Day 30

Day 30. Today. This morning I finally went for a run with Amanda and Lesa. I'm so happy I did. It was freezing cold with a temperature of 11 degrees and we went for a 3 mile run. I swear it's the hardest thing to do when it's that cold outside, but I did. I couldn't keep up, I had the hardest time breathing, and I swear my shoes gained weight. It was so hard to move my legs up and out and down. I really, really struggled. I eventually was able to breath better, but by that time I felt little pins and needles of cold in the back of my thighs. When that went away I noticed my toes were actually kinda cold. We were on our way back by then so it didn't matter. I did finish and my friends didn't have to carry me home. I warmed up way late in the day, but ya all know I'll do it again. I just wish that February's weather would wait until then and not be present in November and December.

Day 29

Day 29. (I am going to finish this tonight.) I'm thankful for the many, many ways we can communicate now-a-days. I'd like to think that I'd be okay if all we could do was mail a letter to others, but in reality, I'd fail terribly! I would probably run to people's houses often if I could and talk with them for brief minutes. Crazy, I know.
The one thing I can't believe now is with all the ways there are to communicate with others, how come I sometimes feel like it's been way too long in communicating with my family and friends? Why? I should be able to call them or text them right? I think life gets in the way sometimes. I am trying harder to call people if I'm thinking of them, just to let them know I love them and I'm thinking of them. Crazy, crazy!

Day 28

Day 28. Tylenol and Allergy pills. and yes modern medicine and doctors. I have serious allergies to my dog, Jake. It seems to be worse in the winter because we can't get outside all the time or air out the house when we want to. Thanks to the allergies I get sinus headaches a.lot. I try to be keep up on my own meds along with anyone else in the family, but man, you get tired of trying to remember everything. Thanks to Tylenol and my allergy pills, I can make my headaches go away and feel like running in the a.m. again with my friends. I am also grateful for the modern medicine and the doctors who do their best to help us, I know many people who would have a much harder life than they do now and I'm glad they are around.

Day 27

Day 27. A date with Stephen to checker auto parts, and other various stores. We were looking for something in particular. My rear windshield defrost isn't connected and Stephen knew what we needed, but we couldn't find it at any of the stores we checked. He says he'll fix it for me, but he needs to find the stuff to do it. I know he will, it's annoying to look out the back and you can't see anything because the kids or dog have fogged it up.

Day 26

Day 26. An "Off" Day. This day I did absolutely nothing. and I'm so happy I did. I should have been catching up on the blog or reading some really great book, but I didn't. I didn't cook, clean, do any laundry, or feed the dog. I left it all up to my kids. They survived. I'm glad to know they can do that. I did shower and look somewhat presentable, but the only place I went was to pick up my daughter from her cousin's house. That's it. I like these days when they occasionally show up. They are nice and relaxing.

Day 25

Day 25, my husband, Stephen. He is a very patient man. He does the best he can to make me, as a wife, happy. I've realized that I'm not easy to live with. I don't like to do the things he likes to, I don't even try to hide it. I do sometimes try to humor him or try to do the things he does like, but when it all comes down to it, I don't like it. Hiking, camping, fishing, going to the park even. I know that I need to change some things, okay a lot of things, but I know I love him. I know he loves me. Sometimes, some things just take longer than any of us want them to.

He does what he can with the kids so they are happy. He is a busy man, yet he'll fix the dryer, go shopping with me when he doesn't want to, sit with me and the kids through a movie, watch the kids so I can go on a girls night out. Stephen is totally a selfless man. He works hard in his calling, and at work, and here at home. He does get tired, but don't we all. I love him. I'm extremely grateful he is my husband and the one I can go to with every problem I have, even if it's him.

Seriously?!, Where did the time go???

Wow, lets play the catch-up game...

I will try to make it short. Heh heh.

Day 20, I went on a run with somegreat gals, unfortunately, it was a blah day with lots of cold/freezing rain/snow and two of us weren't feeling so great. We still did it, all though we walked most of it. Thanks to great friends who'll run/walk with ya through anything! Thankfully we were only half training to run the turkey trot but none of us did it because of the wonderful single digit freezing temperature.

