New Blog Layout & Name

Ok, so I am in the process of having my blog re-designed to something original & I need a new name.
Since making this blog I have gone from it just being for the kids to general things going on in my life (I did have two, but that became too much!).
So I need some help with a new name for my blog.
One I am throwing around is "Life As A Soccer Mama".
Some help would be that I of course am a Pampered Chef Mama, a soccer mama, I have been blessed with 3 1/2 children (will be 4 in Jan/Feb), I love my husband and family, I am dedicated, an over achiever, loving, a christian woman who is striving to be the best I can unto the Lord. I am a Sunday School teacher, on the Youth ministry at my church and have a heart for people.

If you have any ideas, please post a comment. I will follow up and let you know what I decided...
And keep looking for updates :)

Fondue Review

I posted a recipe last week for the Pumpkin Dip in the Crockpot.
Well, I don't own that little dipper thing, so I made it in the microwave in my batter bowl and more.
This stuff is SO good!
Dominic and I kept slicking apples to dip. For the most part, it is pretty healthy for you too!!!
YEAH, and fun recipe that is good for you & Easy Peasy to make!

Pumpkin Pie Dip Recipe

So a few days ago I posted a blog worthy recipe of Caramel Apples. Well the same lady blogging on A Year of Crockpotting posted this recipe today.
I had to snatch it!

Ingredients.
--1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
--4 oz cream cheese
--1/4 cup sour cream
--chopped walnuts, optional

The Directions.

I use my Little Dipper---these measurements are perfect for a little dipper. If you don't have one, you can put an oven-safe dish inside of your large crockpot.

Add the cream cheese to the Little Dipper. Top with sour cream, then pour in the pumpkin pie filling.

Cover and cook for about an hour, then stir well. If the cream cheese isn't fully melted, cook a bit longer. The Little Dipper doesn't have temperature settings, you just plug it in. If you are going to use a big crockpot with an oven-safe dish inside, cook on high for about an hour, or 2 on low.

Garnish with chopped walnuts, if desired.

I have all the ingredients and would make it, but I don't have a Little Dipper :( Guess that's going on my Christmas Wish List!
*giving credit where credit is due: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/little-dipper-pumpkin-pie-dip-recipe.html

Candy Land

Do you remember to good 'ol game of Candy Land? Well, it seems to be one of Dominic's favorite game and I have learned that it's not only fun, but a great way to teach him colors, sharing, taking turns, and especially imagination.
I remember playing when I was little and imagining being in the game.
I would go to Peppermint Man and have the taste of a candy cane in my mouth.
Licorice guy would give me the taste of licorice, Lolly with the lollipops and the good 'ol Chocolate Swamp!
Yumm, I think that was my favorite place, besides the gumdrops.
Well, I had Devin today and they decided to play Candy Land & I got a bright idea.
With the halloween candy laying around, why not put out candy so when the boys landed on a "candy spot" they could have a candy.
So I took out the M&M's and the candy corn. Placed little candies by the spots and showed the boys what to do.
They had a great time doing it with real candy.
Here's a few more pics...

Will you stand with me as a Mother & Father?

My Pastor spoke about this a few weeks ago in church and I was beside myself. Knowing that you are allowed to excuse your child from The Pledge Of Allegiance, but you can't excuse your child from learning about homosexuality acceptance!?!
Take 6 minutes to watch this video, it's very moving and eye opening.



"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from there wick ways, then they will they hear from heaven and I'll heal there land." People let us pray and truly turn to God Almighty.

