Advents Corner

I was reading about the mix up in medication with Dennis Quaid’s twins and it just amazes me that things like this can happen.  We have software to track everything and everything has a bar code.  There is software for just about every business from hospitals bar coding pills to assisted living software to your membership at your local tanning salon.  I know when Lani was in the hospital I was asking 20 questions every time someone brought something into the room to put in her IV.  It is scary to have worry about things like that but if we don’t who will?  I feel it was the fault of the drug company for not marking the two different dosages a little better.  We always have to account for the idiot factor.  Just because you can tell the difference does not mean that everyone can.  The dosage the twins were given was 1,000 times the amount they should have received and it did not occur to the person pushing all of the medicine into those little babies that something might be wrong.  I am happy he is suing the drug company maybe it will open their eyes.

Christmas is getting so close and that means all of our family will be soon.  Weekend after next Mom and Dad fly in the same day Michaela flies out.  It is going to be so nice for them to be here for Christmas with Lani because this year she is so excited about the tree and the lights and the Christmas cards.  I is going to be so much fun Christmas morning with her opening all of her presents, I better make sure my digital camera battery is fully charged because I would not want to miss anything.  I can use the regular camera and Matt can use the camcorder so we can make sure we have every angle covered.

I might get to go to Vegas.  Matt has to travel there in January and we are trying to come up with a way for me to meet him out there on the weekend.  I have never been and I think it would be cool to stay in a nice Vegas hotel like the ones you see on CSI.  Having a little one makes things like this a little bit harder; this is a perfect time to have grandparents around the corner.  A nice little weekend get away for us would be so nice but I guess we will settle for the nights we put her to bed then sneak out to the movies. 

Isn’t this the most beautiful cake and it is RED VELVET!!!  I thought it was so pretty I had to post it.  I have always heard that working with red velvet is very difficult but I think I might need to make this.  It is just so pretty.

President Bush gave out the wrong number in his annoucment about the new Hope program to help those who are being affected by the adjustable rates on the mortgages they took out for their home.  The correct number is 1-888-995-HOPE   The number he gave out was to the Freedom Christian Academy in Texas. 

Read the verse to your child then let them color the picture. 

I think it is because I am getting older but who knows, I feel myself searching for something. A way to give back some the blessings I have received throughout my life. I have a wonderful husband who supports me in everything I try to do and an amazing family. I have been blessed with 3 daughters and mother that has always shown me what it meant to have courage and to be kind to people because it is the right thing to do.

So because of this I have starting looking for simple ways to give back to the world. Little things everyone can do. I think this all came to pass when Matt asked me what I would do if we won the lottery and money was not longer a factor in our lives. I told him the first thing I would do would be to quit my job and go to work in a soup kitchen. After I thought about it I figured I did not need to win the lottery to volunteer in a soup kitchen I just needed to find one. I found one and I did.

When we make our everyday purchases there are ways you can give back. JacarandaStyle is a merchant that sells only hand made items made in South Africa. A portion of every item is given to the Ethembeni School which helps physically disabled and visually impaired children in South Africa.

I personally like the ostrich eggs. They are on the expensive side but when you think about in terms of donating to a charity it really is not. I can not believe that they make little bowls out of the eggs but my favorite has to be the tea light candle holders. They look like they have such a beautiful hue to them.

Several publications such as Marie Claire and Ebony have also picked up on the value of this merchant giving back to the community. On the site you will find a 10% off coupon good towards any purchase on the site. If you need to do some last minute shopping I suggest you start here.

As many of you know we have 3 daughters and they are as different as night and day.  Our oldest is 17 ½, our middle daughter is 13 and our youngest is 17 months.  The oldest is very outgoing, talkative, and brunette, with blue eyes.  The middle is quite, very caring, always tries to make you smile, blonde with green eyes.  The baby is well entering her terrible twos, so silly, very smart, dark hair with brown eyes.  In raising the three girls we have come to realize they are so different.  The oldest has always had an independent streak so she was always and sometimes is still a handful.  The middle was always so quite I say because her sister never gave her time to talk and now there is Lani.

We are now up to 7 tantrums a day just in the time I pick her up from school to the time she does to bed, I have no idea how many she has at school.  She is refusing to take an afternoon nap now which only adds to the crankiness and makes this so much worse.  She is learning fast and testing her limits.  When you tell her no she will continue to do it but look at you while she does it to see when you are going to say something.  I do not remember the other two being like this, maybe it is because we, as Moms, forget about things like that.  Maybe it is like the pain of child birth, it hurts like hell when you are going through it but when it is over you don’t think about it anymore. 

I have to say that when she realizes you are serious she will just move on to something else so to this day she has not had to have her hand smacked or anything like that.  We choose to remove her from the situation instead of just letting her stand there being tempted.  When she throws her tantrums we just ignore her and tell her to let me know when she is done so we can finish what we are doing.  I make sure she is on a rug and can not hurt herself and I usually leave her in whatever room she is in until she gets up and comes to get me.  Last night it was so funny because I had my back to her while she was throwing one of her fits and she got up off of the floor and come and got in my lap and continued to throw her fit.  I wonder what process was going through her mind to come up with the idea of lying in my lap to get my attention because I had my back to her.  I did not take my eyes off of the TV and she stopped and got in her chair that was sitting next to me.  She then continued eating her dinner and that was it.  It is so funny how fast their moods change at this age.  I do believe the family is in for a surprise when they get here for Christmas.  J

Read the verse to your child then let them color the picture. 

