First Post

So the new blog has a post! So go on over and take a look. I'll explain it all when you get there. I'd love to hear from you. I've hidden this blog on my blogspot account. You can keep following it, but it will probably mostly be pictures for grandparents, etc. My writing will be on the new blog.

Angela's Musings - Revamped

Just wanted to let you know that this blog is moving. I've been trying to "consolidate" myself and build a place I can write about anything on my heart - but protect my family's privacy a bit mtected place to share family photos with grandparents.
ore than I do here. So....in not to very long, this blog may disappear...or go to being a password pro
You can now find me (and my empty blog) at angelacgifford.blogspot.com

You can follow me on Google there, and I'll be adding subscription options, etc. soon....and then get back to writing. My heart is pretty full from such a long break. :)

Summer's End

I'm a little sad today. The fall sun has replaced the summer sun. It is cooling off. There is one week left before school. I love the fall. It *is* my favorite season. But August is just too soon for fall.

Speaking of fall.....I took a nasty fall on my bike today. If it had been one of my kids, I would have taken them in for stitches. But Bill assures me I don't need stitches. I hope he's right. At the moment, I'm practicing the art of not bending my knee.

Ian and Riley had a great time at camp this week. You can read a little more about that here. Hayden and I also enjoyed a lot of great time one-on-one this week. He's never gotten much of that as the baby of the family. I know it meant a lot to both of us.

We had a little excitement around here last night. We had an old friend and a new friend over to help us roast marshmallows. They were here until well after midnight. After they left, we worked on settling down our boys and two extras that were having a sleepover. At about 1 a.m., the phone rang. It was my brother. Of course, I'm wondering who's in the hospital and what happened. He said calmly, "I want you to lock your doors." Turns out, he was calling on official police business. They were tracking a drunk man who had abandoned his truck on our street and told them he was walking up the hill looking for a place to hide - which was essentially our driveway. A little lights and sirens are just the thing to liven up a dying sleepover.

So the question is, what is scarier to have in your yard?

OR

Random Drunk Guy?

Today, we had a nice cookout in the beautiful weather with the worship team and are excited to start our kids on their school, bedtime routine tonight! Yay!

Updates, updates

I'm really going to try to be better here....just because I know that family depends on news that isn't shouted to the world.

My dad got here tonight! He will be here for two days working on our new business together. It is always good to see him!

This week is generally busy. Tomorrow, Ian and Riley leave for a week of children's camp. We have a dinner tomorrow to discuss details of home group happenings this year....right before I had off to Bible study. Just two weeks left of my summer, ladies' group. It's been so fun!

Tuesday is Middle School Registration. I am speaking for our local Maggie's Place home and have a My Shopping Genie seminar to show up late too and get some more training.

Today, Clayton and I used My Shopping Genie to find the netbook he's been saving for. We found it for $50 cheaper than we've seen it anywhere else - with free shipping. That means he can buy it this week - instead of in another several weeks of working. Woo hoo!

We've been doing lots of school shopping and are getting pretty close to being ready. Still have a few supplies to look for and some shirts to get monogrammed.

...and now at 1 a.m., it is time for bed!

What's Going On?

Where have I been? and why am I finally blogging at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning?

Well, that is about all the time I have around here.

So much is going on! Some good. Some not so great....and a lot of just busy.

I'm still working full time at Mom 4 Life. I'm working from my house, which is nice in the fact that I don't have to pay childcare expenses. But the downside is that I have four boys in my office all week - which leads to things like fist fights and baking soda bomb construction in my office - and and occasional snake being thrown on my keyboard.

I'm also sort of blogging on Let's Talk About Boys - which if you haven't take a look at lately, you will have missed most of what has been happening around here with the boys.

After a year online, I've done some re-evaluating and reorganizing of Those With Young. There is now a download available each Sunday with a whole week of journable devotion sheets to use. The verses are still posted daily, so whichever is the best format for a mom, it is there for her to use.

