Mother's Day & My 30th Birthday

Brittany woke up 1st thing my bday morning to make this fabulous cake for her Mama.....










All kinds of fat-free goodies, just for me!! GUILT-free!! My favorite!!

What great gifts- hand-made, with lots of LOVE & creativity! :)

Chris was not home on Mothers Day, so we have been postponing that, and he's not here on my bday, so we're postponing that.....

The good news is we will finally be going on a family vacation, up to the Santa Cruz area, at Big Basin, to see the redwoods, and go camping there for a few days. We are reallly excited!!

And.... not only that... but what a great gift.... It's NOT more stuff to dust off and move around.... and it's also fat-free, and guilt free...... and it's got exercise built right in!

I look so fwd to it! I've been wanting to go to the redwoods for months and months!! Yahoo!! ;)

And... we've never been camping as a family before- just the 4 of us. This'll be a great family memory! Please pray for our safety along our trip. Thank you! :)

Lessons from God......

Boy oh boy has God been teaching me much lately!! ;)
(I've been anxious to share this w/ you all.... and finally getting around to it! :))

HE's been teaching me to let go of many things & "things"......
and also asking me "What ARE your true priorities??"

1st of all, as some of you know.... the yard sale thing...... ;( was a sore topic. I do usually just give everything away, but I wanted to really get rid of a TON of stuff! And we did need the money... however, a month's worth of work & time, and dollars later, it was not worth it, and it just feels better in MANY ways, to just give it away! :)

Stuff! It's just stuff! Big, bad, ugly stuff! Who needs it? ;) It's over-rated... highly over-rated.

And as for the baby clothes, and kids clothes I was hanging onto, for both future possibilities and hopes, and also for the sake of precious memories and what not....
THAT was difficult to let go. But I did save my favorite, favorite stuff, for when and if our day comes again.... ;) So now I'm pretty happy.....

Anyway, God did just teach me a ton over the course of the whole yard sale ordeal, and some is still being learned about it. Many many times in my life I've been too caught up in the enjoyment of STUFF. I don't much care about it anymore. I don't even want any more stuff (unless it's to replace something we already have and NEED.) I don't want any presents, and I don't want to go out to eat. (I don't want more stuff to deal with, and I don't want to gain weight- I want to LOSE weight!;)
Having more stuff, means you have to dust all that stuff!! It means you have to lug all that stuff around from one place to another, for one reason or another, at times. Who wants that?
And besides, many people need all that stuff more than I do. What a blessing it is to someone else....

Well, I sure did think I learned many mighty lessons after all that ...... (and you don't even know the 1/2 of it!:) And yet......
there's part II:
I've been working on an ongoing project of putting all our digital photos, and videos (cherished memories) into backup, via online & onto disc. This has taken a TON of time... way too much time, and I never did finish....
That's right I said never DID finish... PAST tense..... ;(
Last week I diligently got right into the project, backing up highest priority photos.... and videos..... just in case our computer "dies", we don't wanna' lose it all, right?
Well, I got our videos saved onto disc, and I got more stuff saved online..... (THANK GOD the videos are SAVED!!).... and was TRYING over and over again, to get a DVD software program to work right, but as usual, these days, it just kept freezing... and I had to turn down, and restart the p/c over and over again..... ;(
Then finally- it happened!!! That dreadful screen came on, announcing that my computer was in otherwords, D-E-A-D, for good now.....
I began to walk thru the restore-process..... everything was moving along slightfully hopefully, and I seemed to be 1/2 way thru, until a screen came on, that required a working mouse....
I have a brain, and attempted to use it in every way possible, thinking of every thing I could to get to the next step. I tried it all.
Finally, I called "tech support". They said I must pay $49 to get that tech support, because it's been more than a year! :) Yep!
I relentlessly paid the ridiculous fee, and was transferred to the tech support (that I thought I was already supposed to be on the phone with....)
After explaining my pc situatiion, she immediately told me that my computer was an ancient 5 yrs. old, and that I'd be better off junkin' it and buying a new one that she'd give me a great deal on! :) Did she tell me I'd be better off getting my hands on a WIRED mouse so that I could complete the restore process???? NO!!! :)
But Chris thought of it.... good ol' Chris!! :) He's become quite the handy man, over the years! :) We had (and still do have) 2 boxes of old computer equipment in our back yard, waiting to be disposed of properly. We had purposed to destroy it all, so I purposely also watered it, along w/ the grass! :) So I didn't bother trying the wired mouse that was there....
but Chris did! :)
And .... it WORKED!!!!!!! We (thanks be to GOD for his grace and mercy) did get it going again, and are still working to get programs re-installed and back to "normal". Boy! That sure does take a long time! ;)
I was totally upset and sorry we'd lost so many memories that were caught on photo, and so much work that got lost. I had comforted the kids also, by telling them.... it's just another form of "stuff", evidently..... We still have the memories in our hearts and minds..... (Until I started thinking that there ARE some memories you ONLY get by seeing the photo).... ah well.....
I went on to say, that more importantly we all still have eachother... we have the REAL deal right here! WE are here! WE are okay! :)

Not only did we lose photos, I had a ton of topical scripure compilations. I have a disc backed up from 2 yrs. ago... but that's 2 yrs ago...... bummer..... That's alot of work and TIME invested...

