Things to be thankful for

I've been sitting around pouting about my Thanksgiving weekend. I've been feeling sorry for myself and my family and whining that it was a terrible, horrible Thanksgiving. Well, I've decided that maybe I aught to count my blessings instead of whining.

Ok, so all 4 of my children and my husband had the stomach flu within a 2 day period. We didn't get to eat Thanksgiving dinner with everyone all together, although we still went later and did get to eat (those of us who could!) I spent a night without sleep caring for my two sick babies while my sick husband spent a miserable night of his own.

So what!?! I should be grateful! All of these things are minor setbacks that in no way affect my Thanksgiving. This holiday is a feast of celebration and gratefulness for all of the blessings God has given us. Here are the things I am thankful for, things that no stomach flu could ruin or take away.

1. I have four beautiful, relatively healthy kids. None of them have any horrible, terminal illness. All of them are still here with me.
2. I have a wonderful, helpful husband who does everything he can to make my life easier.
3. I have a warm, comfortable home where my family can be safe from the elements and from the world outside our door.
4. We have plenty, and I do mean PLENTY to eat. I never have to comfort a starving child who has to go to bed hungry because I have no food for them, and no way to provide food for them.
5. My husband has a good job in a secure career field. We have the money to provide for our needs, and for a few of our wants as well.
6. I have a wonderful, supportive extended family; and a handful of truly fantastic close friends.
7. I have sunsets and sunrises; oceans and lakes; beautiful silent forests; and majestic mountains to enjoy.
8. I have cell phones and airplanes, and the internet to keep me connected to all the people I care about wherever they may be.

* Ok, maybe I should have started with these last two points, but then where would my conclusion be? *

9. I have a Heavenly Father who loves me, no matter what, and who has provided all of these amazing gifts in my life.
10. I have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves me so much that he gave his life for me... For ME of all people! He suffered all for me. He knows every pain and sorrow, and he chose to endure them for me, so that he could understand me when I whine. Now really... what do I have to whine about?

Splish, splash I was takin' a bath...

All I can say is, when one has 4 kids, it is virtually impossible to know what all of them are up to at any given moment. Inevitably, there is always someone flying under the radar. When that someone happens to be the "motor-driven" 2-year-old boy, well... the results are rarely good.

Eric was upstairs supervising bedtime for the older two, Bella was playing happily in the kitchen at my feet while I did something on the computer, and suddenly I heard splashing and happy giggles coming from the bathroom on the other side of the wall...




By the way, the video does not do justice to the amount of water that was actually on the floor. There was a good 1/2 inch of water covering the ENTIRE floor... all the way to & beyond the toilet!

A Step in the right direction!

The video speaks for itself! Enjoy!

The Next "Coco Chanel"

It's amazing what a girl, desperate for a fashion update, can do with a T-Shirt!

P.S. - The styles and the poses were all Bella. They were not prompted by us at all!

Farewell, "Aunt" Uni

"Aunt" Uni died last night. She passed away from stomach cancer. I will miss her. The thing is, Uni wasn't my aunt. She wasn't actually related to me at all! You see, every once-in-a-while, you run across one of those people who you just want to adopt. Or else, you do adopt them, without even thinking about it, or realizing it, until later. Aunt Uni was one of those people for me.

I only saw her a few times a year, at Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the occasional birthday party; but I will miss her. She always made me smile. She was always as happy to see me as I was to see her, and she always greeted me with a warm hug. She was always surprised when I gave her a Christmas present, no matter how small. She was very humble and unassuming, and she made the best pecan pies in the world! Christmas will be a little emptier this year without her cheerful presence.

When I stop to think about it, it's actually remarkable that I ever even really had the privilege to know Aunt Uni at all. She was from another state. She was my Uncle Craig's aunt. Craig is, in actuality, only my uncle through marriage to my Aunt Anne. My Aunt Anne is actually my step-aunt (although I love her more like a big sister than anything else). Her dad, my Grandpa George, married my mom's mother when I was a baby. So really, technically, Uni should have been a complete stranger to me. But, she wasn't. If there's one thing that my mom's side of the family has taught me, it's that "family" isn't actually defined by bloodlines. Blood is not really thicker than water - It's love that matters. Love is what makes someone part of your family, not just genealogy.

I have several sisters, a brother or two, and even a twin that God didn't give me through my parents. But he did give them to me none-the-less; and I love them with all my heart. They are my children's "aunts" and "uncles" that cannot be traced through bloodlines, but they love them - and I would trust their lives to them. My Grandpa George was one of the most influential people in my life. His kids, my aunts and uncles all - I love dearly.

