Merry Christmas!

My mother in law and I were in charge of the Christmas Eve service at our church.  We had a week to put it together.  Needless to say, with it being this time of year, we put everything together over the course of about 4 hours on Christmas Eve day!  The service turned out great, I think.  Some things could have gone a little smoother, but the Holy Spirit was with us last night.  One of the things that we played was this video that I want to share with you.  It just makes me smile.  So I am giving this to you all as a Christmas present.....Merry Christmas!

Christmas baking

I have been very busy the last couple of days baking.  Not Christmas baking, just baking.  Breck had a birthday 2 days ago and wanted a cake and cupcakes to take to school and cheer practice.  Then her coach asked me to make cupcakes for her husband's birthday.  I had a lot of people who wanted to see pics, so here goes.

This is Breck's birthday cake.  It was strawberry with buttercream frosting and covered in bright pink fondant with a black fondant ribbon and bow and fondant zebra stripes.  Picture is fuzzy, but cake looked great--first foray with fondant!

Basketball cupcakes for cheer coach's husband.  Pay no attention to the mini ice cream cones used as spacers--genius!!!

Cupcakes for cheer team to match the birthday cake and Breck's bedroom!  Sour cream almond cake with buttercream frosting.  Check out the zebra cupcake papers!

'Twas the night before Christmas!

So, this is the night, well morning, before Christmas and all through the house, all of the kids are still sleeping except for....ME!!!  How crazy is that?  It is not even 7:00 am and the kids don't have school and I really have no reason to be up.  However, I am in charge of making breakfast for my husband's work so, I am off to an early start.  That's OK though, it makes my Christmas Eve day that much longer--more for me to enjoy!!

I have to come clean and tell you that Christmas has not always been this enjoyable for me.  I fell into all of the same traps that a lot of other people traditionally do.  Too much baking, shopping, cleaning, partying, planning, etc. etc. etc.  But for some reason, this year I have let it all roll off my back.  I think that it has something to do with a friend of ours who is battling bone cancer.  He has been having trouble with his ankle for quite some time and finally had had enough.  So, this fall he had it checked out only to find out it was a rare form of bone cancer.  The following week he had his foot amputated.  In the following weeks he had a chemo port inserted, got a prosthetic leg, and started chemo.  Through all of this, he has continued to be an amazing family man, and doctor.  His attitude has been phenomenal and his family is doing so well--I can only imagine due to his and his wife's way of handling all of this.  The thing that topped it off for me?  We went caroling at the same hospital he was having his first round of chemo in.  We stopped in the hallway near his room to carol.  When we looked up, he was standing in the doorway on his 1 day old prosthetic let, hooked up to chemo singing with us!  He was in the middle of all of that junk, yet he sang with us.  It brought tears to my eyes, actually I kind of cried like a baby.

I realized, what in the heck do I have to be stressed about?  I have my health, my family, a roof over my head, a couple presents under the tree, and food in my cupboards.  Everything else is gravy.  My hope for you all this holiday season is that you seize the moment.  Enjoy where you are right now, you never know where you will be next Christmas.  Your kids will never be this age again--take pictures, slow down, spend time with them.  It's OK if your house is not pristine, if you have to skip a party, if you don't serve gourmet foods.  Christmas is still going to happen--with or without all of that.  And really, do you think that baby Jesus could care a bit about any of that?

Here is something a friend had posted on facebook.  Enjoy and have a blessed Christmas!

I Corinthians 13 (Christmas Version)

 If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,

Strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,

But do not show love to my family,

I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,

Baking dozens of Christmas cookies,

Preparing gourmet meals

And arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime

But do not show love to my family,

I’m just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen

Carol in the nursing home,

And give all that I have to charity;

But do not show love to my family,

It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels

And crocheted snowflakes,

Attend a myriad of holiday parties

And sing in the choir’s cantata

But do not focus on Christ,

I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love does not envy another’s home

That has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,

But is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return;  but

Rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things,

Believes in all things,

Hopes all things, and

Endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break,

Pearl necklaces will be lost,

Golf clubs will rust;

But giving the gift of love will endure.