It all just goes back to the scripture about "treasures, your heart, where moth and rust destroy... there your heart is also...." I can't remember it right... but ya know which one I mean. (I'd pull it up on the PC Bible- but we haven't been able to re-install it yet...) ;)

I want to be extra careful that my treasures are not the sort of things that moth and rust, (and everything else) can destroy. My priorities need to change. I thought our photos were not stuff, and that they were pretty important, but even that did tend to get carried away with. I know God allowed it to happen for a reason, and a good one, at that.

I want to be careful these things aren't one of the idols Pastor talked about in his sermon......

I want to take less photos and fully enjoy more moments, w/out the camera "in the way".

And when I do take photos, I think I'll back them up online instead of onto the pc, AND I'll also leave them on the photo card, and just purchase more photo cards, and that should take all the time and hassle and risk out the pc situation, saving to disc, etc.
~~ (Computer genious friends- you can let me know if I'm right about this idea.;)

Most importantly, it is most important to me, that our kids (and us) know the Bible, read the Bible, live the Bible, glorify God & Christ Jesus, etc.
We want to be ready when Jesus comes.
It is becoming more and more evident, that it'll be sooner and sooner, isn't it?

Weight Loss Update

I thank GOD!!!! There was a time I thought I never could do it! I'd thought I could never be a person who could keep track of and record everything I ate, and count points, and have self control and exercise!!!!

But I CAN do ALL things thru CHRIST who gives ME strength!!

I'm loving it! I can really see and feel the difference now!! Whew! :)

Brittany's Latest Creation

Here's to "sittin' pretty"..... a straw fort.

Anybody thirsty?

Hey? How come she's not wearing her glasses?

Brittany's New Glasses

Brittany got new glasses.

She's complained 2 yrs ago about having trouble reading, and her eyes kept hurting and blurriness after reading for more than 20 min., and the dr. would just seem to blow it off as nothing.

This year, he did the same thing, but we insisted something must be wrong. She can't even finish the work I give her w/out complaining she can't "see" it hardly anymore.

Finally, he said he'd just give her a tiny bit of a prescription for reading and see if that helps. It was "3 clicks/ +.75" and they think that's not a big enough deal to need glasses. Hmm.... I guess it's different when it's YOU suffering.

Finally, she gets to go back to her hours and hours of reading she loves to do. Yay! And I get to get back to letting her write all her frequently misspelled words list, into her book! :)

She's cute, ain't she?
:)

"REAR's to you- We're at the ZOO!"

Fresno Zoo

Climbing Wall at Fresno Zoo

Fresno Zoo- Park area... NICE!! :)

Okay, well I'm kinda' late on this one, but I'd told Amy I'd put it in.... and some are still asking for pics, so here it is.

"Rear's to you- We're at the Zoo!"

This elephant wouldn't move. All we could see was her big caboose!! :)

If We Weren't Busy Enough....

And so if we weren't busy enough w/ our giant yard sale project, and taking care of new kittens, and all the routine taking care of house and kids and LIFE.....

"Our" li'l stray kitten, who is still a kitten itself..... had suddenly gotten a giant belly all of a sudden, then 2 weeks later Brittany found a litter of kittens w/ HER. Yes, her. We thought it was a boy this whole time. -Course there was no way to know, since she never let us near her, but she like us to feed and water her. :)

The mama "Scamper" evidently was in between moving her babies around to another location, and Brittany found the lone babe just setting there. I told her she' probably going to come right back for the last one, to wait 20 minutes to an hour. She didn't come back. So Brittany got to baby it and nurse the tiny kitty w/ a bottle for awhile. Scamper came back after a few hours!--- and I told Brittany she'd better hurry up and put the kitty out there so Mama could get it, and she did! She grabbed its neck w/ her teeth and took off to her hideout spot.....

Scamper.... where did that name come from? Well... she'd always run off (scamper off) if we got near.... and camper... because she camped out in our almond tree. She lived there. There you have it: Scamper.

Brittany cried to see "her" new baby have to go back to it's mother, but she enjoyed the life experience, and I'm glad for her about that. That's important, and special. :)

Tigger & WOLFY????

Is it just me, or does she look like an animal-rescuer or a vet?

Brittany caught the kittens in this adorable pose, and had to take a picture!! Sweet!!!

We only had Tigger for the 1st day, and the 2nd day when we went back to get Cody's kitten, boy, was Tigger surprised to see his blood-brother!! Sweet!!! They are very sweet, affectionate, playful kitties w/ lots of personality.

Man they're cute!!!!!!

The kids invested in kittens. Yes, Brittany- who is allergic to cats has been crying many a nights, for a YEAR, over her lost kitten, a year ago. Finally.. we caved in, and let her have one, after a long, long talk of boundaries, responsibilities, etc.... And then yes... Cody had to have one too.....