Today I am grateful for many things. I am grateful for having had Aunt Uni in my life. I am grateful that she is in a better place. I smile at the thought of my mom and Grandpa George being there to greet her and show her around. But most of all, I am grateful for all of the "family" God has blessed my life with - with or without bloodlines! My life is richer because they are in it.

Halloween Pictures - very late!

I'm finally getting around to posting our halloween pictures here. Of course, I realize that you may have already seen them on Facebook, Andrea... as I'm pretty sure you are my only reader! But, just in case you haven't, I'll put them here!

Trick-or-Treating was fun. Eric stayed home to pass out candy. Bella stayed with him for a while, but eventually came with us in her stroller after we stopped home for a candy drop. My dad (I say it this way in case anybody but you read this, Andrea) went with us too. It seems that every year we go further and further, and this year was no exception. Caleb walked, and walked! I kept asking him if he was ready to go home, and he kept saying "keep going!" So we did. From house to house, Caleb won every heart with his innocent cheekiness. If they handed him candy he would say "I need some more!" If they let him choose, he dug through the bowl in earnest and examined all of his options. Finally, when his lust for candy was satisfied, he turned and hollered back over his shoulder "Happy Howo-ween!" Until finally, when we were the furthest from home we had been all evening, The Cat in the Hat turned into "The Cat IS my Hat!" I had to carry him on my shoulders for quite a distance.

At one point, my Dad, who is considerably taller than me, offered to share the burden, so we transferred Caleb to his shoulders. Unfortunately, this lasted only a moment as Caleb began shouting "Papa is too high! Papa is too high!" So back he came. I carried him at least a block before I was able to put him down again. By then we were just about home.

My favorite thing that happened all evening was when the twins approached a door where ther was a skeleton holding the candy bowl. I was actually standing on the sidewalk, so this account is from Evan. He began to reach for the candy, but then got a good look at the skeleton and thought better of it. As he began to back away, the woman of the house said, "Don't worry, he's dead." So, greed getting the better of him, he reached his hand into the depths of the bowl. At that moment, the "dead" skeleton moved and shouted "BOO!" All I heard of this whole interaction was Evan shouting "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" I think most of the neighborhood heard him too! All I can say for my skeleton neighbor is, it's a very good thing Evan didn't have a full bladder at the time!

By the way, how do you like my halloween meatloaf?

Family Pumpkin Night!

So, at our house, we don't carve pumpkins... with 4 kids under the age of 8, it's simply too dangerous. Instead, I found these really cool things... kinda like Mr. Potato Head parts, only for pumpkins! Our new tradition goes like this: Each family member gets a pumpkin that is realtive in size to their age. Then, on pumpkin night, we all sit around the table with our pumpkins, all the pieces, and dice.

Everybody rolls the dice, and the highest roller gets to pick first. We roll once for each body part. For example, first we roll for mouths, then noses, etc... This makes things fair, because usually, whoever gets to pick first for one body part ends up picking last for another.

We all pick our parts and assemble our pumpkins then present them for a photo shoot. Afterwards, they all go out on the front porch to decorate our yard for the season. The best part about not carving pumpkins is that the pumpkins last much longer this way. After Halloween is over, we pull out the parts and turn the pumpkins around and leave them out for Thanksgiving!

My favorite pumpkin this year was Bella's. Mind you, I decorated it... she's a bit young. After putting in the mouth and the binkie, I gave it to her to play with, and turned away to decorate my pumpkin. When I looked back, she had the eyes in one hand, the pumpkin in the other, and the binkie in her own mouth!

Birthday Girl!

Ok, I know I'm very late posting this, but let's face it - I'm not good at posting anyway! Bella's first birthday was October 23rd, her party was on the 24th. Surprisingly, she really enjoyed the party! Most babies, I think, get a little overwhelmed by parties at this age... and don't really seem to care about their birthday much the first time. Bella, however, seemed to know it was all about her! She went through most of the evening with a huge grin on her face! She posed for pictures, grinned all through the happy birthday song, and paid attention to every gift! She was even interested in looking at the clothes... but then, she IS a girl after all!

The Kitty Door

Ok, so you've heard of a doggie door, right? Well we have a kitty door. No... it's NOT the same thing. A doggie door is easy to use. A kitty door takes talent! Not brains, maybe, but talent, balance, and bravery!

