March 10th, 2010 / 2 Comments » / by Lara
I do not know this family and I never met Layla Grace. I found out about this family and their battle with a monster called, Neuroblastoma, via the most powerful word of mouth tool on the planet…Twitter.
I was going about my business like I do everyday…
Then…
I clicked on a tweet about Layla.
My life was instantly impacted.
I went to her blog. As I read their posts, and the story they shared, tears poured down my face and anguish for this family I do not know filled my heart.
I prayed.
I called on all my friends to pray.
I hoped, as many, a miracle would happen and she would wake up well again.
How can we believe any different for a precious honey who has only graced this planet for 2 years???
Well, sadly, this precious child is now with Jesus….she is happy. She no longer has to live in pain, and fight the monster that plagued her little body all those months. She can sit in the lap of the One who loves her like no other.
Sure, we can question…
“Why God?”
We may never know.
I DO know, however, that God loves Layla Grace and her family.
I DO know that we live in a fallen world where bad things happen.
I DO know that Layla is not sad.
I DO know that her life was not in vain and she has already made an impact in the lives of those who knew her…and those who never knew her.
She also impacted my life.
You see, I had spent a LOT of time over the past year feeling sorry for my self (read more here). Then I read her story. I would wake up in the night to pray and cry for this baby and her family. My birthday was looming, and all in the span of a week I began to see life as it really is…
Moments.
That’s all.
Just moments.
Happy moments…sad moments…that is what we get.
Moments.
What will we do with them?
Will we waste them on the what ifs?
Will we waste them on holding unforgiveness?
Will we waste them thinking about all that we don’t have?
OR…
Will we treasure each moment God gives us?
I will treasure them. They are all I have that really matters. My moments of laughter with my girls. Each day I get to spend with them…each day I get to breath in the fresh air…each day is a gift.
Every moment is an opportunity to revel in all that we DO have.
“Treasure your moments…you cannot predict how many you get!” – Lara Velez
Thank you, Layla for giving me the gift of this knowledge. Thank you for helping me see the awesomeness of my moments. You will NEVER be forgotten, precious one!
Posted in: Caught me by Surprise, Family, Graditude, Life as a Mom, Me, Things I Love, WOW moments!
March 5th, 2010 / No Comments » / by Lara
For the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs give a way, the winner is…
CONGRATULATIONS!
Email me with your full name and address and I will get a copy out to you asap! 
OK, readers, if there is a movie you would like me to review and have as a give a way prize, let me know!
Oh, and when ya’ll get the chance to see the very humorous Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, let me know what you though if it!
Have an awesome day!
Posted in: Announcements
February 22nd, 2010 / 12 Comments » / by Lara
Recently we went to see this adorable movie at the dollar theater. I was not sure what to expect. I was unimpressed with the previews, however, there are only so many kids movies, so I knew I would wind up seeing it. ROFL!
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was really a very funny movie with a great message about being yourself.
Mr. T was even in the movie and his character was HILARIOUS! My little one still quotes one of the funny lines he had. (when you see it it’s the one about having his eye on main character, Flint. Hint: A contact lens is involved)
My only caution would be for younger viewers. They may find some elements of the film…especially near the end…a little too scary. I would recommend parents watching it first if they have younger viewers. Mommas know what their little ones can handle. My 6 year old loved it, and so did the teenager!
OK, so I thought it would be cool to give a way a FREE copy of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to one of my oh so wonderful readers! I am going to make it real simple! LOL
Simply post a reply to this post telling me why you want it. MAKE SURE TO USE A WORKING EMAIL so if you win I can contact you!
If you are feeling really generous, a tweet about it would be cool too…BUT not required. 
Good Luck!!
Posted in: Contests, FUN!, My Reviews, Parenting
Tags: Contests
February 13th, 2010 / No Comments » / by Lara
I am convinced that I gave birth to the Energizer Bunny! ROFLMBO! Seriously, my youngest never stops. Nothing gets her down.
