Chubby Cheekers Time

Hello All!  I thought I'd give all my fans out there a little update on my awesome life...


I'm getting older now.  Becoming older brings new discoveries and achievements that make me beyond proud of myself.  I've slowly figured out that those long things attached to my body are my arms and attached to those things are my hands.  Those hands have these awesome pokey things called fingers.  Life is so good when I find one of those.  I could slurp on those delicious little fingers all day.  


Call me a genius, but I've also figured out how to open and close my hands.  Mom, being the nice lady she is, puts toys in them for me to hold on to in the car.  That has kept some of my car crying at bay because it's super hard to lick my toys and cry at the same time.


This week I've been going to my brother and sister's swim lessons.  They get to do all the fun stuff.  Since I can't swim yet with them, I've decided to just take little snoozes while they scamper about.  All those splashy water sounds and that moist warm room put me to sleep every single time we're there  I can't wait to do the big kid stuff like them, but Mom says I have to wait.  Then she mentions something about me staying a baby and never leaving her.  Then she tears up and smooches my face.  That woman is Cuh-Ray-Zee!


Even though she says she loves me she and Dad missed one really big breakthrough for me. I've always had super strong biceps and can push myself pretty far off the ground, but this past couple of weeks is I have learned to roll from my tummy to my back.  The first time I did it, I thought I had Mom's full attention.  She was sitting on the floor with me giving me my Tummy Time when I decided to impress her with my new skill.  Wouldn't you know that as soon as I did it, she turned her head to talk to Daddy?  I was so upset.  All that work for nothing.  When she finally realized my amazing feat, she screamed it to Daddy.  He went to grab the video camera, but you know what? I didn't do it again.  Those people should have been watching me the first time.  You know what they say.  Ya' snooze ya' lose!


Despite my parents' lack of attention to my rolling over, I have made some new friends.  THEY pay attention to my every mood.  Just like true friends they pick me up when I'm feeling down.  They console me.  They listen when I talk.  I bet they would never miss me rolling over.  Nope, they cling to my every word and every move.  

See what I mean?  Those friends want to do nothing but watch me smile and coo.  They don't get sidetracked with Daddies!

YIKES!  I hear Mom coming to check on me before bed.  Better go.

Love,

Chubby Cheekers

Power

Not too long after I won my super cool iPad a friend said to me, "Things just work out for you.". I have to admit they do.  Don't get me wrong, our family has faced many adversities.  We have been scared. We have felt defeat.  We have tasted bitterness.  We have experienced a lot of unpleasant circumstances that life brings your way.  Fortunately, we attend a church that has taught us many valuable lessons on how to handle the difficult situations.

First off, when really rotten things are thrown our way, we don't speak the negatives of the situations.  For example, when my mom was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer, we didn't talk about how we would tell the kids if she were to undergo chemo treatment.  We didn't discuss how devastated we would be if life were to go on without her.  We didn't allow our mouths to confess any negative outcomes that could happen.  Instead we repeated what the Word says.  When horrendous thoughts overtook my mind, I pushed them out and repeated what God has said.  God can restore.  God can heal.  God works miracles, and He did in my mom.  She is cancer free.

When Little Miss was 2 months old, and again at 3 years, we were told she needed to be evaluated by a cardiologist for a significant heart murmur.  Again, we felt defeat.  We were scared.  We didn't talk about our fears with each other.  We didn't hold each other and cry.  We prayed.  We searched the Bible for scriptures on healing and what God says about our children.  We repeated those scriptures over and over and believed them to be true.  God can restore.  God can heal.  God works miracles, and He did in my daughter.  She has a healthy heart.

We have faced infertility.  Yep, never shared that one before.  We tried for almost a year to get pregnant with Little Man.  A full year.  Doctors told us we would need to seek infertility treatments if we wanted any hopes of having children.  I went straight to work to find all the different women in the Bible who faced the same predicament, what they did, and I did followed their recipes for success.  Come to find out, we're both pretty fertile.  There was absolutely no trying to get baby #2 or baby #3.

Besides the occasional health scare, life can attack you in other ways and we have been there too.  We have felt the pinch of rising prices of commodities and luxury items.  We have sometimes looked at what we bring in and wonder how it all works.  There have been times I have wondered how it all gets paid, but I know one thing for sure.  It will get paid.

