30 in 30

This, my dear readers, is my 30th and final NABLOPO post. I did it! I actually posted every day during November. And it wasn't even as hard as I thought. Granted some of my posts were short and not in the least bit informative/entertaining/moving/brilliant. But there's always tomorrow.

Which, by the way, starts Mitzvah December. Here are the Mitzvah rules. Okay, so there are no rules. But here are a few things I do.

1. The mitzvah has to be something I wouldn't do already. My sister's birthday is December 21st so giving her a gift on that day doesn't count because I'd do that anyway. (Notice how I dropped that information in there, Ada?) Ditto for Christmas gifts.
2. The mitzvah should be planned ahead of time. But not so much that spontaneous mitzvahing is stifled.
3. The mitzvah should be meaningful. If I gave Kathy some tomatoes and a raspberry smoothie it would not be an act of kindness. Now coffee and chocolate. That would be a mitzvah for her.
4. The mitzvah should be explained when appropriate. I plan to do some anonymous mitzvahing, too.
5. The mitzvah should cost very little if anything. It's truly the thought that counts.

I can hardly wait to get started.

Have a terrific Tuesday and if you are in North Idaho, be careful out there in the winter weather.

Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for children's prayers. They are so honest and open and wonderfully full of faith and love when they talk to God. It makes me happy and I know it makes him happy, too.

Gloves

I would be so very appreciative is someone would figure out a way to keep the inner lining of kid's gloves in the fingers of said gloves. I spend several minutes of my life everyday trying to fit little fingers into gloves whose lining is not where it should be. And several more minutes trying to explain to the owner's of those little fingers that it is not, in fact, the way I'm pulling their gloves on but the gloves themselves causing the trouble.

Oh, and while you're at it, could you install some kind of locaters in kid's gloves, too. I'm already tired of accompanying kindergartners to the "lost and not found."

Blessed Sunday

Over the past few days I have been blessed by spending time with my family. A lot of time. We watched movies, played games, and ate turkey and pumpkin pie. Most of the time has been restful. But there have been moments when the extended time together and close proximity to each other has been a little stressful. Like when the kids couldn't decide on which movie to watch. Or when Chewie kept accidentally shooting R2 during a serious game of Lego Star Wars on the Wii. But there have also been those moments like when my sweet daughter lay giggling with Adam as they snuggled together to watch a movie. And when Josh sat and held my hand for the longest time just to be close to me. And when the five of us laughed and played and loved each other. And there have been those moments when I just take a deep breath and smile. Those moments that I treasure in my heart. Those moments that happen and I'm not sure how I got here. To be this person who's been a wife for 18 years and a mommy for 11. But here I am. And it's a blessing.

Get a clue.

I played Clue with the boys last night. It would go a lot faster if they wouldn't act out each suggestion with the tokens and weapons. Who knew that the red Miss Scarlett piece could hold a revolver?


Today's thanksgiving thought:

I'm thankful that the boys in the family are in charge of snow removal. As much as I hate washing dishes, at least I'm warm when I wash them.

White Friday

I am heretofore declaring the Friday after Thanksgiving as "White Friday." The complete opposite of "Black Friday." If you are one of those people who goes out at 4am to shop on this Friday, I hold no ill will against you. I do, however, think you're a little crazy. I looked at the ads yesterday and saw exactly 3 things I would have bought had I gone shopping today. And one of those I can get tomorrow when we go into town for Thanksgiving Dinner #5. So even though my Christmas budget is very strict this year, saving $10 was not in the least bit worth braving the weather and the crowds.

Now on to "White Friday." Here's what I'm going to do to celebrate.

