|
|
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
You know you're the FOURTH child when......
You know you're the fourth child when your parents run out of baby soap so they wash you with "AXE BODY WASH"
two nights in a row... and then you develop a rash on your leg. And you smell manly.
Your mommy
always dresses you in hand-me-down onesies. Always. Even when you go to lunch with friends and her baby who happens to
be an ONLY CHILD... Your baby FRIEND is dressed in sunglasses and pretty shoes and a whole coordinated outfit.
But you are happy you are dressed at all. Because being the 4th, wearing just a diaper counts as being "dressed".
You don't have a schedule. You nap whenever your mommy needs you to nap. And that time changes daily.
Most days you don't even get to nap in your crib... you have to nap in your car-seat because your mommy has so many
errands she has to run and kids to pick up from school and gymnastics practice and Dr. appointments!
You sleep in bed with mommy at night. She always said she would never let a baby sleep in bed with her- but you ARE
the fourth and final.... so she has finally given in. And you enjoy snuggling with her all night long.
Your
mommy laughs when at your 6 month check-up the Dr. suggests that mommy feed you more solid "meals" and even suggests
"Supplementing with formula" *GASP* because your weight gain isn't what the Doctor "thinks it should
be". Mommy know you are a good eater, and she knows you are getting enough...you are still rolly-polly
and crawling alll over the house. Mommy also knows that her motherly instinct and knowledge gained from raising
three other babies is more knowledge than this "Doctor" has learned from her textbooks. But that is the
freedom a mommy gains with subsequent children... you realize that although Doctors are wonderful and gifts from God in so
many ways... they do NOT know everything.
As a 4th child you get to be "babysat" by your
6 year old sister so mommy can get things done around the house. You get to play 'Mario Cart" with your big brother and
your other sister is already teaching you how to do "hand-stands" ... giving mommy a heart-attack!
You have already gotten your first hair-cut. None of this sentimental hair-growing out and the long awaited and celebrated
"first haircut".... Mommy saw that your hair was looking scraggly so she got out the kids' crafting siccors and
chopped the long pieces off.
Your baby book is pathetically empty. BUT.... since technology is
much more advanced than it was 8 years ago, there are actually MORE pictures of YOU than your big brother and sisters
when THEY were babies!
9:32 pm hst
Saturday, March 26, 2011
A letter from Grandpa
Joey received a letter in the mail from his Grandpa, regarding his recent troubles with stealing and not
telling the truth. It is SO VERY TRUE how it takes "village" to raise a child. And, although we are 4,500
miles away, I can count on my family to help me raise my children.
First Grandpa Perkins sent Joey this poem:
THE BOY IN THE GLASSWhen
you get what you want in your struggle for things-
and the world makes you Prince for a day-
then go to the mirror and look at yourself
and see what that boy has to say.
For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Grandpa whose judgment you must pass-
the person whose opinion counts most in your life is the boy staring back from the glass.
He’s the boy to please,
never mind all the rest
for he’s with you clear up to the end and you’ve
passed your most dangerous, difficult test, if the boy in the glass is your friend.
You may
think you’re the one who got a good break-
and think you’re a wonderful boy,
but the boy in the glass says you’re only a fake-
If you can’t look him straight in the eye!!!
You can fool the whole
world down the pathway of years and get pats on the back as you pass-
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears-
If you’ve cheated the boy in the glass.
And
then THIS LETTER, which I read to Joey....
Joey,
Your Mom told me you got in a little trouble, so I thought I’d write you a letter.
My father had this poem hanging in his office at work. Your Grandma Kimberlie bought a copy of this poem
for me. It is in a picture frame and it hangs in our library to this day.
What this poem says to me is that it doesn’t matter how much stuff we accumulate, (toys, games, or money) If
we get stuff by hurting others, (Our Mom, or our Dad or our Grandpa or our friends), then we have really hurt ourselves. When
we do things that are wrong we don’t just hurt others we hurt ourselves.