Author Unknown

What!?!?!?

Woke up this morning in such a great mood.  Today is caroling day and then date night, what a great day I had ahead of me.  To add to that, the dog slept all night and Dax slept in until 7:30....life was good.  That is until I looked out the front door.  Apparently someone, I use the term loosely, decided to go for a joy ride on our front lawn.  They came within inches of taking out our light post, they ran over lighted Christmas trees, they ran into our 40 foot tall evergreen, peeled out on our lawn, came within 10 feet of the front window of our house and drove over all of the landscaping that we did last summer.  I couldn't believe that someone would do such a thing!  And it definitely was not due to road conditions.  We have an idea who did it and are checking on that now.

The people who lived in our house before us had a teenage son that had a lot of friends in the neighborhood.  They would constantly walk through the 2 acre backyard to get from house to house.  No big deal, but Emms bedroom is in the walkout basement facing the backyard, not to mention we have small children and aren't comfortable with a bunch of teenage boys trudging through our yard.  It really got bad when we were watching a game in the basement and looked out and saw the boys where our deck used to be....the deck that was attached TO THE HOUSE!  Well, they got an ear full from my mother in law.  Since then, we have had a lot  of ding-dong-door-ditching going on, they have even banged on the window!  And now this.

Unfortunately, this is a commentary on the teenage psyche in America.  Even if you do something wrong, blame somebody else!  Frustrating.  I can only hope that my kids don't act that way, at least I will do my darndest to prevent it!

We'll keep you posted.  Cops are on their way!

Oh well, at least I am still excited about caroling today--Merry Christmas!

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!!

Holy Cow!!  The big caroling day is tomorrow.  I am beyond excited....and a little nervous.  I have visions of this being a huge thing and am totally going on faith that it will be more than my family wandering through the halls of the hospital.  The girls have invited classmates and their families, and I put the word out on facebook and the blog.  I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I am very hopeful that it will be something that will touch the lives of the people who hear us.  I hope that it will be something that they won't forget, and not just because they heard MY singing voice....yikes!  Check back tomorrow and hopefully I will have pictures of the millions of people who converged on St. Lukes!!!  Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I was driving home from dropping of my precious angels at school, when a song came on the radio that got me thinking.  Now, I am the first to admit that I LOVE Christmas music.  From the day after Halloween I was jonesing for 24 hour Christmas music on the radio.  Heck, I would even listen pretty much year round if satellite radio had a Holiday station!  So here is my version, based on my morning and comments made by my philanthropic children (can anyone sense the sarcasm).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 
Ev'rywhere you go; 
Take a look in my closet please, lacking brand new tees 
With skinny jeans and silver kicks fo sho'. 
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 
Fits in every store 
But the worst thing to hear while looking in the mirror 
Is I want more. 

A pair of Ugg leather boots and a camera that shoots 
Is the wish of Emm and Brecken; 
Cells that will talk to use while I sulk  
Is the hope of little Sen; 
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again. 
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 
Ev'rywhere you go; 
There's a tree by the school bell, one in the church as well, 
The special kind that my kids pretend not to know. 
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas; 
Soon the cries will start, 
And the thing that will make you scream is the thing that you can't bring 
Home from your Wal-Mart. 


OK so my kids aren't quite that bad, but it is starting to make me crazy!!  Breck threw a complete fit this morning because as she was pulling on her coat and her shirt sleeves were pulling up.  So, instead of asking for help, she fell into a crying heap on the floor screaming.  When she finally got into the car, she informed me that she would only tell me this once, she hates being at home because she gets in trouble for acting that way.  I informed her, that before she says anything like that again she should probably stop and look at how blessed she is.  She then went on to demand a new coat.  The one she has is 1 year old and still is in beautiful condition and fits, but she doesn't like the design anymore.  UGGGHHH!  I started to get preachy at that point (I know, it's hard to imagine).  She was not the only one who acted up this morning.  I am about ready to take my kids to a shelter to show them how so many people live.  Just to prove to them that is is possible to go on living without every little thing that we THINK we need.  I think the reason that this bothers me so much, is because we haven't raised our children to view life this way.  We tithe, and encourage them to do the same.  We donate to charities, we volunteer, and until recently, we haven't had the money to do anything really.  We were students with 3 kids and mega debt from school. 