Ian and Riley leave for camp on Monday and are very excited. Ian asked Riley tonight if he could sit by him on the bus, so that he knew what to do. So cute!

Clayton is busy working for anyone he can get jobs for, so he can buy his own net book. He is almost there!

Bill is still currently working three jobs: 1. Full time customer service for Capital One 2. Part time course maintenance for the Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course. 3. His own business (which is in the busy season (Coeur d'Alene Golf Club Repair)

Bill has been singing on our church worship team for the past couple of months. He loves it!....and it is really fun to worship with him in that way again. Being on the worship team at Real Life means singing in all five services every other weekend, so it is quite a commitment.

Bill and I are also going to lead a home group in an area apartment complex starting this fall. It has been really fun to watch how God laid this on both of our hearts and the things he has done to bring it all together. We are really having fun watching how God is already working, and what He has up His sleeve!

One of the things I'm really excited about right now, is a new business I've started. Ya, I know, like I have time for anything else. I know.

BUT, there is a reason this works for me. It totally ties in with everything else I do online, so it isn't something hugely stretching for me.

When I was a stay at home mom, everyone had a great business they wanted me to get in on. I never could get excited about any of them because I just wasn't passionate about it, and couldn't see myself spending even the "10 hours a week" necessary on them. I also struggled asking anyone to help me out by spending money they didn't have on something they didn't need.

Well, I've found something better. Something I can give away for free! Yep! You got it! It is called My Shopping Genie. My Shopping Genie is a downloadable tool that helps you save money with all of your purchases. It simply helps you find the absolute best deal on anything you are looking for. It works with Google and other search engines to bring you your searches by the best price.

How do I get paid? Well, Google pays other sites that drive traffic for them, so commission comes by advertisers paying per click for traffic to come to them. The cost is on the companies who pay Google. I've been lucky enough to find a low investment business that gives the average joe an opportunity to have a bite of the Google pie, so to speak.

So! If you are interested in saving money....consider downloading the Genie. It doesn't cost a penny to you EVER!...and it is very safe.....and it will help get the Gifford's out of debt. LOL! If you take a look today, go here so you can really learn how to use it.

If you want a bite out of the Google pie too, ask me how you can get a license to distribute My Shopping Genie yourself. I can help you with that too.

Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to my fellow birthday friends!

Happy Birthday, Lisa Rakes!

Lisa and I think we're related because my brother's wife is best friends with her husband's sister. Did you get that? We've spent many hours visiting while my son picked up her dog's poo and while our kindergarten classmates played on the playground after school!

Happy Birthday, Taylor Maliblah-blah!

(otherwise known as The Lumberjack's Wife)

I've know Taylor since she was in elementary school.....but I wasn't exactly in elementary school She is much younger than me. It has been fun to reconnect with Taylor as mommies and bloggers!

Happy Birthday to Amber Ronningen!

Amber and Taylor (I believe) were both in the same junior high Sunday School class that I once taught.

Happy Birthday, Nancy Riberdy!

Nancy is a friend from Arizona. I miss her.

Happy Birthday to Roxanne and Brian

(from my home group) who also have birthdays this week!

Happy Birthday to my cousin Megan and my niece Leigh Anna,

who share a birthday this week....

consequently they also share the day that my Grandpa Lefty was born into heaven 17 years ago!

My dad has a tradition of taking us out to breakfast on our birthdays. He's been doing it probably longer than I remember. I still have memories of going to breakfast in my strawberry shortcake dress and getting strawberry syrup all over it.

This year, daddy is here! So guess who took me to breakfast today (a day early!) Guess who is in town for my birthday? Mom, Dad, and Casey!

....and Dawnell!!

Can it get any better?

Casey's Graduation

My baby brother graduated from high school today!

Casey Brandel was an honor student, and he majored in theatre at

The Academy of Arts and Academics (A3).

