Haley's 4th Birthday Party

Haley wanted a Hello Kitty Birthday, we didn't have much money to spend on her party but did a lot of DIY stuff and she loved it.

I got a cupcake stand for cheap and glued these jewels on it. I also got some Hello Kitty sugar pieces at Wal-Mart for like $2. I added them to the chocolate cupcakes we made and it almost looked designer.

So you know how at parties have the yummy party mix called "puppy chow"? We just switched it to "Kitten Chow" and it fit right in.

We got a big bog of twizzlers and named it "Kitten Whiskers". Isn't it cute!

Here is the little set up for the present/favor table. I made these flower balls which have gotten lots of use for birthday parties, photoshoots ect. All the girls had pink princess crowns to wear around for birthday.

We also had a fruit tray, hummas and pretzel crisps, a meat and cheese tray and a veggie tray. For the adults we had sodas and juice boxes for the kids.

We made kitty masks out of paper plates and the girls colored and signed a huge paper for Haley to hang up in her room.

Really the only thing that cost the most was Haley's cake. It was a Hello Kitty small round cake surrounded by pink cupcakes with Hello Kitty rings.(I didn't get a chance to get a really good pic of the cake but it was an ordered cake from Albertson's so not too fancy).

Aren't these girls the cutest!

For party favors I  got a pack of pink bags from the dollar store and we filled it with little toys and candy. I drew eyes on the bags, with a kitty nose cut from foam and whiskers cut from construction paper.

The party was a blast and everyone had fun. And the best thing was Haley was thrilled with everything!

Updatey Datey

If you haven't already noticed I haven't been very active on the blog recently. There has been a problem with the site that hosts my blog and the technical difficulties they are having won't let me upload pictures. And I mean how boring is a blog with no pics? Um yeah super boring. I at least included the links to the pictures in case you are dying to know what it looks like.


Well here is a mini update and then, since it's Thursday, I'll do my Things I'm loving (and hating) Thursday.
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~My oldest daughter got an award at her school the other day. Out of 29 kids in her kindergarten class she was 1 of 2 that got an award. I'm one proud momma! Her award was a Good Character award specifically for always being kind and respectful to others. That's my sweet, sweet Serenity <3 she always lives up to her name of being "serene". She is going to grow up to be a Zen master haha!*****************************************************************************

~My wonderful father shipped out this past week for an 8 month long deployment. a bit of a downer for me. Say a prayer for him if you don't mind :)
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~This week I started a page called Bring the Browning Boys Home. In less than a week we have gotten 166 followers. It's a page for our friends and family and people dealing with circumstances like ours to come and talk and exchange advice. We will be following our court case, exposing the lies and asking for support. (By the way go like that page now....yes you...right now!) I'll also have a wall of shame showing crooked lawyers, biased mediators, bad judges and even people contributing to the alienation or abuse of my stepsons. If we don't stand for those who can't fight for themselves...who will?
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Ok now for my Things I'm Loving Thursday

I'm loving Starbucks cold coffee, the one you can buy in the grocery story near the cold juice isle. The Caramel Macchiato Discoveries is my favourite but I'm not a big fan of the Mocha. I actually haven't tried the Vanilla yet so I don't know about that one. <3<3<3

I'm also loving those Birthday Cake Oreos. I'm not sure when they came out but I've never gotten them before last week. OMG they are delish! It's like cake in the middle of a cookie. What have I been missing all these years?  I am probably just too obsessed with oreos! <3<3<3

Ok one last food...well drink actually that I'm loving is Nighty Night Tea. It's an organic sleep enhancer. It really warms me up and calms me down so I feel sleepy but not too drowsy. Cozy would be the word I would describe. Did I mention it's organic and good for you too?<3<3<3

Something else I'm loving is Target. I rarely shop at Target because Wal-Mart is cheaper and even though I hate Wal-Mart it' all I can afford. But the thing about Target is that is gives back so much to schools make up of mostly military children. Once a month we get several pounds of food including produce, bread, pasta, cereal, canned stuff. About 2 months ago they helped my daughter's elementary build a new library. At the library opening each child received a new backpack and 3 or 4 brand new books. What a great company!!

