{wHerE, oH wHerE hAs tHis MomMy gOne.....wHerE oH wHerE haS sHe goNe?!?!}

This is where I have been......

Ay, Ay, Ay!!!!!  This is OFFICIALLY the LONGEST blogging BREAK I have taken in the history of my entire blog!!  I have been blogging since 2007 on a VERY regular basis.....and have NEVER "LeT iT Gooooo" this long!!!!

Today is really Thursday, February 5, 2014.....but I am back dating this blog post because I am going to attempt to go back to the last time I posted and play some MAJOR catch up!!  So here goes nothing......I am DETERMINED to be 100% caught up by the time I go to bed on Sunday night!!!  Wish me luck!!!!  ;-) 

{NoVemBer HapPeniNgs}

Oh November, you still seem so far away!  Ok...it is really February, and I am STILL playing catch up!  So here goes nothin'......

We went to my friend Carrie's sons birthday party!  It's always fun to get together with my girlfriends from high school!  And so fun to see our kids growing up....in size & number!

This one is more reality....take a million to get a good one!!  :)

James had a game truck birthday party,,,,Ayden has never been to one, so he was beside himself and couldn't believe how awesome it was!!  HA!  He pretty much went in the truck and we didn't see him til the truck packed up and drove off....I think Ayden was the last one in!  He probably wishes he would've hid somewhere so he could live in the game truck!

Sometimes this boy is a really good helper!!  Trying to figure out this whole peeling potatoes thing!!

Zoey started taking piano lessons and LOVES it!!!  She has lessons once a week and in between she practices for HOURS!!!  We literally have to drag her off the piano because she would play all day if we let her!  She is learning some great songs and it's so fun to see her playing on the same little antique piano that I played on when I was her age!!!

A little video of her very first song she learned!  Makes me laugh that she picks up her right hand to bring it over & push down the left hand keys!!  :)

This was my favorite family night ever!!  It was on Sunday night and we talked about being grateful and afterwards everyone drew a picture of what they were grateful for!

Ayden was thankful for Pokemon....

Zoey was thankful for our house, family, water & sunshine....

Jer was thankful for our family....on a sailboat!!  Ay ay ay.....this was when his sailboat obsession started all over again!!  And I was thankful for family!  :)

Since Zoey has been playing on the piano so much, it's so tempting for everyone else to get on and play.....so Maddix hasn't been able to contain himself.....playing with his tongue out!!  HA!

She is a NATURAL!!!!  And I am in LOVE with her hair in this picture!!!  What a beauty!!

We got Christmas decorations up earlier than ever this year!!!  November 8th to be exact!!!  I know it's early, but I figure life is too short to not enjoy Christmas (the MOST wonderful time of the year) as LONG as possible!!!  So that is what we did and it was wonderful!!  :)

As you can see, some of us even enjoyed reading by the lights of the Christmas tree.....

Maddix had his Thanskgiving Feast at Busy Bee!!  It was a feast and he was the cutest little Indian I had ever seen!!  :)

This should be a "Danimals" ad, right?!?!

Zoey got an award for "ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE" in November and we were so proud of her!!  I love that she is such a smarty pants!!

Zoey and her 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Downs.....that I love so so much!!  She is great!

We worked hard on some project around the house in November!  Finally got rid of that awful oak banister going up the stairs!  Now it's a fresh clean white!  Thanks mom!!  :)

I helped my Dad build a head board for our guest room downstairs!

STILL working on potty training with this Mr. Poopy Pants!!  I decided maybe HE needs to be the one to clean up after himself...cuz I got sick of doing it myself!  Well, that backfired....I think he had WAY TOO MUCH fun cleaning up his poop and then walking the bag out to the garbage can!!  Dang....on to the next plan to see what works!

Ayden played fall baseball for the first time this year.  He was on the Lake Monsters!  

Little brother is his bag boy.....

Oh this boy....the one that drives me crazy and tests my patience daily!  On this day, he definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed!  Whenever one of this kids is grumpy, I like to take their picture!  But when I took his picture, he said "stop it you poopy pants"!  Oh, you little stinker!!!!  :-/

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 16}

Day 16:

My biggest fear is this last sentence.....that one of my loved ones will die and will not know how much they meant to me!  I hate thinking about that!!  I am not the best at expressing my gratitude....so that is definitely something that I need to do better at because I do not want to have any regrets when I lose someone I love!

