My parents are keeping all four of the kids tonight so Chris and I can have a rare date night, which may or may not consist of us ordering take-out and enjoying each other's company sans kids. It's the perfect night to break out the firepit and cuddle on the patio couch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oops... I was daydreaming about sitting around the fire and having ALONE time with my husband.
I'm EXCITED!
Can you sense it...my EXCITEMENT?! lol. :)
Early baths, and packing for Mamaw and Papaw's house. The kids are running around the house like maniacs because they LOVE going to Mamaw and Papaw's. It's one of the few places that when I get Breanna out of her carseat, she looks at me, and says 'Bye Mom' and takes off running for the door. Normally, she's clutching to my leg, and I have to walk away with her screaming bloody murder.
Big A is especially excited because he rarely ever gets to go. We rarely let the kids go anywhere on the week-ends we have all of them, because it's family time. So, when I asked him if he would like to spend the night with them, he got a HUGE smile on his face and said, "yes, yes, YES". He's so funny!
Church - at dad's church - tomorrow. Something special is going on there, because he invited us to come. He knows we LOVE our home church, so the invites come on rare occasions. (I hope you know Dad, we expect you to make a visit to our church sometime.) :)
Well, I think the kids are ready to go...they are throwing their packed bags to the bottom of the stairs. I'm pretty sure that's their way of telling me to get off the computer so that we can go now!!! haha
Hope you all are having a great Holiday week-end.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Friday, September 03, 2010
Friday's Fave Five
Hi everyone! It's finally Friday, and that in itself is a HUGE reason to be thankful, but Friday is also a day we can look back at the week and re-cap a few things we are thankful for or have been a blessing to us this week. If you need details on how this works, click here.
1. Snuggles. We've never been co-sleeping parents. I've always felt very strongly about keeping our bedroom off limits to the kids, unless they were sick of course. I still do. But lately Breanna has been hanging out with us in there until she falls asleep and then we move her to her bedroom. She's always been a very non-cuddly baby, and I've had a hard time with that because I knew she was our last baby and because she was so sick in the beginning that once she came home, I just wanted to hold her all the time. When she's watching TV with us, she lays in the middle of our king size bed...making sure no one is touching her. But right before she drifts off to sleep, she rolls towards me, and wraps her arms around my arm, as if she is hugging it, and she goes to sleep. There is nothing more precious than that.
2. Love. Chris and I have had our fair share of up's and down's. But I love that it NEVER gets old. At times we can feel distant, and then out of the blue he will walk up behind me and touch the small of my back, or say the most incredible thing, and the butterflies start all over again. I realize I'm falling in love with him all over again. I have to do a mental check and remind myself that this is real, and I'm just that lucky to have found the one who makes my soul sing.
3. My big kids I don't usually like to brag too much. I don't want to be one of those parents, but I'm just so darn proud of them. Ava is working on sight words already, she's learned how to tie her shoes, her writing is already starting to improve, and she's just started violin lessons. Kinsey in her determination to achieve perfect attendance went to school the day after having oral surgery, and even while on pain meds for her mouth, got 100%'s on all of her test. She's setting the bar for the school year early on. And Big A is in the big elementary this year. It's crazy to think about him being that big already. Where has the time went? He's such a great kid. He's so happy when he's at our house, always laughing and joking with his sisters, dad, and I. And he tells the best stories....he's so creative.
4. Fruit fluff. Yesterday, my neighbor brought me over some fruit fluff, which I had never had before. It is AWESOME!!! I sent her an email to get the recipe, and I was even more excited when she told me how simple it was to make. Here's the recipe she sent me: 1 large container (2 lb.) of vanilla yogurt (not plain yogurt), 1 (16 oz.) container of cool whip, 1 small box instant french vanilla pudding
Just stir the above ingredients together and then add whatever fruit you like. I added 1 container fresh strawberries (sliced), 1 container blueberries, and 1 regular-sized can of mandarin oranges (drained). I mean seriously, how easy it that?!
5. Friends in Christ Yesterday, some friends and I started this blog. It's a community of sorts. A place to come together to lift each other up, to pray for one another, and to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. To truly focus on living our lives with the attitude that our cups are half full. I hope you'll join in on following us over there as we do monthly challenges and give thanks 365 days a year.
Have a blessed weekend!!!
