Thought Provoking Thursday!!!

If you could have one band, past or present, play at your birthday party who would it be?


My Answer: PHIL COLLINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Duh, did I even need to answer! Lol!





Do Thought Provoking Thursday on your blog, use my question or one of your own.

Looking for quality childcare at an affordable price? You found it!!

Looking for quality childcare at an affordable price? You found it!!

I'm a loving mom of 1 (age 22 months) that has immediate openings in my home daycare in Three Rivers, MI.

Lots of fun activities include but not limited too:

fenced in play yard with lots of fun toys to play with
arts and crafts
full play room in air conditioned home to hide from the heat!
reading time
nap time
homework help during school year
cooking activities
library trips
pool trips
outdoor playground trips

I love children and have a lot of experience with them and I would love to meet you and your child! I accept all ages.
I provide meals & snacks, unless there is something specific you would like your child to have.
We are open from 5:00am-5:30pm.
$20/day full-time for one child. Prices will be a little different if there is more than one child in the family.
Please reply to this post for more info.

Thought Provoking Thursday!

So, I really posted this on Thursday but for some reason the date is showing up Wednesday! Lol...dont get confused, it really is Thursday!

Here is another Thought Provoking Thursday post!! Once again, please visit Manic Mothers page and pray for her family and her son Ezra! This post is linked to her page!



“If you could visit only one place in the world that you have never been, where would you go for this voyage?”
My Answer: I would go to Bora Bora! It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to stay in a hut over the water with see through floors so that you can see the ocean life right under your feet!

Your turn! Leave your answer in the comments and do “Thought Provoking Thursday” on your blog, ask this question, or one of your own.

Just say NO to Playpens!!!

So, today I realized that I am officially a mother of a toddler who can climb out of her playpen! It makes me very sad.....first, my baby is not longer a baby anymore! Haha....I know Ive known that for a while but it is now finally setting in! And its almost bittersweet. Second, my saving grace of being able to contain her in one small spot to take a shower has now been taken away from me......The first time she did it was today. I was in the shower washing my hair and next thing I know I hear "Mama"!!! I opened my eyes to see a cute little smile opening the shower door! DANG IT!!! The second time I was doing laundry....and yes, you guessed it, I heard the little pitter patter of her tiny feet running through the kitchen!! I must admit though, she is very proud of her new accomplishment! Cady Bug is proud, Momma not so much!!! I havent been able to catch her in the act yet to see exactly how she is doing it, but sooner or later I will find out....and then Momma will figure out a new way to contain her silly monster because I will not give up that relaxing 10-15 minutes of shower time!!!

Thought Provoking Thursday

I took this idea from a fellow momma blog that I read everyday Manic Mother!! I linked this posting to her page so check out her page and pray for her son Ezra!!



If you could make one fairytale or fable come true with you in it, which would you choose?



My Answer: I think I would choose The Little Mermaid. The thought of being Ariel and being able to have the best of both worlds and live on both land and sea is exciting! It would be fun to live with the fish for at least one day! And come on, Prince Eric is a looker! Lol!!



Your turn! Leave your answer in the comments or do Thought Provoking Thursday on your blog, ask my question or one of your own.

A Passion of Mine!

Anyone who knows me knows about my passion towards building a smoke-free world! So I stumbled upon a website about making Michigan Smoke-free and decided to help spread the word a little. I know everyone knows the dangers of second hand smoke and those who smoke generally use the excuse "I'm gonna die anyways" when I say something to them about it, but I just want to stress how ridiculous that statement is and how it is not fair for someone to put others lives in danger to get a quick fix from a cancer stick that only lasts a few minutes at a time. The Kids and Smoking section really make me sick to my stomach. I just ask everyone to please read these facts and think about what you are doing to your body or the person standing next to you before you light the next one up. Thanks.

These facts are from http://www.makemiairsmokefree.com/know-the-facts.php. Please check the website out and sign the petition to make Michigan air smoke free!!

Health Statistics

Dangers of Secondhand Smoke:

• 21.9% of Michigan adults smoke.
• Secondhand smoke causes between 35,000 and 62,000 deaths from heart disease every year.¹
• 12,000 otherwise healthy nonsmokers will die of some form of cancer, 3,000 specifically to lung cancer, because of their exposure to secondhand smoke.²
• Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 substances, more than 69 of which are known or suspected to cause cancer.^3,4
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a substance which is known to cause human cancer.
• According to the American Cancer Society, secondhand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing 38,000 to 65,000 nonsmokers every year.
• Food service workers appear to be 50 percent more likely than the general population to develop lung cancer, largely because many of them are exposed to secondhand smoke on the job.^5,6

Kids and Smoking:

• 17% (101,400) of high school students smoke.
• 30,100 to 19,000 young people(under 18) in MI become new daily smokers each year.
• 20.7 million packs of cigarettes are bought or smoked by young people in MI each year.
• Studies show secondhand smoke may be a major factor in the development of asthma in children under five.
• Secondhand smoke is a serious trigger of asthma and can cause or worsen respiratory conditions. Studies have shown that children with asthma who are exposed to secondhand smoke require more asthma medicines, have more emergency room visits and lower lung function.