One day our not-so-bright cat, Jazzy got caught out in the rain in our backyard. Now, we don't have any steps up to our back door yet; so while she was out there mewing with all her might to be let in, there wasn't much I could do to help her. It was downpouring. I certainly wasn't going out in a downpour to get a cat. I opened up the door and told her to go around to the front. She looked at me like I was too stupid to understand a simple meow; and proceeded to try to scratch her way in through the basement window. I closed the door and went to the front door. I stood on the front porch in my slippers calling "heeeeere kitty kitty!" to no avail. I went back to the back door and tried to convince her again that she should come to the front - which, by the way, just happens to be the way she left the house that morning. Nope.

So, there I stand staring at her wondering how long it would take me to rig up a basket and pulley system; while she stares back at me wondering why I'm too dumb to manage to let her in. Just as I decide she's probably wouldn't be able to figure out what to do with the basket anyway, she came up with her own solution. It took her about 5 minutes to do this that very first day, but since then she's become an expert. My neighbors think it's completely hilarious and love to watch her do it.

Here's the video... enjoy:

Animal Rescue?

So, yesterday, I attempted to do a good deed. Unfortunately, I think maybe my deed should have been left undone!

On my way to run some errands with my Dad, I encountered a wild baby bunny just sitting in the middle of an intersection in my Dad's subdivision. I approached the baby, expecting it to either hop away, or be dead. Instead, the little bunny, still breathing, and not bleeding anywhere, allowed me to pick it up. As I examined him/her, I discovered a large, gaping wound on it's back right behind it's ears, at least two inches in diameter and very grizzly looking.

Being the animal lover that I am, I determined that this little baby was my job to rescue. I turned the car around, pointed it in the opposite direction of the errands we needed to run, and drove the bunny to my vet's office. When I entered and explained what I had in the palm of my hand, I was told that they did not have a wildlife license and could not treat a wild animal. Also, the only vet in the office that day was allergic to rabbits. They told me there was a wildlife rescue center located about an hour away and gave me the phone number. Luckily, the rescue center was actually only about 20 minutes away from the BMV title bureau, which was on my errand list that day.

When we got to the rescue center I learned alot about wild cottontails, things I now wish I had known when I first spotted my poor little victim sitting in the road. First of all, cottontails have a wonderful defense mechanism to protect them from predators. Their fur is actually a protective layer that is designed to pull away and rip easily without blood loss. When a predatory animal attacks and rips away chunks of fur, that's all they get. The rabbit can leave the animal with the fur in it's mouth and escape unscathed. That was the wound that my tiny little friend had... something had grabbed it and ripped away the fur, but everything underneath was perfectly fine.

Second, cottontails, for some unexplainable reason NEVER survive in captivity. They don't even put them in zoos because, no matter what, they always die within a few hours of being contained. So, because of this, combined with the fact that I was so far away from where I had picked him up; and the fact that he had already been in a box for over an hour; and that I still had a few things to do before I could go back home; they determined that the best thing for the little ball of fur would be to release him there near the rescue center.

So, to sum up... in my attempt to rescue a poor little baby animal I managed to take a little guy who was perfectly ok, remove him from his home, traumatize him, and drop him off more than an hour away from his home and family. Nice. Thankfully, I have two things to cling to for the hope that I didn't do anything too terribly bad. First, I got the stunned animal out of the street where he stood a good chance of turning up as the special of the day at the "Road Kill Cafe"; and second, they assured me at the rescue center that, although tiny, he was more than old enough to be on his own.

All-in-all, I walked away from the experience a little wiser about wild rabbits. Next time I'll just move the bunny off the road and let it be. Also, from the experience at my vet's office, I've determined that I'm really greatful I'm not an animal. Can you imagine walking into an emergency room with a gaping wound and being told, "gee, I'm sorry, the only doctor we have on-call this evening is allergic to blondes...."

Hurricane Ike

Well, we are finally back online. What was left of Hurricane Ike came through here on Sunday evening and left us without power for 32 hours! That's the longest I've ever had to go witout electricity, and let's just say, that it was quite an experience.

However, there's always good in everything if you are willing to search your clouds for their silver linings! As I sit and count my blessings, I can think of at least three.

First of all, I now have a nice, clean, shiny fridge and freezer which makes me smile every time I open the door.

Second, I got to "go camping" and still sleep in my own bed!