Steven and I have often prayed for financial blessing over our family and our children.  Money isn't everything, but it is needed.  Even though our budget can get tight some months, we know God is our provider.  Even though we both have means of bringing in income, we know that God in charge of getting that money to us.  There's lots of scriptures in the Bible that teach us about money.  The biggest thing...be a giver.

I don't care how much I think we may have in abundance or in shortage, the first thing we do after receiving a payment for our work is to tithe.  We give at the minimum 10% of our gross income to the church.  There's a reason for it and we have reaped so many benefits because of tithing.

I really didn't mean to get off on the tangent of tithing, but it goes hand in hand with keeping up within God's protection financially.   To make a long post short...or cuttin' it off...I'd just like to say that yea, things do just work out for us, but it's not just because of luck.  We found a system...THE system that works.  Following God's Word.  It keeps us safe.  It keeps us protected.  It keeps us blessed, and we love it.

THE Menu

It's not Monday.  It's Tuesday, but a girl's still gotta eat.  I'm sure the majority of you didn't wake up early yesterday to see what the Torres familia was eating for dinner this week.  If you are like every other American, you probably ate something that had to do with the grill.  We did.  Two night in a row and I loved every minute of it.

It hasn't even been a full weeks since school is out and we are already marking items off our 'Summer List'.  Since last Tuesday we've put a check by swimming and swimming lessons (which we'll continue to do throughout the summer), going to the races (like Outlaw type cars...did I get that right, Jeff?), and a cookout with an outdoor movie night.

This coming week we plan to watch Steven, Rene, and Jeff participate in the Oklahoma Warrior Dash, continue swim lessons, swim in the neighborhood pool, sign up for the summer reading library program, and a long awaited dinner night with our good friends.  We aren't wasting any time over here.

In the midst of all this fun, I still have to cook.  Here's what's going on with us...

Monday-Uh...we went to a cookout.  It was yummy.
Tuesday-Roasted Chicken and Potato Dish Ranch Style, Buttered Wheat Bread, Seasoned Green Beans
Wednesday-Pizza Bread, Salad, Fruit
Thursday-Chicken Kiev, Broccoli Bake, Crescents
Friday-Dinner @ the Kueny's!!!
Saturday-Sweet and Sour Chicken, Brown Rice, Stir Fry (This dish takes time so it keeps getting bumped because of our busy schedule)
Sunday-Dinner @ Mom's???  I love you Mom!

Tulsa Gold & Gems

Almost every time I do a coupon workshop, I get asked about Tulsa Gold & Gems.  I think because Money Saving Queen talks often about their great pricing of gold, but I could be wrong.  Maybe it's her TG&G wrapped SUV, no?  Anyway, I really hadn't had any experiences with them until a few weeks ago.

Before I can tell how much I made and what I took in, I need to go back a decade.  Yes, TEN years.

When Steven and I were first married, he still worked at a local golf course keeping the greens.  He was up early mowing greens when he stumbled across a man's gold wedding band sitting in the cart path.  He picked it up and tried to turn it in to the pro shop.  They didn't want it.  Apparently lots of wedding rings get lost out there.  Who knew?

After work, Steven brought the ring home and we kind of laughed about it.  What in the world were we going to do with a man's wedding band?  I chunked into one of my jewelry boxes, and totally forgot about it.

Fast forward 10 years and you'd find me cleaning out the above mentioned jewelry box.  I saw that ring and decided to try out Tulsa Gold and Gems.  After all it, we didn't need it.

When I arrived at Tulsa Gold and Gems I was super impressed with the security.  There is someone right outside the entrance door to let you in.  Then you take a private elevator up to the 2nd floor where they buzz you in.  I felt completely safe.  Not to mention how convenient it was to have a doorman.  Carrying a car seat with a heavy baby and beautiful 3 year old is not an easy feat.  That someone else got the door for me won some huge bonus points for me.

I digress.

Once inside, I let the worker know that I was interested in selling the ring.  I waited maybe 5 minutes for the item to be inspected before he was back ready to inform me of the ring's worth.  I was thinking maybe $50 if I was lucky.  I about fell over dead when he told me they would pay $215 cash for the ring.  Excuse me?  $215?  Uh, yes please.  I signed a form stating how long I owned the ring and that once it was sold, I would not be able to get it back.  No problem, and I walk out with cash money.