A Vessel Of Honor For God

Well, some may know, and others may not. I have been doing a bible study at the YCC church for 5 weeks now. The study is called Daniel and it is by Beth Moore.
I have had my grandma, 2 of my great aunts & a cousin just boast about how awesome Beth Moore's bible studies are. Personally, I am not one to sit and watch christian channels on t.v. all day. I guess you can say that it is something that I have been turned off of due to my mom's extreme watching of it my whole life.
*I am NOT saying that there is anything wrong with watching those leaders on t.v., it's just not my thing. I would rather hear my pastor and learn from personal bible studies rather than watching some random person teach on television.*
Well, my MOTS group was announcing a while back that YCC was going to be doing a study on Daniel by Beth Moore. I remembered my cousin, Robin, telling me about it. She really had an experience with that particular study and highly recomended it to me.
Knowing this, I had a yearning in my hear to go, but looking at circumstances, I didn't see how it would be possible.
Well, talking to a friend of mine, she suggested that I ask my co-worker to come in an hour early so that I could get home, get Domi ready and get my butt to the church by 9am.
Well, I prayed and asked the Lord to open the doors and sure enough, he did!
I began my bible study and was just in awe.
To save time, our sanity and cut down on the reading, I won't go into all that I learned in the begining. I do have to say though, I don't understand how anyone can denounse God. I know there are SO many things in the bible that show how real he is, but read Daniel 2 and really pay attention to the profetic empires that came to pass. Even history books tell about those empires. How can we denounse this!?!
Ok, so on to today...
While in small group, I opened up and asked for prayer. The Lord has opened my eyes to what Satan is attempting to do in my life since starting this bible study. I shared with the group that since the start of the study, satan has been attacking me in places in my life that I didn't think were issues anymore. Things are coming up inside of me, making me take a step back and evaluate myself through this.
I praise God that He has given me wisdom to turn to Him in this time of need. To stand up to Satan & lean upon God's grace and loving mercy.

And So, We are starting the study on Daniel 5.
As I sat and listened to Beth go through this chapter and write out the points that she brings out for us, I sat in awe.
Exactly what I just asked for prayer for, God spoke to me right through this video of Beth.
Here are some points

• We are holy vessels in the house of the Lord. BUT, Satan can make you feel unholy. By making you feel unholy, you will begin to live that way.
• I have been declared Holy, God set his name upon MY head. I have to claim it and allow myself to feel this way.
• Nothing makes Satan more happy than us to go against what God has for us. If he can convince us that we are less than, he can get to us and make us "toast an unholy cause." *anyway that we choose to act less than who WE ARE!*
• Satan has no greater agenda than attempting to desecrate what God consecrates.
• Vessels that have been treated as unholy can be treated as HOLY AGAIN! PRAISE GOD!
  

After the bible study a woman from my small group came up to me and really spoke life into me. Basically telling me that I am blessed. The Lord has something for my life and satan is fighting hard to make Melissa feel less than what Melissa is.
Growing up my mom & my great Aunts have always told me that I am blessed. That the Lord has destined me for something great. And that He has always have and always will have His hand upon my life.
I never doubted this, but also never completely understood it until today.
I thought that my blessings were just having a home, a husband, my children & living life to the abundance I am.
BUT, it's not. I am blessed beyond measure. The Lord has blessings bigger than I can EVER imagine.
Pastor Todd has been preaching on "What to do when." and he stated something that is lining up with all of this & I am opening my eyes to it all. He stated, "The Lord has something greater for our lives than what we think." "We think medeocracy and he says GREATNESS, ABUNDANCE & MORE THAN YOU CAN DREAM." (That was all translated into my own words :-) )
As of today I am seeing that I am more than a blessing. I have so much more waiting for me than what I expect for my life.
I am a holy vessel & I will learn to treat myself this way.
Before closing, I want to share a prayer that Beth prayed with us today...

A Vessel Of Honor For God
I, (your name) belong to God.
I am a holy vessel because I house the Holy Spirit of the Living God.
The Lord of heaven and earth has said over me, "I declare you holy."
Today I commit to start believing what He says. I AM HOLY!
Empower me daily, Spirit of the Living God, to treat myself as holy.
Open my eyes to every scheme of the enemy to treat me as if I'm not.
You God, are God.
Your Word is truth.
This day, Father, I choose to believe You.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

Then before the study we sang a song that is about 30 years old. The director said he never heard it, but I KNOW I have! Maybe going to church with my grandma or mom as a child, but I have sang this song!

