The Mincer's

2010

2010-12-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

This year has been anything but normal for my family and I. I am hoping that next year will be a lot better for us. We have finally got some normality going on. Our two oldest children are going to school. Sarah is in full day kindergarten and Jessica goes to nursery school three times a week, so I am thankful for the break that I get when I only have Amanda which is who I really need to concetrate on at the moment, I am not sure what is happening with her. Her personality is changing and not for the better, she used to be laid back and not really care about much,but now she is very bossy with her sisters and has a very quick temper which Jon and I are having a hard time dealing with. But she has seemed to want to potty train herself. She started when we went on vacation to Indiana. She goes into the bathroom by herself and sits down on the potty herself and when she is done she will out her pull up back on or throw it away of it is wet, I guess she has watched me when I was potty training her sisters so she knows the routine. She is doing a pretty good job.
As much as this year has been a struggle for Jon and I, I pray that things will get better after this crazy and hectic holiday season. I guess the better way to look at things is ; the girls are happy and healthy and they have a roof over thier heads and a bed to sleep in at night. At this point that is all that I can ask for and I bless God for that.

2009-08-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

OH, my i have not blogged since the Beginning of June and for a good reason!! On June 11, 2009 (i think) our house caught on fire! Once the fire started it couldn't be put out! The house was soo old that it went up in flames fast and couldn't be put out! So we just sat there and watched all of our belongings go up in flames. It was a total loss!! I normally don't cry in front of my children but that day was an exception. I was going through such a stressful time already that when i saw the house engulfed in flames i just threw up my hands and said "i can't anymore!" And it doesn't really end there. We had to stay in hotel for about a month and a half during which time we had already had a trip planned to visit Jon's parents in IND. Everybody kept telling us that it would be great for us and the kids to get away for awhile after everything that has happened. Well, i wish somebody had told my children that!! They were a mess crying all the time wanting to go home. I not sure what his family thought about the kids but it probably wasn't good!! When we visited Julie they were alot happier (Julie had come to visit them inNY not to long ago so they already knew her well). But when we got back to NY after the trip they were soo happy to see all the familiar faces they knew so well, they got a little clingy with my grandmother after we got back! It took another couple of weeks before we found a house to rent that would fit all 9 of us! But God blessed us with a nice house that would fit all of us comfortably. It is a five bedroom two bathroom house with a nice sized backyard, and a three car garage, and above that three car garage is a nice little two bedroom i bathroom in-law apartment. Jon and I were so happy to get out of a hotel and into a actual house that when my grandmother told us she had the keys to the house we were crazy enough to stay at the hosue and sleep on air mattresses for about two weeks. My back is still yelling at me about that!! lol. But we finally got some mattresses and a bunkbed for the girls. I realative gave us a crib for Amanda. So slowly through the help of family and friends we are slowing getting all the things that we need to become a family and for this place to become a home to us, for now. I thank God daily for all of the mercy he and blessings he has given us. Now the only challenge is to wait for the insurance to come through so we can contniue with plans to have a modular put back on the property. But we can just keep praying and hope for the best. Right now i am just thankful that we have a roof over our heads and a pillow lay our heads on at night. So what had started to look like a good summer was not so good actually.
But we still have the fall we can start with on a happier note......Sarah starts Pre-k and she has just shown improvement in the potty training department!!! YAY!!!! she kept herself dry most of the day today, so i am so excitied that i will finally have one and hopefully two out of diapers or pull-ups soon!!

I Know it's been awhile

2009-05-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, It's been awhile since i have typed anything but my life has been so hectic lately that i really haven't had the time. But nothing much has been going on either sooo........Jon and I had purchased Season Passes to Six Flags and Great Escape. My daughters have never really been to an amusement park(that they can remeber; Sarah was 9 months when we took her to DisneyWorld and Jessica was barely a year old when we went to Busch Gardens in Virgina). So Saturday we headed up to Great Escape. Sarah was very excitied because it had been over five years since i had been to Great Escape and i was looking at the website to see what was new and what children's rides they had. As soon as Sarah saw the Wiggles rides she was sold and couldn't talk about anything else. It took about an hour and a half to get there. And since it was our first time there we had to wait in an enourmous line to get our season pass cards. The kids started to get a bit anxious at this point hearing music and seeing rides. But within minutes of us walking in the entrance who did we see...Tweety. Sarah was out her stroller and running towards the character before i knew what was happening. She ran over gave tweety a big hug and told me i had to take her picture. I thought it was cute that she wanted her picture taken, but i only realized later on that i had created a monster!! She was a characteraholic! She wanted her picture taken with every charcter that she came in contact with!! She would run up and give each one a hug and demand that i take her picture. It's fuuny becuase she has never been afraid of characters her entire life. When she was nine months old at Disney she would hug each charcter and give them a kiss on thier nose or beak. She never once cried. The disney charcters loved it. Some even got down on the floor and played with her, which i found out later on was a big no-no. So you can imagine my surprise when Jessica was afraid of the characters at Great Escape. She wouldn't even give them a high five, she just stood back and watched her sister. Amanda i didn't even try to get her near them because i was afraid that if she started crying she would never stop but even she looked on in amazement! Needless to say Sarah got her picture taken with every character in that park, not one got left out (i have the pictures to prove it!)! lol
Sarah and Jessica had a great time. It was bittersweet because while it was there first time going, it was my first time going to an amusement park and not getting to ride any rollercoasters!! Oh well, i have the rest of the summer to go back and ride the rollercoasters, as soon as i find somebody to go with me(Jon said he doesn't do rollercoasters). Well, that's it for now. I will post some pics of the trip as soon as i get my camera back.

