Gratitude Day something?

Thankful that my parents didn't let me quit piano lessons. I've been playing the piano a bit more lately and it's really relaxing to me. For some reason, my kids have let me play. They usually come running to the living room the second I start playing and they start joining in by pounding on the keys making it impossible for me to play. But, lately they've been content to listen and sometimes request their favorite primary songs for me to play. I'm thankful for the talents I've been given. I hope I can play again like I used to--you really do lose it if you don't constantly work on it.

Gratitude for lots of days

Oops, I've fallen behind. I've been too busy trying to catch up on scrapbooking! A few nights ago, I got the itch to work on it. I probably had close to 2 years worth of pictures to work on. I began to feel a bit overwhelmed, but yet at the same time motivated. So, I've been a little distracted with that project. For several years now I've just done digital scrapbooking and I love it. No more cardstock, cutting, and gluing for me. It doesn't even sound fun to me to do it that way--especially since I have 5 scrapbooks to do (one for Jeff and I and one for each of the boys). Anyways, I've been working on all our 5 million pictures from 2009. For some reason we took a whole bunch of pictures that year. Well, actually I know the reason(s). First off, we got a new camera--a second camera. I have my DSLR which is great, but we found that we didn't take it with us everywhere because it's so big and expensive. With lots of little kids + little kids stuff to haul around adding a big old camera on top of that was often times too much. So, we got a little point and shoot camera that fits right in my purse. So, depending on what we're doing we use different cameras. So, we used this new camera a ton that year. Plus, we sold our house and built a new house. We probably took several hundred pictures detailing every step of the home building process. Then, because we were living in a tiny apartment for a few months, we had to get out and do stuff--so that provided us with many outings to take pictures. All these pictures are giving me a lot of work to do in terms of scrapbooking, but how thankful I am for all the wonderful memories we have. Seeing all these pictures reminds me of how much fun we have as a family. I love how my boys are so easily entertained. Simple little things provide them with hours of fun.

Gratitude Day 12

Thankful that Jeff and I both have the best parents ever! We are so lucky to have parents that care so much about us and took such good care of us when we were kids. They're both wonderful grandparents as well.

Gratitude Day 10 & 11

Grateful for my knowledge that families can be together forever and thankful that I have a sister in heaven that watches over us and is our guardian angel.

Gratitude Day 9

This morning (about 7:30), Coleman had just woken up. I was opening his shutters to show him the snow outside. It was a good thing I did as I started to witness a man stealing Braeden and Carter's scooters that had accidentally been left outside in the empty lot next door. I ran downstairs and ran outside in my pajamas with no shoes on in the snow so I could try to rescue the scooters. The guy saw me running towards him and he acknowledged me. I told him that he couldn't take those scooters--they were ours. He proceeded to take the scooters out of the back of his truck where he had just put them and he put them back where he got them. I kinda chewed him out and then he apologized. I thanked him for returning them and came inside to give Braeden and Carter a lecture about not leaving their scooters and bikes out. I'm thankful that I was able to rescue their scooters. But I think my gratitude goes far beyond that. As I was walking back inside the house after my confrontation, I thought to myself that this guy (who spoke little English) was probably thinking he could get these to give to his kids. He possibly did not have the means to get his kids scooters. Now in no way does that justify stealing; however, I know that every parent wants to be able to give their kids some fun things. I especially love to give me kids things, like scooters, that help to keep them physically active and playing outside. Fortunately, we have been able to provide these things for our boys. Now, I am known to find some pretty good deals. Carter's scooter was purchased at a garage sale for $3 and Braeden's was purchased when there was a killer deal at Target. So, it's not that we buy really expensive elaborate things for our kids, because we don't. But, I am grateful that I've never been in a position to where I've felt like I would have to go to desperate measures to take care of my kids. I hope this man learned his lesson. When I told Braeden about it, his first question was "did you take down his license plate number?". That kid! His next question was "was he wearing a black mask over his head?". Funny! So, hopefully this man learned a valuable lesson and hopefully the boys will be more careful about putting their scooters away! Thankful I rescued the scooters that my boys love so much and thankful that we're so blessed!

Gratitude Day 8

So, today we got a little snow here. It was very wet snow and it didn't stick to the ground. I have to say we've had one of the most perfect falls here this year. We've had so many beautiful fall days. Fridays Braeden has early out at school. We had planned to go to the library when he got home. The weather was so incredibly perfect...not too hot and not too cold. The sun was shining and it was simply gorgeous. So, I told the boys we would play outside for a while. So, before we knew all the neighborhood boys were out playing too. They must have been outside for close to 4 hours. They had fun. I think fall is probably my favorite season and it seems as if the weather here sometimes decides to skip straight from hot summer weather straight to the snow. I'm thankful for the wonderful weather we've had. I'm glad to live somewhere that we can enjoy all four seasons. I love the changes. With every season change comes something new and exciting. The snow today made me excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that comes with the holidays. It made me excited to build snowmen with the boys, go sledding, and sip hot cocoa while we watch the snow fall outside. Come next February, I'll be anxious and excited for spring. That's why it's so fun with every season change. We made it to the library today--perfect activity for a cold, wet day. Now the boys (especially Braeden) came home with all kinds of books. Braeden's reading is really improving this year. He started reading his first chapter book today--one from the Junie B. Jones series. He needs help with some of the words, but he was getting most of them on his own. I think he'll really start to love reading now that he can read real stories as opposed to books with very basic words and not much of a story line.

