In Memory of our beloved Angel....

My heart is so heavy it feels as though it is breaking, and my eyes can't seem to ebb the flow that pours forth as I type this. MY sweet Angel was freed of the constraints of an Physical body, and the suffering and misery that come with it. Angel had been struggling with neurological health issues for the past year. No answers were previously found... In the past couple of weeks her health had deteriorated and today she was diagnosed with a huge tumor in her chest cavity extending from her spinal column into her chest making it difficult to breathe, eat and causing her a great deal of pain... ):

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Angel Haser

10-17-99 - 01-30-09

From the very first moment I saw you - I was in love.

I have never known a dog as wonderful as you.

Everyone that met you commented on what a beautiful dog you were - inside and out!

You never had one mean bone in your body.

I am thankful for the privilege to have been your Mommy.

Angel, you will always be in my heart, and I will always miss you!

Thank you for always making me smile!

Thank you for always greeting me with a smile and tail wag, even 'til the end, when you could barely stand and were in so much pain.

I will miss you every day my sweet friend.

I am sooo sorry we couldn't fix you.

Thank you for bringing my children joy.

We all loved to rub your speckled belly..

Thank you for being such a good friend!

Honey, misses you too.....

I am grateful your last few moments were peaceful and we were able to be with you and love you.

Your family will always love you!

Good bye my baby dog...

Your Mommy will always love you Angel and miss you...

Angel - We LOVE YOU!

We know that you are now watching over us...

Healthy habits...

I have really been trying to promote healthier eating in the Haser household, much to the dismay of everyone else.

I don't know what their problem is??? What is wrong with veggie stir-fry with Tofu and rice??? or... Wholegrain pasta? I mean I am not being extreme, we had good ole unhealthy garlic bread with it... How about Wholegrain waffles covered with fresh strawberries and bananas? How can they not like that? Actually, despite the monumental amount of griping that went on, something about why ruin a waffle by making it healthy and the such, everyone actually enjoyed it! It was Delish - I highly recommend it. I, also, make them smoothies all the time too. Their current favorite is Strawberry, banana, with blueberry. I make my smoothies with lowfat vanilla yogurt and soy milk! Kids love them! The best part is - you can freeze the left overs for a healthy snack later! I freeze them in plastic cups, so the kids can just grab one when they want a snack. (:

Logan, being Logan, decided he thought he should be a poster child for eating healthy and had me take a pic of him with his 'healthy snack of choice'... (: Do you like his hair? I love having a teen boy, they humor you. I put his hair in a pony on top of his head and it made me laugh. Ok, I am easily entertained, but he just went with it! Gotta love Logan.

- I didn't know how radical I was being, until Kayla's 16 year old friend Zach was over this past weekend and I offered him an Organic Chocolate Soymilk. His response was on the line of "What is wrong with you people?" I decided maybe we shouldn't have Tofu, stirfry night with Zach. If the Soymilk was traumatizing I can't imagine what Tofu would do to the poor kid. I actually thought that Chocolate soy milk was a treat, go figure.

The dogs weren't off free and clear either. After Christmas, apparently we had too many exciting treats and both dogs decided to go on a 'food fast, I only want to eat treat' diet. I told the kids only one treat a day (rather than one treat every thirty seconds). I know they are cute, but seriously.


Angel was less than happy with the news...

While Honey did protest, she finally gave in...

but would only eat food from Angel's bowl, such a rebel.

Ok, HOW FRICKEN Cute is my husband??? No seriously!

I have been having SERIOUS HUSBAND withdrawals lately. He has just been working around the clock, and while he is home in the evenings (usually) and on the weekends this is what I see:

He is such a hard worker! I love HIM!

and I miss him...

Knowing that I have been missing him, he ever so graciously offered to stay with me at Church on Sunday in the Nursery (I was asked to teach Nursery). I do believe that it is one of Todd's least favorite places to be (so he says) - he calls it the dungeon or something. I think he puts on an act though, because he is sooo endearing with the kiddos, incredibly amazing. I don't know what I would do without him!

Todd with the girls visiting me in Nursery. So cute!

My Man with a bubble wand -> Hot! (:

Bye for now! I Love you!
and remember to eat your veggies!

Bonus pic, because it makes me laugh: Todd the pirate and his little las Kay

Purses

Let me start off by saying - I really wanted a new purse, but couldn't decide on one (for like, uhm 2 years - don't ask)... Seriously, my Love Todd, patiently, endured countless hours of perusing stores, shops, malls and all to no avail. There just wasn't one that called out to me.

Well, apparently, my father decided enough is enough and HE would find me the perfect purse. I was informed that 5 purses had been ordered - all of which I should love... My Dad said this knowing the above information, so ... here we go.


The purses arrived on 3 different days.

Day 1 - the 'Green Bag Day'

Purse # 1 -AKA The Green Beast

Yes, that is crocodile or some other reptilian creature
that truly offsets that amazing shade of green. I was scared.... ):

Purse # 2 - The Duffel Bag

Well, this isn't really a purse, but a duffel bag.

