For which I am thankful...

It is that time of year again. The time of year where we should all give pause and think about all of the blessings we have. So, I am going to follow tradition and write a blog about the things that I am most thankful for....

1. My Savior. God has given me so much and I feel sometimes that I fail miserably when it comes to giving him credit, but he deserves all of the credit. Every blessing for which I am about to say thanks came from my Savior. How lucky am I? How lucky are we all? We have such a WONDERFUL Lord!

2. My Family. Nothing on earth would matter to me if I did not have the people I love most around me. I have a great husband, who loves me so much. I have the two greatest children ever and thank God daily for them. I have wonderful parents and step-parents. Even after several rocky years in the past, we seem to have all come home and realized that love is God's greatest gift and we were fools to squander it. I don't get to see my Sister very often, but I am always glad when I do. We have a great time together. There are many more - Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, Nieces, Nephews... I love you all.

3.My Health. Thank you Lord that I wake everyday, for many do not. Thank you Lord that I can see, for many are blind. Thank you Lord that I may walk, for many can not. Thank you Lord for taking care of me and family, for some lose loved ones every day.

4. My Friends. What would I do without my friends? Thanks for being my friend. I love you.

5. My Job. I am so thankful to have a job in these tough times. Even though I complain every morning when that alarm goes off at 5. I am so grateful to have a good job.

These are my top 5. I am so thankful for each and every one. Come up with your own list and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

You go Girl!

Where would we be without our girlfriends? I am lucky enough to have some that date all the way back to high school. I got to have lunch with two of them on Saturday. I think that it is so awesome that we are all in the same stages of our lives at the same time. We are all Mommies and what an incredible blessing that is. Our kids range from 10 mos. to 8 yrs old. It seems so surreal sometimes to be with them and remembering the trouble we all used to get into and now it is our kids that are the ones getting into trouble. We are all there for each other though, and I thank God for that daily. Friendship is a blessing, a gift from God. Tell the important women in your life how much you love them and how grateful you are for them.

You only love me for my lunchbox, baby.

Well, my baby is in the 2nd grade, and oddly enough, I am not totally freaking out. I am so proud of her. Words can't begin to describe how proud I am of her. She just turned 8 years old, and has been through alot. But she is still the sweet, caring little person that I know and love. Monday was the first day of school and she told me at breakfast that she was nervous because she was the new kid. I told her that everyone is the new kid on the first day of school, and not to worry. Of course, due to traffic, she was a little late on Monday. When she walked into the room, all eyes were on her, but she did not cry. My brave girl found her desk and sat down quietly, ready to learn. She has made some new friends and is really enjoying 2nd grade, so far. Her teacher, Ms. Stacy, seems really nice. Brickey-McCloud is a HUGE, brand new school. This school has 9 second grade classrooms. That is mind-boggling, and it like that for all of the grades there. I went there in the 5th grade, and I remember the walls had all of these animated characters painted on them. I was worried that when the built the new school that it would lack all of the charm that the old one had. It really doesn't though. Even the size doesn't take away from the charm and the welcoming feeling that you get when you walk through the front doors.
I know that this post has an odd title, and I promise that I am getting around to that. Sarah got a brand new "Littlest Pet Shop" lunchbox from her grandparents and it is super cool!! She is taking her lunch everyday and I came up with a great idea. Everyday I put a knock-knock joke in her lunch box and she loves it. I found a web-site, http://www.knock-knock-joke.com.
It has hundreds of jokes and most of them are kid-friendly. I just put a joke on a pretty note card, and tape it to her sandwich. Not only does this make her smile, but it also gives her something to tell her friends.

You do what in a garage?

We hit a rather large milestone this weekend. We have been living in our current home since January and on July 26th...(are you ready for this?), we were finally able to fit both cars in the garage! Yea!!!! I feel like dancing. It took two really big garage sales, three trips to the consignment shop, and umpteen trips to the dump, but now the garage is home to our cars and not our junk. Well, technically there is still some junk, but not as much as before. I was blown away by this. I had forgotten that the purpose of a garage was for parking your car. It takes very little to make me happy these days.

