One of "THOSE" days

Have you ever woke up feeling like this:

But only to find yourself feeling like this only a few hours later?

I would like to think that I am not much of a Debbie Downer. You know what I mean, where she concentrates on all things that is bad about her day or life. Anyhow, after hours of things not to my liking, I started taking a mental note about how rotten my day went. NOt a very good plan! Let me see if I can remember them all, just to make your day.

*NOtE**this is hilarious now, but while it was happened...see picture of evil witch above.

So while I am trying to catch up on some work in the office I think that the kids are all entertaining themselves in the front room with a few toys. I decide to check and then realize that there are about 20 ornaments off the tree all over the floor. I proceed to pick them all up and out of the corner of my eye see the problem. Imagine if you will little Creed putting his arms straight out to the side like an airplane and then swing them around like a twister. The thing is, is he is standing right next to the tree and is doing this on purpose to see the bells fly across the room. I firmly tell him "no" and walk away only to notice my new little "cheap" nativity is not in it's place. I look around to find all 13 pieces in a different area of the room. I find all but a wise man and 2 animals. While I am sitting them up again, I see that poor Mary is NOW missing her hand, one of the wise men has lost part of his hat, the cow and donkey have lost one or both ears, the Shepperd boy lost a sheep off his shoulder and the back of the manger has a huge chunk missing as well. I think Joseph and Baby Jesus were the only ones to survive the abuse. FUn Stuff! Well, I realize that could very well be my own fault. I told Carter and Shelby they could play with them on the table and when creed came to help, they put them in a basket and started running around the house. NOt good for the Nativity. Dang It!

I try to go back to work and then hear "Creed has a stinky nasty diaper". So I run and find him standing in the hallway with no diaper on and poop from his knee down. Carter had tried to get him to go potty in the toilet and realized it was too gross, so stopped. Big helper!

I then gave up on any kind of work and started cleaning the kitchen...I had just made it in the kitchen and noticed about 15 ornaments off the tree again. And Mr. Airplane Man was standing there smiling from ear to ear. So back to redecorating.

This is getting to long and is starting to make me look like a piece of work mother. LEt me make this shorter.

Later I find Grape Jelly and Chalk (don't ask me where the chalk came from) mixed up on a stool in the front room. This all happens so fast.

RE-Decorate the tree for the 3 or 4th time. And this is all before 1pm. Pretty sad huh?

I finally get wise and put all the kids in the car and get out of the house. I notice my car is totally empty and run to the nearest gas station. I am so put out that I find myself Rolling my Eyes at the gas pump after I pump only 6 gallons and pay 20.00 Buck. I was so ticked at that pump! But when I realized that I actually rolled my eyes, I had to laugh.

At about this point My day changed.

After we all get home Lukey is there to greet us, but I think he can still feel the "yeeks" and "gad zooks" coming off of me and so he heads to the grocery store. When he returns I see the groceries left on the counter and roll my eyes that he didn't put them away. When I started to put them away...I noticed something that instantly softened my heart. This will sound so strange but Luke had bought me the biggest Grapefruit at the store. He thought it would make me feel better. I LOVE Grapefruit and have been so cheap lately, because of the price. So I don't buy them...but not my LOVE. He made my entire day seem like no bigger deal. Since I was so rotten to my poor children, I had to share it with them.

If you have every had one of "those" days......raise your hand!

It's that time of year again!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It's official...we have our Christmas tree up. And that as enough excitement for one night. Creed of course, just likes to try and hit the bells off the tree. He thinks it's funny, because Luke and I tell him "no". So that's turned into a game. Yeah for me! The kids were so excited all day for FHE and the tree. It's always a fun time. And don't let me forget to write about our traditional "climb daddy's back to put the star on top of the tree" ordeal. Luke always gets a few toes diggin in his back...fun for him!

IT's the final countdown

Finally I am so Thankful for such an amazing 10.5 years of marriage. I thought that nothing could beat the 1st year...till I see how things are 9 years later. I have learned so much about myself as wife, mother and woman in that past 10 years. I would not change one thing about this time. Things have been trying, times have been tough, but I am so proud of the way our Marriage has strengthened over time. It's been so much fun and that is something else that I am Thankful for. We have grown as a couple and also as individuals. Realizing that marriage is all about selflessness. Which is always easier said than done. This is a work in progress, for me!