Graduating Class of 2010

Springfield, Oregon

Hayden's Kindergarten Celebration

Customize your own free photo slideshow

The Medical Diaries

Riley has had strep four times since Christmas, so last week, we paid a visit to an ENT. He is now scheduled to get his tonsils out, July 12. I'm so hoping this results in better sleep for him and a much better school year for him next year. It has been a really bad years for all of my kids.

Riley has also been blacking out at school and generally feeling woozy a lot. After checking every other option we could think of, the docs decided an EEG was in order.

It was quite the process, I'll tell you.

First, he had to be sleep deprived. So we were to keep him up until midnight the night before, and then wake him up at 4:00 a.m. and keep him up.

At the hospital, they first marked his head in 28 places (precisely measured), with a good ol' fashioned magic marker.

Then they scrubbed those spots perfectly clean. Then they glued 28 little gold-capped thingies to the marked places and then taped them down.

Then they wrapped him up like a mummy and sent me out of the room while they ran some tests.

We're still waiting on results.

Two weeks ago, Riley was hit in the mouth by a swing at the church playground, resulting in two chipped teeth. We had them patched, and the patches have already come out.

Last week, Hayden was leaving a birthday party when a mean old branch jumped out of a bush and grabbed his face, literally laying it open. He got three stitches that night.

Some exciting news....Bill's foot is moving a little more each week. Thank you, Jesus!

We also had a little excitement with flooding this week, you can read about that on Let's Talk About Boys if you want.

Clayton's Birthday Party

It is time I got around to catching this thing up!

For Clayton's birthday, he designed his cake.

It is his personal logo, made up of all three of his initials. He has been using this on lots of things, and thought it would be fun to have a signature cake.

I think we did o.k. :)

He had invited 50 kids. Yes, 50. Unfortunately, I think he invited them too early. In his zeal, and ultra-preparedness, he passed out invitations two weeks in advance. Do you now what happens to information given to middle schoolers two weeks in advance? Me either. No one does.

However, he did have a handful of kids come. I'm not sure if I was disappointed or relieved.

They played kickball.

Boys apparently will play kickball in socks.

Girls apparently will wear cute shoes to a party and then play kickball barefoot when they realize the cute shoes don't work for kickball.

They also had water balloons, which were pretty fun until they started filling them with Hawaiian punch....Hawaiian punch that they had first put in their mouths and then put into the balloons. Yuck! Boys!

Clayton did get his own phone for his birthday. It was more of a self-preservation thing than anything else. I need my own phone....and I was getting to use mine anymore. I had several friends mention that kids don't need phones until they start driving. I almost agree. But I didn't get a phone when I started driving. I got one when I was twelve, though it plugged into the wall and was attached to my alarm clock.

Times have changed. That is for sure.

He also got a Facebook account, which to him, is a major right of passage.

Happy 13th Birthday, Clayton!

Before the creation of the world, God chose to create you - for His pleasure! (Eph. 1:4-5)

He knit you together in my womb. (Ps. 139:13)

You were the first piece of me, that I ever held outside of my body.

You were our first....the son of our youth.

Welcomed by excited family.

When you were brand new, we dedicated you to the Lord -

- something we've had to do over and over again.

You made it clear from the beginning that you had your own way of doing things.

You were my best little friend, the joy of my lonely days....

....the one who tagged along with us in all that we did.

The child your dad waited 28 years for.

All of your firsts, were our firsts too.

You were the one that we have made the most of our mistakes on.

The one we didn't hold often enough.

The one that we let cry more than we should have.

The one we couldn't keep from climbing up everything you could find to climb. You gave me lots of little heart attacks.

You have been the one that challenges our thinking to the nth degree.

The one who has excelled at everything you've tried.

We have only one little problem.

You won't quit growing.

You won't stop changing.

You keep amazing us.

With each passing day, we're more aware of how short our time with you is growing....

....and we plan to make use of every minute of it!

Happy Birthday, Clayton! We love you so much!