I was taking Michaela to her Christmas concert last night and we were stopped in the turn lane at a red light at US 301 and Boyette Road.  When the light turned green two cars in front of us started through the intersection when another car ran the red light.  The first car slammed his brakes on to miss the car running the light and he did but the second car slammed right into him.  I pulled along side the second car to ask if he was ok when I saw the driver holding his head and passing out.  His car started going backwards so I jumped out of the van ran around, opened the guy’s door, and threw his car in park stopping it before it hit the car behind him.  When I pulled my head out of the car I turned and a man was walking up to me and I asked him to call 911 then when I looked at him it was Don. 

Don and Barb were also on their way to Michaela’s concert so the car I saved from being hit was Barb’s car.  Isn’that just so crazy?  I could not believe I did that, it happened so fast.  I looked back at the van and Michaela was just looking at me her eyes as big as quarters and Lani was still watching Little Einstein’s.    I had a super hero moment if only a brief one.  I could not believe I actually did something like that.  I could not believe I just did not point and say his car is rolling backwards.  I guess that was my good deed for the day.  It was two boys about Michaela’s age and they both new each other.  The guy that hit his head was fine.

This goes to show how much we love our children and how we do not care how stupid we look when we are with them.  When Lani and I go to the grocery store we are always singing and everyone knows I can not carry a tune to save my life but Lani thinks I sing beautifully.  So us singing “broccoli celery got to be veggie tales” in the produce section is a common occurrence at my local Winn Dixie and the workers there have learned to just smile and wave.

I forgot to tell you guys that Matt and I went to see Beowolf 3-D on Saturday perhaps I forgot to tell you because the movie was SO BAD.  The only positive thing that came out of the trip was we got really cool 3-D glasses and let’s not forget the fact that Matt and I got some alone time.  I had been a while and believe me we enjoy every minute of it.  It is nice to get away and just sit with each other sometimes.  He is my heart and soul and I love him so much.  Just don’t waste the time going to see Beowolf.  While we were there we saw 3 sets of people walk out of the theater.  I wanted to so bad but I am one of those people and sit there thinking it has to get better then I will miss something.  I did not get better and I did not miss anything.   I did get to share popcorn and snowcaps with my man though, so it was a perfect night.

Read the verse to your child then let them color the picture. 

I was able to find a few coloring sheets with the Advent wreath on it, I hope this is what you are looking for.

 Advent Wreath with candles

Advent Wreath with Jesus is coming

Wreath

Advent Candles Wreath

Wreath (for older children)

Wreath with ribbon

I hope you find one of these you like.  I try and pay attention to what you guys are asking for and then do my best to find the stuff for you. 

Read the verse to your child then let them color the picture. 

I like shopping through Overstock.com; in fact I am listening to a book on audio I ordered from them last week.  Last year for my anniversary I got a 1 carat eternity band from there also and I was very pleased with it when it came in.  Overstock is running a contest called All I want for Christmas Giveaway.  Register on their site, search the site, find the gift you want and email it to someone.  Also while you are on there email it to overstock and you could win that gift.  It is that simple.  I sent the DVD/VCR combo to my husband.  We have some old home movies on VHS tapes that we need to convert to DVD before they are not any more good.  I think it would be very nice to get a gift the whole family could use without it costing me a penny.  You can even look for something for someone on your Christmas list.  If you win the gift they don’t have to know you did not pay for it.  It is the though that counts right.  With so many gifts you are sure to find something for everyone on your list from the avid reader to the newest addition to your family.

Matt and I bought Lani her own domain name for Christmas.  It is a gift she will have for the rest of her life or as long as someone pays the $6.99 a year for it.    It is LeilaniCampos.com  I am in the process of moving all of her stuff over to it now.  I am so excited about it.  So when she gets older she can update it herself and it has everything on it from the time that she was created.  I had a lot of trouble when we were trying to have a baby.  We lost 3 and Lani was actually a twin but we lost the twin.  She is so precious to us and the journal starts with the moment I found out I was pregnant with her and goes through present day.  Because our family lives so far away from us I update the journal everyday (well almost) with the events going on in Lani’s little life. 

This was an amazing gift to receive. The wine lover in your life with thank you forever for this gift pack of one bottle of white and one bottle of red. This is not your ordinary run of the mill wine; this is some of the best wine California has to offer. You are not going to just be able to go down to the local liquor store and pick these up. These wines are made in small quantities and have limited distribution.

Each gift pack includes a newsletter about the wine your received. Giving you the year the wine was born, honors the wine has received, how many cases were produced and a description of what your taste buds are about to experience. You feel like the newsletter was written just for you. You will also find a featured recipe, Gold Medal Spotlight, and the Wine Wizard who answers your wine questions. When you receive your wine if there is a particular bottle you feel you need to have again you can reorder the bottles that you received in your gift package. Send wine of the month to someone you care about and the receiver will be thanking you one cold night while they sit by the fire sipping some of California’s greatest wine.

About 7 years ago Matt and I decided it was time to start thinking about a new car. We had a 1989 Toyota Corolla with a little over 200,000 miles on it. As many of you know Toyota run a long time and she was still in excellent condition. I was insulted to say the least when we went to the dealership and they told us how much they were going to give us for a trade-in. What made me so mad was the fact that I knew they were going to turn right around and sell the car for a couple thousand dollars. So instead of trading it in we did a car donation. We donated to the purple heart foundation but there are so many out there to choose from like Car Angel that uses the money to videos for kids and teens that they give away free of charge to educate them on the importance of staying off of drugs.

This is so funny.  This is the first dance at their wedding and man do they put on a show.  It is so cool to see them have so much fun with it.