, with the exception of my sister who said, You have to do it.

Really? You think I can? So after much debate I called my "friend" (just kidding, I LOVE Her to pieces) and told her yes. 29 Hours til then...lets see how many times I change my mind between now and then.

Wish me luck!

Labor Day

The week before LAbor Day came I was sick...I mean really sick so come Friday I was going no where. Mike decided to take the boys to Nana's for the weekend for some quality boy time in Palestine. While they were gone I did start to feel better and decided to tackle some projects around the house that I had been putting off (more on that later).

I realized that one day on my own is GREAT, two days is nice, but by day three I was more than ready for my boys to be home. Life is good!

Where does the time go?

Wow, it's been over a month since i've blogged and what a month it has been...We had a big family vacation that took us THIRTEEN hours to New Mexico and back. We had a great time. The week we got back, my baby brother Aaron passed away very unexpectedly. Talk about getting stopped dead in my tracks. I don't think that my life has been my own since recieving that life changing phone call. The world is different to me now, I guess it hasn't really changed but how I see things has been forever altered.

This week is the last that I will enjoy in my 20's as I turn 30 this Friday. I have super mixed feelings about it and go back and forth between not caring at all and being devastated. We'll see how I feel on Friday morning when I open my old eyes...

Also this month I moved into my new office. It's kinda scary being totally incharge of my day and not having anyone there to tell me when to come in or when I can leave...it's been pretty good so far. I love to help people feel secure in their future. Hmmmm... makes me wonder, when was the last time you evaluated your insurance needs....

Why I LOOOOVE Couponing....

A trip to Walgreens today made me a little giddy (yes, I know, I'm a dork). I have been trying really hard to strech our one income dollars and this is what I got:

6 smart waters
1 contact solution
2 Gillette deodorant
2 Gillette body wash
2 Old Spice body wash
24 pack of water (not pictured)

grand total before coupons...$56.29

Out of my pocket...$9.69

and I still have $9 left in register rewards so if you take that into account it's like i spent $.69 on all that stuff.

total saving:$46.60!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Amazing...couponing takes a little time but it is totally worth it.

Who needs drugs whenyou can COUPON????

Such a Boy

On Friday Keddie & I had what I will fondly remember as the most adorable conversation ever...

Keddie: Mom, look at my muscles.

Me: Ohhh... what about them?

Keddie: They are big all by themselves.

Me: What do you mean all by themselves?

Keddie: I don't have to push them up anymore, they just go up now. I am getting real strong, like daddy. Can you call daddy so I can tell him.

Me: Ok

So we called Mike and Keddie was smiling from ear to ear as he told him how super strong he was getting just like you daddy!

Of course then he had to give Langston a lesson on how to

make muscles, a lesson that I don't think Langston wanted...

BROTHERS!

Lord of the Flies

Last Tuesday we went outside to play right after it stopped raining. Keddie quickly discoved that if you get sidewalk chalk wet it turns into more a paste. Maybe body paint is a more accurate description. So I quicky stripped them down to their skivvies and let them go crazy on each other...

CAtching up

I have been pretty lazy lately (total honesty) and not been doing great with updates. So, a couple of weeks ago after yet another ear infection we decided that Langston was finally going to get tubes. Our beloved pediatrician, Dr. Lacour referred us to a pediatric ENT which I DID NOT like. Apparently you can either be a really great surgeon OR have good people skills, but not both, so I opted to put up with him to get an awesome surgeon for little Langers. The surgery went smooth and was uneventful thankfully, and after a disasterous followup appt, we will never revist his office. But on the upside LAngston seems to be feeling much better and has a TON of new words in the short time since his surgery. :) Hard to believe that he is gonna be 2 in just 2 short months.

I have been busy trying to get my insurance training behind me so that I can start writing policies for people and hoipefully start making a little money...I am really enjoying it and am excited to be able to start doing it more.

Mike has been toying around with the idea of going back to school to get his masters degree. I am so excited and hopes that he will not talk himself out of it, he is so amazingly intelligent and would do awesome.

Keddie is great. He is getting so big and I find myself looking at him several times a day and wondering where my little boy is. He has started sleepwalking, which is kinda freaking me out. The first time I found him in the pantry looking for something to eat- dead asleep. And last night he came into our room at 3:00 a.m. and said "Mom, I need to talk to you about something", I'm like ok what's wrong and he says " I need another light in my room, it's dark in there". I take him back to his room and go get another nightlight out of the living room walk back in and he is
SNORING!!!! Less than 15 seconds later. This should be interesting...

