Be Thankful November 1 2013

Another year and another go 'round for the "November Thankful Challenge"   many friends on Facebook have a go at this , but after sitting here for 10 minutes trying to think of a way to choose one thing I am thankful for , I am struggling .

But today I will write about my husbands grandmother. She is 88 years young and just recently moved to Florence South Carolina. After some health issues , and a few falls. She decided to sell her home of 46 years and take her younger sister up on the offer of going to stay with her. That frees her of the responsibility of the house up keep , gives her daily company. And allows her to be near her sister , her last living sibling. Unfortunately during the early stages of packing and about 6 weeks before the set closing of her home , She fell in the home and fractured her T12 vertebrae . Her injuries landed her in the hospital for 2 weeks and then she was moved to the VA for an additional 3.5 weeks. She was then released to the care of her sister so she was able to spend a last few nights in her home she shared with her late husband before the move. I am Thankful for the help she has offered my husband and I over the years , and not monetary help .But advice , life lessons and insights. Things that can not be bought only shared. Something she has said recently about issues within the family about her estate has really stuck with me , especially when dealing with the person she said this aimed at . She said " I hope your happy for the rest of your life" , that was her reply to learning that a family member was only interested in financial gain from her estate and wanted nothing of sentimental value. Whenever I am bothered by the selfish actions of others , I just hear her voice in my head say " I hope your happy for the rest of your life" and it just fits. I do wish The kids could have made more memories with her before she left , but we will be visiting her as often as we can and making positive memories with her for as long as we can.

   

   These are a few of the pictures I took on her last day before leaving , I took the big kids out of school early to be sure to get a chance to tell her goodbye until this spring. These were taken on October 22 , 2013 about an hour before she left for her closing.

Baby O and his Great Grandmother

Our four and their Great Grandmother . They love this lady dearly

My wonderful husband and his Grandmother  , She means the world to him .
this was taken on the actual moving day

just go with the flow , in deeper water...

 So my last post announced our new expected addition.... and HE'S HERE ..

after a pregnancy that was SO different than my last 3 ,and about 2-3 weeks of early/slow labor ,a 4th cesarean that resulted in anemia and a spinal headache we were blessed with the littlest brother in our house , who was ironically also our biggest baby . Weighing in at 9lbs 9oz and 21 3/4 inches long , David Owen joined us on February 7th at 8:51am . He is just about perfect and everyone is adjusting very nicely .

Here are Big Sister and Biggest Brother , waiting my mom was great enough to bring them up to the hospital early in the morning so that they could meet their new littlest brother , this is them waiting.

  And here he is ,the littlest brother.

 Biggest brother loving him , he was SO excited to have been there and to be one of the first to hold him and see him . He's so in love with him .

  While another brother wasn't on the top of her list, she's in love with him , and probably the BEST big sister anywhere around.

  My mom, this makes her 9th grand child. Who was ironically 9lbs 9oz.

 Sweet baby Owen , one day old.

 Since his birth he's done lots - had his first bath at 3 weeks old in his Tummy Tub  he absolutely loved it

He has spent an afternoon outside enjoying some of the random 77 degree weather days we've had

so while I don't know what I am really doing with 4 kids , Softball for Big sister , and Baseball for the big brothers , in two different leagues, all starting in the next 2 weeks. While the Daddy of the house is still a workaholic and we are trying to buy a house and learn to live debt free.... we're having fun and just going with the flow even though it seems the water is getting deeper.

Just go with the flow..

So , Im here to start off again by apologizing for not posting as often as I had intended .. But no one is reading anyway. At least not regularly or following . 

But since my last post a lot has come into play. Big brother has started Kindy and is loving it ! , Big sister is rocking the 4th grade ,and is loving being involved with student council. And newest news is that Little brother will now be a big brother too ... so I guess Big brother gets bumped to Bigger brother .

   We are expecting baby #4 , by mid February . It's another BOY! we are thrilled , Big sister was hoping ,and a lot for a little sister , but no such luck.. She's come around to the idea a lot more here lately . 

So soon to be 4 kids, are we crazy? No. Are we financially wealthy? No, we could always use more money. Are we taking things as they come and cherishing every day with our beautiful kids? Yes, and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

This has been a great motivator to get on the ball with our plans to purchase a home. We are both sure we want to stay in the same school zone that we are in now. We love this little school and this side of town. We have been loosely following Dave Ramsey's plans for Financial Peace. It has brought us a long way in a short amount of time , But between now and the end of the year we are really cracking down and plan to pay of the 2 small debts we have only leaving my van to be paid off. In hopes that it will boost our score a few more points since they will be early pay offs and help us by lowering our debt/income ratio .. not to mention just saving us that much more money on a month to month basis.. 