Summertime - Part 2

Ethan vs. the ice cream cone. Need I say more?

Summertime

Don't you just love summertime? It is so nostalgic. The smell of charcoal or a freshly cut lawn always takes me back to my childhood. The kids and I were playing outside yesterday and I actually heard an ice cream truck. I had to fight every urge not to go running and screaming into the house to get money from Mom, who never ever had it in a quick and easy location. Where have ice cream trucks been? I have missed them so, and the super cool thing about this is that I got to share my children's first "ice cream truck experience"with them. Sarah said in awe, "I didn't know such a thing existed." That was pretty funny. Also the kids now have an awesome play fort that they can climb on, swing on, and hopefully not get hurt on. We have even made some new friends because of it. Sarah has a play date tonight with a little girl that we met last night. Summer is an attitude. It is playful, care-free, sometimes mischievous and always fun!

Garage Sales

I had a garage sale this weekend. Every time I do this I always say that I am never going to do this again!! It never works out this way though. As a family with two children, we have stuff. Lots of stuff. And is it the good stuff, like a boat or a sports car? Heck no, not us! We have every variety of riding toy possible, Barbies with no clothes (or heads for that matter), 472 stuffed animals (I am sooo not joking), you get the idea. Kids accumulate stuff. In fact, Ethan has toys in his closet that he got for Christmas that are still in the box. He hasn't even played with them, and he has a birthday party next week. More toys for next years garage sale. The one that I am not going to have.
Have you ever noticed that garage sales always make you feel better about yourself? It's like going to the county fair. You feel like a supermodel compared to some of the people that go to garage sales. Don't get me wrong, they are not all fat and toothless (God, please forgive me for that). But you know what I mean. How awful would it be if that was the only way you could afford to dress your children? Or if you had to buy your child's birthday present at a garage sale. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with hand-me-downs. I have taken plenty. I think the bottom line is that we should all be thankful for what we have, and in the case of some, for what absolute strangers don't want.

Mommy Moments

Ok, I know my last post was kind of a downer, and I am sorry that I was whining. Aren't we all entitled to a little shameful whining every now and then? For every bad thing about being a Mommy, there are about 200 good things. I have made a list of some of my favorite "Mommy Moments"...
1. Every morning my littlest one gets up and he needs his nuggle time (snuggle time). He can have it with either Mommy or Daddy. He's not picky.
2. I love how you go to pick them up at school and they run to you screaming "Mooooommmmmmy!" When else is someone going to run and jump into your arms? Let alone giving you sloppy kisses and hugs complete with sand from the sand box.
3. I love how proud they are to give you a gift or drawing that they made. Their little eyes are full of anticipation as you remark on how great the gift is or what a wonderful job they did on their drawing.
4. I love surprising them. Whether it is a Christmas gift, or a just because trip to toy store. I love seeing their little eyes light up. When we took my daughter to Disneyworld in 2006, we didn't tell her we were going. We showed up at her school around lunchtime, picked her up, and when we got to the car told her we were going to Disneyworld. She was in shock for about 2 hours.
5. I am most happy when my family is all together and we are doing something fun. Whether it is playing outside or going to Dollywood. I treasure these moments.
6. I love that when my children are sick, they need me above all others. Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy them being sick, but I become a permanent fixture for them to lay, sit, or puke on. I love being needed so much.
7. I love it when everyone is fresh and clean from the bathtub and it is a Friday or Saturday night, so no one has to get up early, and we all get under a blanket on the couch and watch TV together.
I love, above all, being a Mommy. It is the best full-time job in the world. These moments and fleeting. My babies will be grown someday, and it is so important to enjoy them. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing Sarah home from the hospital and she is in the first grade today. I just try to soak everything up. You should too. Take the time to stop and smell the roses and come up with your own list.