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Enjoying life one cup at a time
Hey guys...I started a 'community' blog of sorts. I'd love for you all, my followers on this blog, to become an active part in it.
You can read about it here.
I think together, we can make a difference in the lives of those around us, even if it's just through the our own actions and how we live our lives.
You can read about it here.
I think together, we can make a difference in the lives of those around us, even if it's just through the our own actions and how we live our lives.
Thursday's Ten
Thursday's Ten...a compilation of ten things you have done so far this week. If you want to link up, do so over at my friend, Lora's blog.
Let's see...what have I done this week worth mentioning?
1. I made three more freezable meals.
2. Took Ava to her first violin lesson and I don't know who was more excited...her or me!
3. Spent A LOT of time on blogger trying to figure out how to change the HTML code to add a custom layout and I just can't seem to do it. Anyone out there that follows me, and knows how to do it..HELP PLEASE!!!
4. Made a new playlist of my 'go to' songs and have spent the better part of every day listening to it.
5. I've ran a total of 6 miles on the treadmill, and apparently the results are starting to show because I've been doing it unbeknown to Chris, and he commented the other day on how 'slim' my thighs are looking. His words...not that I don't always think you look great, but what's different, your thighs look slimmer.lol. I just love how he words things sometimes.
6. I've let the entire upstairs of my house become a cluster of toys, and for once, I don't really care because my kids are happy.
7. I made an appointment to get new tires on my van, but I'm dreading the bill.
8. I've not taken one picture of any meals I've made this week.
9. I moved some of the furniture around in my living room, and I think it's my favorite of how it's ever been.
10. I've fallen completely, head over heels in love with my husband again for the 1000th time.
What have you done this week?
Thankful for nights like tonight
I love evenings where Chris and I just sit around and talk after the kids go to bed. There's something about it that just makes me feel anew....especially when it's been one of those particularly challenging days.
You know when you have those days, the ones where your world just seems like it's out of whack? When more things are thrown at you than you think you can possibly handle? Well....that was my kind of day today. I wasn't feeling well, and the kids were just really testing my patience, on top of everything else, so much that I had to pull out the 'if you keep acting that way, you're going to have to deal with Chris when he gets home' card. He hates it when I play that card, but hey, sometimes it's gotta be done. He doesn't like having to be the 'bad' guy when he's been working all day and hasn't seen the kids. Needless to say, even though bedrooms still didn't get cleaned...my sassy girl dropped the attitude, and for that, I was thankful.
Chris and I don't usually spend our time talking about the challenges that lie ahead of us; he's generally crashed out a few minutes after we put the kids to bed. I, on the other hand, spend a lot of time in the evenings reading...books, blogs, magazines...and even more time praying. It's then that I feel the most 'at peace' with the road God has put in front of me. In the stillness of the night, submersed in prayer, I can feel Him closer than ever.
Tonight though, Chris stayed awake, and we started talking about a different situation in our lives that has presented itself, and how when you think you have it rough, all you have to do is look around and you can see so many people who are so much worse off than you. I really needed him to remind me of that tonight.
Truthfully, when I look at my husband, I hurt for him. For the incredible amount of loss he has endured throughout his 34 years on this Earth. I look at him, and it makes me that much more thankful for having my parents to walk along side of me in this journey I am about to embark on. I thought about how if something like this were to happen to him, he would have me and the kids by his side, but he wouldn't have his parents...and that thought caused me to turn into waterworks. I can't explain it in any other way than to say, sometimes I just deeply hurt for him.
We spent a lot of time this evening just talking...something I wasn't aware that I was really needing until it happened.
As I was making his lunch for tomorrow, I started talking about how my Type A personality is making it nearly impossibly for me to wrap my head around the fact that we are going to need help..probably lots of it...over the next several months. And how I feel like I still have so much to do to get ready. I was naming off all the frozen meals that are made and in the freezer, and what still needs to be done. I think I lost him after meal #6. I'm pretty sure his blank stare was a sign of mental overload. It took him a second, but he cut me off and assured me, him and the kids would be fine...He said, he's pretty sure he knows how to take care of them....
Insert my thought process during the course of the five seconds he was talking
But your way is not the same as MY way!!!