3 & 2

Just 2 days left of this silly countdown. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for many things....but 1/2 way through whole deal I realize people might be reading this. Which leads me to :

I am thankful for Journals. I have always kept a journal about my daily activities. From my children's' first step to places my family drove that day or simply some feelings that I had that week or month. I would journal about books that I had read or glue a picture in my journal of a day I wanted to remember as a "picture" rather than a bunch of "words". Anyhow, I am Thankful for the many different ways we can journal. And all my grandparents that used their pen to let us know about how they lived their lives. There are so many pictures I see of my grandparents or parents that I wish I was a fly on the wall.
*Tragic story time* About 3 years ago I lost about 10 years worth of journals in one of our many moves. After many tears and phone call, I decided I would go a little postal and I became a "anti-journaler" as a personal protest. This was not working for me! So, my point of this is, please forgive me for many of my posts. This blogging business is more for me than anyone else. If you happen to cross my post and enjoy it, well heck, that's a bonus!

I am Thankful for pumpkin anything. I can't wait till it's Thanksgiving for so many reasons but Pumpkin Cheesecake has to be on the top of the list. I love pumpkin choc. cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, Pumpkin bagels with pumpkin cheesecake...if it has pumpkin in it, then YES! I love it.

Hooray for Pumpkins!
Click here for Scrumptious Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe
Don't let the prep time scare you...it's all fridge time. So make this in advance. IT's So Worth it!

Happy Birthday buddy!

7, 6, 5, 4 Days till we Feast

I am beyond Thankful for my 4 little babies. They bring us so much joy. Not to mention loads of learning. I love each of them 4 their own unique personalities and what they have made me become. I can't imagine what type of person I might be without them. It's fun to see them be from the same family but be so different. What a blessing they are to our family! LOVE EM!

Today marking the 1 year mark of the lost of my brother-in-law. I am simply Grateful/Thankful for the plan of Eternal Life. What an amazing gift we have, to see our loved ones on the other side. "Listen to the Roar of the Crowd"! right?

I am SO thankful for my little 3 year old. Happy Birfday Home Depot! This little Cartie boy loves Home depot. So much so, that during a prayer his sister was saying, he was whispering to have her pray for home depot. HE is a joy to have in our family. What a loving little boy.

I am Thankful for my husband's cute ways to show me he thinks about me through out the day. I love it when he calls me at home or as I'm driving and all I hear is "87.5" or "101.9" (these aren't real stations by the way) and then he hangs up. So then I proceed to run to a radio and turn the dial to the clue or number that was given. And without fail, it's my favorite song. That's cute!

These are a few of my favorite things!

8 day till t-day yadda yadda yadda

I am So Thankful for Potty Trained Spiderman that lives at our house. We thought we would protect the innocent by having him wear a mask. Actually he loves to wear this. He is a good boy. He keeps us entertained and most of all he loves his mommy and daddy. He reminds us of that everyday. He will walk up to me and say "mommy, I love you." And I always respond "I love you my Cartie".....but if the mask is on....he will say back to me "no mom, you say I love you spiderman".

That is something to be Thankful For!

And potty training!

9 & 10 Days till Turkey Day and Heavenly FAther gave to me

It's been brought to my attention that my dang calculations are off. So I need to envelope 2 days into 1 to make it a correct countdown until we devour the Turkey and Pie!

I "should have" consulted my calendar better. So, bare with me or don't!

Well today it came to me...I am Thankful for Parents that have shown me love in different ways than giving me "things".

Today, I was on the phone with some parents that are looking at a enrolling their child in a Boarding School that I work for. One of the things that they mentioned is that they are always trying to let their child know that they love her. The mom said "She is an only child, we have given her EVERYTHING she wants, what more can we do to show her we love her?" Ouch!
I thought about the ways I feel love from my parents.

The gift of TIME is a huge way I feel love. I have always felt like my parents have time for me. And part of this is having an ability to listen.

My parents have never been shy of compliments "kind words". They have always built me up with whatever I am trying to accomplish.

Lastly, they are never short on a hug. Hugs aren't the same coming from just any one. My parents hugs are different. They are healing, calming and in the midst of a hug, with no words spoken, things are suddenly okay.

My next item of Thankfulness are my sisters. I have 12 sisters...some are more blood than others. But hey, they are all related to me some way or another. I am very thankful for the fact that they are always looking out for me. Always making sure I look better than I do. If I need to be corrected, occasionally, they do it. If I need an occasional beating, they do that. If I need some guidance, they are there. And I know it's all in trying to soften my rough edges. It's amazing the support I have at a push of a button. There are some of my sisters that don't know me just yet. OR, even the other way around, some of them I am still getting to know. But I rest easy knowing they are all on my side.

