Who Say's

Who says these bumbo seats are just for infants? Obviously they have never met PPP!

Oh, She gets into everything! The picture says it all...

Dancing? Who Comes Up With These Rules?

Crazy day yesterday. Had to go get the PPP fitted for her ballet and tap shoes. This will be her first year. Everyone keeps telling me to put her in dancing. She has all these moves that need some structure, if you get what I'm saying. She will bounce and pop anywhere.
Anyway the fitting started at 3pm. so at around 2 the PPP was dressed and playing with friends. I went to shower and get ready. Walking out the door at 3, I went to collect the PPP and you can just imagine what I found. Really b/c I did not have the time to take a picture and I don't think it would have been appropriate. She had on some brown stockings with a pink pull over jacket and a swimsuit under that. Bare with me... but she looked like a hoochie. Not to mention there were men working next door where she was visiting. This was not at all how I had sent her out of my house. So, back inside to change. After fussing and crying (both of us) she finally took off the jacket and put on a dress. Leaving the swimsuit and stockings on. Did I meantion her hair looked wet? "OH, NO NO, not the blowdryer" she screams! YES, and while blowdrying I find this white paste all in ther head. What is it? She obviously got into some hair glue/paste/gel? Who knows.....DRAMA!
Also had to get LittleDX some shoes for school, so he had some interest in the trip.
PPP and LittleDX fought the whole trip. I asked where they wanted to eat but they obviously did not hear me, so I picked. Now I had just bought LittleDX some shoes but he found it in him to cry about where we were eating. Sometimes I just don't understand how they think. So to all the fussing and fighting, I announce that they will not be able to swim when they get home. Things went silent and we were able to eat. Which did not last long and they were back at it on the way home. LittleDX tells PPP that she needed to stop and that they were not going swimming when we get home. So she looks at him sarcastically and says "Who... WHO, comes up with these rules?" as she shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

I'm Back

Took a long break. HaHa, not really! So where have I been for the past 2 years? Well...
The kids went back to school and I went back to work.
I about to post the craziest things going on.
- Honest

Where Is My Head?

Yesterday was a chaotic day here at the Orcino house.
- Take Grandma to the Dr.
- get Grant to read
- turn in the plates on the work truck
- drop the insurance on the work truck
- take mom to pay a few of her bills
- pick up my one hour photos
- my parents were here
- and mother nature mishaps
Yes it is true, all of it!
To top things off, while I was chasing Grant and Gabriela around, I placed my clothes through the wash cycle. 15 minutes later when I reached for my cell phone, I realized that the outfit I had on did not have pockets. Can you imagine my face when I figured out that tucked inside the pocket of my pants, that were now in the washer, was my cell phone.
I ran to the washer and pushed cancel, then waited for the door to unlock. I pulled out my pants and checked to pockets---no cell phone. OK, I thought maybe I placed it somewhere else, just then I saw a little light at the very back of the washer. There it was, all wet...gasping for power...and smelling spring fresh!
So I did what anyone would do....I took the battery out and brought it to the bathroom to blow dry it while I prayed that the Lord would have mercy on it and breath new life into it.
The display was drowned. I called my DH and cried to him. He laughed and told me to let it dry out some.
I calmed down and waited for him to get home and check out the damage. All the while I was shopping for a new phone. Where is my Faith?
DH came home and checked it out. Turns out that if the little dot in the battery compartment turns RED it is shot, gone (according to him)! So we think we have insurance on it and I can just get another phone right.
Well I am even more upset because my husband (who has gone through 5 phones in 2 years) says that I should have his current phone and he will get himself another phone (I can't be trusted with a new phone so soon anyway). Furthermore he will stop by the phone place after work and take care of getting another phone.
What? (OK, am I being unreasonable, I mean I did mindlessly stick my phone through the wash cycle) But, I do not want to have to change all of his stuff... Is is not just easier to re put my info into a blank phone! I can't even retrieve my stuff from a washed phone!
Today I compose myself.

Giveaway!

The winner is #6 Nikowa. Congratulations and thanks to my lovely assistant Grant for pulling the winning #'s.

In honor of thier 1st Anniversary, Heart of the Matter online is having a giveaway!
I will be joining in the giveaway with some great hard to part with items;

Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap in Sweet Pea scent. Ahh, my favorite! I keep a bottle in my kitchen. This will keep your hands from drying out. If you wash your hands as much as I do, this is a must. Comes with a red Wristlet. The snap flap opens up to reveal a deep pocket with a shorter pocket in front and a zipper pouch. Perfect for holding necessary items when you perfer not to carry a handbag. I could have used this last night at the RAW/ECW event.