Probably the person that I take for granted the most....without expressing my gratitude.....is Jeremiah!  Too bad he is too cool to read OUR family blog and will never see what I have to say about him!!  His loss!!!  ;-)  

But I really do take him for granted!  I guarantee that there aren't a lot of people in the world that could put up with me....I have a stubborn and strong willed side....that wants to do things my way most of the time....I like to talk, talk, talk things to death....I am a HUGE planner....I like to be in control....sadly, I just prefer things my way!!  HAHA!!  And guess what.....he puts up with it!!  All of it!!  I may get on his case when he forgets to take the garbage out, or when he leaves his wet towel on the bed, or when he leaves dishes in the sink, or when he doesn't do something EXACTLY the way that I would've done it (the right way...haha)......BUT.....he DOES put up with me....and all the things that I do to drive him crazy!!  I take that for granted and don't thank him enough for just putting up with me!

I also take for granted how hard he works to provide for our family and the fact that he has always allowed and supported me being a "stay at home/work at home" mom....even if he admits now that it wasn't the best idea years ago when we weren't making enough money and were living beyond our means!  Eek!!  But I have been doing it for more than 8 years....and I am so grateful for that!  I know there are TONS of moms that would give anything to be able to stay at home with their kids!

I take for granted what a good dad he is.  He is so fun...he is a kid himself.  The kids love to play with him....they love to be silly with him.....they love to laugh with him!  He is so good at all of that.  Getting down on the floor and "playing" with the kids is harder for me than him....and so I am grateful that our kids get that fulfilled in him....since that is an area that I lack!

I take for granted how helpful he tries to be.....he may put different shoes on Maddix than I had planned, but at least he got him dressed!  He may forget to put a new garbage bag in the garbage can, but at least he emptied the garbage.  He may be the biggest, sloppiest pig in the kitchen and make the HUGEST mess when he cooks (and fails to clean up), but at least he knows how to cook and enjoys it when he has the time.  He may not ever say "Linds, you need some time to yourself....go ahead and take a break and I will handle the kids", but at least he NEVER grumbles anytime I need to go somewhere or ask him for a break!  He may not help me clear the dinner table at night and help me put the dishes in the dishwasher, but at least he takes all the kids upstairs to brush teeth and get ready for bed!  He may not LOVE to chit chat and talk things to death like I do, but at least when I need him to hash out an idea or plan with me...he does it!  He really does try....and just because he isn't doing the things that I think are important, doesn't mean that he isn't trying to help!

I take for granted the fact that he is not a fat slob that sits around and doesn't care about his health.  I should be grateful that he likes to exercise and bike!

I would hate for something to happen to him and for him to not know how grateful I am for him.  Here's to hoping I can be better at expressing my gratitude to him and all the people in my life that I love!!!

 

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 15}

Day 15:

I love this quote!!  The one person that comes to mind when I think of this quote is mothers.  Mothers definitely give and don't keep score....they give without expecting anything in return....they keep giving even if they don't receive a "thank you"...they give and give and give....forever and ever and ever!  As a mom of young kids, I think about how I countlessly give and give and give to my kids.....and then I think about moms of old kids (like my mom and my mother in law) and think about how they countlessly give and give and give to their kids!!  No matter how old you get, you are always a mother....and that "mothering" instinct never ends I believe!  That ability that moms have to give without keeping score or expecting anything in return or receiving a thank you....that ability is amazing!!  And it never goes away!!  And for that, I am grateful to my own mom and my mother in law.....for all they do for me....and for Jeremiah...and for our kids!  They give and give and give to us all.....and only get a small percentage in return!  As a mom myself, I know how challenging it is sometimes to feel like you are always giving...and sometimes what you give goes unnoticed!!  So I want to make sure that my mama and my mother in law know how amazing I think they are....and how GRATEFUL I have for all the giving they have done for my family!!!  

I AM GRATEFUL FOR MOTHERS!!!

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 14}

Day 14:

"There are some memories that make you smile just by thinking about them.....these are the ones that are stored in your heart."  

