Happy Birthday Kristin!

Today is my friend Kristin's 40th birthday. She's the tall one in the picture, next to me. I leave in the morning to go and help celebrate with her and some other friends.

Kristin and I met 5 years ago through Mops. I was a table leader and she was new to our group. We both had kids the same age, her son Jake is 2 months older than Lauren. We instantly bonded. She claims that she "glommed" on to me. She is the type of person that everyone likes. She's very outgoing, fun to be with and is a true and genuine friend. Although we've only been friends for 5 years I feel as if she's been my friend all my life, that's how natural our friendship is. I feel blessed to have several friendships like that, including some here in Idaho!

So I leave tomorrow morning for a relaxing fun filled weekend. There are 7 of us going to the spa on Saturday for a day of pampering........I can't wait for that!

Happy Birthday Kristin! I'm so glad I will be there to help you celebrate.

So, consider yourself lucky......here's a second post in 2 days. I received this from a friend and thought there was a lot of good stuff in here. I printed it and posted it by my computer! Enjoy!

Just some good thoughts for the year to come.

January, 2008

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a DVR, tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to__________ _ today.'

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. GOD heals almost everything.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

33. The best is yet to come.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. Do the right thing!

36. Call your family often.

37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 'I am thankful for __________.' Today I accomplished _________.

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

39. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

New Post for the New Year!

So, my New Year's resolution is to at least post once a week! If I post more than that.......consider yourself lucky!

Snow, Snow, Snow!!! It's everywhere. Now I don't hate the snow the way I hate the rain but this is the most snow we've seen since we moved here. Being born and raised in California, I'm a sunshine kind of girl. I don't particularly like snow sports, I'd rather be out on a boat. The kids love to play in the snow and build snowmen and have snowball fights but then they track the snow into the house and it's a big mess! Plus, for those of you who know my husband well you can imagine what he is like when it snows. The driveway has to be shoveled almost immediately and then the snow has to be pushed to where the drain is so that when it melts it will go down the drain. So all of us have had the opportunity to go out there and shovel snow. Good Times!

So although I don't hate the snow I am looking forward to my little trip to California next weekend. The weather might be crummy but it will be a nice break from the snow!

New Post

Ok, so I was on a role and now it's been a week and a half. Darcie reminded me to update when she told me she was going to leave some smack on my blog but her computer kicked her off......ha ha! That's what you get for trying to leave smack!

Not much been going on lately. I've been trying to honor my husband and his desire for me to not spend money so needless to say I've been spending a lot of time at home. Don't get me wrong, I love being at home. There is something gratifying about having a clean house, laundry done, cards sent out, Christmas presents wrapped kind of life, but sometimes it's a little boring! I'm even looking forward to the PTA meeting at the kid's elementary school tonight just so I can get out! I know, it's pathetic. Despite all the time I've had at home there are still so many little things around the house I know I can be doing. There's journaling I could be doing in my scrapbooks but I've also been busy embroidering 7 (large patterned) tea towels for our Mops steering team.

In light of our "financial conservation" Paul and I have decided not to exchange Christmas gifts. I have to say that ever since I quit work, it's always been a little weird for me to buy him gifts anyway. I mean, it is both of our money but he's the one out there pulling in the paycheck, so really I'm just purchasing something he could purchase himself. The kids usually make us something at school but maybe I will have them pick one thing out that they can give their dad from all 3 of them.

That's all for now.......bring on the smack!

A fun few days!

It's been a crazy last few days! My dad had surgery on Wednesday and the surgery went very well (thanks to all of you who prayed for him) however he continued to run a fever up until Saturday so that was a little nerve-racking. They did release him yesterday morning and he is home resting!

Then Thursday night, my dear friend Darcie gave us a little scare going into the hospital to have her appendix removed and a tumor (her alien baby!) I was able to help out by relieving Na and staying with Darcie's girls over night. Then Mops on Friday morning without Darcie and nothing set up.....Good Times! The highlight was our wonderful talk from the organization guru Na!