Of course there is something I have to rant about. I'm Irish and you know us, we just won't back down. I know I may have spoken on this matter before but it apparently needs addressing again. And yes I know I'm putting personal problems out there but 1. Y'all are my friends, advisors, supporters and family. 2. Not that I approve of Miley Cyrus but hey "It's my blog I can say what I want to." haha! You don't like it, let me know something I could do better or just move on. Nobody is tying you up and forcing you to read this lol!
So my husband has this sister. She is supposedly bffs with my husband's ex and is so gullible she believes everything her bff (husband's ex) tells her. She has turned her back on her brother and me, talked trash about us, lied about us to the ex and even blocked us on Facebook. When I wrote about her before and the mean things she was doing to us she contacted me and said "O let's work this out." So I did, and I bent over backwards to try to fix the relationship. There was no response from her. Pretty clear she didn't really care about the relationship, she just didn't want her name where everyone might find out the truth about her. But hey I should have known. When she came to visit a couple years ago she talked mad trash about my husbands ex-how she slapped the youngest boy because he was bothering her while she was on a computer game, how her house was a dump and how she would get naked on webcam with her kids in the room. (Who even knows if this stuff is true, it's just what Jackie the sister said. Ironically now they are bffs again. Could it have something to do with the ex's mom getting a million$+ settlement? Maybe, maybe not but I know one thing once a backstabber, always a backstabber. My poor husband has to deal with a sister who is disloyal and not only that, makes up lies to tell the ex. Of course those lies get brought up in court. What kind of sister would try to destroy her brother!!?? It's nauseating. And last but not least both the ex and the hub's sister  claim to be awesome Christians. Posting things like they are completely innocent and God is on their side. Sorry but God doesn't like liars, cheaters and backstabbers. She will be on my Wall of Shame once I get done with my daily schoolwork. But here is a link to Jackie's Facebook just if you are nosy or  want to get something off your chest.

Whew! Glad to release that... I'll be working hard to get my pics fixed so hang in there with me. Much looove~Lizzie


P.S For you drama lovers, the next people on my wall of shame will be Diane (who threatened to kill our friends dog for testifying for us) Jeanette (too much crap to list) and of course the ex (who is wreaking havoc in these precious children's lives daily)




Christmas 2013 Recap

We had a great Christmas this year! We got the boys for Christmas which made it extra special.

 

Hubby and the boys made a big wooden dollhouse for the girls. They had so much fun doing woodworking with their dad. It's not completely ready, they did the woodwork and now it's my turn to paint it and create the furniture, carpets and curtains for it. I'm pretty excited to work on this project.

 

My youngest stepson's birthday is on Christmas eve so we celebrated it with cake and ice cream.

 

I made sugar cookies with the younger 3 kids on Christmas Eve. They had so much fun cutting out shapes.

After we baked the cookies and they cooled, we frosted them with frosting, sprinkles and candies.

 

My Serenity is so funny, she wanted to write a note to Santa and leave cookies for him. I've never told her about cookies for Santa so she must have read about it in a book or something haha! She wrote this note all by herself, pretty smart for a 5 year old!

 

Here is a little collage of the kid's pics. I did it in the dark with white lights. I think they turned out super cool!

 

We spent Christmas morning opening presents and spending time together. I made monkey bread and cinnamon rolls and we went to my parents house in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day riding bikes and scooters, playing football, baseball, bocchi ball and cornhole. The boys had plenty of kids to play with since I have 6 brothers! It was a wonderful time and the kids passed out right away when we got home.

 

Day after Christmas the boys had to go home. It's always a sad time. The girls cry and Aaron busted into tears too. After they left it was too quiet. It always hurts me seeing everyone so sad. Makes me want to fix everything.

 

This is a pretty cool pic. The first one was taken Christmas of 2009. It was my first Christmas with the boys. The second pic was taken this year 2013. 5 years difference! It's amazing how big the kids have gotten. Plus a new dog and 2 new sisters!

 

Hope my readers all had a Fantastic Christmas!!







Product Review-Copy Kids DVD

"Copy-Kids is a DVD series designed to get very young children excited about eating fruits and vegetables.

Simple.  Adorable.  It shows kids having such a good time eating fruits and veggies, that when children watch it they want to join in.

Featuring well-known pediatrician, Dr. Jay Gordon, this product is a positive approach in the quest to get children eating healthy from the start."