Brittany named hers Tigger, and guess what Cody named HIS FELINE animal????? WOLFY!!!!! It's not a dog -breed.... but the name is Wolfy.... okay...... Hmm..... ???

Weight Loss

A case of 24 waters is about 25-26 lbs. That's pretty heavy! Weight Watchers tells ya' at your 1st 10 lbs to carry around 10 lbs of something for a few minutes to help ya realize just how much you really lost. I thought I'd try it at 26 lbs too! WOW!! :)

I've lost a total of 26 lbs. now everybody. That's since the end of January. Weight Watchers. -Loving it! ;) Thank you God!! :)

This picture is not the 26 lb. one, but you can clearly the difference there.

Yay! "JUST" 130 more to go!! :) Ha.... ha.... ;)

Huh?

Okay, why is it that when you type out a blog it's all neatly spaced, and then somewhere between here and "publish post" it gets all squished together, and sloppy, crowded-looking??

Somebody help me out here...?? ;)

Yard Sale Bummer....

Okay, okay, okay. So you were all wondering and waiting.... "WHEN is Katie going to update her blog!??!?! Haven't the Collett's done anything since Easter, for crying out loud??! " ;)

Well yes! As a matter of fact, we've been busier than ever..... evidently wasting time.....

We spent about an entire month cleaning unused items from each room of our house. Plus we pulled everything out of our storage unit we were renting for what just went up to $55/ mo.!

That'll save us $600/ year! Whew!!

I had mostly tons and tons of baby furniture in there and all the kids' clothes from birth 'til now. -Did NOT want to part w/ it. But it IS costing us money just to keep it, so off it goes. I saved a bunch of goodies for "just in case the time ever comes". ;)

I was looking so forward to blessing my husband w/ some extra money... Thought maybe he could afford to stay home w/ us a bit.... and go do something.... put some money into savings, and give some......

I spent almost an entire day and made stand-out, quality yard sale signs that NO body would miss! (No, not just the 3 either... TEN!!) That costed money too, for a giant marker, paint, and giant flourescent poster paper.

I put an ad in the paper........

I got a money box....

I bought a case of paper bags so I could have the clothes all neatly organized according to age, sex, and size.... oh... and season too! DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That didn't help any... ;(

Dumb, dumb, dumb...

Meaningless!! EVERY thing is meaningless! Does that sound familiar?

Well, anyway.... Friday was an okay day, and Saturday was horrible! People wanted me to sell them everything for a nickel!! I'm not exaggerating MUCH-- let me tell ya!

Chris & I both agree we'd much rather GIVE it to someone in need, and that we care for, than to let others take advantage of us. I didn't put all this time into this project NOT to make some money back! :(

I had even been praying for months for God to bless our yard sale.....

I did also pray God would send some help w/ the yard sale. I prayed for Him to just even send someone to keep us company. That would be nice.

I'd also been praying that God would help me to do a better job at reaching out to the neighors.

Well, low and behold I did get help and I did get company. Our neighbors of 3 1/2 yrs, and us-- we finally met, and got to know eachother and chatted for the 2 days of the yard sale. They expressed wanting to know more about God and the Bible, and I'd expressed my anxiousness to be the one to tell 'em!

This didn't turn out to be as wonderful and easy, as I always seem to think it's going to be....

But they did want to come to our church... and they did come... and we did talk alot about God, the Bible, the right way..... etc....

And I won't put all the other stuff here on the blog, 'cause that just wouldn't be nice. ;)

They were quite helpful and appreciated too, though.

I sure couldn't wait to have my house back to normal. What a mess it was!!!! Have you ever had a yard sale PROJECT!! Man! It IS a project!!

See how messy our house was??? Whew!!!

Our house is clean (almost- still got a bit more to finish up) now. Thank GOD!! Our house has lost a TON of weight!! ;) We took a load off!

After dealing w/ all stages of this nightmare yardsale project..... I am sooooooo tired of STUFF!! STUFF! STUFF! STUFF! I don't want any more stuff! Meaningless!! We have been given so much stuff, we don't know where to put it! I thank the Lord we are so blessed though! I do! :)

I hated getting rid of all our baby stuff for many reasons.... but I know GOD DOES have a plan!! I just wish He'd come down and share it with me! :)

I'm not really sure what the outcome of all this was to God, or what HE meant for it to be... 'cause I sure don't understand it. It seemed it had alot more to do w/ meeting my neighbors and being in their life, than anything I'd planned.

How to I fit more people into my life? I don't know....

Will all my ministering really do any good in these particular people?

What IS the Lord's plan?

I don't want to waste my time. Neither do I want to be used. (Except by God.)

If anybody has an abundance of "easy" "fruit" to grow, please call me at 1800Katie.

God has a plan.....

May I do nothing in vein. Shall I do it all in the Lord, for the Lord, by the Lord.

It's the Lord's plans that always prevail.

To GOD alone be the G-L-O-R-Y!!! AMEN!!! ;)

What a wretch am I! Thank the Lord I am saved!!

Please forgive me folks, for what a grump I've been these last 2 days! ;(

Taste and see that the Lord IS good!! SO good!

God has a plan! God has a plan!