Maybe it's just the season.  To me it seems as though adults tend to be more charitable and kids more selfish.  So maybe there is hope.  Every year they should improve, right?  Right????  Can I get a witness?  PLEASE!

Jingle Bells

This morning Emms and I were trying to come up with a little "jingle' (pun intended) to encourage people to join us caroling.  So...if you live in the Sioux City area, we would love for you to join us!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,

Jingle all the way.

Come to St. Luke’s Hospital

On this Saturday.

We will sing

Right at 2

Please wear something red

We hope you bring your singing voice

Don’t stay all day in bed!

Hope to see you all!!!

Falalalala Lala La La!

ATTENTION:  Anyone in the Sioux City area is invited to come to St. Luke's on Saturday at 2:00 pm to sing.  I will have song sheets.  We will travel the halls of the hospital caroling to those who are sick/injured/working!  We did it last year with a group of 6th and 4th graders and it was so much fun.  I would love, though, for this to be a big thing this year with kids and adults.  All who come with a good spirit are welcome, you don't even have to be a good singer...trust me, I'm not!!  If you come, please wear something red!  Feel free to spread this around.  Thanks

Getting flaky!

I decided to teach you all a little craft for today's blog.  This is my favorite snowflake.

Start with 6 sheets of paper (this is just plain printer paper) cut into squares.

Then fold each on in half, corner to corner to make a triangle.

Fold in half again to make a smaller triangle, corner to corner again.

Next comes the fun part...cutting!  One of these little cutter things makes life much easier, but if you don't have one, scissors will work just fine.  Orient your paper like the above picture, with the fold at the top.  Make cuts from the "open" ends towards the folded end, about 3/4" wide and to within about 1" of the fold.  Make three cuts starting from the hypotenuse of the triangle (long side).  Do this on all six pieces.

This is what it will look like when you are done cutting.

Unfold your paper, take the middle pieces--they will look like corners of a square, and roll them towards each other.  Overlap slightly and secure with a piece of tape.

Flip the whole contraption over and take the next two pieces and roll towards each other.  Overlapping slightly again, secure with tape.

Continue flipping and rolling so it looks like this when you are done.  Make sure that you roll one to one side and the next to the other side.

When you are overlapping I like to line up the point of one side to the inside corner of the other side.  Not sure if that makes sense, but here is a picture.

You will have 6 of the little "bundles".

Take 3 at a time and line them up to that the strips match.  You will notice that on each one, there will be what I call, an inside and an outside.  Whatever you decide to call them make sure outsides go together and insides go together.

Match up the uncut points of the three pieces and staple.

Repeat with the other three.  Then connect the two stapled sections together, remember insides together and outsides together.

You should now have a big floppy-like snowflake thingy (very accurate).  Roll pieces of tape and secure the insides together and the outsides together to hook all of the 6 pieces together.

This is the finished project.  I am hoping that I will have another picture to add to this soon of my 6 snowflakes hanging from the ceiling in our foyer.  I made 2 full sized ones and 4 1/2 sized ones (to represent the family) out of vellum with sparkles. 

If anything is not clear, please don't hesitate to contact me.

T & A

OK, don't get your hopes too far up, this will not be that kind of post.

The morning started like any other, we all got up and got going like normal.  Ryan took Emms to school and calmly walked back into the house and turned on the radio.  Strange, but OK.  The problem, he was NOT listening my Christmas music station.  What?!?!  Shocking, I know, anyways...I realized that could mean only one thing.  Ryan had won something on the radio.  Sure enough, he answered a question about weight gain during the holidays (teehee) and was given the choice of theatre (with an 're' means fancy) tickets or hockey tickets.  He chose hockey.  No biggie, we weren't completely sure that we weren't going to be getting tickets to the show anyways.  Fast forward a couple of hours to where we found out that we weren't going to get the tickets, so we decided to trade the hockey game for the show.  We ended up getting 4, read 'em 4, tickets.  So, the evening was planned, we would all be going to watch "A Chorus Line".  Baby Dax would have to sit this one out (if you are doing the math--Emms went with Nana, we took the other two girls).