The dvd is broken down into chapters featuring 1 fruit or vegetable. There are bell peppers, carrots, blueberries and bananas...just to name a few. From the main menu you can pick the individual chapter you may want to play to get your child to eat that particular fruit or vegetable. Or you can play the whole dvd while they watch for fun.

 

I watched the dvd with my 3 and 5 year old. At first my 5 year old was like, "Why is that kid eating food?" But they both enjoyed the movie and asked for each vegetable or fruit when it came on.

Haley wanted to enjoy some blueberries...

She even ate a carrot, which she normally isn't too excited about!

Find out more about Copy Kids-HERE
You can also visit their Facebook
And their Youtube Channel

Things I'm Lovin' Thursday

Today is my first "Things I'm Lovin' Thursday"! I've seen this done similar to mine on different days, and some bloggers have like a Rant and Rave once a week or once a month.

Personally, I looove seeing what other bloggers are using, wearing, eating and doing. I find cool new stuff to try when they do posts like this.

Instead of doing a rant&rave I want to keep it positive so it will be a bunch of stuff I love. But because I am Irish and there is always something that pisses me off and that I need to get off my chest, I will have 1 and only 1 thing I'm NOT loving. Hopefully, it will help you all stay away from bad products. Or something like that lol! Feel free to comment about anything I post.

Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer

Mmmm so good! They only sell this Peppermint Mocha and the Pumpkin Spiced Latte right around the holidays. They will  be gone by beginning of January...its o so sad.

Skull Candy Ear Buds

I always have my headphones on me, so people are always asking to borrow them but I never seem to get them back, or they magically break and it gets blamed on the dog. So hubby gave me one of my presents early-skullcandy earbuds. These earbuds are the best I have ever used, even use them as earplups when I don't want to listen to sometjing. And since they are pink, I only have to fight the girls from stealing them haha!

Heat back pad

 

 

This is almost exactly like my back pad. I got it to use as I'm in physical theapy. It has a heat setting and a vibration setting. The heat setting is really nice, particularly on a cold morning, or after  hard PT session.

 Savory Chick Noodle Soup

For a few days I there I thought we might be getting winter weather. I made red chili, white chili, soups ect. I really love my recipe  for Chicken Noodle ! Check out the Food tab to see the recepe



Something I'm NOT lovin'....

Ok so this is our kids stepdad. I have nothing against him, he seems like nice guy other than clearly not wearing the pants in the relationship. What makes me mad though is all these pictures were taken from his Facebook. So what you say? I have nothing against beer  or drinking wine or beer, it's not that. There are 2 things wrong with this situation.
1. The biggest issue is that neither the ex or her husband works and the only income they have is the child support we pay her. They get food stamps, but you can't buy alcohol with food stamps. So what is paying for the alcohol? The child support money. When you use child support which is supposed to be for the kids clothes, food, toys, medical and educational expenses, to buy alcohol there is a huge, huge, huge problem with that. It's just not right.
2. The second issue is that the ex gave my hubby and I a super hard time about us occasionally having a drink. She made a big fuss over alcohol in court and wanted it written that neither of us would consume any alcohol while the kids were in our care. We both agreed to it because, ya know, not a big deal. I think its a double standard though...and I have a huge problem with double standards.

Well that's my 1 pet peeve/rant for this week, I feel a lot better. Tune in tomorrow for Fashion Faux Pas Friday!

Our Blended Family

 

 

Today is National Stepfamily Day. It's a day for blended families to celebrate each other. What is a blended family? It's a family consisting of a couple and their children from this and all previous relationships. Our family is very special. As I'm sure you've noticed, the title of my blog is Yours, Mine and Ours. (By the way that's a good, old family movie, you should watch it sometime). I named it this because we have my husband's 4 boys from his previous marriage, my daughter from my previous marriage and we have a daughter together. See?...Yours, Mine and Ours!

 

Having a blended family is not always easy. Especially for a stepmom. There is already that bad stereotype, like you know, in Cinderella? And then you have to deal with difficult people who are jealous you are with their ex, or jealous you get to spend time with "their" kids or even just mad that you are happy. The worst is when you are stuck with a birth mom who won't acknowledge you exist which makes it impossible to parent the kids in the best way possible. It really hurts the kids when a mom does that. Or in a situation, where your step kids are told lies about you, and constantly have to listen to trash talk about you.