A Vessel Of Honor
A vessel of honor for God
A vessel of honor for God
Sanctified Holy, that I may be,
A vessel of honor for God.

I don't wanna

I have about 50 soccer teams worth of fundraisers that I need to go through, calculate and put into the excel spreadsheet. Ugh, I have A LOT of work in front of me for those cookie dough orders! I just hope we did much better than last week. We are at about half of what we made last year. The financial crunch is definitely hitting the soccer fields too!

I was off today and took advantage of it in my house. I actually got ALL of my laundry done (no, it's not put away, but its clean and folded), my kitchen got a MUCH needed scrub down and I did my grocery shopping.
Which by the way,,, my savings for this week were just about $50! I bought my whole weeks menu, plus some needed hygiene products. I love seeing my savings!!! I even stayed under my self-given budget...WOOHOO!

So, I am done for the day! I am gonna get ready for bed, because my wonderful work week begins in the morning...
Oh, but I do have my bible study I am truly looking forward to!
I must blog about that one day when I have a minute between a minute. We all know how that goes!

Blog worthy recipe

I saw this on my blogroll and had to post. It sounds AWESOME and SO easy!!!
What a cheap why for a mom to allow her kids to enjoy caramel apples without spending $3-$4 bucks an apple!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/crockpot-caramel-apples.html

Bored, tired & miss my Honey

I am currently making dinner (fish sticks & fries...YUM!!!) but I am bored.
Yeah, can you believe I am bored. I actually don't have anything that I need to be doing right now.
Which is nice, and I should be taking advantage of it, but I am missing my Honey.
He is in Camarillo. He left Tuesday morning just after I left for work and will be home on Friday.
It's just hard without him home with me.
Dominic is watching cartoons, Adi is watching her program in my room & Ant is outside playing football.
No soccer tonight, thank God, and really nothing I need to do.
So here I sit and blog...
Oh and being tired, yeah, that's my middle name anymore!

I actually bought something

Financially we haven't been able to put out money on anything extra other than bills & groceries.
So I haven't bought anything for this baby. Just trusting that I will have everything that I need when the time comes.
Well, I went grocery shopping on Monday and went down the baby isles. First because I had 3 coupons for what I thought was $3 off any Johnson product. Yeah well it was $3 off of 3 items...DUH!
So I didn't buy any of that, but I did go and see that they have the cloth diapers that I plan on using. Then I checked out their onsies and bent and bought a pack of onsies. They have little turtles, ducks, elephants and lambs on them.
So that's about it.
I had a girl from my work bring me in 2 small bags of girls clothes last week, along with a pink and brown diaper bag.
Then while Jose and I were cleaning out the garage the other day we found a few boy things.
So, I guess we are collecting a little here and there of whatever we can get our hands on.

Cloth Dipes Giveaway

This is exactly what I need!
I have been researching cloth dipes to use on baby #4, but honestly don't know where to start and am afraid to invest too much money into any particular one. This is all so new to me :-}
Well, look at what I found...http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/2008/09/fuzzibunzonlinecom-giveaway.html

Team Green

I don't think I have posted, actually I know I haven't.
Anyways, in a previous post http://herrerababies.blogspot.com/2008/09/cracking-up-at-myself.html
I was mentioning all the things I swore I would never do, and have either done or are now planning to do.
Well, you can add one more to the list...
I am going ...

For those that don't understand, I will put it in lamens terms.
I am NOT finding out the sex of the baby....AGH! I can't believe that I am really not finding out.
I am a complete planner, but I figured, this is our last, why not?!?
So, I have told my mom & friends that I do not want a baby shower. If someone still wants to throw me one, then I'm not about to stop them, but I would rather wait 'till I know what it is.
For now I am looking for browns. No frogs or ducks (GAG). Browns please.
I actually haven't bought ANYTHING yet...which is another OMG!
So, anyway, that was my newest announcement.