Family Outings

2009-04-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

I love family trips with just Jon, myself and the three girls. It rarely happens but there is always some member f our extended family that wants to join us but today it was just our family. We went to Old Sturbridge Village. Jon had the day off and i had been wanting to take him ever since we got married. It was a great trip! We had not planned ahead we just woke up this morning and decided to go so it was not as succesful as i had hoped. It was a 2 hour trip from our house so we didn't get there until 1:00pm. So we had already missed half the day so we couldn't see everthing but they offer this deal that if you g back within 10 days you get free admission back in so we are going back next Wenesday to finish. Our two oldest children loved it! They loved all the baby animals and our 3 1/2 year ld Sarah took in everything that the people were saying. When we got home she was talking about what some of the people said and i was a bit surprised but i thought she wasn't paying attention. Well.....here are some of the pics from our little outing.

What A Week!!!

2009-04-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

I have had one of the worst weeks ever!! It actually started last weekend. Sarah woke up Saturday morning with the stomach bug, which i thought was at first just nerves because i having family from out of town visiting and some friends and family coming over for a small get together. She couldn't keep anything down all day that by the end of the day she couldn't even sit up! She kept chewing on her tongue and her eyes started rolling in the back of her head i freaked out and took her to St. Peters emergency room. The nurse took one look at her and immediately hooked her up to an IV. She was put under observation in the ER for two hours at which time they would see if she could keep fluids down. She was so lethargic that she slept the entire time. When she woke up and tried to take a sip of juice it stayed down for about 10 minutes. The doctor called the Pediatrician and she was admitted 12:00 for dehydration. Jon still had to work so he went home to get some much needed rest while i hunkered down by Sarah's bedside for the night. By the next morning she was getting better, she was at least awake and alert, the doctor came to check on her and said that if she could keep fluids down she could be relased by late afternoon. Thankfully she kept down fluids and was relased by 3:00pm. By the time we got Sarah home and settled, Jessica decided it was her turn and threw up in the kitchen just as i was Sarah a popsicle. Thankfully Jessica did not get as bad as Sarah. But it was still hard to try and take care of two sick kids! So i had two sick kids in my bed and a 10 month old that also wanted my attention. I tried to divide my time equally but it was very hard. Jon took a day off to help me, which was really appreciated! Needless to say it doesn't end there. Amanda also got sick! She was not as bad as the rest she only had her for one day, by that night she was drinking small amounts of formula with no problem. Unfortunately Jon and myself didn't miss the sickness we both came down with small bouts of the stomach virus. Hopefully we are all done with that nasty virus!!! The girls seem to be themselves again and Jon and I are slowly recovering.
On a good note, the girls seem to be loving the warm weather we are currently having! They spent most of today outside. I have a feeling this weekend they will spend mostly outside as well, as long as the rain stays away! Well that's all for now!!

2009-04-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

My life this past week has been so crazy!!!! I am taking on-line classes and each week the assingments get harder and harder and i think that it may have finally caught up with me. With three more weeks to go i am stressing like crazy!!! Not to mention keeping up with three rambious girls....Yes Amanda is now mobile. She just learned how to crawl last week and now she won't stop! Every time i turn around there she is. Easter was great. This year Sarah and Jessica actually understand what is going on. We had to rush to get ready for church because they were so into thier easter baskets but we made it and i am glas we did. It was a great service. Even though the girls had a hard time sitting still!! Well, i am gearing up for another stressful week!! Spring break is this week at school so at least i don't have to worry about having to work...one less thing to stress about!

I truly have a crazy life!

2009-04-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

To most people it looks like i have a boring life. It is anything but that! Take today for instance....I have to get up early to take Sarah my oldest to Gymnastics class only to find out that she was supposed to be in the later one so we had to wait a half hour to let her take her class. Than i had to take her home get the girls lunch, do my homework(i am taking on-line college classes so i can get my teaching degree) than i had to go out again with all three girls to the mall because Jess and Amanda didn't have easter dresses yet. I finally get their dresses get home feed them dinner get them all baths and dressed for bed brush their teeth read their bedtime story and hear them ask me for a drink before bed. I give them their drinks put them to bed get back on the computer to finish up my homework so i can hand it in. Now i can finally un-wind so i can go to bed and it's only...............11:25pm. Hey that's pretty early for me! I doing good!