So, hopefully I will have some fantastic news to post , good news Im hoping. As we purchase our first home.

stay the course

I know when I started this blog, I had every intention of blogging daily and about all these fantastic things... well , honestly... the days when things that happen , that some might consider fantastic and worth blogging/reading about.. I dont have the time to blog about them. So , it doesn't happen , sorry.

As for our house we've had a few changes. We are expecting baby #4 in Mid-February. We are all pretty excited about it. School is about to start for the old two. They are pretty excited , 4th grade and Kindy watch out here they come !  Also littlest brother is going to start 2 day a week preschool in September , not that I need a break from him but I'm sure he's gonna be bored out of his mind with his siblings being gone everyday , all day. And it will also give me a few hours a week to handle my doctors appointments , grocery shopping and even just some time to relax. 

So that's the last 2 months pretty much in a nutshell..   I will come back to post about big brother's birthday , it was a blast. We took him to Sandusky Ohio and spent the day in Cedar Point . It was his first time and although he couldn't ride everything he wanted too , he still had a blast.

Friday

so, i dont know what to post about on Friday.. So i thought I would share some pictures. Without further ado and in no particular order .. 

Stock shot for Decky Doodle's listing of Chocolate dipped Gummi bears

We actually got some snow this winter :)

Our cat Joplin is not pleased

kiddos ready to play in the snow

D is loving the snow

Igloo my brother , sister and myself built ALL of snow

Snow wears a boy out.. this was at the dinner table <3

Thanks for looking :)

You really should , be thankful #8

So I'll be honest. This has proven to be harder than I thought it would be. Thinking of a legitimate thing daily I am thankful for , Beyond a cliche friends, family and my health kinda thing. So if these seem a little off , I am sorry. I am trying.

November 8th

I guess today , I find myself being thankful for my children. I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. I wouldn't have the relationship I have with my husband if we had not grown together to love these guys. I would not have the appreciation I have for my parents If I wasn't a parent myself. I would not find the happiness I have when my kids spend time with my grand parents .I am so thankful to have 3 great happy , healthy children. I'll be honest every day is no walk in the park. In fact , some days I want to lock the door on my way out and leave for possibly , depending on the day , a few days. I couldn't do that , not only cause it's illegal . But I just couldn't be away from my kids like that and for really any amount of time. The rare occasion David and I get a chance to go out without kids, we both find ourselves , talking about them and just plain missing them .

I know people, some are "friends" who find their children as a burden, an inconvenience. I could never truly think of my children that way . The thing about them that gets to me the most is the part about them being so open about it. To talk about it like it's normal to be inconvenienced  by the blessings that children are to a couple.What I have to say about those people are, Thank you for making me feel that much more thankful for my children, I must be doing something right to be against the majority of parents my age with more than one child that openly talks about how they feel when it comes to being a parent.

I mean seriously , how can you NOT love the heck out of these guys?

you really should , be thankful #6 & #7

So , I know again , I am posting a double thankful for post.... BUT... not like anyone knows this is there right? whos gonna complain? Let's just say someone is or might one day read this, and that's why I am posting... On the 6th and 7th of November , I want to say how thankful I am for Medical Science. I say this  because a family member was put into ICU after a pretty routine hysterectomy went bad , She had a cyst in her stomach that ruptured and caused her to have an infection in her blood stream that then spread to her lungs. and then that made it so that she couldnt breathe on her own and had to be put on a ventilator. Well you could imagine going into the hospital for a routine surgery then waking up hooked up to basically life support , she woke in a panic and tried to remove the tubes herself so they had to sedate her to keep her from hurting herself. I got word from my cousin ( her son ) that she is improving . I am so thankful for that news. I am thankful for the Medical staff that can take care of her and the science to enable them to do that for her. 

I think that is worth 2 days of being thankful posts , it being such a big deal to me and all . 

you really should , be thankful #4 & #5

So , I burnt the roll I was on  no pun intended. Thursday we had a family emergency . My brother had a small house fire , in the kitchen. he was burnt 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his chest and arm , some small burns on his face  leg and foot. All in all he is doing fine was only kept in the hospital for a couple hours and has been home since . 