Gratitude Day 7

Thankful for an extra hour sleep this morning due to the time change and Jeff getting up with Coleman so I could sleep. I've been feeling a little sick this past week, plus Coleman and Tanner have been feeling a bit sick and have been waking me up a lot in the night. So, even though it's the time that I need extra sleep, I'm actually getting much less sleep. It's catching up to me. It was nice to not have to rush this morning and to sleep in a bit. I needed that!

Gratitude Day 6

Thankful that Super Saturday is over and went well!!!!!!!!!! It was fun, but I'm glad it's done!

Gratitude #5

Braeden left for school today with a plastic grocery bag full of canned goods for the needy. His school is doing a food drive and in order to make it fun for the kids, they've added a little twist. They have two huge containers one of which is covered in blue construction paper and has a little BYU sign on it. The other one is red--you can guess what school that represents. All week Braeden has been telling me how full the BYU one is and how the U of U one was lacking. Our boys have really gotten into the whole rivalry thing. They have a bet going with one of our neighbors that are Ute fans, Carter has gotten into discussions in carpool about how he loves BYU and hates the Utes (we don't tell him to say hate, those are his words--not ours). Anyways, this has turned into a long, somewhat unrelated intro. But, I've been thinking about how grateful I am that I was fortunate enough to go to college--especially to go to the two best schools ever Ricks and BYU! Yeah, yeah I know I followed the Mormon Trail from Rexburg to Provo. But, I am so glad to have had the opportunities I had at college. I had such great roommates, wonderful experiences, and learned a lot in the process. What great years and memories. I don't really miss studying for tests though. Knowledge is Power!!! By the way, the rivalry thing is a lot of fun--even though we're TRUE BLUE, we love our RED FRIENDS and at the rate this football season is going, we'll probably be taking a big plate of cookies to our neighbors in a few weeks to pay up on our bet. :)

Gratitude #3

I know this one's a little less serious. But, I had to go to Costco today. Costco happens to be one of my favorite stores. I don't know how people survive without a Costco. I mean where else can you get a huge container of hummus for under $5 or a huge pack of fresh tortillas for way cheap. When we first moved to this area, the closest Costco was about 25 minutes away. Now we have one that I can get to in under 10 minutes. One of my favorite things about Costco is that they design their parking lots so that people can actually have plenty of room to open their car doors all the way. Why do so many stores have such narrow parking spots? Sometimes it makes it so hard to open doors and get kids in and out. Sorry to go off on that. Plus, I love their photo department. I picked up my Christmas cards there today and they turned out great. I'm really trying to get everything ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving so that I can really just sit back and enjoy myself in December.

Gratitude #3

So, tonight Braeden had a little awards ceremony for an art contest at school. He was really excited to go. I thought about how glad I am that he goes to such a great school and that we're a part of such a great community. Because we have lived in 3 different wards and neighborhoods within his school's boundaries, we've gotten to know a lot of families. It's a great feeling to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. The principal knows him by name and Braeden thinks she is the coolest. We are really lucky!

Braeden/Aang

I haven't gotten around to downloading all my Halloween pictures yet. But, I just checked my friend's blog who caught this picture of Braeden with his buddy when we stopped at their house to trick or treat! It's the real deal! I can't believe I let him shave his head. He wanted to do it soooo bad. He is Aang from Avatar the Last Airbender (this is different than the Avatar movie). I really will post pictures soon. This is a picture of the actual character. Don't you think he looks a ton like Aang! He even let me put eyebrow liner on. I couldn't believe that he agreed to that. He had a blast and was very, very proud of his costume.

Gratitude #2

I am in a little bit of a hurry as kids need to get to be--well 2/4 are already sound asleep, but the big boys need to get to bed. But, I am thankful for the comforts I enjoy...things like a warm house, a well-stocked pantry, a car to get us where we need to go, insurance to pay for doctors and dentists, etc. We truly are blessed to have a roof over our heads and the means to take care of our family. I try not to take this for granted, but I'm sure I do at times.

Halloween

We had a fun, fun, fun Halloween week--class parties, friend parties, FHE with the neighbors, trick-or-treating, dinner with our great friends that we don't see nearly enough. Pictures are coming soon. You're not going to believe it when you see Braeden's costume. I can't believe I let him do what I let him do. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Halloween over and now it's November. A month to reflect on gratitude. Sorry if it's cheesy, corny, and/or sappy, but I'm going to try and post something I'm grateful for every day. We'll see how it goes. My blessing truly are too many to name or count. So, coming up with enough blessings isn't a problem, but remembering to do it--or finding the time could be.

The first blessing that comes to mind is the obvious one--MY BOYS (Jeff, Braeden, Carter, Tanner, and Coleman)! They are everything to me. Last night Braeden was an emotional wreck. I think he was coming off of a high of all of the above-mentioned fun activities (and probably a little too much sugar as well). Tanner was kind of being a stinker at church. Coleman's been keeping me up at night. And, Carter's started throwing little fits (so unlike him). So, this morning I was sitting there thinking about how hard kids can be at times. I was realizing though that these things had ZERO impact on my love for these kids. I love them no matter what. I love them when they're stinkers, when they're dirty, when they're disobedient, when they're obnoxious...I love them unconditionally. I was thinking about how motherhood has taught me so much about how our Heavenly Father feels about all of us--his children. He loves us unconditionally--no matter how we are. I am grateful for my knowledge of that too. My kids are teaching me a lot! Despite their imperfections, I am 100% convinced that I have the best kids in the universe.