That brings us to Saturday......my son complains he doesn't feel well after church. He decides it's because he is hungry and proceeds to finish most of his dinner. That night at 12:38pm (yes, I remember the exact time!) he wakes us up to tell us he had thrown up. Of course Paul doesn't budge, so I proceed to pull myself out of bed, down the hall into Andrew's room where I find that my son had not made it to the bathroom. He has thrown up all over his bed! Plus, by the time he had made it to the bathroom, he threw up in the sink and not the toilet! Again, Good Times! So after nearly vomiting myself, I bucked up and went through the disgusting and tedious job of cleaning up the mess! I made him scoop the puke out of the sink(is that being a bad mom? I'm sorry but it was hard to have a lot of compassion here!) I finally get back to bed and Lauren comes into the room. I took my pillow and headed to her room! The joys of motherhood.

So today, I'm tired, I'm a little nauseous myself and I'm just trying to regroup. Only 2 1/2 days of school this week and then the start of the holidays. Hopefully this wasn't a preview of what is to come!

My Grandpa

Today is my Grandpa's birthday. This is my mom's dad. Of course I am just putting his card in the mail today even though I've had it almost a year, it seems the days just sneak up on you.

My grandparents live in Beebe, Arkansas(just right outside of Little Rock). They have lived there all my life but we were fortunate to be able to see them at least once a year sometimes every other year. They are the type of grandparents every child should be blessed to have. I only wish we lived closer. I did live close to my dad's parents but they weren't the best grandparents and I often found myself wishing I could make them trade places!

About a month ago my grandparents came to visit. It was such a blessing. My grandpa is 83 today and hates to fly but he wanted to come and see where we all lived here in Idaho. It was a such a nice time getting to be with them and having the kids spend time with them. I told my kids how fortunate they were to have great-grandparents that they knew and could spend time with. It was just another reminder of how special family is and how we should treasure every moment we have with them.

Happy Birthday Grandpa! I love you very much!

Lauren, Lauren, Lauren

So, because this has been bugging me the last couple of days I figured it must be blog worthy.

This past Saturday, we got together with some friends who have a daughter that is around Lauren's age. After about an hour of the kids playing both the little girl and Lauren came into the kitchen crying and upset. I immediately wonder what Lauren has done. Apparently the other little girl had hit Lauren and Lauren hadn't done anything......Really? Imagine my surprise when another mom that was there had witnessed the whole thing and did affirm the fact that Lauren had not done anything.

So this got me to thinking. For those of you who know Lauren you know what a "spirited" child she is. She wasn't the easiest baby and she is a very strong willed child. I saw a sticker recently that said "I am here to live my life outloud!" That is Lauren in a nutshell. While I deal with a lot of spirit with her, I have come to realize that no child is perfect. I am guilty of labeling Lauren or commenting about her liveliness just as much as others but recently I have become more sensitive to it. While I am certainly not one of those mothers who buries their head in the sand, I'm also realizing that everything is not Lauren's fault. It's unfair of me to label her or to always assume she is the one who is to blame.

Since Saturday, I have had the opportunity to "watch" Lauren interact with some neighborhood friends and while Lauren definitely is not the timid type, I have seen other little girls be just as bratty as she can be. I had a friend in California who watched Lauren for almost a year when she was 2 years old. She was always telling me what Lauren was doing wrong, "She pushes the other kids", "She's so loud in the car, my kids have to plug their ears." I got so tired of hearing it. I had the opportunity to babysit her children a couple of times and believe me they weren't angels! However, I had another friend e-mail me just recently asking me how Lauren was because she "missed that spunky little girl".

So here is where I am going with this....I am the first to admit that Lauren is spunky and I will be the first to get onto her if she has done something wrong but I'm also realizing that I need to start appreciating her zest and zeal for life. I hope Lauren continues to "live her life outloud", I hope she goes through life with the same spunk and determination she has now and that I will continue to find joy in her the way I do!