*By the way...to whom it may concern, I lied, I do get offended sometimes. But, it takes more than that. :)

11 Days before T-day and Heavenly Father gave to me!

I was in bed a few minutes ago and was recalculating the days events. Thinking about how I shouldn't of let "him" eat that at 9am. Or how I should of finished that "one thing" at 11am, or how I shouldn't of said that "stuff" at 3 pm, or how I should of treated "her" better at 5pm. And then I realized what I wanted to write about on this rendition or "what I am thankful for". I am so Thankful for Color. I know that sounds strange especially after what I just wrote. But it came to me all the sudden that our world is amazingly colored. Just yesterday my Shelby pointed to something and said "mom, why do they call that blue"? I said "because it looks like blue". That seemed to suffice her for a minute. She then informed me that she was going to call blue gray and yellow green and so on with just about every color. For some reason since then I have really be more aware of color. I have always loved color and but I have been noticing the color rather than the "thing".

Have you ever realized how BLUE the sky is? That is something amazing.

Have you ever realized how Red the Rocks are in Zion Nat'l park or Grand Canyon? Take a look!

So much of the color around us is NOT man made, although now a days...it seems that way. But the next time you walk into a grocery store. Walk over to the produce department. Take a step back and look at it as a canvas instead of "FRUIT or VEGGIES". It's amazing.

That's something to THankFul for!

12 Days before Thanksgiving and Heavenly Father gave to me.

This morning I turned on the BYU channel to see what it had in store for us on this Sunday morn. I turned it on right before "Music and the Spoken word" came on. With Veterans day around the corner the Choir was focusing on AMERICA! I am so ThanKfuL to of been born in such a blessed land. We have so much as Americans. This morning I listened to a talk from Elder Dallin H Oaks about "Pushing Back". He was making reference to Pushing back the world and protecting our families from the evil that is out there. He talks about not having the power to change the world, but having all the power to teach our children how to deal with it. I am ThanKfuL for the Power and opportunity I have, by living here in this Country, to speak about my Faith and to teach my children what we as Latter-day Saints believe.

That is something to be Thankful for.

BRAVERY

Tonight was what I call "success". I remember writing a post back in Sept. titled "Pillow Fight". It was about how Lainie lost her last tooth. Well, today as we were traveling home from a day trip, Lainie told her dad that she wanted him to pull her tooth that has been so loose for weeks. That was huge for her. You know that saying that people use when they are making a comparison to something hard and they say "it was like pulling teeth". We know exactly how hard that can be. Anyhow, tonight she was trying to be brave and let her dad pull the tooth. She just couldn't come up with enough bravery to follow through on the pull. So, we didn't bug her about it for a while.

Later on she came to me, Mommy of all people, and asked if I would pull her tooth. I knew that if she was asking, I couldn't turn her down. She told me to give her a second and she disappeared into the bathroom for a minute. When she returned she told me she was going to cover her eyes and then I could give it a pull. I asked her if she went into the bathroom and had a prayer. She told me she did it to be more brave. DANG CUTE!

Well, the eyes went closed and without any effort on my part but much on hers..the tooth came out. It was success! The tooth fairy better find this child tonight!

Cooler weather found

Today we decided to head off to Payson for some much needed cooler weather. We packed the kids in the car and off we went. There were a few times the kids asked "why can't we go to a closer park for a picnic?" But we reminded them that we could be in the mountains, and that seemed to calm them down a little.

Once there, we ran into Safeway and got some items for lunch and then off to the park we went. We found an amazing park in town. It had a huge pond, grassy area, picnic tables and also playground for the kids. When we first got there we actually felt it sprinkling on us...not from the sprinklers but the sky!!! Imagine that! We got to wear our jackets for a bit...the kids were so thrilled about that. Isn't that crazy, that kids react to wearing extra clothes with joy? Well, in the Valley of the Sun jackets just aren't used very often. After a while, the jackets came off...it ended up to be about 70 degrees...but hey....that was 12 or so degrees cooler than the Valley. YIPPEE!

OH*****and the colors were quite beautiful up in the hills.

Today was a good day!

Playful Weather or something like that!

Here it is NOVEMBER 3rd and we are out at a local park, sweating! It's only 95 degrees today and it's suppose to be Winter. I suppose I should be Thankful that we aren't covered in 3 ft of snow. So that I am thankful for ...but secretly pray for cooler weather.

OCT 31st, 2007