Jesus said,
36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Mark 8:36
King David also talked about how
God knows everything we do and said in Psalm 139:1-4 O
Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know
when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at
home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
You see Joey, even if we fool others we still have to live with ourselves. GOD knows
what we are doing. We will have to answer to HIM someday too. I think that this Poem is trying to tell us what really matters
in life is our reputation.
Our reputation follows us through our whole life. My Grandpa Herb and my Dad always
taught me how important it was to always tell the truth because if your word is no good then people won’t trust you.
They also taught me to treat others the way that I wanted to be treated. Jesus taught us that too.
It
says in Luke 6:31. Do to others as you would have
them do to you. If we do things that are not acceptable, like tell lies or steel things. Then people will call us
a thief and a liar. Someday you might want to be an officer like your Dad, but if you have a bad reputation then you won’t
be able to follow your dreams. Reputation means, a : overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general b : recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability <has the reputation of being clever> 2: a place in public esteem or regard :
good name <trying to protect his reputation>
When you want
to go to a certain collage or get a job, the College you want to go to or the place that you want to work , will do what they
call a back ground check. They will ask other people what they think of you. If you have a bad reputation then they will tell
the college or the people who are thinking about hiring you that you are a cheat and a liar. You see for every sin or wrong
thing we do there are consequences.
EVERY ACTION GOOD OR BAD HAS CONSEQUENCES, GOOD OR BAD!! The consequence for
telling lies is that people will stop trusting you. The consequence for doing your home work is good grades. The consequence
for good grades is being student of the month or being able to get into the College that you want to go to some day. The consequence
of going to a good college and getting an education is being able to get the job that we want someday. Joey, I know that this
is all hard to understand and you may think that it doesn’t matter at your age, BUT IT DOES MATTER!! If your mom and
Dad can’t trust you then they won’t be able to let you have the freedoms that you want and need. TRUST HAS TO
BE EARNED!
Joey I love you very much, and I know we all make mistakes. Lord knows I made enough for both of us.
So hang in there and do your best to earn that trust back again. I was hoping that maybe you would hang this poem up in your
room and read it everyday as a reminder of how important it is to have a good reputation. I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS!!! LOVE
GRANDPA!!!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Rookie Bonus!
8:17 pm hst
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Birthday that Wasn't....
Joey just had his 8th birthday on Saturday. There was no celebration. No cake. No candles. No presents. It was a very unfortunate
day for him- AND Chris and I. It hurt US more than it hurt him to not have a birthday. But it had to be done.
I will tell you the whole story.
Remember when I blogged a few weeks ago about how Joey took $20.00 of
his lunch money and kept it for himself? And how he went to the mini mart and spent it all on Pokemon cards? And how I was
devastated and told him how he could never steal again and made him write 100 times "My name is Joey Schmitt and I will
never steal again..." ANd he swore up and down that he had learned his lesson??? Do you see where
this is going??
 Well, on Friday I came home from being out at an AdvoCare mixer. Chris was on duty do I had a babysitter stay
with the kids for a couple hours. When I got home the babysitter told me "Oh, a Lady stopped here and wanted to talk
to you, she left her number for you to call her". I thought this was odd. It was even ODDER when the
number was missing. It HAD been on the fridge, but now it was gone. The babysitter made a comment about Joey might have taken
the number because he "kept asking her where it was"... This immediately set the alarm bells off in my head.
We looked all over the kitchen for the number and couldn't find it. I got Joey out of bed and asked him about the number.
HE told he he did not know (Lie #1). I could TELL he was NOT telling me the whole truth. After a made sure he knew how SERIOUS
I was about everything he mysteriously "found" the missing number. It was "K's Mom" that had
been by. "K" is a boy that Joey plays with sometimes. "K" is not a very responsible boy and often leaves
his things in our garage or laying outside in peoples yards- including his expensive electric scooter and DS. I asked
Joey "Why would K's mom be stopping by? "I Don't know" (lie #2)
"Are you SURE you don't know?" "Yes, I am sure..." This went on for
QUITE a while (lies 3,4,5 and 6!) Finally Joey told me that K lost his DS game and was blaming
it on Joey. I immediately felt better because I BELIEVED Joey when he said that he didn't take it. I instantly thought that
K had misplaced his game like he does everything else. I called back K's mom. She told me that K had left his
DS player in our garage and when he went back to get it, the game that was IN the player was missing. I told her
that we often have a LOT Of neighbor kids playing in our garage, and that I could not be help responsible for her son's game
that he left in our garage. She was very nice in her responses. She said she totally understood, BUT, when K came to our house
to ask Joey about the missing game, JOEY was playing that SAME game on HIS DS. He told K "This is the same game you are
missing, but it's not YOURS". (more LIES) When K's mom told me this I felt a sick feeling in my stomach.