Not only was I a couple hundred richer, but if I went home and wrote a short testimony on Facebook and on their website, then Tulsa Gold and Gems would mail me a $10 check.  I did it and got my check within days.  So fast and so easy.

Not only did I get the couple hundred and an additional $10 check, but I also got a status on my facebook feed to enter a contest to win an iPad 2.  Entered and won the dang thing!  Can you believe it?  I surely couldn't!

I am so thankful for little blessings.  Who would have known that a men's wedding band would bless us so richly ten years later.  

In conclusion, if you have some gold that is of no use to you I highly, highly recommend Tulsa Gold and Gems.  Efficient friendly workers, great pay outs, a generous owner, and safe environment.  What more could you ask for?  Not much, right?

Our Little Big Boy

I know I was supposed to write about how I came to know about Tulsa Gold and Gems, but I ran out of time to blog.  We were celebrating little big boy's Pre-K Graduation.  Hard to believe his first year of school is over.

He is made such huge accomplishments this year.  I am so proud of his character, strong will (yes, you read that right), leadership, compassion, and mind.  He is our joy. 

I have high hopes to blog for the remainder of the week, but summer starts tomorrow for us.  Today I'm spending the day with Little Man at his Super Kids' Day on the last day of school.  As for the rest of the week, we are going to enjoy the first days of summer together as a family.  If blogging fits into the schedule, I'll consider myself a master of time management!

Blessed

When you really believe God for big things, you get big things.  Last week was a real testimony for believing God in the Torres household.  A few weeks back Steven and I prayed for blessing over our family.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and I entered a few contests.

The first contest was super easy.  Be one of the first people to share Elliot Roofing on you facebook page and they would mail you two free movie tickets.  Done, and got 'em...

Free date night?  Don't mind if I do.

The very same day I entered a contest at Tulsa Gold & Gems.  All you had to do was leave a comment for the price they were paying for gold, share it on facebook, and then have a friend give you a shout out.  All that for 3 entries.  Thanks to my friend, Erica, I got my three entries in, and I WON this...

Not the most flattering picture, but that's an iPad 2 I hold in my hands!  Do you see my excitement?  Never would Steven and I have purchased what we consider a luxury item like that right now.  It is such a huge blessing to have won such a cool prize.  I don't think a day has passed that I haven't said, "I can't believe I won this."  So now I'm trying my hardest to get with the times and figure this thing out.  So far I've figured out how to check out eBooks from the library which is the coolest thing!

Anyway, I'd just like to let you know that when you truly believe that God will do great things for you, when you really believe He hears your prayers, and will answer you, you will receive.  So thank you GOD!

Tomorrow I'd like to share my experience at Tulsa Gold and Gems.  I actually sold a piece of jewelry there that was a blessing in itself.  Pretty cool story.

Menu Monday

Three days.  Just three days!  Three days until summer kicks off.  Little Man will be out of school on Wednesday.  No more waking him up and no more getting out the door in the morning.  Hello Summer.  Hello swimsuits.  Hello sunscreen.  Hello relaxation.

As excited as I am about Summer, Little Man is a bit sad.  I asked him last night if he was ready for school to be over.  His reply, "Mom, I love school like I love swimming."  WHOA!  That's a whole lot.  I'm so thankful.  Thankful for his wonderful start to school and thankful for his wonderful teacher and teacher's aide.  When I told Steven what he said, all he did was raise his eyebrows.  Later he told me that he never liked school.  Only recess.  How sad is that?

So Mrs. Snow and Mrs. Hill, if you are reading this, I am forever grateful for the best year and so is Little Man. 

Now here's what we're chowing down on this week...

Monday-Eggplant Parmesan, Salad, Garlic Bread
Tuesday-Chicken Crescent Roll-Ups, Peas
Wednesday-Sweet Taco Salad, Corn Casserole, Salad
Thursday-Grilled Chicken, Veggies, and Buttered Bread
Friday-Hamburgers, Chips with Taco Dip
Saturday-Chicken and Roasted Potatoes Ranch Style, Green Beans
Sunday-Cookout with Friends