I'm drowning

Life is hard. Throw two kids and a husband into the mix and it is incredibly hard. What really gets to me, is that before I had two children I could remember all sorts of things. I was never late to appointments, I could finish a thought and a sentence, and I was capable of organization that would make Martha Stewart applaud. Where did that go?
My daughter came home from school last week with her Monday folder as usual. There was a class group photo in her folder with a note from the teacher saying..." I bought this picture for Sarah because she was crying that she was the only one who didn't get one..." Do you know how embarrassing that is, and how bad that looks? I don't even remember seeing the order form for this picture. I did some digging and sure enough, I had received it. I just forgot to fill it out and send it in. DUH!!!
I have got to improve at this. I am sure that other Mom's pull this off without a hitch. Why can't I? First of all, I need help with organization. Sarah, and Ethan as well, bring home enough papers every week to drown in. I throw the majority of them away. I keep the really cute stuff, drawings, colorings, homework, etc. But a lot of it is just fluff! Some of it does not even serve a purpose. I don't really care that the 5th graders are going on a field trip to the Museum of Science and Energy. My daughter is in the 1st grade. I don't think that is pertinent information.
I am working on de-cluttering my house and my life. It is not easy. I married a slob and gave birth to two mini-slobs. That really isn't a fair statement. All children are mini-slobs.

They are only little once...

Parenting is really not fair. Why can't we be parents to little ones and have all of the time in the world to enjoy them. My kids are adorable and they say the funniest things, but my life right now is so hectic, I don't have the time to take it all in. You go to sleep one night and they are 18 mos. and you wake up and they are starting school. Before you know it, they will be wanting to borrow the keys to the car, and to be perfectly honest, I don't really know how to feel about that. My first born is 7, which is still young, but it was only yesterday that I was cradling her in my arms. How can she be in the first grade? It isn't possible.

Before I had children I was going to scrapbook everything and keep a journal of all of the hilarious things that they say on a daily basis. Yeah right, I don't even have their baby books complete. There is a long list of things I said that I would do once I had baby, and I don't think any of them are completed. I just try to soak them in everyday and make as many memories as possible.

I'm where?

Have you ever gone to bed and not woken up in your bed, or your bedroom for that matter. This has happened to me twice now. It really is a freaky feeling. I went to bed Friday night as usual, and I woke up in an ambulance. The EMT was asking me questions that I should know, but couldn't for the life of me answer. Questions like...Do you know your name?...What city do you live in?...What is your address? I couldn't answer any of these questions. For the address question, I did manage to tell him that my garage is a mess, but that was about it.

You are probably wondering what in the **** is wrong with me. I don't even really know the answer to that question. I had a seizure Friday night. I had a seizure and scared my poor husband and family to death, again. You see, this is not my first seizure. I had two of them, ten years ago. Am I epileptic? Don't know, but it is not looking good. The medicine that I have to take to not have seizures makes me feel awful. When I take it, all I want to do is get in my bed and go to sleep. That does not make for very conducive working conditions. But, I am not going to complain, or whine. I have to take this stuff and that is exactly what I am going to do. I can't drive until I see the doctor again. That makes getting to work interesting. I am going to use my line that I have used all year...."It is what it is." At least I am alive to complain about it.

Diet Schmiet

Well, those of you who know me, probably know that I need to be about 40 lbs. lighter. When did I get so big? And please, nobody needs to say "you are not that big", because I am. I know how I got here, Sarah and Ethan, and I would not trade them for 100 lbs. But...I am done with the baby making part of my life, and it is time to get down to the business of losing weight. Easier said than done...

For me, becoming a mother, automatically moved me and anything pertaining to me in the not important file. That is why I can go six months without a haircut, or never seem to get myself to the doctor when I am sick, etc, etc. Healthy eating requires a lot of forethought. You have to plan each meal and shopping trip accordingly. This is just too much thought focused on me. I am not used to thinking of myself, I haven't done so in seven years. But not anymore...

Deb (bff) and myself joined Weight Watchers last night. This is not a plug for WW, but of all of the diets (or lifestyles, they like to call it), this one is the most flexible, and probably the easiest to stick to. How I love those extra 35 weekly points!