Day21, Boy #2, a.k.a. M.C. from now on. M.C. is my final baby. I love him to pieces and he makes my heart melt with all of his mischeiviousnes. He is super sweet and I think he thinks he can only love one person, and I'm the lucky one. Seriously, he will tell Stephen he doesn't love him, he loves mom. I know he loves everyone, he just hasn't realized it yet.

Day 22, Boy #2, a.k.a. Dimples from now on. Dimples got his name because he has the cutest ones ever! He can choose to show them or not, but usually they are there with his smile. He is such a sweet boy and I love him for all he brings to my life and to our family. I'm thankful that we have him and that he brings so much joy and happiness to the family. He also likes to make up jokes, some are a little flat, but he's always trying!

Day 23, Girl #2, a.k.a. Starr. She loves that name. She has begged us to please, please, pretty please change her name or give this as her middle name. Starr is our families drama queen. I always thought the oldest would do this, but no, it is Starr. She loves art, and music, and animals. She even wrote her own song and can't wait to show her piano teacher! I love this little gem! She truly loves life! and she doesn't want people to miss out on it.

Day 24, Girl #1, a.k.a. Bratt (she prefers this to mini-me.) I love her to pieces as I do all my children, but she is the first and gets spoiled a bit more. She also has a lot more responsibility in the home. Her chores are bit bigger and she usually has to babysit without pay. I should say cash payment, she usually gets something else. Bratt is trying to be sarcastic but have it be positive. I don't know of a positive sarcastic way, but she's trying. She loves school and her friends and family, and she loves going to church and working on her personal progress. I know she is a wonderful person, trying hard to make it through the jr. high world. I know she will succeed.

Catching up on my Days of Gratitude...

So sorry I'm behind. This last week I struggled with what I'd write. Most of these things I usually take for granted, so hopefully my day 19 will help me be grateful for even the littlest of things.
Day 11- Veteran's Day. I am grateful for those in the armed forces and also the public defenders for the service of protection and freedom they provided in the past, provide now, and hopefully will always be able to provide in the future.
Day 12-My Mom. She gets me. Even when she doesn't realize it. I love her for the unconditional love she has given and shown to me.
Day 13- My Dad. He's amazing. He loves me, my husband, and the kids. He cares when I'm hurting or angry or showing any type of emotion. I know there are many fathers who do this, but my Dad is special to me. I love my Dad.
Day 14- Sister-in-laws. I have several of them now. I love them all very much. Every one of them affects how life is for the others, whether they realize it or not. I went with Stephen's sisters to a craft fair thingy, I really did enjoy my time I spent with them. I get to see the Nutcracker with the ones who married my brothers, that will be a lot of fun too!
Day 15- Stephen's and My Grandparents! I really do love to visit with all of them, I wish we had more time to do it. They are great people who always love to visit with us and the kids, especially the kids. Together we have 5 grandma's adn 3 grandpa's. It's fun to see them.
Day 16- Stephen's Parents. They are wonderful people. They are full of love not only for him and the kids, but me as well. Many people don't get the chance to know their in-laws because they are far away or for other unhappy reasons, but I'm glad I have the ones that I do. I love them much!
Day 17- Good Friends. I was able to hang out with a group of friends the other day. There is nothing like some good long girl talk with a bunch of little boys running around. These friends are amazing, even though some were missed, we still had a great time. Can't wait for the next time.
Day 18- Good Friends for my Kids. I'm so, so happy that my kids are able to play or hang out with kids who are a good influence. I love that when their friends do come over, they can talk freely and I'm not worried about what is coming out of their mouth. It feels good for my kids to be happy like they should be.
Day 19- Today I opened a blog about a family, the Coleman's, who had two children, a boy 3 yrs old with SMA and a girl 2 months(?) with SMA. Now, I don't know how I found this blog or why I decided to read it and add it on my list of blogs, or how long ago I found it, but I did. And I'm glad I did. Today's post said the little boy passed away during the night. He's been sick all week with a simple little cold, yet it was enough that he couldn't go on. His body was tired and he couldn't fight anymore. I think his mom knew, but didn't realize this was really it. I cried. and I cried and I cried. I have never met this family, but they have a loss that I never want to have to deal with. There was another family, The Sullengers. I saw their blog from a friends blog. I've been keeping up with it as well. The too, lost a child. Only she was as healthy as could possibly be. She had an accident and fell into a canal. She was found 2 miles down by some farmers who pulled her out, began cpr, and phoned for medical help. I have never met these people either, but I prayed for this family. I prayed for the little girl to make it through all of it, but she couldn't. There is so much more I could write, but I need to sum it all up. I have my children. They are healthy, happy, and alive. I need to let go of my fear of losing them and enjoy them so much more than I know I have. I'm grateful I have children and that these girls and boys are mine. I pray for comfort for these other families often, and I pray I will never have to deal with the loss they have felt.

