I realize it has been a while since my last post. I have been SUPER busy working my AdvoCare. I have gotten so many people on product, feeling amazing and getting results. I have been having a blast!!! It takes time because I make sure people are taking the products right and everything is working for them... and I love it! I love working my mind and staying busy. It is my own little work at home business.

Lucy has been getting so much bigger. She can now drink from a straw! AND she is very close to crawling... and has even crawled a tiny bit.


On Saturday Chris had duty- the kids and I had a GARAGE SALE!! It was NOT very successful- I think I made $50....  I really didn't have too much to sell. I mostly just wanted to de-clutter and clean out the house.  BUT, the kids had a lot of fun helping me...


Even Lucy had a part in making sure the garage sale got done...



The garage sale came to a screeching HALT when Vangie decided to get infected with a virus and puked all over the hallway floor. Then she puked in the trash.... then the toilet.....then the sink. Then I decided to call the Dr. and take her into medical.  We got to medical and she proceeded to puke in the waiting room (scaring all the other waiting patients and making them move a little further away...)  But don't worry, I am SUPER MOM and made sure she brought her own "Puke cup" because I knew this would probably happen.

They took pity on the puking Vangie and moved her into her own little "Isolation room". So, while we waited for the lab and urine results she would lay down and get snuggled under her blanket. They even replaced her tiny "puke cup" with a huge puke bucket..... ahhh the privileges of the "Isolation room"!

So the results of all that puking.... an unidentified virus! Once we got some Zofran into Vangie she recovered very fast and was even eating pizza that night.

I am pretty sure the next time I update this sight I will have video footage of little Lucy crawling across the floor.... stay tuned!

Yesterday Chris did not got home until 7pm.  I put the girls in bed after they gave their daddy hugs and kisses ( they miss him so much when he is working!) And then I sat Joey at the kitchen table to do write this:

"I, Joesph Schmitt, will never steal again."


And then after the girls were in bed I made Joey tell his Father what he did. Chris told me it was a good thing I had told him in advance what happened (although Joey did not know this) because he probably would haven't reacted so calmly. Duh! That is why I TOLD him in advance. Chris has very high expectations for Joey- I am sure that is very common between Dad's and Son's. He ofter expects Joey to be close to perfect all the time- and Joey is a very, very good boy most of the time.
It is Joey's "sneakiness"  and "smarts" that gets him into trouble the most. For instance- when he took the $20 out of his lunch money, he had to have been plotting about going to the mini-mart the whole time. It was actually a very well orchestrated plan. Had it not been for "A"'s Dad, I would have never known....

So besides writing "I, Joseph Schmitt, will never steal again 52 times, ( I was going to make him write it 100 times, but 52 times took him about 45 min and we were pressed for time) And telling his father Joey is also on probation. I told him I am going to treat him like a little kid for a while. All the ground he had made-  me leaving him home alone when I went to my friends house up the block for an hour- me teaching him how to use a cell phone, him not having to have a booster seat in the van.... all that has been put on hold. Until he earns my trust again. I think this part upset him the most. He loves being treated as the "oldest". And he will again, but he will have to earn it.

Joey is usually a really good kid. Helpful. Happy. A good big brother. .... I guess that makes what he did today to be really hard for me to take.

Last week I gave Joey $40.00 in a sealed envelope to take to school and pay for his lunch. He was supposed to take the envelope to the office and they would help him to get the money into his account.

Well, today I hear a knock on the door. It was the dad to a couple neighbor children who play at our house quite a bit. He just wanted to introduce himself because our kids play together quite a bit. I was glad because i have been meaning to get over there to introduce MYSELF, but you know how it is hard to find the time. Well, A's dad wanted to make sure I knew that Joey and A had gone to the mini-mart and Joey had bought A some football cards. Oh REALLY?

Now, Joey had asked me if he could go to the PARK with A. And I said he could. I let him go for 1.5 hours. But the Mini-mart is NOT The park. At ALL.  I didn't let A's dad know this. I just smiled and said, "Oh yes, Joey has money of his own. That was fine with me." I mean, A is 10 years old. His dad probably lets him go to the mini-mart on his own. And spend his own money.

After they left I called Joey inside. "Joey" I said "Where did you get this money to go to the mini-mart and buy football cards?" Joey started to talk and I help up my hand.

"Before you proceed" I said " I am giving you this one chance to tell me the TRUTH. I think Joey could tell I was serious. Because he DID tell me the truth. He told me he took $20 of the $40 I had given him for lunch last week and kept it.

I looked at him. "So...you STOLE my money?" I asked him. "You took the money I gave you or LUNCHES and kept it? After the whole truth came out. It turns out joey took $20 of his lunch money and went to the mini-mart and spent it ALL On pokemon and football cards.

I was more than pissed. I was heart-broken. And I told him so. I took the pokemon cards away. I also made him return a toy he had just got at Target this past weekend with the money he had gotten from his grandparents. THAT money will now be used to pay for his lunch.  Joey acted sad and he agreed with his punishment.