I remember last year, I took her to the doctor because she had been sick about a week and I knew she needed some meds. Well, her doctor was not available, so I had to go with the nurse practitioner….BIG mistake. She does not know my little one, so because she was bright eyed and energetic, the woman told me she was fine. I explained that she was wrong and I know my child. Well, let’s just say this woman had more ego than knowledge. We were sent home empty handed.
Two days later, I am back at the doctor’s office for another co-pay because my little honey is now worse…and Miss Ego would not listen to good ole’ Mom! I insisted on getting her doctor, Anne this time. I tell Ann what happened and she examines my little one and discovered that she has a double ear infection. Not only was it double, it was one of the worse Anne ever saw and she told me I have one strong cookie. Anne told me from her experience with this intense of an ear infection, she should have been screaming.
LOL. WOW!
My little bunny IS strong and has a VERY high pain tolerance.
Amazing.
My lesson learned was ONLY see her doctor. LOL.
Anyway, we are sick again. I was up ALL night cooling down…keeping down a MAJOR spike fever.
I am thoroughly and completely exhausted.
Is she?
NO.
STILL fighting a fever and still acting as if she is not. LOL
Still wanting doughnuts, fun, and to go go go…
Off to the doctor we will go on Monday and again I will be amazed at my little Energizer Bunny!
Posted in: Family, Gab Fests, Life as a Mom, Me, Parenting, Raising a Princess
February 8th, 2010 / 2 Comments » / by Lara
This week has so many things to watch I am thinking I will have visual entertainment overload. ROFLMBO! With Hollywood week on American Idol, the premier of the latest Survivor that I have been looking forward to since the finale of the last one…AND the Winter Olympics. What is a not usually into television girl to do? LOL!
Well, I am thinking I will give up American Idol. It’s not the same without Paula anyway and from the previews, Ellen just doesn’t do it for me as an American Idol judge. *Sigh*
I am really looking forward to the Olympics. The Winter is my favorite version…I wish it was every 2 years like the summer! I love the speed skating, curling, skiing, figure skating, pretty mush all of it, so you will probably get bored with my chattering about it. LOL.
Then there is my favorite show, Survivor. I have stayed away from all the previews and who will be on. I want to be surprised and HOPE my fav villain and heroes are on! I would LOOOOOOOOVE to see Russ again. He was so bad…LOL!
Posted in: American Idol, FUN!, Me, My Reviews, My Stuff, Olympics, Survivor
February 4th, 2010 / 2 Comments » / by Lara
I have been pondering something one of our pastors talked about this past week. He was talking about evangelism, the church as a whole and our roles as individuals in leading the lost to Christ. He made a powerful statement that I think deserves a blog post.
He basically said that there is nothing sadder then when Christians only have Christian friends.
Many times we want to put ourselves in a safe box where only the Christians can come into. We do not want to contaminate our lives, children and homes with … dare I say … the heathens??? Hmmm. Sad, but in many cases true…even for me.
We don’t want to “catch” anything or be too influenced. Yet, if we really dig into the Word we see very clearly that Jesus basically only hung out with the lost. I mean even His disciples were lost in a way.
I want to challenge every person reading this…even those who consider themselves to be self proclaimed Jesus Freaks…
Get some unsaved friends.
Have them over for dinner.
Let them BE who they are.
Be a real friend, and then, maybe, just maybe, they will be open to hearing about Jesus Christ. Am I saying sin? Certainly not! However, we must be relevant to reach this generation. We must get off of our pious pedestals and remember that we are CALLED to reach the lost…NOT change them or judge them. We are called to LOVE. Love does not judge or expect anything. Love just does.
We need to get busy people! Jesus is coming soon! He needs a ready Bride!
If we were HALF as passionate as the muslims, we would not be living in the type of culture we are. Why? Because we have something no other religion has…Love and Acceptance and a way to eternal life with Jesus Christ….Sadly, though, Christians have made themselves a laughing stock…
You see, we can’t convert the lost if we are living in a box. We can’t free them from the bonds of sin if we never sit down with them and love them as they are…After all, isn’t that how Jesus loves us? And wasn’t HE our example?
