FAMILY GONE, Mommy Home alone For a few Hours

So....whats a Mom to do with a whole day alone???
My family has left for Charleston for Emmy Grace's birthday party.
Here are some pics of the Kids at the Charelston Children's Museum-




I have stayed behind as my chest has been acting up. This had been a really rough week with a return of CHEST PAIN. Yuck! I have no idea whats going on or why this has come back. I have been so much better, have not been taking pain meds in weeks. Now I am back to taking pain meds and still hurting anyways!!!
back to feeling so FRUSTRATED!
I know the Lord gives us what He does to strenghten us, to build us up, our character, etc... Mine should be pretty SOLID after this year!!! Atleast I hope so. I hope I have listened and learned something in all of this.

LORD, please continue to give me the strenght, and the patience to endure...help me to not take all of the frustration out on my LOVING AND SWEET HUBBIE, but to be PATIENT, and TRUST that you have a PLAN.

OKAY, so that said....
whats a girl to do all alone....wish I could do something cool, fun, exciting....but alas.....I will probably surf the computer...watch some stuff on the DVR....REST UP...thats what I stayed back for...TO REST UP..that what I get to do for fun these days...REST UP, in hopes that this chest will heal up. ( okay, that sentance did not sound like I am being patient or trusting did it????---I need to really work on my attitude!) Ya'll who read this pray for me!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMY GRACE!!!! THREE YEARS OLD TOMMOROW!!!!!!! I am so sorry I missed your party. Auntie Ka-Ka Loves you so much litte girl!!!

Its Beginning To Look ALOT like CHRISTMAS....

at the Yaman house atleast.
The kids have been begging to get the tree up and the house decorated...We have been behind this year compared to usual. I LOVE the CHristmas Season...
I love decorating
I love the music
I love th feeling I get this time of year,
I love the baking, the planning christmas goodies,
I love Christmas shopping- Yes I love shopping for family and friends.
---this year is rough, we are really low on money and I don't get to really shop nor do I get to cook like crazy---or decorate like I want----but IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS--WE WILL CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF OUR CHRIST.
Here is a little slide show of the last few days at our house:


The kids have also spend a lot of time making special ornaments from nature...from things they have gathered outside-
nuts
leaves
branches
berries
I will post pictures of their creations when they are done. They are going to hang it on a fresh garland that I have hung in the kitchen. I think its a really cool project if I do say so myself. The kids have really gotten into it and have made some really cute things so far!!!
________________________________________________________________
In other news:
I have been having a hard time lately with Trusting and Patience regarding my job situation and money issues..anyone out there who has been praying--Please keep praying--I really need the prayer right now...
Dear Lord GOd,
I know you have a plan for me, a plan to prosper me, not to hurt me, a Plan that is the Perfect plan for me, for my family. I pray for rest and Peace in this.
Erika

Here is What Happens When Mommy has a Migrane-

Andrew's art wall:

 

OH HE WAS SO SAD!!!! He thought he was drawing Mommy a picture!!!!!!
I woke up around 4AM with a horrid headache. It lasted till around 12pm. So I some how pulled through and got Jack and Caroline to school, then came home and crawled into the bed. Andrew stayed upstairs with me, in and out of the bed,playing in the playroom and his room....then he comes into my room--paint allover his face, allover his legs...I got up with dread...paint all over my door, my wall and banister!!! OH BOY!!! who knew where he even found the paint marker upstairs--gotta love it when things don't get put away!!!!!

THANKSGIVING in CHARLESTON

(the famous thanksgiving couch pic)


Making memories to last a lifetime...
I want so much for my children to grow up with wonderful childhood memories. Just like Jason and I did. We both had great childhoods-wonderful memories of holidays. I want that for my kids. I think this Thanksgiving was a great stop on that path.

the Turkey Parade- Every Turkey Day am in Wild Dunes there is a parade- First Comes the Fire Truck, followed by a seried of golf carts all decorated differently by families for Thanksgiving or Christmas, they throw candy, the kids have a blast..it ends with a SANTA FLOAT!!!!! a fun way to start the Christmas season!

Jack climbed the tree to get the best view of the parade-he was so proud of himself!
The kids sat in the back of the truck to watch at first, till they saw the candy...then the were running and grabbing!!! Why didn't we take any float pics??

Next comes the
Lights at James Island Park This is my personal favorite Holiday Tradition that we have in Charleston. Each and every year we make time to take the kids to this AMAZING display of lights in the park. There is a huge drive around the park full of lights to view from the car. But what tops it off is all of the activities located in the center of the park. We park the car and there are walking paths full of lights, lots of activities, Santa Claus, a great Merry-Go-Round, and the kids favorite- THE TRAIN RIDE.Every year we bundle up the kids and head there and make another set of great memorories!!!


My favorite part was watching the kids eat the smores they made!!!



The last thing we did was have all the kids write Christmas letters to Santa. They had a ball and we got some cute pics.





And of course...our famous couch pics...we must get this at each momentous family occasion:here are some of the various versions from Thanksgiving:::

GoOd NeWs, BaD NeWs....

GOOD NEWS: I gOt tHe JOB!!!!!!YEAH!!!!!! Peer Interview went really well today. I had a great time with the admissions nurse that I followed. I really know that I will enjoy this job. The Director Offered me the job....

BAD NEWS: tHe jOb DoEsNt StArT fOr AtLeAsT a MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its a new position, one they are creating.
I sure wish they would hurry it up, figure out all the particulars, whatever it is they need and finish it up. I need to start like A MONTH AGO, not a month from now.
FRUSTRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to be jumping for joy. But still no dotted line signed. So I guess its really still just fingers crossed...
No, its Keep Trusting Me Erika, I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU.
TRUST. Your family will be taken care of...Patience.

Job Interview Part III---Coming up on Tues.....

WEll...PART III of my job interview is finally going to happen. TUESDAY I will be following a home health nurse as she sees her patients. This is what they call my Peer Interview. I guess the nurse will be sizing me up and then report her impressions of me to her boss. NO PRESSURE THERE ERIKA!!!! will report how it went....wish it was Tuesday instead of Sat, not looking forward to the wait. I really really really need a job. And this one just sounds so perfect. I guess I am really applying for 2 different jobs-the weeknight call or the weekend call-I will be thrilled with either one, there are pluses and minuses to both, and one minute I think one would be better, the next the other...I JUST NEED A JOB..and this one seems beyond PERFECT for my family...I know God is in Control and what should happend will happen. We shall wait, hopefully Patiently and Trusting fully..that is my prayer.....

Jack and Raul-The Volcanic Explosion

 
 

So Jack from time to time brings home a buddy from school..this time it was RAUL...Raul has a book that describes an experiment that each student is supposed to do with Raul. The student is supposed to predict what they think might happen...attempt the experiement with the aid of Raul ( and a parent???) and then write there conclusion also in Raul's notebook.
Well this one was one that Jack knows well...The VOLCANO...Jack is friends with a science teacher- MS.DAWN..and Ms Dawn has given Jack a volcano and taught him the mechanics of how to make it EXLPODE (food coloring and all-thank you Ms. Dawn)-gotta look LEGIT right????
So Jack and his Daddy set up his Volcano and decided they would teach Raul all about the experiment using his actual Volcano, rather than just doing the "experient where an "eruption" occurs. They set Raul up (saftey goggles for both JACK AND RAUL OF COURSE!!!!!) and we took pics!!!
So in his class book he pasted the directions he gave Raul and the cute pic!!! I thought that was pretty creative! ( and pretty darn CUTE!!!