Anyway these are new and unused!



To enter simply leave me a comment and include your e-mail address. A winner will be randomly selected from the comments. Sorry, I can only ship to US addresses.
Happy Anniversary Heart of the Matter!

Another Giveaway for HOTM

And the winner is #12 Bonnie. Congratulations and thanks to my lovely assistant, Grant, for pulling the winning #'s.


Another Giveaway for Heart of the Matter's Anniversary!

Black & White Zebra print handbag. This is hard to part with but I bought this from a local boutique before Christmas. Turns out that I was blessed with a handbag for Christmas and this one will never be used. It is brand new with tags and features an inside zipper pocket, cell phone pocket and a card pocket. Isn't it awesome!



All you need to do to enter the drawing is leave me a comment and include your e-mail address. A winner will be randomly selected from the comments. Sorry I can only ship to US addresses.
Happy Anniversary HOTM!

The Winners Are

The Little Old Mom Who Lived In A Shoe- Green Candy Cane Dress
and
Cherie J- Red Candy Cane Dress

Thanks to all who entered!

To show my appreciation to those who entered the drawing, I am offering 30% off of the dresses listed in the blog shop. This will be on a first come first serve basis and the offer is good through Monday December 15, 2008. This would be a nice Christmas present for the little princess in your life.
To take advantage of this discount, go to the blog shop and post a comment letting me know what dress you would like to purchase and mention the discount. I will then send you a paypal invoice. I know many of you were interested in the same dresses, the retro and mod dot patterns are discontinued, act fast!
Much Appreciation to all and Congratulations to the winners

Win A PillowCase/Bandana Dress

There is a Holiday Expo going on at the Cafe!
My giveaway consists of these goodies:

Bandana/Pillowcase Dresses
These 100% cotton dresses will fit most 12 months-4T as a dress and 5-10 as a swing top. Get up to 9 years of use from one piece. These dresses can also be worn year around. Great alone in summer months and can be paired with a long sleeved top and pants or jeans during cooler months. Works well as a bathing suit cover. Ribbon ends are treated with Fray Check. As with all handmade items their may be some irregularities which will not affect the durability of these chic and spunky little dresses. Wash in cold water to prevent shrinkage and color bleeding.

The first picture is of the green dress with a candy cane applique. This second photo is of the red candy cane dress. It would be so cute over leggings and a snug long sleeved shirt. It would even be cute over jeans!

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All you have to do to win is visit our blog shop and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me which little dress is your favorite. That's it! really.

Two winners will be drawn at random on December 12th then contacted via email. If you do not have a blog then you will need to be sure to leave an email address.

For more great giveaways please visit the Internet Cafe!

Here is what is going on

I am taking time off. Yeah right! Here is what we are working on.

Ceramic tile is going down in our living room, kitchen, wash room and foyer. My dear husband and my little brother worked diligently all weekend.

Every time the saw was turned on, I had to pray. I was so nervous.

The living room tile is down and almost ready to grout.

The kitchen and foyer tile is cut and ready for concrete.

Notice we still have a lot of trim work to do around the doorways and baseboards. My little brother should be here this weekend to wrap that up. Hopefully my husband can finish the kitchen and foyer tile. Then all we will have left is the wash room and the dining room will be last. Slowly but surely we will finish. Though my husband and my little brother have done a wonderful job, I would recommend hiring professionals. This is a big headache and another full time job.

Change Is In The Air

Since there was no perfect candidate for President, I voted for the candidate that shared most of my views. I did not vote based on race or religion. That being said I will welcome Mr. Obama with open arms and pray for his success.


We are a country with many backgrounds. No matter what we look like on the outside, we are all Americans.


I have many black friends. I enjoy there company, there honesty, there will to see things move. I enjoy hearing their points of view and knowing there dedication. I have been told that I don't see in color. I reach for the heart, its how God intended for us to look at each other. I love my girls and if having Obama as President will somehow crush the racial boundaries that are evident in many areas, then I am so excited to step into this chapter of American History. I am excited for my neighbors who can put down their luggage and finally feel at home.