So obviously I am thankful for My brother's well-being and the fire department for being there for him and helping..

I know this is a super short post and even shorter when you consider it's 2 combined in one , But I will return tonight and post #6

You really should , be thankful #2

Well.. day 2 out of ... how many ? like 30.... yea well we'll do this one day at a time .

I would like to say , these are in no particular order. What I feel thankful for that day could be sparked by something that was said while I was by my laptop and had a few minutes to post.

Today I want to say how thankful I am for my husband , David. This is gonna sound kinda sappy I'm sure , maybe even corny. And if you know me.. neither of those things are me . Dave and I have been together for 11 years this December, and married for 7 as of June 6th 2010.  He has always worked very hard to take care of our family.I couldn't have asked for a greater man . I don't really know what else to say without getting cliche' . I just have to leave it at , I am so Thankful to share my life and family with him and couldn't ask for more.

I took this picture with my phone.... I have an app on there , it's retro cameras. This one obviously is a Polaroid , also if you didn't assume as much but this is my husband . lol.

I sometimes think I should write down a list so I know what to post about the next day, Although I think not planning it makes it more sincere.Who knows? I'll just keep trying to post on here daily and avoid Facebook status thankful posts ..

You really should , be thankful

Since this is November , obviously as you know the month that contains Thanksgiving. I intend to spend each day posting what I am thankful for . There will be more than one thing to be thankful for daily I am certain of but I plan to just elaborate on one a day :) 

November 1st 

We didnt do a whole lot , the boys and I hung out around the house most the morning , and then went to my mom's to break down her swimming pool.. Which she gave to me. Basically my kids are the ones who swim in it anyway lol . I think mostly she was just tired of taking care of it when she wasnt really using and the main catch with it being mine now was.... I had to take it down . blah. 

But today I am thankful for my sister, Katie.. My only sister. She is 7 years younger than me , and was actually born on the eve of my 7th birthday .My gift of sorts, I mean what 7 year old girl doesn't want a real baby for their birthday lol. But in the last 10 year or more Katie and I are really close. She's my right hand and now that she has children of her own ( often pictured on here ) I'm glad to be there for her. But she's always ready to help me out and I am thankful for that. She even got the dead bird out of the pool , and kept helping me despite how nasty the pool water was , all 5 inches of the green ,funky water that was in there from the rain last week . She didn't have to , but she did.

So that's my sappy I'm thankful for my sister post ..  It's easy to chant of things you should be thankful for when asked. The cliche' things , family , friends and good health . But to elaborate on WHY you are thankful for those things can really make you think.

you really should , turn your porch light off if you dont want Trick or Treaters

When I was a kid on Halloween.. It was a race to the next house , while trick or treating. Skipping the houses that had their porch lights off. If your porch light was off , it meant you were out trick or treating with your own kids. Or just a jerk and didnt want to be cool and liked getting your house rolled/egged.. Tonight after taking my kids trick or treating im assuming many have forgotten that little rule of thumb about Halloween. People werent home with the porch light on , or you could see they were home, but just didnt care to get up from the football game .. which is fine. I get some people dont or cant hand out candy .. but to them I say ... TURN OFF YOUR PORCH LIGHT most people know that and wont send their kids up there .

but my goofy rant aside I thought I would share a couple pictures of my kiddos in their costumes.. My 3 went as the Mario Gang , We even roped my mom's Lhasa Apso/Terrier into it as Toad .. People loved them

Mario and Luigi

Our Mario has moved on from Plubing and is venturing into small engine repair

His motto is... If you cant fix it .... just kick it

Luigi

My Mario Gang : Mario , Luigi,Princess Peach and My mom's dog as Toad

Nephew as Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba

Basically a Nephew  , as Bruce he also had a little Nemo he was carrying around

Niece as a garden gnome , but for trick or treating she was a butterfly... you know when they are that cute it's hard to pick just one costume lol

Nephew and Niece as Monkey and Vampiress

So that was my weekend.. Friday , Saturday and Sunday all had activities that required the kids to be dressed up , which was a blast for them im sure lol but for me keeping up with Mario and Luigi's hats, dealing with overalls on potty breaks and the many costume malfunctions of Princess Peach lol ... I am ready to be done and relax... for a whole 3 weeks that is lol.. G is already talking about decorating for Christmas lol ....


What were your trick or treaters?