1. Cook a turkey since we ate at mom and dad's yesterday. I love leftovers and so I will cook Thanksgiving dinner at our house today. (#4, by the way.)
2. Watch movies and eat popcorn and drink soda. Any movie is fine. Whatever we can all agree on.
3. Read. I am at the moment reading a book of short stories by O. Henry. And Emma by Jane Austin. (Yes, I sometimes read more than one book at a time.)
4. Work on my Christmas list. It's already started, but I now have a few handmade gift ideas to add. (I love our family's new tradition of handmade gifts.)
5. Organize gifts I've already bought. Mostly stuff for the kids and stocking stuffers.
6. Fill out my Mitzvah calendar while enjoying the perfect cup of Earl Grey.
7. Take pictures of the kids playing outside in the snow. It will hopefully be warm enough today.
8. Hem Adam's snow pants. (Probably before #7 occurs.)
9. Decidedly NOT go shopping.

So basically, "White Friday" is a day to relax. A day to only do things I want to do. A day to spend at home surrounded by the ones I love. It's the very best kind of day.

10 Things Thursday

How can today's 10 things be anything other than 10 things I'm thankful for.

1. God. He is good and takes care of me inside and out.
2. My husband. He is my safe place.
3. My children. I love them more than I ever thought possible.
4. My family. Mom, dad, my sister and her family. They make days like today so very special.
5. A warm house. Where I know that my family can sleep tonight without a care in the world.
6. Good tires. Driving in the snow is not fun for me. It's good to know that I'm as safe as I can be.
7. My job. One day last week I found myself thinking, "I love my job." It hasn't always been that way.
8. Delicious food. Today was full of it.
9. Laughter. Today was also full of this.
10. You. Chances are that if you are reading this blog, you have somehow, sometime, enriched my life. Thanks.

Yeah, Minnie!

Last weekend I took Julianna to see Disney On Ice. (Adam was our date.) I wanted to take her, but didn't want to spend the extra money. But when she saw the commercial on tv and squealed and jumped and danced, I knew it would be worth it. So Saturday afternoon we headed to Spokane to see Mickey and Minnie as they celebrated all kinds of special days.

Not long now. Five minutes until showtime!

Lumiere inviting us to be their guests.
Lots of Disney friends. Who could possibly be in that giant cupcake?! It was Mickey and Minnie and friends. The cupcake led to an unbirthday party in Wonderland with Alice, the Mad Hatter, and their friends. This is a Mardi Gras celebration with the cast of The Princess and the Frog. (Which, by the way, is the Disney movie with the best music.)

Then Valentine's Day with Minnie, her Fairy Godmother and the Disney princesses.

The princesses.

Prince Mickey joining the fun.

Tiana and Prince Naveen.

Mulan and Li Shang.
Snow White and Prince Charming.
Jasmine and Aladdin. Belle and Beast. Ariel and Erik. Chinese New Year's festival. Japanese Cherry Blossom festival. Minnie--Julianna's favorite. Summer vacation in Hawaii with Lilo and Stitch. Hawaiian fire dancer. (Yes! There was fire on the ice!)
Sorcerer Mickey. Dancing brooms from Fantasia. They were kind of creepy. But not as creepy as Jack the Halloween king and his minions. The villains were kind of cool, though. Captain Hook, Cruella DeVille, Jafar, and several wicked stepmothers. More villains celebrating Halloween. Toy Story friends joined in the final celebration--Christmas! Santa Goofy. Mickey and Minnie on Santa's sleigh. Finale complete with pyrotechnics. Saying Goodbye.

It was such a fun time. Julianna loved it! (Except for the witches and brooms.) She loved Minnie the most and if you ask her about it, that's what she'll tell you about. I'm so glad I was able to take her and that Adam was able to share in the fun, too. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Thanksgiving Dinner #2*

Today at school, the PTO put on a full turkey dinner for all the students and families at our school. It's a tradition that has been happening for years. It was great. It's one of the few times during the year when almost all the parents join their kids at school. All but one of my students had someone come to share lunch with them. (She was temporarily adopted by another mom and was fine.) And I got to share the time with my family enjoying lunch, too. And now, in 51 short minutes, I will begin my much anticipated Thanksgiving break. And I must get home as soon as possible to perfect my cheeseball recipe for the 2nd Annual F. Family Cheese Off.

*Dinner #1 was at my turkey class a few weeks ago. It was good, too.

Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for active parents. Some parents are great supporters of the school and do so much for the students and staff. Here's a big shout out to Jackie and Patty. Ladies, you rock!

Snowy Days and Mondays

I was planning a trip to the grocery store after work today, but was not at all looking forward to it, and really began to dread it when I saw all the snow this morning. On days like this, when the roads are treacherous, I just want to get home as soon as possible. So I decided to take my hour of prep time today and run to the store. I got there, shopped, paid, and got back in just under an hour. Not bad considering I got all the necessities plus all the stuff for Thanksgiving dinner. And since I spent over $50, I got my turkey for 23 cents a pound. A twenty-two pounder for just over $5. What a deal!

Just as I pulled into the parking lot, though, I realized that I left my grocery list at school. Yikes. I worked on that list all weekend. So I grabbed a piece of paper I found in the car and scribbled down my list again hoping I would remember everything. And I did! The lists matched! I'm pretty sure it was a mini-miracle.

So I am all shopped for the holiday. (Except for the pumpkin pie that I'll get from Costco tomorrow.) And I'm so looking forward to the next few days. Ahh, Thanksgiving.

Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for people who actually return their shopping carts to the appropriate place instead of leaving them in the middle of the parking lot. Even when the parking lot is covered with snow.

Blessed Sunday

Remember last year when I did Mitzvah? It's a simple act of kindness. The way I did it was to print out a blank calendar and fill in each day with a name (or two or three) of someone to whom I would like to show an act of kindness. Sometimes it was a word. Sometimes a note. Sometimes a gift. The exercise of intentionally showing kindness every day was such a blessing. So I think I'll do it again. From December 1st through December 31st I will go out of my way to be kind to a specific person (or two or three). Join in the Mitzvah fun if you'd like. It's fun and its a blessing.

Catch Up

So I realized that I've not included thanksgiving thoughts for the last 8 days. I guess I forgot that I was supposed to be doing those each day. So here's 8 things I'm thankful for to catch up.

Hot chocolate--As hot drinks go, hot chocolate is tops. Followed by a good cup of Earl Grey tea as a close second.

A good pen--Preferably blue ink with a click top, not a cap. One that writes smoothly and doesn't smear. It gets bonus points if it's pretty.

Lists--Lists keep my life in order. Grocery lists, to-do lists, Christmas lists, lists of goals and books to read. Lists are good.

Fuzzy socks--I don't wear socks if I don't have to, but a comfy pair of fuzzy socks on a cold day is nice.

Silence--Silence is not a common occurrence in my life. There are very few moments when it's even a possibility. But that makes me appreciate it all the more when it does happen. I take a deep breath and enjoy every second.

Finishing a project--Is there any better feeling than completing a big project? Being able to stand back and look at what I've done and know it's finished creates such a feeling of relief and sense of accomplishment.

Cameras--I love to capture the moments of my life on film...or disk. And I have such cute subjects to photograph.

And today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for the coming week. 2 days of school with one being a day of celebration and then 5 glorious days to read and snuggle and watch movies and eat turkey and be thankful.

Note to self:

Do not take shoe loving toddler shoe shopping.


She wanted these.
And these.
And these.

What she got was these (except black and red).

I know, I know. They are not pink. But they were only $12.00. The pink ones were $33.00. I can't pay $21.00 for pink. But I'm not completely heartless. She also got these.

Payless is having their buy one get one for 1/2 price sale so I got them for $5.50. They have those cool red lights that light up when she walks. She loves them. She's so going to want to sleep in them tonight.

(The boys also got new boots. Yikes! Men's sizes cost way more than youth sizes. Hopefully they'll last two years.)

10 Things Thursday

10 things about today.