God is still God and he is our savior. Government is only the law of the land. God is in control and has had a plan since the beginning. Now is the time to no longer depend on the Government for jobs, income, security and hope--it is the time to totally rely on God.
Pray for our officials
Pray for our neighbors
Pray for our country
Pray for our children
Pray that Americans will be united

Welcome Mr. Obama, we will prosper together!

Girls Day at the Spa

I received a spa package from my lovely sister for my birthday in September.....2007. Yes, aren't I horrible? The problem was that I did not want to go by myself so I waited till her birthday rolled around in April...2008 and I bought her the same package so we could go together. Here we are a year later and we finally made an appointment.

We get to the spa @ 9am and since we both opted out of the massage (I had a staph infection and Amy wanted highlights - as if she needs more hair color) and we started with a facial.

Now, I had never had a facial so I did not know what to expect. I was thinking of a green mask and cucumber eyes. There was only one facial lady so I went first. We were to get a half hour facial and since Amy brought her camera she asked to go with me to take pictures or watch (she just wanted to blog it I'm sure). We were told that there was only room for one person in the room and that she could not come with me so you can imagine how bad it freaked me out when I walked into the room and saw a chair sitting at the foot of a nicely made table were I was to lay.

Furthermore the facial lady told me to take my shoes off and lay on this comfy table where the blanket and sheet was pulled back for me to climb under. Then she says "if this were a full hour facial, I would have you remove your top also". Hello, its my first facial and you have already lied to my sister about having room for her in here and you mention me undressing with you in this back room. Okay, maybe I was over reacting but I was horrified!

Now I must relax while some weird facial lady massages my face with oils and suffocates me with steam. It felt great, really... I relaxed enough for her to think I was sleeping. She woke me up and made me a glass of water and told me to take my time while she left the room. Are you kidding? I gulped up the water and got out of the back room so fast. If there is a next time then I will know what to expect but I was just too freaked out this time.

So I get back to the waiting area just in time to tell my sister, "there is a chair in there...good luck". I hoped I freaked her out.

Half an hour later she was done with her facial and we were off to get manicures and pedicures. The manicure part was great but I was concerned about the pedicure part. My toes are horrible and I hate for someone else to handle them. Luckily, the lady I was with was really good and she made me feel comfortable. She said she had a few ladies that come in regularly and that they pick at their feet and compared to them, mine were in good shape. The pedicure also included soaking my lower legs. It was refreshing. She also gave me a tip....If you put Vaseline on your feet at night and were socks over it, you can maintain your soft pedicured feet.

Next was lunch. We both ordered a Chicken salad which came with bread (Amy's favorite part of the meal). We actually switched half way through. I gave her my bread and I finished her salad. We are strange.

Next was our hair. Amy's person loud capped her for having box color in her hair (if only she knew how much). Whew, good thing all mine grew out cause she would have been reported. The rest of the day we were with our hair stylist, who was also our makeup person.

I had my hair cut short and asked for red low lights. I think I scared my stylist when I asked for red. She kept saying what do you mean red? Okay, maybe it was me again, but I thought red was one of the primary colors. Finally, Amy's stylist, who had bright read lowlights, walked by and she said "do you mean red like that". "Yes, that is it" I told her. Then she asked her for the color number and she rambled off some numbers and my stylist just kept repeating them and I just kept praying she knew what she was doing. She looked really confused.

She mixed the color and kept asking me "red, are you sure, red?" What planet did we land on this morning? Is there a whole other language and thought pattern for spas? I can't even see my sister, what is going on in this place? Yes, RED, I am going to love it I told her and I will not blame you if I don't. I will blame Amy's stylist. HA HA!

I felt better when I was under the heater and the man that owns the place walked by and told me "don't worry you are in good hands, your stylist is an artist". Back at the chair she was still saying "oh, this is really red" "I hope you like red" "It came out really good".

I told her I loved it and I really did. She did not cut my hair as short as I wanted it in the back but I did not say anything. I did not want her to freak out on me again, so I dealt with it. She styled it and we were off to get our makeup.

She really did a nice job on my makeup. I was kind of nervous cause I was watching Amy get her makeup at the same time. That girl was putting some wild blue color on her eyes and she did not have enough coverage on her face. There was also some great tension between Amy's stylist and every one else that worked there. She had some kind of chip on her shoulder. Anyway, my stylist just kept telling me about how wonderful the products were and how she had so many problems with her skin till she found this stuff. Blah, blah, blah... I am not a big cosmetic person (although I was actually a consultant for MK) I am not paying $60 for foundation. Sorry, I just nodded my way through it.