I knew Joey was lying to me. SO, I kept K's mom on the phone and went upstairs where Joey was in bed (but not sleeping, how
could he sleep with all THIS drama going on?" ANd I said to him "I have K's Mom on the phone. I KNOW you were playing
the missing game. Tell me the TRUTH... is that K's game???" FINALLY he said a bit of the truth... "Yes it's K's
game, but I found it in the GRASS." (lie 102.) I told K's mom that we had the game. I apologized profusely.
Now she probably thinks my son is a liar, AND a thief. I know that I would think that if a little boy stole Joey's game and
lied about it! After I got off the phone I collected the game. And I confronted Joey "You did not find this
in the grass, you TOOK this out of K's DS player and planned on KEEPING it, didn't you?" He admitted to me that yes,
that was what happened. I told him how sickened I was that he STOLE and LIED about it. I reminded him that he
promised me not 2 months ago that he would never STEAL!!! How could he have forgotten so soon? Obviously the punishment was
not severe enough before. I was so heartbroken. I told him that I did not know what was going to happen to him- that I had
to talk to his father and he needed to go to sleep. And that "Kid Jail" was a possibility. I told him that if he
was an ADULT and stole something, the POLICE MAN would come to the door and take him away. He cried himself to sleep.
I called Chris.
Chris was livid.
It was a good thing Chris was on duty.
Chris and I agreed that his the punishment needed to be more severe. WE HAVE to nip this "stealing and
Lying" thing in the bud. I WILL NOT have a son that I cannot trust. I KNOW Joey is a very good boy! Maybe he needs
more structure and attention. Believe me, he is getting it now.
We woke up on Saturday- his 8th birthday. I DID
make him some chocolate chip birthday muffins. I told him there would be NO party, NO ice-skating (what we WERE going to do)
NO sleep-over. NO presents (so any presents sent to Joey, he has not opened yet.) He would NOT Be having his birthday because
I COULD NOT reward bad behaviour.
We went upstairs and he helped me clear out his room. EVERYTHING WENT. Out went
the toys- all but a small box got sent to Goodwill. He obviously has TOO MUCH and is TOO SPOILED to see the value in anything.
If he can easily steal $20 from me and a game from his friend than he has TOO MUCH.
We kept a small box that he will
EARN back... but right now there is nothing but some books, the Bible and his toy computer. He will NOT be riding his
bike to school- that is a privilege. He will NOT be playing outside up and down the block with who-ever. He can play with
friends that I approve of and in a supervised environment. He will do his homework RIGHT away, plus extra work that I give
him. His energies will go towards his gymnastics- I will get him in a twice a week class- and soccer come this summer. More
structure, more attention....
I am thankful this is happening now at 8 years old and that I am home and able to
deal with it. I told Joey that we will celebrate his birthday in April after he proves to me that he has earned it.
And THAT, my friends, was my weekend. NOT the best of times. But times that I will remember forever.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I'm an AdvoCare ROOKIE BONUS EARNER!!!
Some of you reading this may already know that I am an Advisor for a company called AdvoCare- I started my AdvoCare journey
just 6 weeks ago. AdvoCare is a mulit-million dollar health and wellness company founded in 1993 by Mr. Charlie Ragus. Charlie
started AdvoCare with his own money to help Americans in the two ways they MOST needed it- HEALTH, and FINANCES.
