Thankful

I am looking forward to the upcoming holiday. Kids will have some time off of school, Mike has a couple days off work, and we will get to see most of our family throughout the week. And last but not least we get to start decorating for Christmas!!! Here are a few things on my thankful list...

1. I am grateful for an awesome and amazing husband. He took care of everything today so I could get some much needed rest. I slept 18 out of 24 hours. Hopefully I can go back to sleep tonight.

2. I am grateful for my kiddos. They are always making me smile and laugh. They get along and play so well together. I love that they are are at a pretty independent stage right now, yet still innocent.

3. I am grateful for our home and neighborhood. We are very lucky to have a home in a great neighborhood. As I look outside right now and see the snow everywhere, I am reminded how grateful I am for the heater I have blowing on me right now.

4.I am grateful that our kids have the opportunity to have a good education. I love how much they are growing and improving everyday. They are constantly coming home and telling me things they have learned. I don't even remember learning some of the stuff they tell me about. Yesterday they came up with an experiment (while Mike and I were still in bed.) They wanted to see what would float and what would sink. They filled a few bowls with water poured different objects into it and then froze it to see where stuff ended up. It was pretty clever I thought. Kade also informed me of a bunch of shapes he has learned, one being an "oca-gon." Who knew he knew the shape of a stop sign?

5. I am grateful for modern medicine and insurance. We are constantly dealing with little health problems. I am so happy to have good insurance and good doctors to help us through it. Today I have been dealing with a huge swollen eye (I'm thinking it's pink eye.) I am so grateful for the medicine I have so I'm not scratching my eyes out.

6. I am grateful for friends. I am so lucky to have such great influences around me. I am constantly reminded of qualities that I should work harder to have. Lately I have been thinking a lot about friends, and what a positive or negative effect they can have on you. I have been a little down lately but a simple phone call from somebody reminds me that life is good.

7. This one is barely scraping by on my thankful this. I am grateful for a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Mike will laugh that this is on my list because I complain about the car every single day! Maybe next year I will be able to put that I'm thankful for a new car.

8. I am grateful for food!!! This is including cookies, donuts, pumpkin pie, and candy. Although, my bum is not as grateful for these items, as my belly is.

9. I am grateful for the ladies that give of their time to help me work off all the items listed above.

10. I am grateful for my blog. I have been able to capture so memories and thoughts over the past few years. I find so much comfort going back through previous posts. It's also great to be able to get feedback from others. Sometimes it's nice knowing your not the only crazy one around.

11. I am grateful for the gospel in my life. It helps me stay grounded.

12. I am grateful for an inspired fellow blogger, who put out the challenge to do a service every day for the month of November. This came at a time when I really needed it. I was caught in a slump. By taking on this challenge it has immensely changed my outlook on things. I have not been perfect by doing it everyday but I think I have done pretty well. I didn't realize at the time how much it would change me. I hope to continue doing this throughout the holiday season.

13. I am so grateful for the simple pleasures we get to enjoy everyday. Some things would be a good book, a washing machine, a microwave, fast food (can't wait to try the new In-n-out,) blow dryers, snow plows, sunsets, electricity....this could go on and on.

I have listed a few things I am grateful for. I don't think it would be possible to list everything though. This topic will be on my mind throughout the next week, and I may need to continue the list after more thought. Happy Thanksgiving!

Team Edward vs Team Jacob....

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED THE MOVIE! I'm not sure why I didn't go see the midnight showing when Twilight came out. I was definitely missing out! This time around I went with some friends from my ward to see the midnight showing. It is totally worth going just to see the FREAKS that come out at night. It was better then people watching at Disneyland. Going into the show I was totally an Edward fan. In fact I hated reading New Moon because of Jacob. Needless to say, after watching the show, I'm not sure who's "team" I'm on now. I LOVED Jacob in the show. I thought he really made Edward look bad, especially when Edward had his shirt off (gross!)

We went to Olive Garden before hand and had some yummy food. Their was a huge table of people "celebrating" Bella's birthday. It was quite comical to see how into they were. They all had party hat's, a cake with candles, they sang to her, and they were all decked out in fancy clothes. They were insistent that NOBODY touch their cardboard cut outs.

I had an awesome night and can't wait to see it again. But for the record it will NOT be another midnight showing. I was less then an adequate mother the next day.

Limber...

After seeing Kaylee in dance class, Mike asked her if anybody has ever called her "limber?"

She thought about it real hard then responded, "Um, Well....Most people just call me Kaylee."

Saturday's in November...