So we were off, but not before paying and Amy mentioning that I could buy her a Chi flat iron for Christmas. Whatever! Who spends that much on a flat iron? Not I! So if any of you out there want to make a sister happy, a Chi is the way to do it.

To the car where I tell Amy to take off her blue eye stuff as a grab my flip flop Crocs. My Crocs were about an inch too big before they sat in the car under the humid La. sun. Now they fit perfect.

We were going to catch a movie which didn't start for another 2 hours later so we stopped by the book store for some coffee and reading. Well, she read while I talked about our adventure. I did find this book on the shelf, which caught my eye. "Kiss My Math" Showing pre-algebra who's boss. Who actually buys this stuff? I mean that is exactly how I want to entice my children into learning math!? What??


We went see Eagle Eye starring Shia LeBeouf. We were on the edge of our seats the whole time. That was a great action packed movie. I would recommend it.

Now back on planet Earth, it has taken me a month to write about this. Don't we look cute! Minus the blue eye junk.

Amy should get around to posting her side of the story. Visit her side of the spa at amybayliss.com

Update on Gabriela

Her hand is healing well. she has one spot that still needs to be debride. Otherwise we just have to keep the Silver Sulfadiazine cream on it cause she likes to pick the dry skin off. She plays her drama well. She even conned her Daddy into promising to take her to see HSM3. We will see if that happens. She has also been wanting her hair cut. We finally went on last Saturday. She locked so cute, but a little older too.

I'm All Official Now

Gabriela's Accident Update

Thursday I took her back to the Dr. The Dr that she had seen on Monday was not there so she saw her other Dr. Gabriela was horrible from the time we stepped foot out of the house. I had to struggle to get her belted in and pop her leg with a spoon twice. We get down Tenant Rd. and she is screaming because she has gotten her leg stuck outside of the seat belt. I have to pull into a driveway and fix her. All this time she had no idea she was going to the Dr.
This picture was taken when we parked at the Dr.'s office. I wanted to get a picture of how she was crying and throwing a fit BUT when I pointed the camera she SMILED! Rotten child!



Once she saw we were going to the Dr she was calm because she had wore herself out in the car. At least until the Dr came in. Of course she was bandaged and we had to take them off. She screamed and trembled. She did not want to be in this Stupid place. They had to soak her hand in some water or I had to hold her hand under water while she screamed. I think she just likes to scream. I think she was OK with her hand in the water she just wanted to throw a fit and call everyone stupid.

The Dr wanted her to start Whirlpool Therapy on her hand to clean it. It is also a necessary procedure to relax her muscles and get her back to moving it, since she has her wrist flopped down and will not move it or her fingers. I asked if she thought it was broke. She said well if we did not have an X-ray then we need to do that ASAP. The other Dr did not want to X-ray it until Friday when I was supposed to see him. So we need to get X-rays but not before:

On top of this trauma she was due for her 4 year old shots and the Dr insisted on doing it today because it included her Tetanus. So as they are preparing for 5 shots she is still screaming from the bandages being removed. I asked for some Motrin. The nurse assured me she would get her some. I had to hold her and rock her so she would calm down and this was before the shots.

Once the nurse came in with the shots she went ballistic again. I told the nurse that she is strong and she may need to get another nurse in here. The two of us tried to hold her down but were unsuccessful. She left the room to get another nurse. Gabriela, while investigating her leg for holes, says "she tried to stab me with that shot". (She is so funny even in distress!).

She was stabbed 5 times and then they sent us for X-rays. Note they did not re-dress her hand so I was able to snap this picture.



DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH!!













It looks pretty bad, but this is SO much better from what it looked like a few days ago.

The Radiologist did get us in pretty quick even though I had to fill out paperwork and wait for them to call the Insurance Company. And since we have a $7000 deductible we have to pay out of pocket. The Dr wanted wrist and hand views for my cost was $80 which she said I could pay before I leave.

Gabriela did pretty good for the X-rays she just freaked out if she thought the technician was going to touch her hand. Upon leaving the receptionist stated that the technician did not do separate wrist views because Gabriela's hand was small enough to get both at once. Thank God it only cost me 1/2 as much.

We were back to bring the films to the Dr and get set up for whirlpool therapy. There were no obvious breaks in films.