1. It snowed. I brushed at least two inches off the van this morning.
2. The boys do not have snow boots. I started to tell them to wear their boots, but then remembered that there is no way they can wear last year's boots. They've each grown at least a shoe size and a half since then.
3. When the first snow flies, kindergartners go crazy. It's like snow is sugar and they have all eaten handfuls before school.
4. The sun came out and melted the snow. Which is just fine with me.
5. I finished my report cards. Just in time for my parent/teacher conferences tomorrow.
6. I have not, however, done my assignment from last weekend's turkey class. I have to do a simple summary to earn my U of I credit.
7. We've done one turkey project. And I have at least two more planned for next week.
8. I was able to sing today. I couldn't yesterday.
9. Tonight is our last Dynamic Marriage class. I'll tell you all about it soon.
10. I looked at the leaked Black Friday ads online. I almost thought about shopping that day. Almost.

Word of the Day

Today's word: frustration.

Two For Tuesday

Two things Julianna said this morning.

"I do it myself!" Every mother's dream...and nightmare. It's a dream because it signals a little independence and maybe, just maybe, I won't have to put her socks on her for the rest of her life. And a nightmare because she always wants to do it herself when we have exactly 12 seconds to get out the door if we're going to be on time and it takes her a lot longer than 12 seconds to put on her socks. (She also wanted to put on her pull-up and then wear her pants pulled down around her knees so that you could see the princesses on her pull-up.)

"Mommy's so cute right now." She composed a song (of course) using this phrase over and over and over. It may have been the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

Report Cards

Doing report cards for kindergartners is hard. It's very subjective. There are no number grades at this point. Actually there are very few number grades the whole year. So I sit down with each student with a list of what I've taught so far and see what they know. Sometimes they know it all. Sometimes they struggle. But that's okay. This is kindergarten. We are just learning to learn.

Tonight I will fill out report cards based on my evaluations and the written work we've done. I'll see where my students are excelling and I'll see what we need to work on. Then on Friday I'll share that information with their parents at conferences and we'll continue on our journey.

And I'll write 9 times in the comments, "A pleasure to have in class." Just kidding. I'll only be writing that 8 times.

Blessed Sunday

Is it cheating on Blessed Sunday to just say that I'm blessed? Blessed to overflowing. Not my checking account. It certainly isn't overflowing. But so many other areas of my life are. And so I feel blessed.

Explanations...

...about yesterday's post.

Jules was feverish. All day Thursday, all day Friday and into this morning. She is much better now. Back to her old self--playing, laughing and being silly.

Arrty and the boys are almost done building the fence around a new run for the dogs. We wanted them to be together this winter to be able to play in the snow and sleep in the same house for extra warmth. It's almost done. Just a few finishing touches to the gate. I am so happy about this fence. I can't even tell you.

Last night and today I attended a Project Wild class called "Wild About Turkeys." Who knew there was so much to learn about wild turkeys? Did you know that turkeys make 28 different sounds? And you thought it was just "gobble, gobble." I actually missed the early morning turkey hunting session today because I stayed home to make sure Jules was okay. (There were no turkeys harmed in the hunt. It was just with cameras and binoculars.) She ended up going to the second half of today's class with me. She was great. She whispered and did her puzzles and colored. It was a great class. I have some new great ideas for this month.

The leftovers comment comes in from last night's dinner. The Fish and Game Department fed us a full turkey dinner last night as part of our class. Kathy and I were counting up the number of turkey dinners we were going to have this month. At least 5 for me. But, we decided, at least we wouldn't have leftovers from this first one. Alas, Jamie (who rocks the Cabela's cafe) came into our class and offered the leftovers to whoever wanted them. We gave everyone a chance to claim them, but when they didn't, we did. What could we do? So I came home with a to-go box full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, a roll, and even a little cup of gravy. Leftovers after all.

It's been a busy, fun, exhausting weekend. And I didn't even mention the tea party yet.

Friday

Jules is feverish.
Fence is getting built.
Turkey class.
Leftovers.

More on all that later.

10 Things Thursday--Double Scoop

The top 20 movies as rated by Zagats.

20. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
19. Finding Nemo (2003)*
18. The Third Man (1949)
17. The African Queen (1951)*
16. The Pianist (2002)
15. All About Eve (1950)
14. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
13. Citizen Kane (1941)
12. It Happened One Night (1934)
11. Rear Window (1954)
10. Singin' In The Rain (1952)*
9. The Lady Eve (1941)
8. The Wizard of Oz (1939)*
7. Star Wars (1977)*
6. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)*
5. Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)*
4. Schindler's List (1993)
3. Casablanca (1942)*
2. The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
1. The Godfather (1972)

*The ones I remember seeing.

How many have you seen? What others should be included in this list? Any that shouldn't be on the list?


Today's thanksgiving thought:

I'm thankful that I get to be home today to catch up on to do lists.

A rose by any other name...

In a parenting magazine I was reading recently, I came across this poll.

Have you ever had second thoughts about your child's name?
Yes--44% No--56%

It made me think about my own children's names. Josh was named after he was born since we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl. We had a list of our top two names for both, but Joshua was #3 and didn't make the "hospital" list. I almost feel like he named himself. After staring at him for awhile, his name just was. Adam, on the other hand, was named before he was born, if only in my head. I knew that even though I thought of him as Adam, we'd have to meet him to see if it stuck. It did. And it didn't take long for either boy to become their names. I can't imagine them being anything other than Josh and Adam.

Julianna, coming into our family so much later, felt different all the way around. First we needed a semi-biblical name since the boys had biblical names. (It bugs me when Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have a sister named Savannah or Meghan or Tiffany.) And we wanted her name to start with an A or J to fit into the family mold. That limited our options, but there were still some good ones: Abigail, Ariel, Anna, Joanna, Julia, Jordan, Jezebel. (What?! You don't like Jezebel?) But I kept thinking of putting Julia and Anna together to make Julianna. Not a traditional Bible name, but still. We were definitely not certain of her name when we drove to the hospital on her birthday. We wanted to meet her and hold her and see who she was. I have to admit that I kind of loved the name Julianna Grace. It just sounded so good together. But I knew that it was a big name. And would need a little girl with a big personality to fill it. I hoped the little girl joining our family was just such a girl. Once all the commotion was over and it was just her, her daddy, and I in the hospital room, I held her and looked at her and somehow just knew that she was Julianna. And although it did take me a little while to get used to such a big name for such a tiny girl, I can't imagine her being anything but Julianna.

How about you? Any second thoughts?



Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for hope.

And just when I thought I'd heard it all...

A. (age 3): "Teacher, M. (age 6) just said she was going to kick my a**."

Oh. My. Goodness.



Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful that it is the 43rd day of school and I am on lesson 43 in my curriculum. Woohoo!

Cleanliness

I don't know how much time you've spent on an elementary school playground lately, but I've spent quite a bit. There's this thing that kids do on the swings and have for as long as I can remember. If two of them start swinging side by side at the same speed, they say, "You're in my shower," or "Get out of my shower." I don't know why. But it is better than several years ago before "shower" replaced "toilet."

Anyway, today at recess, Julianna was swinging next to one of my kindergartners. When they were swinging together, K. said to Jules, "You're in my shower." To which my new to the playground toddler replied, "No, I took a bath yesterday."

Today's thanksgiving thoughts:
(4 of them since I haven't included any on my posts since Thursday.)

I am thankful for high school theater. It makes me happy.
I am thankful for Saturdays. Mostly because sometimes I get a nap.
I am thankful for leftovers. It means I don't have to cook dinner.
I am thankful for my sweet niece, Abby. Her hugs everyday make my day.

Blessed Sunday

There are lots of little traditions that our family does on different occasions throughout the year. We watch the Peanuts holiday movies on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We follow the Irish tradition of putting candles in all our windows at Christmas. On Valentine's Day we go to the store, pick out cards for each other, read them and then put them back. On the first day that the temperature hits 70 after a long winter, we roll down the windows in the car and yell, "We love 70!" to any and all who care. On Christmas Eve, Arrty reads the Christmas story from one of the gospels after we get home from my folks' house where every year we eat West Virginia sandwiches and open one present containing new pajamas.

