Full of Thanks

This Thanksgiving my heart is full.

I am Thankful for my husband who works hard to support our family. I am thankful for his willingness to wake up early to get my Buddy off to the bus when I am to tired. I am thankful for the love he has for me. I am thankful for the love he has for our children and especially for the love he has for the Church. I am thankful that I never have to worry about where we will be on Sunday, we'll be together as a family at church.

I am thankful for my Buddy. I am thankful for his love of learning. I am thankful that he loves school and loves his teacher. I am thankful that he is a nice, generous big brother. I am thankful he is excited about his new brother/sister.

I am thankful for my Princess. She is a light in my life. I am thankful for her willingness to help her mommy do anything. I am thankful for her sweet smile and her loving personality. I am thankful for her strong will, even though it makes us butt heads right now, it will help her in the long run. I am thankful she can't wait for her "sister" to arrive. (that's what she thinks we're having)

I am thankful for my Little Man. I am so blessed to have him in my life. I am thankful he takes a 2-3 hour nap each day. I am thankful for his smiles and his hugs and his kisses. I am thankful for the sweet spirit he has brought into our home.

I am thankful to have a home to live in, for renters in my house in NC. I am thankful for Tylenol, extra strength and the kind with codeine. I am thankful for friends and family.

But mostly I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, because without him there would be no point to this life.


What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving, leave me a comment!

The winner of the hat will be announced tomorrow!!

A little misty eyed

The last few days have been emotional ones for me. I'm sure it has something to do with being pregnant, but it probably also has to do with a few of the conversations I have heard happen.

A couple of days ago, we were all riding home from some friends house and my kids were talking about what they want to be when they grow up.

My Princess asked her big brother, "What do you want to be when you get big?"

"I want to be an Iron Chef" he replied confidently.

"I want to be a mommy." she said without skipping a beat.

Sometimes I wonder if the "work" I do around the house is noticed or just brushed aside as "what mom does." Seriously, when I heard those words, my eyes filled up with tears. She wants to be a mommy. What a great goal to have. She'll make a great mommy and I hope that by her being home with me all the time, she is learning a few things to help her become the mom she wants to be. And hearing that made my heart swell. Made me realize that the work I do is not in vain, but is fully appreciated.

The other conversation happened this morning between my Buddy and Oswald. I told Oswald last night that he was getting up with our Buddy and going to do the "go to school" routine with him. I had not had a nap in a couple of days and the night before last, I didn't get much sleep. I was exhausted!

Of course, Oswald had no problem helping me with this task. He's amazing like that. But when he came into our room this morning at 8:30...that's right people 8:30...he told me something very sweet.

As the boys were putting their shoes and getting ready to walk out the door, my Buddy looked up at his dad and said, "Tell Mom, I love her."

Bring on the waterworks. Such a sweet kid. I never realized how much he enjoys me being with him in the morning. I love being with him in the morning, but I guess I thought it didn't mean much to him. But now I know. In his own little way he expressed how much I mean to him.

I am one lucky and blessed girl to have such amazing people in my life. People who help me realize my self-worth and who appreciate the things I do for them!

Perfection

Some people might describe perfection as a state their body will one day be in, when they get a tummy tuck or a boob job or when they lose that last 5 pounds.

Others may say they will reach perfection when their kids decide they want to play together or even just get along.

While some of us might think perfection is a state of being that we can only reach when we die. While I agree with this to some extent, the other day I experienced what perfection can feel like.

The weather was gorgeous. Mid 70's here, the sun was shining, the leaves were changing colors, my kids were playing happily outside, and Oswald was raking the leaves. All while I sat on our porch with my feet up, reading a book.

I couldn't have asked for anything better than that! It's amazing what a little warmth and vitamin D will do for your body, mind and spirit.

I feel re-energized, re-focused and ready to tackle any obstacle that comes my way. It's amazing to me how the sun can make me feel like a whole new person.

What is your idea of how to spend a "prefect" afternoon?

Any good book recommendations? I need something new to start reading!

MIT--Mother in Training

  

At what age to little girls start practicing their skills to be a mommy? My princess is weeks shy of being 4 and she's already started being a little mommy to her brother.

She cuts his food when the pieces are too big. She really wants to change his diaper...that's a little scary for me. So she gets his diaper, the wipes and I let her put the powder on his bottom. She feels like she's helping.

Today, I went into his room when I heard him making noises and there she was trying to get him out of his crib. She's such a good little helper.

With my Buddy being in school all day, she's getting lots of time to be the big kid at home. It's going to be a nice year having her here and helping her develop into the little girl she's going to be. 

I have some big ideas/plans for her birthday this year. It's up for debate if she'll have a party with friends or not. She's never had one, but we'll be moving the week of her birthday. I want her to feel special, but life might be pretty crazy right then.

I got a pattern from my mother-in-law who is an amazing thrifter. She found it one day at a garage sale. It's full of patterns for little girl fancy dresses. I so want to make one for my Princess. Something to dress-up in. Something that she can feel fancy! Every little girl needs to feel fancy! 

But I gotta buy fabric and find time to sew. It just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day. 

I need to stop complaining. I totally want to make at least one for her birthday, so I better get shopping!!

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Do you ever get into a funk? How do you fight it?

--I feel like I'm in one now and I just want to break through it!

What was the last project you crafted?

--I haven't made anything in a long time. I guess I did help the kids make cards for Oswald, does that count?

How does your garden grow?

As a child, we had a huge garden in our backyard. We planted all kinds of veggies: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, spinach, ect. The garden was placed on the side of our backyard and was the bane of my existence. I hated to pull weeds.

Now, years later, I have fond memories of the beautiful plants that grew in my childhood backyard. And this year, even though I live in an apartment, I have a garden. Thanks to a friend we have a common garden. Granted she does most of the work, but it's both of our families garden.