Most Americans are overweight, tired and living with no energy. AdvoCare vitamins and supplements are the VERY BEST
human nutrition in the WORLD. Once you start putting these products into your body you IMMEDIATELY feel better. More energy,
weight loss and muscle gain soon follow.
Most Americans are living pay-check to pay-check and have credit card
and other debts hanging over their head. AdvoCare pays its Advisors in 5 ways... so making extra money in AdvoCare is VERY
do-able. I got involved with AdvoCare not because of the money part- that did not motivate me.
The way I felt on the PRODUCTS is what motivated me.
Why did
I get involved with Advo-Care?
I have had a rough 18 months. As you know my husband Chris is in
the Navy. We had just moved to our new duty station in July of '09 from Sounth Carolina to Hawaii. Three days after
arriving on the island I got a call from my always healthy 50 year old mother who told me she was just diagnosed with stage
IV stomach cancer. 40 days later she died. Shortly after that my husband deployed for three months leaving me to move into
a new house by myself and take care of three young children. No friends, no family. I DID have the amazing support or
the other boat wives, but I still felt very overwhelmed and alone at times. Shortly after my husband returned
home I became pregnant with our 4th child suffered extreme morning sickness that left me
practically immobilized for 24 weeks. My husband was back from this deployment- but working LONG hours on the submarine...
he was hardly home.
After giving birth to our 4th child I was run down and tired and depressed. And also, no matter
how much exercising I did I could NOT Lose the last 7 pounds.... this was also bringing me down. I began to believe
that I would NEVER feel happy and energetic again. The saddest part was that I began to think that maybe feeling
like this this how it was going to be... and I could not change it.
By
the grace of God... I met my friend Gina on a hike and she told me about AdvoCare. Always a fitness enthusiast,
and knowing I was longing to FEEL BETTER I decided to try the products. I was skeptical at first, but by the
second day I felt SO much better that I called her up and said "How do I get this stuff, and how do I get it at
the best price ?!?"
She told me that by becoming an "Advisor" I would qualify for 40% off my
products. I placed my Advisor order simply for the 40% discount on products. I knew that I would be taking them
FOREVER and I wanted them at the best price possible.
Because I felt so energetic
and amazing on the products - (not to mentioned I lost those pesky 7lbs in 5 weeks) I couldn't keep my mouth
shut about them and began telling everyone I knew and was helping THEM get on products. My first 2 weeks I earned a $640 check from AdvoCAre. My second 2 weeks I earned an
$850 check from AdvoCare. This past two week period I earned a $1,700.00 check from AdvoCare...
and during these 6 weeks I retailed at LEAST $1,300.00 more in product!!! That is over $4,500.00... in 6 weeks!! From helping
people lose weight, tone up and have more ENERGY!!
Today I have also just found out that I
have also earned a Rookie Bonus for the work I have done over the past 2 week period.I am going to be recognized nationally
on a LIVE bonus earner call Monday night at 3pm Hawaiian time and 9pm Eastern Time.
AdvoCare gives away $20,000 in bonuses every two weeks to the top 7 "rookies" with the highest volume.
The number to dial to listen to the LIVE call is 1-888-760-7516... I would love it if you would
listen in and hear me receive my bonus. I am so excited!! I do not know which bonus I will receive, I will find
out THAT on the live call on Monday night!!
Money did not motivate me into getting involved with AdvoCare... the
love of the products and the amazing way I FEEL on them is my motivation! BUT, AdvoCare is such an amazing company...
they offer 5 ways to earn income so if you are loving the products and talking about them, like me... it's a win-win
situation!
Rookie Bonus
The top 7 qualifying Rookie Advisors nationwide who generate the highest
total P/GV in each pay period will earn a bonus.
1st place - $6,000
2nd place - $4,000
3rd place - $3,000
4th place - $2,500
5th place - $2,000
6th place - $1,500
7th place - $1,000
That’s
$20,000 up for grabs! How much will you earn?
And NOW I am so FIRED UP to help my TEAM MEMBERS
earn a Bonus ALSO!!!! Do YOU want to get on my team and reach the STARS??? I would LOVE to HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS! Whatever
they are... whether it be weight loss, more energy or to make some extra money each month. All are attainable with AdvoCare.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Week Re-cap.