What's better then a Saturday in November when it's warm enough to strip your clothes down. Kade and his buddy "tiny" were a little bit of a distraction during Brayden's last soccer game. They were getting a lot of attention with their huge muscles.

For thy good....

"One of the realities of the kingdom is that we work with each other in the midst of our imperfections. We see those imperfections as well as the traits and talents that God has blessed us with. And during this process of life together in the community of Saints, we watch each other grow. It is not surprising when we see each other grow as a result of opportunities in the kingdom. And it isn't usually just one muscle that is developed." Neal A Maxwell Ensign Aug. 2000 Insights from My Life

"All things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." D&C 122:7

I haven't had too many callings in the church, but with the ones I have had I have been extremely blessed. Every time I have been called in, and been given the opportunity to serve in various areas, I have thought to myself, why on earth are you calling me to THAT? I have had various reactions like: terror, confusion, being overwhelmed, full on bawling (enough that the Bishop has had to call me in to receive a blessing,) excitement, and apprehension. But with every calling it has enriched my life and I have grown IMMENSELY! I know that I have served in specific callings for specific reasons.

When I was called to Primary I was not prepared for the things expected of me or the experiences I was about to have. The entire 3 years has been a growing experience for me. I truly thought I was going to be missing so much by not being in Relief Society. I was worried I was never going to have a spiritual experience in church again. But I have learned so much from the different leaders in the organization. I have been blown away by the spirit of the children. I don't think there was a Sunday that went by that I didn't cry. Every time the children open their mouths to sing, I would get goosebumps all over my body. I am SOOOO sad that I will not be able to experience these things any more. As of today I have been officially released from my calling. This has been such a hard transition for me. Because I was switched from 2nd counselor to 1st counselor about a year ago I have been able to experience all the areas of Primary. My very favorite thing has been to meet with the baptism candidates and see the joy in their eyes. It truly is an amazing experience.

We had such an awesome president. She was so organized and on top of things. She made me (well, not physically but because she called me as a counselor) stretch my comfort zone, and do things I didn't know I was capable of. I'm not sure what my next calling "adventure" will be. But I do know that it will be an opportunity for me to grow, and learn in a different area, by different people. So even though I'm not ready to let this calling go, I guess I need to move on now. Good luck to the new presidency, you will be amazing. You are going to have such an awesome experience.

Opposites attract...

Happy 9th Anniversary!

I am in a much better mood today, so I guess I can celebrate today. I felt really bad for being grumpy yesterday, especially when Mike surprised me with Roses and a gift certificate for a pedicure and manicure. I thought I had made it clear to him that I wasn't celebrating so I guess he celebrated without me. That is why I love him. Even when I'm ornery he has a way of constantly lifting my spirits. If I'm upset he can point out the good in the situation. When I'm lazy, he picks up my slack. When I'm hungry, he feeds me. When I'm sick, he pampers me. When I'm yelling, he is calm. When I want to sleep in, he gets up and takes care of the kids. When I want to shop, he gives me money. When I'm sad, he listens to me. When I want a treat, he sits down and eats with me.

Mike and I have two completely different personalities (I am a white, he is a yellow.) This combination is perfect for us. We compliment each other in every area of our lives. I couldn't imagine one day without him.

Love you!!!

Brilliant!!

I am so tired of dealing with this. I am constantly cleaning up DVD's, throwing away scratched ones, and putting them back in their case.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

I know I'm not a genius, but when it comes to organizing I get a "F." I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished today. And as a bonus, I just freed up about 4 drawers. What to do next? Share if you have any brilliant organizing tricks.

Moments...

Moments that reminded me to smile:

I got to spend a couple hours last night cuddling and scratching Brayden's back. He was so uncomfortable and in a lot of pain. Now that he is getting bigger I don't get many chances to just lay with him. I loved that time (even if it was 1 o'clock in the morning.)

It was parent's day at Kaylee's dance studio. She was so proud to show me what she has learned. She is getting really good at splits, cartwheels, one handed cartwheels, and back bends. It's fun watching her do some of the things I used to love.

Kaylee is the one with black sleeves/pink outfit

I laid down to watch a movie and Kade cuddled up right on me. He laid their for awhile, then he gave me a kiss on my cheek and said, "I yuv you mom"

Some Days....

Their are some days that you can't help but wish they would be over. In November our family has 3 days in a row that we get to celebrate and remember important things in our lives. Nov 8 is Mike's birthday. Nov 9 is the day that Mike's Dad passed away (2 years ago.) Nov. 10 is our anniversary (Happy Anniversary Babe!) I can post later and share my appreciation for my husband. But for now, I am not celebrating today, I will celebrate my anniversary on a different day. I'm not supposed to be ornery, grumpy, mad, irritated, and upset. So for now I will list all the "wonderful" things that have been going on.