Truthfully though, don't we feel better about ourselves when we are eating right? I feel like I have accomplished something big just by eating a healthy breakfast. Exercise is a lost cause. I DON'T have time for it, and that is not an excuse. It is physically impossible for me to fit one more thing in my day, so healthy eating will have to do the trick. I know that it will probably take longer, but I am committed to doing this. So...if you see me with a snickers, I give you full permission to shame me into oblivion!

More Sex Please!!

Not literally... "Sex and the City" part two is coming out in 2010. I am so pumped! You have to admit that the title of this post definitely got your attention though.

I love Sex and The City. I love the series. I love the movie. I love the shoes. I have been watching for years and know almost every line of every show by heart.

I have done several personality quizzes and big shock, I am most like Charlotte. Did that fool anyone? I am conservative, loyal, trustworthy and family oriented.

Speaking of Charlotte....We have to give props to Kristen Davis, who received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role of Charlotte York McDougal Goldenblatt.

Break out the Manolos and Matinis, Sex is back!!!

No Broken Bones

The ice skating trip was a success!! Sarah had a blast, and no one broke anything. Will post pics of the future "Michelle Wii" soon. Stay tuned.

Triple Lutz with a Double Toe Loop

Are you impressed that I can speak fluent figure skating? I would have put a sow cow (sp?) in, but wasn't exactly sure how to spell it. You may ask, why all the skating jargon? Well it's simple, I am paying up on a past due promise to my little girl. Tomorrow we will lace up, and hit the ice. Hopefully, not literally. We are going to the Ice Chalet to skate.
She is so excited about going and I am excited about taking her. I did warn her about falling. I told her..."you will fall, there is no getting around that.." It's kind of like learning to ride a bike. I am a pretty good skater, meaning that I fall down much less than a beginner.
She will do fine though. She is much closer to the ice than I will be, and kids really don't have any nerve endings anyway. The cold and the falls won't bother her a bit.

Wish me luck!!!

Huge Fan

I love American Idol. No, really, I LOVE American Idol. I even love the cheesy audition footage, probably more the actual competition. I love that there are people out there that, by definition are completely tone deaf, and truly believe that they are the next American Idol. I love that they come clad in bikinis or outrageous costumes. BTW, I have to complete agree with Kara on the talent, or lack thereof, of bikini girl.
I love that those poor judges have to sit through endless hours of sucky auditions, to find the real talent. But they always do, and that is what makes this a great show. I guess that is why they make the really big bucks. There are always ear plugs.

Good Times

Well, it is official, I am moved. I thought the last two weeks would be the death of me, but here I am, hopefully writing a clever and witty blog entry.

Our new house is 1/2 the size of our previous home, so basically I have stuff coming out of every crook and crevice. You can't even see the ceiling of the garage, just a mountain of boxes, toys, and stuff that I have accumulated over the years. I am in amazement at how much I do have, and fortunate to have it.

I have to say a huge THANK YOU to my Dad. Without his help, we would still be toting boxes around. He worked days helping us load and unload the moving truck. My stepmother, Sharon worked a lot as well, helping clean the house and unpack boxes. I don't know how I would have done this without both of them.

Adios 2008!!

2008 was, to put it mildly, the year from hell. I am rejoicing that it is over and will never look back. Here are the highs and lows of the past twelve months...

Highs...
1. We all got another year older. I guess that is good.

2. My dad and I put aside our differences and decided to start over. A fresh start for the new year.

3.My daughter had successful open heart surgery, and as of right now, has a perfectly normal heart.

Lows...
1. Due to the failing economy, Keith and I both lost our jobs and had to start over. It is sooooo not fun.

2. Due to low #1, we are having to move out of the home we love. It is for the best.

3.My daughter had to have open heart surgery, which just about killed me.

4. Also, due to low #1, my husband no longer has anything to do with his mother or her family, and this is very sad to me.


You have heard the saying, "...that which does not kill you, only makes you stronger." I am living testament to it. I don't really know how I have survived all of this, but somehow I have made it through. God has seen me through every problem, big and small. I am giving him full credit for my survival.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, 2008!