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!

Our Anniversary

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've posted! I know, I know you all are saying it's about time. I can't promise this will be a continual thing but we'll see.

Today is mine and Paul's 13th wedding anniversary. My dad jokes every year and says that's 12 years, 11 months longer than he thought it would last. Honestly, Paul and I sometimes agree. We have however come a long way in those 13 years. I can still remember how tough those first 5 years were. We were only married 4 months and along came Hannah. So we were newlyweds and new parents.....good times!

Although it hasn't always been easy, in many ways we have both grown so much independently and together. We have become stronger together and individually. I have a more mature and deeper love for Paul then I did 13 years ago.

I'm proud of how far we've come and I know that marriage is always a journey but I can honestly say that I wouldn't want to be on that journey with anyone else.