Days 10 and 11

Day 10. I kinda just realized that I don't need to put the stinkin' date on the 30 days of gratitude posts. You all know what day I'm talkin' about. Silly me. I'm thankful for Books! I can escape from the world with my imagination and reading. Sometimes, that's not the best thing if the book is somewhat scary, but even still, I get to escape from things. It's one of the few things I get to do as a break from my kids, as much as I love them. I love books that end happy. I'm okay with other things happening during the book, but it needs to end happy. The reason for this is, it affects my mood with my hubby and kids. He knows when there is a scary or unhappy part in a book because of my mood. I know it's strange and hopefully I'm not some psychotic who later in life believes all the things I've read to be true, but I'm glad he knows. He teases me saying that our life with each other and the kids isn't the life of the character in the book I'm currently reading and it kinda takes me back a bit. I realize how silly I've been, apologize and we go on with reality. Thank goodness for books and for my hubby who doesn't enjoy reading, but lets me.
Day 11 My kids' Piano Teacher, Lisa. She has been playing since she was 5! She is so amazing. She works well with the kids. She has more patience than I could ever imagine. and unfortunately for us, she's going to stop teaching. I'm incredibly sad about it. I will probably shed tears before this is post is done. She has been teaching my kids for so long, I'm not sure what I'll do. She is a great friend of mine. She'll run with me, help me train, and she spots all the mountain lions out before I do. She helps me to understand my own kids a bit better. She can see which child o'mine is the one we have the hardest time getting to practice, and she offers advice of how to help her.
I understand that things get difficult for those that teach out of their home and I'm all for her happiness and well being. But, I want to be so selfish at this point and beg her to keep my three kids for lessons. I'll make it easy for her, I'll figure something out on how to help her with her own kids.
Okay, selfishness is done.
She is an awesome person and wonderful teacher, I only pray that we'll be able to find someone that I'll like and the kids will too. I don't think it happens very often, but I'm hoping for the best.
Thank You so much Lisa for all the hard work you've done with my kids!!!! I can't express it enough. Thank Trevor and the kiddos for me as well. They have given up their Mom/Wife for so long. Maybe in my dreams she'll say-I'll still teach your kids, because they are awesome and practice hard. Yeah, maybe I can keep on dreamin' it.

Sleeping

So I set Boy #2 up with lunch yesterday, went upstairs for a bit and came back down to see if he was ready to go with me to the store. This is what I found. (I couldn't resist running back up-stairs for my camera.)

I thought he was pretending at first, or trying to hide...



but no, he was really and truly sleeping! I couldn't believe it. He was supposed to eat his lunch, but he barely touched it. Well except to play in it.

I guess this is why he didn't eat his sandwich. I wouldn't be hungry if I ate all the brownies either.

And yes, I did move him to his bed to finish off his nap. Cute kid.