I know that I have had a busy week when I get on here and realize it has been a WEEK since my last post.
Okay, lets recap....
#1- Lucy now has TWO bottom teeth.. with another one coming in. So, she has been very cranky
and needy at times. She is also crawling around and at times I lay her on the floor and when I come back to check
on her she is missing... so I have to search for her and I will find her in the corner ripping books off the bookshelf.
#2-Chris has been working 6 days a week, and long hours. So it was no surprise that he was on Duty when we were under
the TSUNAMI warning, which leads me right into #3....
#3 We survived out 2nd Tsunami Warning since we have lived
here. This one was actually LESS scary for me. I read something about the tsunami around 8pm and I told Chris that night when
he called me to say goodnight. He had not heard anything about it. I knew from the last one that we were NOT in the evacuation
zone, so I did not worry. The kids and I went to bed and slept all night. Unbeknownst to me, while I was sleeping Chris was
on the boat scrambling around because the Tsunami that hit Guam had ripped the subs off the pier, so Pearl Harbor was not
taking any chances. I am unsure of everything Chris did while on duty but he did tell me he ran around ALL night, things were
crazy and he was up for 39 hours straight before he crashed on the couch for a nap.
#4 The kids are now on spring
break. I am forgoing the beach this week because when I think about all the things I would have to take (thanks, baby!) I
just feel like it would be too much work to be any fun! Plus I am a spoiled Hawaiian and it is not hot enough for me to go
to get in the water right now. I plan on taking the kids to the zoo on Wednesday- and to the movie theater to see "Rango"
sometime this week also. To entertain themselves they are playing with each other, with the neighbor kids and just having
a fun time in a low-key sort of way.
#5 Tomorrow is my 32nd birthday!! I can say that I am the happiest that I
have been in a LONG, LONG time right now. I am loving life here in Hawaii, all the friends that I have made and the life that
Chris and I have made together. I thank God everynight for my blessings!
Monday, March 7, 2011
I am creating a monster. Her name is Lucy Delila and she is spoiled rotten. She sleeps in my bed every-night and
the only way she can fall asleep is to have "the boobie". I am sure that breaks every rule out there in raising
children. I was so much stricter with the other kids... they slept in their own cribs, in their own ROOMS... they had scheduled
nap times.... Lucy just naps wherever.... Its too hard to lay her down at the same time everyday because our schedule is never
the same everyday. BUT, she is thriving so I guess she will survive. Two days ago Lucy started eating Rice cereal!
She LOVES it. I knew she was ready because she keeps trying-to eat MY food, and is just very fascinated by whatever goes into
anyone's mouth. She is getting a little rice cereal in the morning and then again around dinner time. The kids love
helping me feed her. They think it is so fun and they love helping me take care of baby Lucy.  Lucy has also mastered drinking out of a straw. Just like my other children she has no interest in a bottle. So,
I give her a cup of water and she loves it.  Chris has been working more than usual lately. They are working 6 days a week now- and this past week he had duty
on the only day off... so no day off this week. It is hard because I know that Chris is tired! BUT, this super
heavy schedule will not last forever. I think the months of April and May will be better. So, we just look ahead to the future.
You have to put in long days sometimes! That is just how it is. I am so thankful that I have a nice house and I live in paradise
so the days pass quickly. We are excited for Grandma Tuy to come visit us on April 6th! We are counting down the
days. Here is a picture of Vangie dressed as "Jasmine" thanks to my friend Jennifer for giving her this
ADORABLE outfir- she loves it and wears it all the time!!  Joey and Sophia's basketball season has come to a close.
On Saturday we went to their "end of season party". They each got a trophy AND a medal ! They were very excited
about that.  And so now it is Monday again. Yeah for school! I love my children and I love, love , love the weekends. However,
I also LOVE it when school starts up again on Monday.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Here is a picture of the kids!!  And, I have a video of LUCY CRAWLING on the VIDEO's PAGE.... go check it out! You know you want too!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