 

 

 

Thankfully, my boys know ME, know how I act, know how I treat them and most importantly know the TRUTH. No trash talking, or lies, or threats will ever be able to break the special bond I've developed with our boys. Sadly, the goodbyes get harder and harder every time, as we learn more about each other and our love grows.

 

 

 

I do want to take a minute to thank my husband's ex-wife. Wait...what? Thank her? Yep, that's right, thank her for several reasons.

 

Thank you for divorcing your husband so I could have a Prince in cammies.

Thank you for letting this hardworking, faithful man slip away and fall into my arms.

Because of this, we have the most beautiful, smart little girl together.

Thanks for giving birth to 3 amazing little boys.

I didn't have to go through the pain of labor but get to take part in the joys of their lives.

Thanks for letting me have the pleasure of teaching Aaron how to cook.

Thanks for letting me have the pleasure of teaching Josiah how to clean up.

Thanks for letting me have the pleasure of teaching Conner life lessons.

Most of all thank you for showing me exactly the kind of person I never want to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Our 4th of July adventures

We had quite an adventure for 4th of July weekend! Some of it was pretty bad, but for the most part it was a great time. We took off for our friends house in San Clemente pretty early in the morning. We had to take two cars of course since we had all the boys and my niece. (4 kids, 3 teens and 2 adults whew!). We stopped for gas and then ran by Walmart so my neice and I could run in and pick a few things up. When we got back out the hubby was laying on the ground in a pool of gas looking under the car. We were kind of freaking out because we thought we had a fuel leak. So we went back home, (keep in mind we were already 30-40 minutes away from the house.) Hubby stopped by Autozone and they figured out it was just a seal that needed replacing and the car should be ok to drive. So we decided to head out again.

The drive went well and we arrived in San Clemente in the early evening. We had a great time hanging out with my husband's buddy and his family. They have 3 kids so it was a full house, but everyone got along so well and it didn't feel crowded at all. We climbed on tanks, cooked hot dogs, played with sparklers and watched the fireworks from the backyard. The adults sat around after the kids went to bed and we had some great conversation and heart-to-hearts.

I love this pic of Josiah, its gritty and cute at the same time.

My hubby is so weird!

 

Next day was surfing! My hubby had been waiting to surf for almost 3 years since we moved to SC. We went to Doheny beach because its a great place for beginning surfers. Haley and Serenity actually loved surfing, I was a little afraid they would be scared. Apparently they have gotten their daddy's love of surfing in their veins as well as the boys!

Beach Babe!

 

Our friend Stacy taking Haley out on the waves.

 Daddy sending Haley off on a swell

Conner

 

Snack time!

 

My niece Abby and I. I didn't get to surf :( It was too cold for me and I didn't have a wetsuit. I did however get a decent tan haha!

 Luz and Serenity

 

This was such a cute moment! Serenity got pulled under by a wave and was a little shaken up. Luz was wiping her tears and singing Bob Marley's "Every little thing is gonna be alright". Marley (in the pink) and Aaron are about the same age, they had fun hanging out together too.

So after a day of surfing Stacy and I took the little ones back home for showers and chill time and Hubby and the older boys went to find some bigger waves. My hunny was so excited to catch some real waves he forgot his keys in his board shorts pocket and they ended up somewhere in the sea. Of course the only locksmith who could come out and make a new key wanted $350. So then we are freaking out wondering what to do and how we are going to get home. We had just enough gas money to make it home so $350 was not an option. Several hours later we eventually were able to borrow some money (I am so grateful to this person, words can't describe). But now we have another loan on top of the loans we have taken out to get the boys for visitations. Ugh. Pretty bad ending to an otherwise great day. At least hubby got some surf time in but baby we are completely and utterly broke haha!

 Brothers and true friends!

 

I am so grateful to have met the Thompsons, they are truly wonderful people. Their family is very similar to ours and we immediately connected although we hadn't really met before. Stacy is an amazing artist and short like me!

Our super crew! Again, I want to just thank you Thompson's for opening your home, feeding our massive troop and being a wonderful moral support through some stressful moments. I can't wait until we get together again!

Whew! What an adventure, but times I will never forget!