We have tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Our plants are on the small side and some of the leaves are yellow, but that is not preventing them from blossoming.

We have plants that have more flowers on them than they have leaves. We have tomatoes that have green "balls" on them. And what's even more exciting, we have actually picked a tomato...and it was yummy!

I can't wait to have more veggies than our two families can eat! I can't wait to let my kids pick the veggies and teach them about how they got on those plants. I can't wait to bite into fresh grown veggies. They're always WAY better than store bought.

And what's best is that these little veggie plants have taught me a lesson: you don't have to be big and beautiful to make big and beautiful things (in this case veggies.)

Imagination

"Mom, can we go outside and play?"

"Sure."

My Princess and my Buddy head outside. They're packing heat. They have their "children" with them, Mickey and Minnie.

A few minutes later, my Buddy runs back inside to get a few more essentials.

"Mom, can this go outside?" He asks holding up a toy kitchen dish.

"Sure, Buddy. What are you guys doing?"

"Ummm, we're just playing." He says nonchalantly as he walks out the door onto the porch.

From inside I can hear their conversation.

"Okay daughter, you need to make sure you eat all of your food." says my Princess who is obviously the mother.

"Don't forget to eat your veggies, son." says my Buddy, who clearly is the father.

The conversation continues, they don't even skip a beat. It's as though they have rehearsed the lines before stepping food outside.

The sun streams across my Princess' face and I know she'll make a great mommy one day to a daughter who will probably test her a little more than her current "daughter".

I look into my Buddy's eyes and see the eyes of a boy who will some day, if he's lucky, be as good of a dad as the one he has. He too will more than likely have a son who is more demanding than his Mickey Mouse doll, but for now using the imagination is a wonderful learning tool.

Because if you don't ever "practice" the most important role of your life, how will you be ready for when it arrives?

Turning over a new leaf

me and my "breast friend" (as she calls me). This is how she looks when she's told "no"

I have been reading about Resolutions, setting goals, and starting afresh. This new year is bringing new experiences with it, but I'm hoping it mostly brings a new me.

I am ready to change who I am. Change the way I am as a wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, leader. Every roll I assume, I want to change it for the better.

How do I plan to change?

1. I am changing the way I eat. I have a goal to get up each morning at 6:03am, I know that's a random time, but waking up at an odd time works for me. After I wake up, I plan on doing a daily devotional with myself. Maybe if the little man is awake, then he can get in on that devotional, too. 
2. After my devotional, I plan to exercise. I have gotten a Zumba DVD that I want to try. I don't know if it will be my thing or not, but at least I will be able to get moving. That's what's most important to me, that I move.
3. I also want to be a better mom. I need to spend more time "on purpose" with my kids. I need to paint with them, color with them, do puzzles and read books with them. They need to know how much I love them.
4. I am hoping to develop who I am as a writer. I want to remember what made me love writing in the first place. I want to express myself creatively again. Let myself go when I write. 

What are your plans for the New Year? How do you plan on being the best you in 2011?

Arise

We watched Robin Hood last night, not the Disney one, but the newest one with Russell Crowe. It was good, very powerful, and one part was extremely poignant to me.

My husband and I are facing an incredible trial right now. We’re living in another state while we try to sell our first house in North Carolina. It’s hard because we’ve only had about four showings in four months. Rough. 

We just signed a contract to also put the house For Rent. Talk about a HUGE decision, one that Oswald and I didn’t take too lightly. 

“Are you sure this is what you want to do? What if the renters mess up the house we worked so hard to make look nice?” I asked each time we talked about renting it.

The house was in Foreclosure when we purchased it four years ago. We painted every single wall in the house, re-purposed the kitchen cabinets, put in new countertops, and new carpet. We spent hours fixing that house, so it has been very difficult for us to see no one even interested in going in the front door.

This is not the first financial trial Oswald and I have faced. When we first moved to NC, he was working in Real Estate and making peanuts. 

After he finished his bachelor’s degree at UNCG, he was without a job. I don’t know how we survived those months between graduation and his first job. 

I will never forget one experience we had. We were two months behind on our mortgage payment, and had no money left to our name. 

I had been praying and praying that the Lord would see fit to bless us. I had read in the Ensign one month that a sister paid her tithing, but didn’t have enough money to buy the food she needed for her family. She came home from work one evening, and there was a bag of groceries on her doorstep. Inside, was everything that was on her grocery list she was unable to buy herself. Miracle.

That day Oswald had spent the entire day working with his dad. I didn’t know when he would come home and what we would do if we didn’t get any money immediately!

I was coiling the cord around the vacuum when Oswald walked in.

He didn’t say anything to me, but put a check in my hand.

I looked down at it. It was for $900. Enough to pay our mortgage. Miracle.

I looked at him and with tears in my eyes said, “Are you serious? This is for us? How did you get this?” I proceeded to melt into a huge puddle of tears. I couldn’t stop crying. I got down on my knees immediately and said a prayer of thanksgiving.

So here we are now one year later, facing yet another financial trial. You’re probably wondering what this has to do with Robin Hood. Well, I’ll tell ya.

On a sword Robin is given is the quote, “Arise and arise again, until lambs become lions.” 

That’s what I’m trying to do right now. I’m trying to arise and arise again…until I become a lion. There is something Oswald and I need to learn in this trial. The Lord is testing us again to make sure we will arise. He’s making lions out of lambs, and I will never stop rising because in this world we need all the lions we can find.

***updated to add: our house has been rented. We're no longer behind on our mortgage and life has a way of fixing things. The Lord always blesses us when we need it. In his own way. In his own time.***

How have you been made a lion? What have you had to endure more than once in order to become the lion you are today?