Yesterday, I woke up, ironed the kids clothes, made them breakfast, made their lunches, got their stuff ready for school, and piled all the kids in the car. As I was backing up I noticed that the car was bouncing around. We had a flat tire (this is the exact moment where I began having a bad attitude.) We were already running late, so I couldn't call another neighbor to take the kids (they were actually punctual and had already left.) My awesome neighbor volunteered to drop off my kids before he took his own. I was bummed because I figured my whole day was shot because I had no car. Well, after dropping my kids off at school he came back with an air compressor and filled my tire back up. SO AWESOME! I was able to go to the tire shop and have them fix the flat...and I went in my pajamas.

A couple hours later, Brayden called me from school and told me he had hurt his ankle. He was playing soccer and a boy slide tackled him and slid right into his ankle. Mother of the Year tells him to toughen up and I will look at it when he gets home. Well when he came home it was swollen and bruised. GREAT. Well my AWESOME neighbor's WAY WAY AWESOME wife came over and took a look at it. She advised us to take him in to get an x ray. So my WAY WAY AWESOME neighbor took Kaylee and Kade so I could head up to Primary's with Brayden. We sat in the waiting room for some time (probably just enough time to be infected by the many many people that were there with the swine flu, strep throat, and croup. Ya, it wasn't pleasant.)

Once they took us back they did an x ray on Brayden and put a split on his foot. They couldn't see a fracture in the bone, but said their could be one on the growth plate. We will go next week to meet with a specialist. So for now he is enjoying the attention he is getting, but hating the fact he can't run around.

Today I was in charge of the neighborhood preschool. Because I had spent the previous night in the hospital, I had nothing prepared. Luckily they couldn't tell I was winging it.

Today was also retake picture day (and yes, Kaylee needed retakes REALLY bad.) I forgot about it and sent her with a slicked back pony tail. She is going to have an AWESOME picture, one that she can remember every time she looks at the class picture. She only cried about this for about an hour after she got home from school. I guess I'm going to need to hire someone to take some different pictures.

And I just found a redbox DVD that I forgot to return. I got it 3 weeks ago.

This list could go on, but I will save it for another post. Their can't be too many fabulous things in one post:)

Thomas the Train...

So, to answer the question...What is it? It was supposed to be Thomas the Train. Here is what the stencil looked like. After failing to follow the pattern, Mike decided it would be easy enough to freehand it.

Can't you see the resemblance?

I told him it looked more like Wallee, and he replied, "That's what I was going for." Kade was happy with his pumpkin, so that's all that matters.

Kristy wins the contest by guessing Wallee. Although that isn't what it was originally supposed to be, that's what Mike tried to pull it off as.

Halloween 2009

The cold weather went away. The flu bug went away. Unfortunately, the fact that I was "buh hum bug" this year, didn't go away. I am usually so excited to dress up, and decorate for halloween. This year I just didn't care about any of it. I told the kids to rummage through the costume stuff and see what they could come up with for a costume. I think they did pretty well, considering I didn't spend a dime.

Brayden as a ninja. Ignore the fact that I messed up on his makeup. He was happy with it so it doesn't matter. Brayden wanted to go trick or treating by himself this year. I am still a little to over protective so he had to wait around on Kaylee and Kade again.

Kaylee as a bride

I asked Kaylee if she was a bride, who was the groom? She said, "It's Brooks, but he doesn't even know I love him! Do you think one day he will love me again?" She was VERY happy that she received a paper bouquet of flowers in the mail from him. She said, "MOM I think he likes me a little more." She loved being a bride!

Kade the red power ranger. Kade didn't feel real good, so trick or treating only lasted about 30 min. Once he had enough, he came home and devoured the candy he had accumulated.

Here is Kade trying so hard to like Sour Patch kids! After the first 2 he threw the rest of them away.

The kids pumpkins. I tried and tried to talk them into painting them this year, but no such luck. They all wanted their pumpkins to "shine" at night. I carved 2 of them this year (not counting the German Shepard pumpkin we did for my Dad and Laura) and Mike had one BEAUTY! We have laughed and laughed at his pumpkin. I will give someone a prize if they can figure out what this pumpkin below, is supposed to be. We decided that from now on, Mike will clean out the pumpkins and I will carve.

Here is the one and only crafty Halloween thing I did this year. I made little witches shoes and put a fish net stocking filled with candy inside them. I don't have a picture of the final product but they were fun to give to friends, visiting teaching and teacher's gifts.