Day 9 11-09-2010

So today, I thought I'd do a vanity one. I'm mostly grateful that I have naturally curly hair. I can straighten it when I want or I can have it curly/wavy. When I was younger, I didn't really like it. I didn't appreciate it near enough. And even now I sometimes think to myself why do I have curly hair? (Usually after I have gone on a good run and my hair is all sweaty and I don't have time to wash it and make it straight.) I do enjoy it most of the time, especially when I can find a good mousse, gel and hairspray to work in my hair. I like it. I think having four kids may have taken some of the curl away, but now my gray/white hairs are growing in curly! Lucky me!

Days 6, 7 and 8!

Yes, I'm behind again.
Day 6 11-06-2010: I'm thankful for going up to Stephen's Grandpa's land in Idaho. We went up with the kids to initially work, but to play if there wasn't any work. Yep, we worked. A lot! The trees decided shed, so, we picked up after them. We made a fun-filled day of it by stopping at Gossners, Pepperidge Farms, and La Tienda on the way up. (I Love going to two of the three places.) We got there and Stephen cleaned out the shed while I worked on my Primary music stuffs. The kids all had to start raking up the leaves into piles. They did an okay job for being kids who normally don't have to do this. When I was finished, I joined them. Then Stephen joined us, he had two of the younger ones grab some huge buckets from the shed and they started filling them up with leaves. I had the best rake so I raked up more leaves in 45 mins than the kids did in an hour. It was good times I'm tellin' ya, Good. Times. Girl #1 had a friend with her and they both worked hard. By the time we were done, we needed to head home. We stopped at McD's for some burgers and saw a Momma dear with her baby. It was kinda cool. We then hit 7-eleven for slurpee's! It was a great day!!!!

Day 7 11-07-2010: Babies! My brother blessed his baby girl yesterday. It was so fun to see them and the other families. The blessing he gave was so nice and I'm sure little A-girl will be able to become what Heavenly Father wants her to be. But this isn't just about her, it's about babies in general. Saturday I was at a baptism and one of the Stake Presidency members was there. He is older, his kids are mostly grown and on their own, but there was a cute little baby that sat at his feet during the talks. The Stake Pres. member watched him for a bit, then picked him up just smiling the whole time he held the baby. It was interesting to me the way babies can turn the hardest of men and women into softies. It happens everywhere and all the time. I know how much they can change a persons life and a families. My good friends Amanda and Jared were able to adopt children and I have seen the wonderful changes in their lives. Stephen's cousin's adopted a baby girl and it has been world of difference for them. Babies are amazing! No matter how they enter your life!

Day 8 11-08-2010: Monday is Laundry Day! I know, it's the bane of some people's existence, and probably mine, but! I'm grateful to have clean clothes, bedding, towels, and whatever else you can wash and dry. My washer and dryer have gone on the fritz a few times lately and I'm glad for the handyman in my life, maybe even more so because I don't have to go to the laundromat! I know I will always have work in my home, because of laundry. I will never get bored here. Because I can watch a show or take care of other little things here at home while I'm getting the laundry done, then my house is clean for a bit. It's also a sign that I am always needed. I'm not so sure my hubby could get it done or that the kids wouldn't put in a brand new red shirt with the whites. I'm sure they could figure it out, but I'll only teach them about it and I'll still be the one to do. In fact I have taught the girls how to do this. They conveniently forget or don't have the time to help me out. Whatever, I know I have job security. I do like that they have to put their clothes away. That is prolly one of the best parts about it. Either I will seperate the loads once they are done or all of us will. Then, they have to put their stuff away. and I don't mean, thrown into the closet or drawers. Folded and/or hung up. Matched socks. folded underwear.
It feels so good once it's all done, I love the feeling.

Pumpkins and Halloween fun!!!

So what if it's a week late, I'm doing this anyway. The kids carved their pumpkins on Thursday and they had a fun time doing it. I ended up carving more than my fair share, but they had to clean all the guts out. Ha ha!