I can always use a duffel bag! Not a purse, but it's cute.

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Day 2 - What can be in the box today?

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Purse #3- AKA The Man Bag

Logan graciously inherited this bag.

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Day 3: The light at the end of the shopping spree

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Purse # 4 - AKA The Brief case

While I wouldn't consider this a purse,

it will work great as a bag for church.

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Last but, not least...

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Purse #5: AKA The Heart bag

Hey, I actually think this one is kind a cute!

Well Dad, I am most appreciative of your shopping efforts! Even if upon the arrival of certain bags I was a little fearful, overall I had fun waiting to see what you had sent me! (:

Thank you Dad,

I love you!

As it has been said (it seems),

"When it rains, it pours"...

So, after looking for, about, 2 years for a purse with me. I finally found one I like, at of all places Disneyland. Todd was thrilled to get it for me. I love it. Maybe, my Dad's positive purse energy helped me to get past my 'purse block'... Now, I just have to decide which to use.

Purse #6: Mickey/Minnie Purse - Care of my Todd

Thank you Todd for your patience and your LOVE and support, as always.

The Dawning of New era....

This post was inspired by some not so positive comments about the future, as well as some positive ones...

(Photo Credit: http://www.msnbc.msn.com)

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Throughout history, many nations have done unthinkable things. Many great nations - strong and powerful have fallen, because of corruption. Our own great country has commited many sensless sins and often lost perspective of our founding father's vision - Freedom for All...

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Today, America showed that

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We believe in freedom

We believe in equality

We can ammend for our past transgressions...

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Please, let us all stand behind our New President and put behind us any political lines that divide our minds.

Please let us unite as a nation and focus on what is most important- Life, Liberty and the American way.

Let us work to rebuild our economy at home, and our respect abroad.

Let us focus on being a positive example to a world filled with terror, fear and corruption.

Let us be an example of Truth and Light...

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President Obama may God Bless you to guide our country through the darkness and into the light!

Environmentally Friendly and...

Cute too!

One of our New year's resolutions was to be more aware of how we effect our environment and make changes to help protect the environment.

So, we bought some very fashionable little 'shopping bags' from Target to use in place of the plastic bags. Honestly, how many plastic bags do we use when we go shopping?? It is ridiculous! Most of which go straight to our landfills and are seriously not very biodegradable.

Think about the impact we could have on our world if we all just stopped using plastic bags!

Disneyland -2009!

Be Good Little Children or.... else! LOL!

For Christmas, we agreed on a family gift, one that would keep giving all year round. We bought annual passes to Disneyland. Really, it seems silly not to - we live 25 minutes away. Todd has every other Friday off work, and what better opportunity is there to create positive, happy memories that will last forever.

Yesterday was our first day at Disney-2009...

It was wonderful.

We Made it to Disneyland! Yeah!

Waiting in short lines...

Tooo Much fun at the Mad Hatter.

Temple of D00m...

Beautiful Day...

tired Daddy... He wasn't feelin' superdy-duper.

Still sweet and cuddly though

A wonderful way to finish the day with a Spoon full of sugar!

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Bonus Pic: Logan this one is for You....

Spiritual Enlightenment.

My children have youth group activities through Church every Wednesday evening. Their leaders are truly awesome! They try to come up with fun, interactive ideas that the kids will enjoy! Tonight, Todd and I had the pleasure of being able to participate in their latest and greatest activity...

The activity - A scripture scavenger hunt at the mall! Seriously, what teen doesn't love going to the MALL. Even teen boys secretly love going to the mall, I know it is true! (Well, that is where the teen girls are). The object was to utilize certain clues to find certain hidden adults in various stores in the mall - you know to collect more clues and solve the secret, spiritual message... Hey, I never found out what the secret message was! hmn... ???

Ok... I LOVE this idea - what better way to instill in them a love of scriptures and to see what a great tool they can be to find your way in life... Anyhow, it was a great time!

What store did I get assigned, you might ask??? Oh the one I could definitely spend an hour shopping in, NOT - the MATERNITY STORE!!!

and... I know you are curious about where Todd was - The Mattress Store! LOL! Surprised he was awake when I went to find him after.

My kids ended up in the same group. I think Krystin pulled some strings.

Eric Peel and Todd waiting for the last couple groups to come...

Me smirking, because all the groups found me first!

Sometimes, We Just NEED a Reminder...

The end of a semester is always a stressful time, especially as the children have advanced in their academic progression... Multiple Science Labs to do, Finals, projects, and all by a deadline... For some reason, I believed that if we were 'home schooling' it wouldn't be quite as stressful, nope - it still is. Crunch time is crunch time!

So, rather than succumbing to the mounting tension of the moment, I decided we need a reminder. A reminder of what you might ask???

A reminder that:

The beach is 20 minutes away

That the day is beautiful at 85 degrees, in January, with Santa Ana winds a-blowing

That there is a reason to be motivated to accomplish and succeed

and, ok that we need to take a break, even for a short time to have FUN!

A reminder that I LOVE MY CHILDREN!!!