But he was REALLY upset when I told him what else was part of his punishment. Joey is going to have to tell his Daddy what he did when his Dad gets home from work tomorrow.

THAT he didn't like. He has begged and pleaded with me not to tell Chris. I know he doesn't want Chris to know and be disappointed in him. I told Joey that stealing is too serious for me not to tell his dad.  So now Joey has to wait until tomorrow night and then tell Chris what he did.  I will tell Chris before hand so he doesn't flip out when he hears what happened- but Joey won't know that.

And so I have a heavy heart that my son would do such a thing. But all kids do these sorts of things I sappose. I remember when I was little I stole a snickers bar.... Is this sort of like the same thing?? I hope he feels bad enough that he won't do this sort of thing again.

Also, check out the VIDEOS page- I have a new video of Baby Lucy doing push-ups... crazy baby!!

About a 6 weeks ago I took Lucy and Vangie to the Park and had thier photos taken. I just recieved the CD in the mail..... so adorable!!!! Here they are....

Lucy is getting close to crawling. She is now lifting herself up on her hands and knees.... then she falls down into a big pile of baby and starts crying. I know she wants me to come and pick her up, but I let her stay on the floor for a little bit so she can practice getting up on her knees. 
 

Yesterday she had her first playdate with her baby friend Molly. Molly is a month younger than Lucy (doesn't she have such a cute name?) Lucy and Molly stared at each other and Molly tried out Lucy's Jumper-saucer. I could tell they both had a fun time.

Chris is on Duty again today... but this weekend he has SAT, SUN AND MON off. Whooooo!!!! WHAT are we going to do with ourselves? I think we MAY get Lucy's ears' pierced. YIKES. I did it with the other two girls when THEY were little and I was glad that I did. It hurts for a second but then they forget about it and never mess with the ear-rings or their ears after that.

I WILL be taking the kids to the store to buy a toy. They got Valentines cards and money from the Grandparents and Great-Grandparents in Orlando. They were so excited to get the cards and have been bugging me about going to the store all WEEK.

This past week Sophia had to have two teeth pulled. They were the ones on he side of your big two front teeth on the bottom. I am sure there is an actual name for them.  She was very brave! She put them under her pillow for the tooth-fairy.


Here is SOphia showing off the new holes in her mouth. She was excited becasue she got to stay home all day and not go to school. Lucy looks on from the background.

Lucy is getting big! Her eyes are officially dark brown. She is still a very good baby, though I think I have created a monster... She won't sleep at night unless she is in bed next to me. Oh no.....


Yesterday Chris had duty. He is known amongst my friends as the "duty man" because whenever someone asks where Chris is I say... Oh, He's on duty. But I am still grateful he is here and not deployed. My heart goes out to all my fellow military wives with deployed husbands, that is the hardest thing to endure.

SO while Chris was at work I took the kids to Pizza Hut. It was a fun dinner. We had a half vegetarian, half sausage and black olive. Then we went to McDonald's for dessert- Mmmm Mmmm for McDonald's Ice cream cones! Speaking of McDonald's, Vangie received a McDonald's gift card in the mail from Diane and MErle... awww. She WAS SO EXCITED to have her OWN gift-card. She told me she may admit herself into the hospital more often and get spoiled even more. Just kidding, she did not say that... But I bet she was thinking it!!!

After dinner out we came home and made home-made valentines. The kids had fun cutting, glueing and coloring. Even baby Lucy got in on the fun.

Joey and Sophia had their Basketball pics taken.... so cute.  Go MAGICS!!!!



Also, I have had GREAT SUCCESS taking in losing the last bit of baby weight by taking AdvoCare Products. I cannot believe how fast I lost the last 5lbs and how much ENERGY I have!!!!

I posted my before and after pictures on my Running Websit- check it out at
www.schmitthappens.net/myrunning

My kids are driving me crazy. They (Joey and Sophia) have been acting spoiled, rotten, mean and just plain BAD. They have been sulking, whining, causing fights and just being all around naughty.

I'm done with it. Seriously, the buck stops here. They have been having an attitude with me or sulking or throwing fits if they don't get to do exactly what they want-- whether that is play outside with their friends instead of doing their homework like I ask, cleaning up their mess or just getting along with one another without fighting....  And I am SICK OF IT.

This morning Sophia and Joey both started to sulk (Joey) and throw a fit (Sophia) because Vangie didn't want to share her balloons. Well, Vangie got those balloons int he hospital, they are HER balloons and she doesn't have to share if she doesn't want too- especially since I KNOW she still has a slight fever and is not feeling good.  I snapped and declared that they were going to stay in their bedrooms (Joey and Sophia that is) while Vangie, Lucy and I enjoyed our morning downstairs. And that is just how it went. I took the little girls downstairs, got Vangie breakfast and turned on cartoons and Lucy and I went into the garage so I could do my workout. After my workout I let the big kids out of their rooms with the WARNING that the bad behavior will STOP, or the consequences would be swift and severe. I will NOT have bad children who sulk, whine and think the world revolves around them. If that makes me a "mean Mom" then so be it.