Hmmm…something to chew on, eh?
Posted in: God Talk, Me
January 27th, 2010 / 5 Comments » / by Lara
The “Mommy Sandwich” is another one of the many things I love about being the Mother of my girls. What is it you ask…well, let me start with the reason I am writing this post…
This morning I was up earlier than usual. Normally, my youngest is the first up and lets the whole house know it is time to rise. I beat her today. LOL. After I puttered around a bit and even checked some emails, I went in and woke the sleepy birds up…
The conversation that follows:
Teenager: (Some long groan sound)
Princess: “Good morning Mommy” (rubs eyes)
Me: “Rise and shine”
Teenager: (More groaning.)
Princess: “Hey, we didn’t get to do Mommy Sandwich!” (she said this quite indignantly)
Teenager: (suddenly perky) “OK, Mom, get your butt back in bed. We want our Mommy Sandwich!”
Me: “No. I have a lot to do today. Hence why I was up so early.”
Teenager and Princess in Unison: “We want our Mommy Sandwich!”
Me: *sigh* “Fine, but only for a minute!”
Both: “YEAH!”
Covers are grabbed. I climb back into bed. Mommy Sandwich time. OK, so, what is it? LOL! Well, it is an invention my two girls came up with. When Princess was getting older and the competition began; to be with me, next to me or in my general vicinity, I had to inform them that I had two arms to hug with. One for each of them.
Soon, it progressed into each of them crawling into my bed…one on each side and me in the middle. They are the “bread” and I am the “filling.” Thus began the term…“Mommy Sandwich!”
Oh, and recently my little one informed me I cannot have anymore children because I would ruin the Mommy Sandwich! ROFLMBO!!
And there you have it!
Posted in: Family, LOL!, Life as a Mom, Me, Parenting, Raising a Princess, Raising a Teenager, Ramblings
Tags: Mommy Sandwich
January 22nd, 2010 / 3 Comments » / by Lara
Last night we had quite a mini adventure in our house. Every evening we have family clean up time. It is the only way I can keep my sanity. I am a better wife and Mother when I wake up to an orderly home. LOL. Anyway, the kids are required to help out and pick up after themselves as I go through the house giving cleaning orders.
The teenager rolls her eyes and the princess lets the everyone know how unhappy she is to have to do any sort of activity that does not involve fun. We have our normal, get over yourself speech and she whines her way back to her room to clean.
I get right to the dishes. It’s quiet. Well, for a few minutes at least.
Then…
From out of nowhere a blood curdling scream comes from the princess and she shoots out of her room and into the kitchen like no-body’s business.
The conversation that follows:
Me: “What the hell? Geeze! What happened???”
Teenager: (literally rolling on the floor with laughter)
Beloved Husband: (not home…bowling with the guys…hmmmm)
Princess: Frantically crying. Red faced. Flushed. Sniffling. “waahhhhh”
Me: “Speak child. What happened?!”
Princess: “A bug!”
Me: “A bug???”
Teenager: (still rolling on floor laughing)
Princess: “wahhhhh”
Me: “What kind of bug?”
Princess: In utter trembling fear she says; “A scccc….ary bug”
Me: “Crap. Why can’t we have just one eventless evening? Wheres the scary bug?”
Princess: “wahhhhhh”
Me: “Where is the scary bug?”
Princess: “In my room”
Teenager: (crying with laughter)
Me: to the teenager; “What’s so funny?” to the princess; “Well obviously, but where in your room???”
Teenager: “LOL”
Princess: Again in utter fear for her life; “Bbbb…y my bed under my kitty slipper” “WAHHHH”
Me: “OK, you can hush now, I will take care of it…”
I put on my Super Mom cape wondering how beloved husband always misses these adventures and go into the “scary bug’s” lair. I cautiously lift the princess’s slipper to discover the culprit of all the drama…
It was a scary bug alright.