Gabriela freaked out when they had to put gauze over her hand. And the nurse finally remembered to get her some Motrin. Which I had to fight with her to take. She still does not understand that this makes her feel better. We did get a therapy appointment for a couple hours later. We were off to lunch at Burger King (Gabriela's choice). We went in and the lady at the door gave her a crown. How lovely! She could not sit still to even eat. She ran all around and climbed on the cabinet to the drink machine. You know like the kids you can not stand when you are in a restaurant. What could I do? If I correct her someone would be there to scold me and it was obvious from her bandage that she was hurt. But her actions said the injury was not holding her back.

This picture is the afternoon before the Dr visit. She has also been jumping on the trampoline and climbing cabinets. She has found her way around without even using her wrist.


While at Burger King I received a call from one of the nurses. It appears that my health insurance believes that whirlpool is an unnecessary and unproven procedure and it is not covered. However since my deductible is SO high it does not matter. I think therapy may cost a couple hundred dollars for the evaluation and maybe $75 dollars for the whirlpool treatments. I do have an idea of what workers comp would pay considering my experience.

Well can I tell you I was in for a rude awakening! They were going to charge me $400 for the evaluation and $200 for each treatment which the Dr said needed to be done daily. They had already called the insurance and was told that I had a high deductible which was not met so this would be out of pocket. The receptionist, she asked "did you know it would be this much?" Are you kidding, "No". She says we could work out a payment plan. And we could waive the charge for the dressings. Oh how sweet. Well I think we need to go ahead and at least try it, since she is not moving her hand at all.

20 minutes later, after Gabriela is climbing the walls, they come out and explain to me that they think the procedure is going to be more than once and that the OT would like for the PT to the procedure. The PT was not in so the gave me an appointment for Friday. They told me that the PT was not yet certified but she was really good. I think they just did not want to have to charge me for an OT, so OK!

We were off to Wal-Mart because Big Daddy promised her a prize. Her shopping was more of a nightmare than her hand. I want this, no I need this one, maybe I could look around some more, no put this back, I don't want that one, open this so I can see, Let's go back to that 1st one...again. Then I was going to get her a movie from the Red Box. Well she dropped her bag and was headed to the parking lot while I was occupied with the Red Box. So I stopped the transaction and picked her up screaming and throwing a fit and walked back to the car. Where I popped her leg again for throwing a fit. No movie for bad little girls, we are going home.

Back to therapy on Friday, Gabriela threw a fit trying to remove her bandages. She threw the toy they gave her to play with, her shoes, and ugly stupid words. Turns out that removing the bandage did not even hurt. But they did promise her brownies if she was good. So on to the whirlpool. She freaked out again and I had to hold her hand under the water. They decided to play Dora Candy Land while she whirl pooled. This got her mind off of the whirlpool. She won at Candy Land, did I mention that the OT was also there and played Candy Land with them.

The unofficial PT ordered gauze and non-adhesive dressings for the other PT's there and she dressed her wounds. This was about the only thing she did besides play Candy Land. Need I remind you they told me this was a $400 charge. Anyway the were to bill the Insurance company first and hopefully they will reduce the charges that I will have to pay.

Amy says I should get my own whirlpool like the one's for your feet, since that is all it does and do her therapy at home. So I am off to find a Foot Whirlpool, if I find one for less than $100 I will gladly call and cancel further therapy sessions.

Wal-Mart carries this one for $29.84 and has 7 spa setting which include heat, vibration, bubble and jets. I am so off to Wal-Mart!

The Art Gallery

After the Heart Of The Matter Online Conference, I decided to create a gallery in the foyer. I bought some document frames from Dollar Tree and dug through the kids work for 8x11 pages to frame.
The butterfly and the palm tree were cute ideas that used Gabriela's own hands. Followed by a birdy, some robots, career path, You are grape and we could not leave out LSU.

The larger frames are all plastic poster frames. These came in handy for those larger projects that Grant created in Kindergarten. It came out really nice.

These are my favorite ones. The first one you cant really see but it is a "Rocket Ship" in space. The one below it is Grant's blue foot print made into flowers and Gabriela's pink foot print on a "Beach Flip Flop". On the other side is the great Red, White and Blue! and a Thanksgiving Prayer with Gabriela's "hand print turkey".

This is so cute, Everyone loves it and it was easy, easy, easy!