Sunday, November 8, 2009

Schooch over, Mommy.

I sat in church today, a few rows behind a young family. I smiled inside as I watch the children cuddle and climb on their mother. Each wanted to be by her. Balancing from one side of her lap to another, switching arms back and forth between the four children, she showered them with love. It was obvious she loved them, and they adored her.


It’s been said that mom’s don’t receive enough praise. Enough acknowledgement, appreciation or admiration. Its been said that being a mom is all guts and no glory. Toiling for the unseen rewards.

It occurred to me today that idea just might not be entirely true.I would suggest that maybe, just maybe, we haven’t opened our eyes to see it.

The adoration and appreciation mom’s seek and crave is in the arms of their little children. No, its nothing tangible. And, if we aren’t careful, we will miss seeing it. But it is there - in the most sincere, honest form praise or appreciation can ever be given.

My children will probably never thank me for washing their underwear, but today, I realized, they thank me in other ways.

And as I watch this mom attempt to balance four children I smiled and shifted in my seat, gaining more insight into my children’s love language. As one child cuddled on my left, another on my right and one in my lap, I forgot that my aging hindquarters were going numb and enjoyed the positive reinforcement my little children were giving me.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Happiness comes in small packages

I don’t share very well sometimes. Especially when it comes to sweets. Friends may drop some cookies by and my first thought is, “how do I make sure I can get my share?”


I know. It’s ugly. Horrible. But guilt seems to melt away with each little taste of chocolate – or whatever the yumminess might be.

I guess it isn’t that I don’t WANT to share. Just more that I want to enjoy my portion with my good buddies Peace and Quiet. And while I wait for Peace & Quiet to grace me with their presence, I squirrel away my goodies.

The problem is that sometimes it takes a while for my long lost friends to appear. And I forget all about my stash of paradise tucked safely in my secret hiding place.

Imagine how completely delighted I was when I accidently stumbled upon these little babies today.




Oh yeah, wipe the corners of your drooling mouth. That is Hazelnut and Ghirardelli Chocolate Heaven, sweetie. MMMMMmmmmm.

It was like Christmas. And I love Christmas.

No, I can’t tell you where they are hidden. Because my children read this blog and I intend on eating this whole bag MYSELF!!!!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Things on my mind...

I used to be awesome at blogging; checking in with blogging buddies, posting regularly, feeling the virtual love of a blogging world.


And then we hit crisis mode, where the daily goal was to survive. It became a daily attempt to keep our family from sinking into the sludge that seemed to want to swallow us whole.

“Just keep swimming” as a dear friend once said to me. So we did. I did.

And now, dare I say, the crisis’s are fewer and fewer, due to nothing but Divine Intervention. Children are (barely) beginning, to adjust; calm down. There is a very small, flicker of light at the end of this dark, muddy tunnel we have been trudging through as a family. We still find ourselves knee deep in muck every now and again, but those times grow further and further apart.

I eventually hope to reignite my blogging fire that all this figurative sludge seemed to extinguish. But, until then, I will catch you up on some of the recent events.

Halloween was the best one we have had in a long time. I usually hate don’t care for the “holiday”. I have my reasons. Let’s just say it’s another blog post for another day. Still, this Halloween was awesome! Why??? Several reasons. (None of which include pictures because, hey, still trying to survive here.)

First, all my children were happy for the whole weekend. This is a first since the move. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Second, We also got to meet some more neighbors in our neighborhood and had a great Halloween party. This is an awesome place for my children on Halloween. We got way to much candy, but it was wonderful to see the whole neighborhood out and about (and I am pretty sure more people are waving to me since then as they drive by in their cars)

Third, and probably the most important, was Stake Conference. The adults met together Friday night, the youth met on Saturday night (yes, kids age 12 to 18 went to a FIRESIDE on HALLOWEEN! How cool is that???) Then we were able to go to another meeting on Sunday. It was wonderful to hear counsel and direction from our local leaders. I was going to blog about one of the stories told at Stake Conference but my good friend, THAT GIRL, already did. And I have to say, she did a much better job than I would have done. So take a second and stop by her blog to read this great message we received. (yes, THAT GIRL is totally in my stake – you can be jealous)

Of course in the midst of scraping symbolic mud from our family’s symbolic coat hem, we had to have at least one broken bone… R of course. Just goofing around, being a 10 year old boy with more energy than anybody knows what to do with. He broke his thumb, right at the growth plate. We only have the cast for 3 weeks – thank goodness. I have come to the conclusion that the cast is worse for the parents than the child with the cast. We have three weeks of not trying to get sand inside, not getting it wet, itching, sweating, hitting themselves in the head and my personal favorite, “ I am going to die if this thing doesn’t get off my arm right now!” All I can say, is I am spoiled. If my kids had to be in casts for huge long periods of time, I would have to get an Rx for Xanex… seriously.

I do have a lot more to blog about, but for now I will leave with one short comment by B the other day. For those of you who are on my Facebook, I apologize for the repeat… but this was too good not to blog.

B and I were just hanging around the house one day, doing typical stuff we do around the house, and she stopped for a minute, got a very inquisitive look on her face and asked why her brothers” have "belly buttons and those squirty deals” Yup. I laughed much harder than I should have. I guess this little girl is very aware of her surroundings.

And that sums everything up… in a nutshell.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Speechless!!!!!

Hubby shared this with me... unbelieveable.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Find it through the grapevine

Ever wish you could just ask a bunch of girlfriends really quick their opinion on a doctor or who to use to repair your A/C?

That's exactly what Mamasource is... I love this place. Mom's sharing their lessons, opinions and advice. I have had several wonderful leads through this place.

No, I have nothing to gain from my little "commercial" I just think everyone should know about it.

Have fun!