The rest of the morning went well until after Lunch. After Lunch Sophia started throwing a fit because of something and so after warning her did not work(she started crying and throwing a fit)  I threw her outside on the porch and slammed the door.  Ahhh, finally some peace and quiet.

I could still hear her outside crying and yelling out "Mommy is MEAN!" But It didn't bother me because I know that I am not putting up with them acting like heathens and the fits will stop.

She opened the door a couple minutes later.... sorry mommy.....  And then I explained to her how I was DONE with all the bad behavior and there was a stricter mommy in town. 

Ahhhhh.... Serenity now.  I think we will have a few more "battle of the wills" .... but I know that I will win.

We are back from the Hospital and it is SO nice to be able to relax in our own home. Vangie is doing a lot better.... She still has a high fever that is being controlled , for the most part, by both Tylonal and Motrin.

We need to go back tomorrow for more antibiotic and to get the results from her blood culture. At least then we will know what sort of "bug" we are dealing with.




Here is a pic of the playroom on the pediatric floor of the hospital. Joey enjoyed playing the Video games and Vangie is playing with the toys attached to her IV line.


Here are Vangies loving siblings visiting her at the Hospital. They made her cards and brought her a HUGE stuffed doggie (not the one in the picture) with a balloon. Vangie was loving the special attention.

Poor Vangie. She is not feeling well tonight. She came down with a VERY HIGH fever of almost 105 degrees and a bad pain in her side. She was laying on the couch in pain and buring up.

Tylenol and Motrin would not bring her fever down. I called the nurse and they told me to take her to the ER. I am glad I did. Turns out she had a Urinary Tract Infection that traveled up into her kidneys and now a kidney infection.

She is on IV antibiotics and fluids to help her stay hydrated. Her fever is continuing to spike up very high, and even with Tylenol on board her fever is around 103 degrees.

Thankfully my wonderful friend was able to keep her eye on Joey and Sophia so I only had to take the baby to the ER with us. Chris was able to come home from work. He took care of the big kids at home and then around 9:30pm we swapped out and he is going to be staying the night with Vangie at the hospital and I came home with the kids. Luckily the hospital is only about 2 miles away so it is a very quick drive.

The nurses and Dr.'s have been great. I am glad Vangie is in good hands and on medicine to help her feel better. I was so scared when her fever hit 104.8! I had never felt a child that hot before. 

I have been feeling really great this past week and FULL of energy. I cannot remember the last time I felt this good. I know for a FACT it has to do with the vitamins supplements that I am taking from AdvoCare. I really cannot believe the difference. It has like the fog has been lifted. If you have been reading my "Running Page" blog at all, you will know how many times I have vented about not losing weight, despite running many, many miles ... how hard I have found it to eat healthy, and how my body seemed to be screaming out for sugar... how I have been lacking energy.... The past few days, taking Advocare Vitamins and Spark Energy drink, I have 1) Been Super energetic and positive 2) Found it MUCH easier to eat healthy, and I am NOT craving sweets really at all.... I still enjoy my food very much, but I don't finish a meal and keep prowling for something "sweet" like I used to do! and, probably most spectacularly...  3) my weight has FINALLY gotten off it's plateau! I have been around 136 / 137 pounds for MONTHS. Today I was 134.6 !!!  Not a huge amount, but you need to remember, I do not have a "huge" amount to lose. ... so every little bit makes a big difference.  I am pretty positive when I say I believe my body was starved for nutrients. I was not taking ANY vitamins or supplements before.... I think I was constantly craving because there was something missing in my diet. Now all those holes are being filled and I am reaping the benefits.  I am finding the "Spark" energy drink to be a very big body/mind booster. I take it when I need a lift and I feel fabulous... I take it before a run and my run feels a lot easier and more enjoyable. I have decided to sell the AdvoCare products myself.... I think they are fabulous and if I can help or inspire someone to lose weight or get in shape or just help them feel their very best then I am happy.  I guess that I was very skeptical before and didn't think taking some pills could make that much of a difference. But FEELING is BELIEVING. These products are all 100% safe for everyone. Kids as young as 4 years old can take the Spark energy drink. Olympians and professional athletes all take AdvoCare products. They have a Trim (weight loss)  line, wellness line and also a performance line.... things to help you run faster and better or lift better... so you can reach your full potential. Here is a link to my AdvoCare web-page... https://www.advocare.com/11021040/Store/default.aspx  If anyone wants help to pick out some products to feel more energetic or lose weight or to help with their workouts  I will gladly help you! I am also documenting my astounding results on my "Running Page" website. www.schmitthappens.net/myrunning