The most adorable thing he has started doing is asking how much you love him and then after you answer him he reaches his hands behind his back to where they are almost touching and says "well I love you this much". so cute. He could never do that too many times...

We are blessed!

What a week...

We started off strong and the boys and I had a great couple of days. By Wednesday Langston was once again under the weather...BIG SIGH! He has truly been pathetic and just wants to be held all the time. It has been a struggle to keep my patience with the little guy. So, needless to say we (me really) are all adjusting to spending Sooooo much time together. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my little guys but this week has definitely made me question if I was cut from the fabric ofa a stay at home mom. I know so many marvelous women, both of my sisters included, that stay at home and are awesome at it, maybe I got out of line when God was handing out that talent...but the sun will rise tomorrow and with it will come another opportunity to be the best mom to my angelic (small amount of sarcasm) boys that I can be.

P.S. Oh yeah...pray that Langston feels better fast!

Nothing new...

So i am feeling almost back to my old self. Last wednesday I woke up feeling like my throat was on fire and by that evening I wanted to cut out my throat...(would help with the weight loss too :) ). That night Mike took me to the Dr. and the prognosis was as expected, STREP THROAT!!! Thankfully my mom came to the rescue (like always) and was willing to keep the boys on Thursday and Friday so I could rest and hopefully not get them sick. By Saturday I was feeling pretty good but still am not at %100.

The boys and I have enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday and today and have been spending alot of time outside. So far, I am enjoying my time at home with them and haven't wanted to drop them off at the fire station yet...kidding, I wouldn't do that :) LOL!

Free at Last...

So we had another follow up appointment with the pediatrician today, and Langston is ear infection free! WOO HOO! This has to be the first time in months that he doesn't have one. I am so thankful!

Home Sweet Home!

I truly think I have never been so thankful to be home!

We definitely enjoyed our trip to Reno to see my sister, but I have never been so thankful to be on Houston soil... The flights home were turbulant (literally & figuratively). We started our day at 5:30 and touched down in Houston around 3:30. And apparently my boys think airplanes are so fun that they don't want to miss a minute of them. Keddie refused to nap eventhough he continuely told me how tired he was. Langston slept a little but not nearly enough. The ride was really bumpy at one point I actually came out of my seat, so understandably Keddie was a little freaked out.

All in all they were good travelers...but I don't think I will be flying with them again by myself anythime soon...

playing hide and seek while waiting at the airport

peeking out the window on the plane

soooo tired...in the terminal...NOT on the plane!

Glad to be home...and will be even happier when daddy gets home from his annual week long motorcycle trip with friends, mommy needs a break.

You say Nevada...I say Nevaaaaada...

So we are really enjoying our visit to my sisters house. The weather has been ok, I must admit that my toes were not excited about going back into socks and shoes. The kids have been having so much fun playing. Mom is here too and she is going home tomorrow so the kids got to play hookie from school. We all went bowling and then had lunch at Johnny Rockets. Keddie & Langston LOVED bowling (I don't think they've ever been before). The bowling alley actually had shoes that fir Langston, he was so excited. He did pretty good, definitely didn't have the lowest score :).
Johnny Rockets was yummy too...

Only a few more days before it's back to reality...

Oh and the Nevada-Nevaaaaada thing, Scott and everyone think we say it funny... must be a TEXAS thing!

Time flies...

So since my last post a ton has happened. Most notably that I QUIT MY JOB!!!! How bizarre is that? The last time I didn't have a job I think I was 15. But it's been about a week and I am really enjoying all the extra time with my boys. This week we flew to Reno to visit my sister Anna and let me tell you that was an adventure. Both boys decided it would be a great day to not take a nap. Mama was TIRED by the time we landed. But we have been having a great time and the boys are loving being able to play with their other side of the country cousins.

So... I have a little blog envy!

Recently I have gotten more into blogs. I have accidentally stubled upon a few that I love, love, love. It is really awesome to see thoughts and ideas from such strong women, most of whom I don't know in real life. so, here is my pledge that I AM going to be a better blogger. I AM!!!

There has been alot going on at the Ramsden house lately, the boys are definitely keeping us busy. Keddie has been feeling a little under the weather this week, but is still as feisty as ever. Langston is forever getting into things. He learned how to open the doors in our house (so NOT excited about this) and is constantly where you don't want him to be. Yesterday I walked out of the kitchen for probably 30 seconds and when I came back he was standing on top of the kitchen table, just smiling, like whats the matter, should I not be up here. He is soooo mischevious and keeps me on my toes.