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday night by having a birthday party for my Grandma. She turned 83 on Halloween so we were a day early. It was a lot of fun to do this and the costumes were so much fun to see. We then visited with two other sets of Grandparents that day as is tradition in our little family. We went home and slept well that night. Since we didn't participate in the ward trunk or treat, and the kids didn't get very much candy when they did go out on my parents street, Stephen and I went to the grocery store and bought up 6 bags of candy and split it up evenly among the kids. Hopefully they have eaten it all by now and I can finish putting the Halloween stuff away! We hope everyone had a great Halloween and were able to enjoy themselves.

30 Days of Gratitude and Thankfulness

Day 5 11-05-10 A chance to sleep in and just rest. This stupid cold I have is kicking my bottom end. I can't go running because I can't breathe, I don't want to be around people and get them sick, my kids are running rampant somewhere, and my housework isn't exactly up to par (someone want to come dust my house?) I did sleep in this a.m. until 8:20. The exact time two of my kids are supposed to be sitting in their classroom seats. That's the time they left our house. The youngest just sat and watched t.v. the whole time the older kids were at school. Poor kid! I just sat and read a book with him right beside me. What a day. I think I'll just go back to bed and let the oldest take care of everything here, they would have more fun I think. I am thankful that I get a chance to rest like this sometimes though, it is very helpful if I don't have to yell or get upset with the kids. They even did all their homework, reading, and piano with little confrontation. I am blessed, this much I know.

Day 4 11-04-10 A handy man for a Hubby!
Yesterday we discovered a leaking pipe from the upstairs bathroom. Stephen knew exactly what to do and once the kids were all in bed and I had taken some NyQuil for my cold he started in on the leak. Little did I know that I'd need to help him by holding a light, I almost fell asleep standing up and that wouldn't have helped at all. He managed to fix the whole thing on his own, but it took him until about 3 in the morning. Yuck! Poor guy. Thankfully I have him to fix our little household problems and not have to go to a plumber for this.

30 Days of Gratitude and Thankfulness

A few years back a friend did this, 30 days of Gratitude and Thankfulness. I did it last year and thought I'd do it again. I'm a little bit late in getting started, but I'll do it anyway!
Day #1 11-01-10
Boy #1's new Asthma and Allergy Dr. He's awesome and I feel like this time he really cares and wants to help rather than just prescribe meds. He wants Boy #1 to take as little of steroid for asthma as possible and to really just help him with his allergies, which are: Dog, Horse, Cat, Sagebrush, and Grass. Thankfully not much else. Boy#1 is doing great with his Asthma testing, he blows out all the candles on the computer screen and has really good sounding lungs. As long as I can remember to give him his meds at night instead of the morning, everything will work out just fine. I'm thankful the Dr. wanted to do another skin test so we could know what will set Boy #1 off with an attack. Now we know what to avoid if possible. In the meantime, Jake will be getting a bath every week! (probably should have already been doing that.)
Day 2 11-02-10
The right and privilege to vote. I have always tried to make sure I get out and vote, even for the little things. This year I wanted to make sure I voted, because I'm tired of what promises never kept, people complaining that didn't vote, and many other things that I won't get into. I don't want to debate anything political, I only get angry with the person I debate with, so I don't do it. I know, not very grown up, but I'm not going to fight, I don't like how I feel later. I just hope that with the new people we have in government that they actually do what is best for the people who are here naturally and legally.
Day 3 11-03-10
A clean dog, house, and life.
As I mentioned, Jake will be getting baths every week. I decided that Wednesday's are the days.
I have successfully changed the bedsheets every Monday for a month now. I read somewhere that it will help cut down on colds, flu's, or any other sickness that decides to poke it's ugly little head in my house.
I'm grateful that even though I may have a cold now, I am generally healthy, that I don't drink anything that will harm me. I don't smoke. I don't take any drugs that will hurt my body. I try to run often, eat the right portions, drink plenty of water, and basically do what I'm supposed to to be healthy. I'm still not getting enough sleep (because that really is important,) but I'm working on that as well. Early to bed, early to rise...