In my mind, I pictured my lovely, young, impressionable girls being so moved by what they were watching that they would become even more involved in the arts.  What really took place, was me explaining to my 6 year old what the "T" in T and A meant.  Oh yes, to our horror, there was a whole song dedicated to t*ts and #ss.  Not to mention the s word and quite a few others.  As for my life changing moment for my children, one was sitting with Nana, so I don't know how she felt, one fell asleep on me and one--we found out later--had a tummy ache from holding in a toot all night (at least she didn't let it out)!  Oh well, such is life, we will return to the theatre again but most likely we will be spending most of our time at the theater.  No more T & A, only P & G!

O' Come All Ye Faithful!

Oh.  My.  Gosh.  We just got home from one of the most amazing concerts I have ever been to.  It was Michael W. Smith and Rockestra.  For those of you who don't know what Rockestra is, it is a complete orchestra with a few added instruments that generally play rock music.  They are quite amazing.  Tonight, however, they were teamed up with Mr. Smith, who was quite amazing himself.  And what a way to get in the Christmas spirit (like I wasn't already!)  But, he said something towards the end of the concert which really touched me.  He said, "there are people in you own backyard that are hurting this season, listen to your heart, listen to your spirit and reach out to them."  Listen to my spirit.  


I have never been told to do that before, and I realized that I have never specifically done that.  My spirit.  What exactly is my spirit saying?  Then I had an epiphany.  My spirit is that little nagging voice saying, "Go and talk to that person."  "Give them a hug."  "They need help."  "Tell them about how much God loves them."  My spirit--it is the voice that I, a lot of times, ignore.  That voice that nags at me when I ignore it.  That voice that tells me to step up and do the right thing.  That voice that is God's.  What is your spirit telling you this holiday season?  Is is telling you to donate to a charity?  Is it telling you to go back to church?  Is it telling you to mend a broken relationship?  Is it telling you that you are loved more than your human mind can even fathom?  Is it telling you to believe?


Listen to your spirit.

Success...kind of!

I posted on facebook that I was making bread pudding.  I guess I should say that I was experimenting with bread pudding.  It is out of the oven now, and I think it was a success.  I'm not sure if it is traditional bread pudding, so to speak, but it tastes pretty good to me.  The only problem is that it is a little on the mushy side, I think the fresh bread that I used was the culprit!  Well, without further adieu, here is the recipe.

Gretchen's (Almost) Bread Pudding

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup Southern Comfort

1/4 butter, melted

8-10 slices dry bread (I used King's Hawaiian Bread)

1 cup packed, brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

1 box Pumpkin Spice pudding mix (or any other yummy flavor--the small box)

1 egg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups milk

Cover raisins with So. Co. and let set.

Break bread up into small pieces and toss with melted butter.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg.  Save out 3 Tbs. for topping.

Toss bread with remaining sugar mix, add in pudding and coat evenly.

Drain the raisins, saving the liquor for sauce, and mix the raisins in with the bread.

Pour into a 1 1/2 qt. lightly greased baking dish.

Scramble the egg, add milk, salt and vanilla and mix well.

Pour over mixture, let set for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle sugar mix over the top and bake for 1 hour at 325 F.

For the sauce:

Drained liquor from raisins plus enough water to equal 1 cup

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbs. cornstarch

2 Tbs. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 pinch of salt

Bring water/liquor mix to a boil in a small saucepan.

Mix the sugar and cornstarch well, then add to liquid.

Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until thick.

Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla and salt.

Stir until butter melts.

Serve bread pudding warm with warm sauce over the top.  Yum!

Let it snow , let it snow, let it snow!