Third, I got a really good laugh from my city hall! Here is an EMAIL they sent out during the power outtage. Some people, who do not have my same sarcastic sense of humor, may not enjoy this as much as I did... but... I had to share:

"DUE TO THE WIND STORM ON SUNDAY 9/14, THOUSANDS ARE WITHOUT POWER IN (XXXXXXXXXXX), AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN GREATER (XXXXXXXX). AS OF 3PM MONDAY THERE IS NO WORD ON WHEN POWER WILL BE RESTORED. IT MAY BE DAYS. THE SITUATION IS COMPLICATED BY THE FACT THAT MANY OUTAGES ARE CAUSED BY DOWNED TREE LIMBS WHICH MUST BE LOCATED. THEN THE TREE COMPANY MUST BE CALLED IN TO CLEAR THE AREA BEFORE THE CREWS CAN FIX THE LINE. PLEASE REPORT YOUR OUTAGE DIRECTLY TO (XXX) AT 888-111-1111. IN THE MEANTIME, THE RECREATION CENTER IS OPEN TO ALL RESIDENTS FROM 6AM TO 10PM. TV ROOMS ARE SET UP AND THERE ARE MICROWAVES, SHOWERS, AND GAME ROOMS FOR YOUR USE. REFRIGERATED FOOD SHOULD BE KEPT ON ICE; THAWED FROZEN FOODS SHOULD BE KEPT ON ICE, TREATED AS FRESH, AND COOKED WITHIN A COUPLE DAYS. IF YOU NEED POWER FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, PLEASE CALL 9-1-1. SENIORS WITH OTHER SPECIAL NEEDS SHOULD CALL THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT AT -----------.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME."

Hmmm... thanks for the email... I just got it... AFTER MY POWER CAME BACK ON! lol

Did you ever have one of those days?

Did you ever have one of those days? Or one of those weeks? It's been a long week. I have four sick kids. I don't know why, but when I have sick kids, or a sick husband - even if I'm perfectly healthy - I get, well... I don't know, weighed down I guess.

Evan was home yesterday from school. Today, he was better and Elden had to stay home. My house is messy, and I have a babysitter coming tomorrow... I really wanted to clean, I did... but nothing happened. Does anyone else have days like this?

Instead of cleaning, I spent the day caring for kids, (ok, so I did something right); putting new ringtones on my phone; and playing with my blog! This picture wasn't taken today, but this is how I feel! Tell me tomorrow will be better.

She's a Maniac!

You know, everyone assured me that girls were calmer than boys. Everyone told me that, while boys may run around crazy, and climb on things, and live on the dangerous side of life, girls were different. Girls, they said, will sit quietly and play with their dolls for hours. HAH!

There are two videos here because after I shut off the camera the first time, she started to wave bye bye... so I had to turn it back on and catch that too!

P.S. - Moments after the camera was shut off, she fell out... she was fine though.

HEEEEEEE-YAAAAH!

Ok, I'm two days late posting this, but on Tuesday, my little boys... who incidently aren't so little anymore... took their first "Belt Test" in Tae Kwon Do. They passed with flying colors, and now they are both yellow belts! How cool is that?

I've gotta admit, they really impressed me. This is terrible to say, but I was really unsure that they would be able to do it. Especially when the Black Belt who was testing them held up a wooden board... a real wooden board about 1/2 inch thick... not a break-away board... and told Evan to give it a good hard side kick. I thought to myself, "Oh man, who is he kidding?! Does he really expect my little guys to be able to break that thing?"

Evan gave the board a kick, and my fears, so I thought, were confirmed, as he barely made contact with it. With some encouragement from his tester, he kicked again and didn't do it again. I thought, "Oh my poor little boys, they aren't going to pass, and they are going to be so disheartened." However, Evan mustered himself for one more kick and SNAP! I almost cried!

Next it was Elden's turn, fear gripped my heart for my little buddy. He's smaller, he's weaker, and he has a firm belief that Evan is better at everything (although it isn't true). I was so worried that he wasn't going to do it, and then Evan would gloat... ouch... But, my little man got up there, gave that board one swift kick and WHAMO! He got it in one try! This time, I did cry! I was so proud of them! I still am!

On the way to dinner, we took them out since it was their first time getting a belt; they got a lecture about how they need to be careful with their abilities. We explained that they are now powerful, and they need to use that power wisely by not using Tae Kwon Do on each other, their brother, or anyone at school. It was an important warning, but I could see the glimmer in their eyes at the idea that they are powerful boys. You could see them sitting up straighter and holding their heads a little higher!

You go my yellow belt boys!

P.S. - When I can figure out how to get my video posted... you can watch them pass for yourself!

P.P.S.S. - I tried to load the video, but it must be too long or something, after 1/2 hour of wating... I gave up. Pictures will have to be enough!

Let there be light...

Ok, so this is the beginning of my blog. I'm not sure why I'm keeping a blog, except that my sister sent me hers, and it was kinda cool. So I thought... hmmm... I'm just as interesting as she is, and my kids are almost as cute as hers... so I might as well do this too.

I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, so bear with me.