Gymnastic in training

Ugh, yeah, that's what is in my belly!
This baby is literally flipping in circles and going balistic in there! I can't believe how active it is!
I have been feeling it move, but it is really growing and going crazy. Jose and the kids have yet to really feel a kick, but there is hope!
While I was sitting at work yesterday morning, I had my hand on my stomach and I felt it kick really hard! So it won't be long before everyone will start feeling it.

WoW WoW WoW

I found a give away for the new WoW WoW Wubzy DVD!
Dominic LOVES Wubzy and I would love to win this.
Join the fun with me and hopefully we will both win!
http://www.mommieswithcents.com/2008/09/wow-wow-wubbzy-dvd-giveaway.html

I wead the stowey, because Gwammie's sick

Dominic has got to be the sweetest!!!
Grammie is sick right now, and hanging out on the couch. Dominic went to the closet and got a book out and came and sat down next to her and read it to her.
Here's the end of the story, and them talking about it...

Put 'Em Together

And what do you got, bibby bobby boo.
Adriana & Dominic are in the kitchen putting away dishes. While they are doing the dishes, Dominic is entertaining them singing 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo' from Cinderella.
He is too stinken cute! Repeating 'put 'em together and whata you got bibby, bobby, boo.

Then, he was doing something Adriana didn't want him doing,,,Only Lord knows.
She kept telling him, "Dominic Herrera" knock it off!
He finally got tired of her yelling at him and said,
"Sissy Herrera, stop yelling at me!"
Sissy Herrera...ROFL!!!!!

He is just TOO funny sometimes!!!

Almost 20 Weeks

I really want to keep up with this pregnancy, being my last.
I'm not quite 20 weeks, but Jose wasn't home and I was bored, so here's pics.

Side view, I'm really not as big as I feel or think I am


Me laying down


Dominic's little hand on Mama's baby

Cracking up at myself!

So, while I was in the shower tonight, I was coming to a realization of something I swore I would never do.
When I had my first son, 12 1/2 years ago, I swore I would NEVER breastfeed, cloth diaper, baby wear or co-sleep.
When I had my daughter 9 1/2 years ago I swore I would NEVER cloth diaper or co-sleep & became a breastfeeding, baby wearing mama.
When I had my son 3 1/2 years ago I swore I would never cloth diaper & became a breastfeeding, baby wearing & co-sleeping mama.
Well now, getting ready to have my 4th, I am realizing that I am not only going to be a breastfeeding, baby wearing, and co-sleeping mama, but CLOTH DIAPERING TOO!
GAH!!!!
I think it is hilarious that through my years of being a mama & growing into a 'woman' & not just a mom, how much of these tasks I really do enjoy.

Kids Say The Funniest Things!

Our Dog Uzuri was found with bumps all over her. We couldn't figure out what it was at first, so my mom gave her a bath thinking bugs, but there was nothing.
Well, we were all boggled by what it was, how she got them, etc.
Dominic came in and found out what happened. He came in and told us...
"Zuri has bumps on her because when she goes in grandma's car and when grandma drives she goes 'bump, bump, bump'."
So, Zuri has bumps on her because grandma goes bump, bump, bump.

***Actually what really happened is that my mom gave her a bunch of pork the day before & she had an allergy.

Having Fun

Saturday Night Devin wanted to spend the night after we went out to dinner.
We were bored and I got the camera out to take a pic of Jose and I. Yeah, well, the boys wanted to get into the act, especially Devin.
Here's our pic session...





The boys would NOT let Jose and I take a pic together. They were cracking me UP!

So here's the boys instead of Jose & I

Awe, we finally got a pic together




Then Labor Day, we had a BBQ at our house. Here's some pics of the kids having fun...
Jose, just cause I love him