So, as I am sitting in my nice, warm house and the snow outside is falling.  In fact, we are actually in a blizzard warning area.  We have gotten about 5 inches of snow in the past 10 hours.  Add to that bitter cold and 30 mph winds, it is ugly weather outside.  But, it is beautiful.  Things are covered in a clean blanket of snow, drifts are forming and snow is collecting on the boughs of the evergreens.  All in all, it looks like a Christmas card, which I love.  It's as though the world is getting a new start, kind of like the shake of an etch-a-sketch.  For the time being, the slate is clean.  There are no footprints,  there is no dirt or mud, there is no activity.  Like a perfect little snowglobe.  I feel a little like this being God's way of reminding us that He has given us a fresh start that goes by the name, Jesus.  Our slate's are wiped clean every time that we take communion, every time that we ask for forgiveness.  God takes our personal etch-a-sketchs and gives them a big shake.  All of our sins that were written are erased, they disappear just like all of the ugly under the white, clean snow.  Pray that your etch-a-sketch gets a good shake this Christmas season.  Oh, and stay safe!

House of Christmas cards

I was sitting at the computer yesterday working on the annual family Christmas card.  I was basically done, but my oldest came home with another new accomplishment that I wanted to add.  It reminded me of a time that I had written to a family member who I hadn't spoken to in a while.  In the letter I filled them in on what all of the kids were doing as well as my husband and I.  I was surprised when I received a note back from them letting me know how snotty I was, bragging about our accomplishment.  I was shocked!  Was I wrong to feel that way?  This was a family member that I wasn't close to anymore and I didn't feel comfortable going in to the nitty gritty of our daily lives.  You know, this time of year, do we want to air all of our dirty laundry?  Who wants to read 20 or so doom and gloom letters in a season of goodness and light?  I imagine if Mary and Joseph wrote a Christmas letter (or would they call it a census letter up to that day) they would leave out everything about the long journey on a donkey while Mary was very pregnant.  They probably wouldn't mention having to sleep in a barn!  My guess is their focus would be on the birth of our Savior, the angels, the wisemen, even the drummer boy!  This is a time to bring glad tidings of joy to those we love.  So when you are writing (or reading) your cards this year, don't be afraid to flaunt your accomplishments, God gave us this season, He gave us our talents, He has given us our blessings.  In sharing good news, we are in fact, sharing God.

My other obsession...Christmas!

If having 11 Christmas trees in your house is crazy well, then call me Ms. CrazyMcCrazypants.  That is right, I have 11 trees.  It is a little embarrassing to admit that, kind of.  I would say it's slightly over indulgent, but it looks so cozy.  Our electrician neighbor laughs that we could probably lower our thermostat due to all of the heat the Christmas lights are putting off!  Here are a few of the trees for your enjoyment (or whatever you might call it)!  I did pretty much all of this on a budget.  All of the trees were purchased after Christmas last year as well as most of the ornaments.

 This one is in our office.  Traditional red, green and white.

This is our main tree in our family room.  Red!

Nativity on top of the piano.

Santa and stairs.  The garland is pretty inexpensive stuff that I added lights to and a set of 101 ornaments from Home Depot (only about $14.00) then I added in floral picks that I picked up for about $.50 a piece.  I was trying to copy a look that I saw for about $75 per 5 feet!

The tree on the landing.  Gold.

The fireplace mantle in the living room.  

Tree in living room.  White.

Tree on screened in porch.  Brown and green/nature theme.

Tree in our bedroom.  Brown and blue.

The kids also have trees in their rooms decorated to fit their likes and we have a tree in the basement.  We haven't plugged it in yet, so no pics, but it has all of our "family" ornaments.  Didn't get the Christmas village put up this year, didn't think it would last very long with Dax running around, not to mention the dog!  Still a little decorating left, might get it done before Christmas.

Please Help!!

This morning I innocently sat down at my computer to check facebook and this was on one of my friend's posts.  I knew that it would be touching, but had no clue just how touching it would be.  Please watch it and help in any way possible.  I know that things are tight at this time of year, and with the economy the way it is, things are tight always.  But just giving what you might spend on fancy coffees for a week would make a difference.  Merry Christmas little Dax--you have touched so many people without even knowing it.

Please visit www.matthewwest.com to see what you can do to help.  Remember, every little bit helps!

Our own little Dax.  

Kooky for the Ukey!