Tricky Tonsils

Yesterday, our dear Riley blacked out at school. He was sitting on a stool by his desk, fell to the floor, hit is lip on the trash can (which resulted in a nasty cut), then hit the floor (which resulted in a bump). His teacher walked him to the office. Apparently, he was white as a sheet. He said that he had a couple of dizzy spells during the day and the night before. So we went to the doctor for a diagnosis. He was talking slowly and deliberately and telling the same stories over and over. I could just generally tell he wasn't himself.

The doc checked blood pressure, pupils, heart rhythms, reflexes, muscle control, ears, nose, throat, etc., etc., etc. Nothing popped out as a clear diagnosis. So we went home. He had another dizzy spell last night, so I kept him home today. He laid on the couch and watched t.v. most of the day and complained of a headache.

The doctor wanted us to come back this afternoon and just re-check everything and make sure nothing else jumped out. So they checked blood pressure, pupils, heart rhythms, reflexes, muscle control, blood sugar, ears, nose, throat - "Riley? Does your throat hurt?" "Nope." "Are you sure?" "Yep." "Cause it doesn't look so good today."

I explained to the doctor that he has had strep several times this year and that he never has normal symptoms. In fact, a couple of years ago, we ended up at the ER on a weekend because of weird symptoms that seemed kidney related. He didn't have a sore throat. But the diagnosis? Strep.

So the doctor did a culture, and guess what?! Positive. Strep. Again. #4 this year.

We talked about Riley's strange sleeping habits....how he rips his bed apart every night and ends up on the floor most of the time...how I hear him up at midnight, rummaging through drawers...how he is impossible to wake up in the morning and has been very cranky and moody.

The doctor explained that sometimes tonsils can interfere with sleep. Weird. Who knew.

So we're off to see a ear nose and throat specialist. Riley isn't so thrilled about the prospect of having his tonsils out, but I am! Enough is enough! Black outs, hives, sleepless nights, leg pain, back pain. Seriously.

New Posts

I posted some thoughts today about the times we live in. You can read them here.

I also posted about our day right here.

I figured some of you follow all three blogs, so there is no sense in boring you over and over with the same stuff. :)

Thoughts on Fasting

I've been thinking about fasting tonight. It comes from a long string of thoughts in my mind as I realize how addicted I am to food. My new diet journey has really made me realize how much of my life I've tied to food. I love to cook. I LOVE to bake. I love having big family dinners and having people over. I love to take meals to people and surprise them with cookies or a loaf of bread.

Since I started my diet, I've began to realize how often I reward myself with food or turn to food when I'm upset. When I need a pick me up, I go get a special coffee or grab a piece of chocolate cake. Today, I got upset about something and was really feeling down. I wanted coffee. I wanted cake. I wanted lemon pie. None of it is on my diet.

In a sense, even though I'm eating everyday, it feels a bit like fasting because my diet has become about "don'ts" and discipline. Honestly, there is little joy left in eating. I've learned the discipline, but I still have lots of desires that are not being met.

With each of those unmet desires, I turn to the Lord and confess how often I've not turned to him because I was drooling over cake instead.

It made me wonder....what was God's original intent when he encouraged fasting. Was it that the people go without food? Or that they realized He met their deepest needs? If it is the heart issue, then what is the more important thing about fasting today? That we give up food? or that we give up the thing we turn to instead of Him?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you'd told me to give up football for the month, I wouldn't even be feeling any pain - because I could care less about football. But if you asked my brother, Taylor, to give up football for the month, he would be in more pain than I am on my diet.

Anyway, my perspective has changed a bit, as I view the purpose of fasting being met more by the sacrifice of something I might turn to other than the Lord - so He has more of my mind and my heart.

What do you think?

Nominate A Mom

Do you know a mom that could really use a reward? You can nominate her in Mom 4 Life's annual Mother Load contest for a great Mother's Day gift basket. That's not all! If your nomination receives the most votes and wins, you get a basket too!!