It always makes me smile to think about the 3 special days that we got to take our kids to the temple to be sealed to us for eternity!!  What wonderful memories those were!  I love to see how our family has grown.....

February 2007...

October 2008....

June 2012....

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 13}

Day 13:

I can think of so many things that are going right in our lives.....

Jer loves his job....and a happy employee makes for a happy hubby and a happy Daddy!!  Trust me....I know first hand....I have seen him as an unhappy employee and it isn't pretty!!!

I have the best job....I only have to leave the house 1 day a week....and I get to leave Maddix in the hands of one of his grandmas....and it's the easiest job ever....with the best pay!  I'm so lucky to be able to work....and not have to be away from my family!

We are healthy!  It's scary how often I hear about a sad tragedy or illness striking a family....just heard about another one TODAY about a friend's little boy who is very sick!  I'm so grateful that I have a healthy family!

Our finances.....we are out of debt for the 1st time in our marriage (12 years to be exact)....we are saving money every month (for the first time in our marriage)....we are on a budget and know exactly where our money is going every month!  There is a huge freedom that comes with being in control of your finances....I love that feeling!  Because the opposite of that feeling is complete HELL!!!

We have 2 beautiful homes....with each tiny project we do around the house, I love it even more!  And we have been so lucky to have renters in our Utah house for the past 6 years!!  What a blessing!!

I'm sure there's more....but I got hit "publish" and then I can say that my gratitude journal is going right cuz I am all caught up!!  :)

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 12}

Day 12:

It's amazing to me when people make the best of their trials....or when they make lemonade out of lemons!  I wish I was more that way!  I have, however, taken my biggest trial and have used it to lift and inspire others!  Who knew that I would ever become an open adoption advocate!!  HA!  If you would've asked me that 9 years ago, I would've laughed out loud!  But I LOVE adoption....I love to talk about adoption....I love to answer questions that people have about adoption....I love to tell the people that think we are SO crazy, why open adoption works...I love to show people that even when you don't carry a baby for 9 months, that you can still love them as your own....I love to ease the minds of those who are looking to adopt!  Get me talking about it and I may never stop!!  So grateful that my mind was opened to something that I wouldn't have normally considered otherwise!!  :)

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 11}

Day 11:

I feel God's love in my life....ALL THE TIME!  Sometimes I feel it all day long in everything I do....and sometimes I don't feel it until the end of the day, when I walk into each of my kids bedrooms to check on them before I go to bed.  And it is then, when I look at each of them sleeping....that I realize how blessed I am!  

I also can't help but point out how much I have felt God's love in our journey through struggling with infertility, to thinking about adoption, to being chosen by birth moms, to having babies placed in our arms at 3 different hospitals, to bringing them home, to celebrating the day they were "officially" OURS, to enjoying every little moment as parents with them, to watching them grow!  Our story is not what I thought it would be.....the way it was written in my mind is not at all the way it turned out....but now that I can look back, it all makes sense!!  Every single little detail of the plan makes sense and I know that Heavenly Father had a part in making our story....exactly how it turned out!  Everything was supposed to happen the way it did and our 3 kids were supposed to end up in our family...with us as their parents!!  What an amazing Heavenly Father we have.....and even better when we can realize all that He does for us!!  :)

{30 DaY grAtiTude cHaLLengE - DaY 10}

Day 10:

This makes me laugh!  I thought I was doing pretty good for November....as far as gratitude goes....but.....maybe not!!!

A "natural high"....not sure I feel that...more like exhausted!!  HA!
"Optimistic"....anyone that knows me knows that I am not the most optimistic person there is....even though I try to be better!
Being optimistic "boosts the immune system"....darn, I am sick right now!!
"Alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism, energy"....once again, I am pretty tired!  HA!
"Less depression and stress"....feeling pretty stressed about my busy day tomorrow....help in the kid's classrooms, lunch meeting for Relief Society, Ayden baseball game, baby shower.....did I mention I was sick and tired!  And I also have a sick kid and a sick hubby!  HAHA!!
"Exercise regularly".....haven't gotten a workout in yet this week!!  :-/
"Feel loved".....ok, I may be lacking in all the other areas above, but at least I am loved!  Maddix told me I was his BEST buddy!  :)
LIFE IS GOOD!!!!  :)