I am admitting that I have a problem.  Isn't that the first step to getting help?  I am obsessed with my new ukulele that I got for my birthday!  I have been playing so much that my fingers are so sore that I can hardly type.  I need help!  Actually I need help finding some great songs to play.  So, if anyone has any good leads on uke music let me know.  I need me some uke!  I will try to post a video of me playing a song for your enjoyment, that is if you don't treasure your hearing.

I D.A.R.E. you!!!

Sen and her 5th grade classmates graduated from the D.A.R.E. program this morning.  I was struck with how much hope they all had, and all of the parents who attended.  We are all hopeful that our children remember all of the great lessons that they have learned about resisting drugs and alcohol.  That they don't give in to peer pressure, that they are the ones who put an end to bullying.  We hope that they live up to who they see themselves as when they are in high school.  We hope that the effects of drugs never touch their lives.  But, we know the reality of it.  We know that most likely some of them will bend to that pressure, or be hurt in some way by those under the influence.  But.....that doesn't stop us from hoping, and after all, this is the season of hope, isn't it?

Getting back into the swing of things.

So, this morning we were flying through the morning routine without so much as a frown.  I decided that it was most likely due to my amazing parenting abilities (yeah right--pure luck).  I made the horrible mistake of thinking to myself that we might actually make it out the door without a major breakdown.  Well, we did make it out of the door and about 10 feet.  That is where the problem occurred.  There it was.  The big black hole of good and decent behavior.  And it was locked!!!  When the magical door opened, the sucking began.  Good behavior was sucked out of my previously angelic children, and then they sucked.  Really!!  Sorry for the language, but that is the only word that fits what happened next.  A huge fight on the order of WWIII occurred over who was going to get into the van first.  You see, the first person would proceed directly to the back seat leaving the middle row seat for the second person (primo seating).  So instead of having two kids sitting in the back, like they are supposed to, they decided to fight and kick and scream and scratch and hit.....we ALMOST made it!

Not to leave my oldest out of all of the wonderful stories, (can you sense the sarcasm?) we went to her first band concert tonight.  It was wonderful!  She played in concert band as well as jazz band, which was surprisingly great.  They played this nice little swing number that sounded contest ready after only a few weeks of practice.  Well, following the concert I made a huge mistake of telling her how great she sounded.  How could I?  The nerve of me!  She through me such an attitude, I blew it off as she doesn't really like to be fussed over.  Then I made mistake #2 of the night, I told her where we had parked the car.  I know, get DHS on the phone, practically abusive!  Only a monster would tell her child, who wasn't wearing a winter coat on a December evening, where to find the car.  Well, tomorrow is a new day and I still have hopes that things will improve--they have to, right?  Right??  Please tell me it's true!!!

My divorce threat!

So, as my husband was leaving for work this morning, he innocently told Sen and Breck to be good to me and not to cry.  We all kind of laughed because we were having a great morning thus far.  Little did I know that this little sendoff was the kiss of death for our morning.  From the moment his car left the driveway, the screaming and crying started!  First we couldn't find the right jeans, then we couldn't find the right shirt, then our book was upstairs, and so-and-so looked at me wrong, and she breathed the air that I was going to breathe......AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!  I wonder how many people could hear my head exploding while I was dealing with this?  I informed my husband that if he EVER told the kids to be nice and not cry before school again, I might just divorce him!  (I wouldn't really....maybe)  Seriously kids.  We had a big talk (read lecture) the whole way to school, which takes about 5 minutes, about opening our eyes and seeing our blessings.  Really.  We live in a house with heat and beds, we have too many clothes to choose from, we have food and two parents who love one another and the kids.  How do you all keep your kids centered when everything coming at them is eschew this time of year?

Here we go!

So, here we go.  I have now entered the blogosphere, so please bear with me as I try to navigate without GPS!  Through this blog I hope to use it as source for moms (and dads) to come together to help each other keep their kids grounded in a world that isn't so much.  I am the first to admit that I DO NOT have all, or sometimes any, of the answers to parenthood.  I am just doing the best that I can, with the help of family and God, to raise my kids to not be self centered, egotistical brats!!  Here's hoping it works!