Sometimes in my need to be 'in control' when I feel like there is so much chaos around me, I tend to forget that my way isn't the only way. Sure Chris may not cook or even make sure the kids have well-balanced diets every day like I do. But he doesn't let them eat Brownies or cookies for meals either. He's perfected grilled cheese, and PB & J with fruit, and quite frankly, if that's what the kids end up eating for a few weeks...that's what they'll eat. He's a great dad, and at the end of the day, our goals are the same. To raise happy, well balanced, Jesus loving kids.
Now back to his five seconds of talking....
...Casondra, the most important thing right now is getting you through this. The day can't come soon enough for this surgery and for the doctors to say you're fine, and that they've got it all.
I was staring at him, thinking about how lucky I am to have a husband who loves me THAT much, and who I fall more in love with as time goes on, when he nonchalantly asks if I can do him a favor. Can you go get yourself a fountain cherry coke, and fill my truck up with gas while you're at it?
Why does he have to use my weakness for gas station, fountain cherry coke? lol. Of course, I told him I would if he promised to bring me a fountain cherry coke every day while I'm recovering. Being the good husband he is....HE AGREED!
You know when you have those days, the ones where your world just seems like it's out of whack? When more things are thrown at you than you think you can possibly handle? Well....that was my kind of day today. I wasn't feeling well, and the kids were just really testing my patience, on top of everything else, so much that I had to pull out the 'if you keep acting that way, you're going to have to deal with Chris when he gets home' card. He hates it when I play that card, but hey, sometimes it's gotta be done. He doesn't like having to be the 'bad' guy when he's been working all day and hasn't seen the kids. Needless to say, even though bedrooms still didn't get cleaned...my sassy girl dropped the attitude, and for that, I was thankful.
Chris and I don't usually spend our time talking about the challenges that lie ahead of us; he's generally crashed out a few minutes after we put the kids to bed. I, on the other hand, spend a lot of time in the evenings reading...books, blogs, magazines...and even more time praying. It's then that I feel the most 'at peace' with the road God has put in front of me. In the stillness of the night, submersed in prayer, I can feel Him closer than ever.
Tonight though, Chris stayed awake, and we started talking about a different situation in our lives that has presented itself, and how when you think you have it rough, all you have to do is look around and you can see so many people who are so much worse off than you. I really needed him to remind me of that tonight.
Truthfully, when I look at my husband, I hurt for him. For the incredible amount of loss he has endured throughout his 34 years on this Earth. I look at him, and it makes me that much more thankful for having my parents to walk along side of me in this journey I am about to embark on. I thought about how if something like this were to happen to him, he would have me and the kids by his side, but he wouldn't have his parents...and that thought caused me to turn into waterworks. I can't explain it in any other way than to say, sometimes I just deeply hurt for him.
We spent a lot of time this evening just talking...something I wasn't aware that I was really needing until it happened.
As I was making his lunch for tomorrow, I started talking about how my Type A personality is making it nearly impossibly for me to wrap my head around the fact that we are going to need help..probably lots of it...over the next several months. And how I feel like I still have so much to do to get ready. I was naming off all the frozen meals that are made and in the freezer, and what still needs to be done. I think I lost him after meal #6. I'm pretty sure his blank stare was a sign of mental overload. It took him a second, but he cut me off and assured me, him and the kids would be fine...He said, he's pretty sure he knows how to take care of them....
Insert my thought process during the course of the five seconds he was talking
But your way is not the same as MY way!!!
Sometimes in my need to be 'in control' when I feel like there is so much chaos around me, I tend to forget that my way isn't the only way. Sure Chris may not cook or even make sure the kids have well-balanced diets every day like I do. But he doesn't let them eat Brownies or cookies for meals either. He's perfected grilled cheese, and PB & J with fruit, and quite frankly, if that's what the kids end up eating for a few weeks...that's what they'll eat. He's a great dad, and at the end of the day, our goals are the same. To raise happy, well balanced, Jesus loving kids.
Now back to his five seconds of talking....
...Casondra, the most important thing right now is getting you through this. The day can't come soon enough for this surgery and for the doctors to say you're fine, and that they've got it all.
I was staring at him, thinking about how lucky I am to have a husband who loves me THAT much, and who I fall more in love with as time goes on, when he nonchalantly asks if I can do him a favor. Can you go get yourself a fountain cherry coke, and fill my truck up with gas while you're at it?
Why does he have to use my weakness for gas station, fountain cherry coke? lol. Of course, I told him I would if he promised to bring me a fountain cherry coke every day while I'm recovering. Being the good husband he is....HE AGREED!
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