And on the day when the time changes and we "fall back" an hour, instead of sleeping in that extra hour, we get up at regular time and spend it going out for breakfast. So that's what we did today. Adam, Julianna, and I shared the Huevos Grande; a ham, bacon, and cheese omelet, home fries, and biscuits and gravy. It was grande. We all got full and still brought some home. It's really fun and like all those little traditions, it has become a blessing that creates memories for our family.

Paying Dues

Every once in a while some kids at school will form a club. In kindergarten it's usually something like the Unicorn Club where the only rules are that you have to love unicorns and no boys allowed. Or the Pink Club where the only rule is that you have to wear something pink everyday. That rule negates the necessity for the "no boys" rule. Those clubs are mostly fun. Unless someone who wants in is excluded.

But there are some clubs that we join without wanting to. Clubs that we are a part of because of who we are or what we've been through. Clubs with others like us. Others with whom we share something. Something we'd rather not share. I've had this club idea for a while since that episode of Grey's Anatomy where George's dad dies. And Cristina tells him that he's in the Dead Dads Club. She says, "You're not in it 'til you're in it." That's how some clubs work. We're not asked to join. We don't sign on any line. And yet we find ourselves a member. And we're not in it 'til we're in it.

I am an unwilling member of the Crazy Club, whose members have gone through anxiety/panic/depression. I don't mean to make light of it in any way by calling it crazy. But that's how it feels to me. I was initiated into this club a few years ago after my car accident and struggling with post traumatic stress. Which led to severe panic attacks and anxiety disorder and deep depression. The thing about the Crazy Club is that I didn't really know I was in it. It took a long time and some dramatic episodes and some professional help to introduce me to the club. Before I was in the club, I didn't even know there was one. Why would there be a club? Just snap out of it. Or pray out of it. Or count your blessings till you get out of it. From the outside I didn't understand it. I didn't know the rules. Or the dues that needed to be paid. I didn't know the other members or that I would soon be the club president. I wasn't in it 'til I was in it.

Someone I love more than anything in the world is in two clubs to which I don't belong. And like me, she never intended or planned or wanted to be in either. Things happened and people happened and the unthinkable happened and there she is. In the clubs. Two clubs for which she is continually paying dues. Dues that I wish she didn't have to pay. Dues that break her heart. Dues that are unfairly charged. But dues nonetheless. And these clubs that she's in? These terrible clubs with unfair rules? She wasn't in them 'til she was in them.

These clubs that we can find ourselves in are too numerable to list. You are in clubs that I'm not and can't be in. And some of my clubs you can't be in. You may be in a club that I don't even know exists. Or you may change clubs in the blink of an eye. One day you're in the Married Club and the next you're in the Widowed or Divorced Club. One day you're in the Employed Club and the next you're in the Unemployed Club. One day you're in the Pregnant Club and the next day you're not. One day you're in the Sane Club and the next thing you know you are an unwilling member of the Crazy Club. And it remains true for each club that you're not in it 'til you're in it.

All we can do is pay our dues and hope they're not too high. And to not forget that there are others in our club. Others who will understand. Others who have been in the club for awhile and might be able to help us. And someday we might be the one who's been there for awhile and just might be able to help new members navigate their way.

Show and Tell

two Fur Real Friends cats that T. got for her birthday this week (Julianna LOVED them and so I now know what to get her for Christmas.)

a tiny ceramic pirate bear that's "really special" from Walmart

a toy motorcycle that A. got for his birthday from his brother that's "very special" and "it's very special" and "it's very special" and "it's very special" ... "and that's it." (There were lots more "very special"s that began to get groans from the rest of the class which A. loved. And since he's so stinkin' cute, I let it go on for a while.)

a picture of "a lonely tree" on "a windy day" where "no people were there" and where "Jesus didn't want any houses built there" drawn by G. and "it's very special" (Of course it is.)

a brown purse that I. likes "really much" to carry her Zhu Zhu Pet, diary, camera, leaf, little box with a toy lady bug, pink marker, some "crystals" (rocks), little angel, pink fangs, two Littlest Pet Shop toys, silver cross, and heart necklace

"This is my DS that I really like that has two things that goes with it one is walk around the world and I didn't bring the other one and it goes in like this and guys pay attention and it's my favorite ds and this is the button that turns it on and this is the button that moves it and it's my favorite ds in the whole wide world and I'm going to be playing it every day for hours and hours until I'm a grandma and 'til I go up to heaven and it lost a little thing to it I lost it at the playground across my street and it's really cool and there's a "r" and a "l" those are buttons and this is the volume to turn it up and down and this turns it up and this turns it down."