Deaths in Michigan From Smoking:

• 14,500 adults die each year from their own smoking.
• 298,000 young people under 18 and live in Michigan will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.
• 1,340 to 2,390 adults, children, and babies die each year from others' smoking (secondhand smoke and pregnancy smoking).

Smoking-Caused Monetary Costs in Michigan:

• $3.4 billion—Annual health care costs in Michigan directly caused by smoking.
• $1.1 billion—Portion covered by the state Medicaid program.
• $637—Per household resident's state and federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures.
• $3.80 billion—Smoking-caused productivity losses in Michigan.

Its my life......I think...

So, for those of you who don't really know me or haven't really noticed, I am now a Stay at Home Mommy. This is a HUGE change for me because I went from working full time, some overtime, to not working at all! Practically overnight! I have been staying home with Cady since April 4th, 2009. I have to say I LOVE IT! I struggled in the beginning not really knowing how to stay home with her, how to clean, how to function without work but after 2 months I think we are getting into a really nice routine. Its amazing the world that is out there for stay at home moms! We have started doing some play dates with other children so that she can learn to interact with them and I have been able to spend LOTS of time with my mom and more time with Leifs mom! Its great! I feel better, I feel healthier, I am less stressed, less depressed and closer to my baby! Leif is happy because he comes home to dinner and a clean house and clean clothes. It seems to be the best thing for our family! So, why am I suddenly writing about this now after 2 months?? Well, I started thinking about what I'm going to do once my unemployment runs out....see I'm very blessed that I get to stay home with my daughter but still get paid unemployment from my last job.....So, with all of the changes in my life that have happened in the last 2 months that have made things better I just remembered that things aren't always going to be this great...What do I do when it all runs out??....Do I get another job? Do I try and go back to school? Do Leif and I sacrifice some of the things that we don't really need so that I can stay home?? Its funny, at the time I thought my biggest decision I would have to make in a long time was whether to stay at my job or leave.....now just 2 months later Ive got another one to make....and I cant decide......

For now, I will leave it up to God. He knows what he has planned for me, I just have to wait for him to tell me.....Hopefully he will let me in on his secret soon though!

Dating Abuse

~11 Facts about Dating Abuse

1)Only 33% of teens who were in an abusive relationship ever told anyone about it.

2)Teen victims of dating violence are more likely to abuse drugs, have eating disorders, and attempt suicide.

3)A recent survey of schools found there were an estimated 4,000 incidents of rape or other types of sexual assault in public schools across the country. And this was in just one academic year!

4)In a study of gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents, youths involved in same-sex dating are just as likely to experience dating violence as youths involved in opposite sex dating.

5)One third of high school students have been or will be involved in an abusive relationship.

6)Dating violence is the leading cause of injury to young women.

7)Nearly one quarter of girls who have been in a relationship reported going further sexually than they wanted as a result of pressure.

8)About 40% of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.

9)Approximately 68% of young women rape victims knew their rapist either as a boyfriend, friend or casual acquaintance.

10)Six out of ten rapes of young women occur in their own home or a friend or relatives home, not in a dark alley.

11)Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk for intimate partner violence.

Dating abuse is something that I feel very passionate about.  I just don't understand why these things happen and I am committed to get the word out to make everyone aware of the rising number of victims we have in the world.  This is something that is totally preventable and I feel if we make more people aware that they can get help if they are in an abusive relationship then we will slowly eliminate the number of victims.  Please feel free to pass this facts around to your friends and family members.  The more people out there willing to speak up the more people we can save. 

Control.....

So, I'm officially in the middle of my 3rd week of being a Stay at Home Mom. I have to say, this is SOOOOO different from anything I have ever done!! I LOVE IT!! Not only have I gotten to spend so much time with Cady I have also spent a lot of time with my mom and some friends that I have missed! I have also been doing a lot of reading and meditating and learning more about my faith with Jesus. I have come to realize that I need to stop trying to control everything. I need to let Him take control and lead me in the path that he wants me to go in. I have been listening to a lot of music lately and this song by Francesca Battistelli has been like a theme song for me!! I'm officially letting go and giving him the reigns! Here are some of my favorite lyrics:

"I'm Letting Go"

(Chorus)
I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go

This is a giant leap of faith
Trusting and trying to embrace
The fear of the unknown
Beyond my comfort zone

(Chorus)

Giving in to your gravity
Knowing You are holding me
I’m not afraid

I'm not afraid anymore, I have no idea where my life is headed. I have no idea what I will be doing in an hour, tomorrow, next week.....I have no plan whatsoever! And I feel better than ever!

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter!!

Come join me on Twitter! I LOVE it!

To find out more about Twitter, visit the link below:
http://twitter.com/i/deafe017142140db7044566433da2c1d176ca9b9

About Twitter

Twitter is a unique approach to communication and networking based on the
simple concept of status. What are you doing? What are your friends
doing—right now? With Twitter, you may answer this question over SMS or
the Web and the responses are shared between contacts.

Follow me if you decide to join! Steph8084