It was no ordinary bug though.
It was a creature like no other.
Are you ready for this???
Drum roll please….
It was a…
s
p
i
d
e
r
Yes, a spider. However, it was like no spider that ever graced the presence of a true princess. This scary bug was the size of a pin head. No larger than the period at the end of this sentence.
An extremely scary bug.
So, I took my mighty Super Mom flip flop and managed to kill the mighty beast that dared to enter the chamber of royalty!
In the end, we all survived!
Princess cautiously reentered her room and finished cleaning.
The teenager was able to regain her composure and finish cleaning…
and Super Mom got back to the dishes!
Posted in: Family, LOL!, Life as a Mom, Parenting, Raising a Princess, Ramblings
January 21st, 2010 / 3 Comments » / by Lara
I created this meme a couple years ago. It started out as “Thursday’s Links” and then it became what it is now, “Linky Love Links Day.” I changed it because I did not want to do it EVERY Thursday and I also did not want to limit it to Thursdays. So…now, I do it whenever the mood arises. LOL. My ONLY request is to PLEASE follow the simple rules so ALL can enjoy and benefit from this.
ALL are invited to join in the Linky Love Links Day fun!
PLEASE just follow the rules!
Just copy paste THIS and everything below up until my Five links:
I thought it would be cool to have a meme where we post links. We can post up to five. Then we tell five more people to share their links. If we all share who tagged us, our links are sure to be seen!
They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want…
There are Five Rules:
1. MUST be clean. No R rated sites.
2. Only FIVE links.
3. MUST tell 5 people.
4. A link back to the person who tagged you
5. Lara’s Place is the meme originator. (an active link to home page is appreciated)
———– end copy paste ———————————–>
My Links:
1. Are you fat? If you are, this ebook, or even this site is a great resource I designed to help me lose weight. It is a membership site. You can just get the ebook, of for a few bucks more get the ebook AND lifetime membership. So far I have lost 20 pounds using what I share in the ebook!
2. Motivated WAHM. This is one of my best friends in the world. She created this AWESOME website to help Motivate WAHMS and teach them how to be successful.
3. Mom Masterminds. I was recently blessed with a lifetime membership to this AWESOME resource site for Moms who want to be or are in business. TONS of information, resources and help from seasoned business women.
4. Christian Moms in Business. This is a directory for Christian Moms with businesses and blog filled with valuable information to help them.
5. Autism Bloggers. FABULOUS resource and community for those who have loved ones with autism. It was started by a great lady and friend. She says on her site; “…whether you are a parent, a teacher, a doctor, or just someone who cares, if you blog about Autism I hope you will consider adding your blog to the directory – your blog may be just what someone else needs to help them through.”
I am Tagging:
1. Dianna
2. Renae
3. Cindy
4. Esther
5. Toni
All 5 of my tags are also great links for you to visit!
Posted in: Blogging, Linky Love Links Day, My Businesses, Places I like
January 20th, 2010 / 2 Comments » / by Lara
I used to love watching American Idol. Sadly, with Paula gone, I am not sure I will remain a watcher. So far they have had some nice guest judges…however, it is NOT the same as Paula. There was the whole dynamic of her and Simon as well as her sweetness. It’s just not the same.
I am going to give it a little while before I go though. I at least want to see how it is with Ellen. She is funny and may add something…sadly though, it will not *replace* what Paula brought. There is only ONE Paula! LOL!
So far, forgive me for not remembering names…LOL…I like the young black woman who has been on seasons past with the little special needs girl. She wore a pretty purple dress last night. I like her. I hope she makes it at least to the top 12. I also like the guy who survived cancer and the funny southern girl who screamed, “I get to ride on an ARROWplane” when she got the golden ticket last week. Adorable and hilarious! She could be this season’s Kelly Pickler type. Funny.
I can’t say I am looking forward to tonight like I was in season’s past, but I will watch…At least until Survivor Villains and Heroes!
Posted in: American Idol, My Reviews, Ramblings