*I have included links to some of today's show and tells just in case you're not up on what's "in" with the elementary crowd these days. You should also know about silly bands.

10 Things Thursday

10 things about this blog.

1. Today is my 4th blogiversary!

2. It's the first blogiversary that I didn't miss because I thought it was at the end of November.

3. I started this blog as a distraction from crazy, severe panic attacks.

4. It has been a lot of fun and even a blessing at times.

5. My family will often say things like, "You're going to blog about this, aren't you?" or "You should blog about that." or "Please don't blog that."

6. I blog in my head. Very few of those thoughts actually get posted.

7. I love comments on my blog. It makes me happy.

8. I sometimes get jealous when other people get tons of comments on their blogs and I don't. Lots of people read my blog. They are just quiet readers.

9. I know people because of this blog that I would never have known otherwise.

10. I hope that someday my kids will read my blog and know their mom better than they would have without it.

Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for the sunshine. It does a lot more for me than just the extra vitamin D.

Machines do everything these days.

This morning in chapel, the boy in my class (the one boy) was sitting next to me. Our principal was giving a lesson on doing the right thing. Keeping our hands to ourselves, being kind, obeying our teachers, etc. When all of a sudden my sweet only-boy-in-the-class was making some kind of sign with his right hand. It was kind of like a claw. You know. One of those you can use to pick up stuffed animals in those machines at the mall. I gave him the "stop playing in chapel" look and he leaned over to me and said, "It's my wedgie machine." Then he started miming giving himself a wedgie. During chapel. Right next to me. I couldn't help but to laugh. Are you kidding me? A wedgie machine? What will they think of next?


Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful that my daughter is a born singer. She sings more than she talks. She even writes her own songs. Among her hits from the past few days are "I Love Adam/Josh," "Hallelujah," and my favorite, "I'm Going to See My Mommy." She was singing "Hallelujah" (just the word "hallelujah" over and over and over) yesterday at the grocery store. So cute. Even though some old lady thought she was saying "hello" to her. I didn't correct her even though the reality was so much better. Yes, my girl loves music. Has since she could hear. Or at least since I took her with me to that Def Leppard/Styx/REO Speedwagon concert when I was 8 months pregnant.

Day 2

Here's something random. On the top of my computer screen sits a stuffed butterfly, Nemo (as in Finding Nemo), an Einstein bobblehead, a green ninja, and an origami dragon.

Today's thanksgiving thought:

I am thankful for $2.00 Tuesdays at Dutch Bros. And for hot chocolate with a shot of vanilla.

November

November is here and that means it's NABLOPOMO (National Blog Posting Month). During NABLOPOMO, bloggers who participate are asked to post everyday. That's 30 days straight. If you register your blog and post everyday, you are eligible for prizes. One year I won a $50 itunes gift card. It was great...once I figured out what itunes was.

I'm going to try it again this year. I'm very busy with work and kids and home and life, so some days might be just a word or two. Or maybe a picture or something I copy and paste. But my self imposed theme is "thanksgiving." Each day I will share something I'm thankful for. That will give me something to work from on those days when writer's block kicks in.

So be sure to check in every day. Who knows what you might find.


Today's "thanksgiving" thought:

I am ever so thankful that I can get up in the mornings and take care of myself and my children. There have been days that I couldn't. But today I could...and did. And was glad for it.


P.S. Do you like my Thanksgiving countdown clock? I LOVE Thanksgiving!