Thursday, May 27, 2010

Thankful Thursday

Will life ever slow down? It just seems to keep getting busier while the organization part of my brain keeps getting weaker. Oy.

I was laying in bed last night, trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep, when I thought of something totally awesome to expound upon for a Thankful Thursday post. I tucked it away in my brain to pull out today...and it seems to have gotten lost among the millions of unlabeled, unorganized files in my head. Phooey, phooey, phooey.

And so, because I have neither the power nor desire to dig for the power to think of an organized way to blog about something I can't remember, I will resort to simple list form.

Today I am thankful for:

  • Bret
  • lilacs and the heavenly smell they carry
  • ketchup on chubby cheeks
  • the smell of thousands of books in the library
  • a double stroller, even though it squeaks
  • three boys who follow my every move
  • a mental picture of Bret "walking" without crutches
  • the dishwasher
  • bathroom cleaner and gloves that make tackling the bathroom much more tolerable
  • Sisters
  • Brothers
  • Parents
  • cool temperatures
And finally,
  • weekend plans

Happy Thankful Thursday everyone! What are you thankful for today?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Thankful Thursday- Full hands

Oh, Thursday. What am I supposed to do with you when I wish you were just over and done with?

Today I am thankful that I know who I am and what my intentions are. There's this phrase I hear pretty much every time I'm out with the boys. If you have children, you've probably heard it to.

"You've got your hands full."

I can usually tell what the feelings behind the statement are.

There's the, "Oh my. You sure do have your hands full!"s that clearly say, "Makes me tired just looking at ya. Good luck with that."

There's the, "Ooooooooo! Look at the twins! They're so cuuuuute! You've got your hands full"s. The last part seems to be just some filler words to acknowledge my presence. If these people have any inkling of twindom beyond cuteness factor, I'll eat my hat...at least I'll be very surprised.

There's the, "*gasp* Are they yours?! They are so sweet and look how good they're being. I bet you have your hands full"s. I like these people. In less than five seconds they compliment me, acknowledge the hard work that goes into raising children, and lift my spirits.

Then there's the, "Oh. Wow. You've got your hands full, don't you?" Which, as we all know, means, "Do you even know where babies come from you Earth killing, tax wasting, overpopulating jerk?" *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* Yes, I do. Do you even know me well enough to have grounds for such assumptions? Nooooo.

I was in Walmart the other day, on my way to Customer service. I noticed quite the troop coming from the opposite direction. A young mother pulling a heavily loaded cart, very pregnant, small child on hip, slightly bigger child behind her, and a young boy holding onto the other side of the cart. I didn't see her face before she went by, but I remember thinking, "I bet she's tired." Then I noticed a Walmart employee staring past me with quite the disdainful look on her face. I stopped at the line to Customer service as this employee hailed a co-worker and both walked past me. As they went I heard the first woman say, "Did you see that? Some woman was just here who had FIVE little kids AND she's pregnant. *tsk*...And we're paying for them."

I turned and said, "Oh for pity's sake." But neither of them heard me and kept walking. Why do so many people judge on sight alone? For all we know this woman was pregnant with her first child and was caring for someone else's three-not-five. If they were all her children, I doubt that family is any drain on the government or wasting honest people's tax dollars. What's so wrong with having multiple children?? Especially when you can care for them??

After finishing with customer service, I took the boys into the store and grabbed a few things. We later found ourselves in the check-out line manned by, you guessed it, Miss Goodwill. Having heard her opinion on "too many" children before, I hoped she would be a fun social observation and when we arrived at the head of the line, she did not disappoint. She laughed jovially with the woman in front of us, and her smile fell visibly when she turned to greet me and saw one-two-three! boys sitting in the cart. She said, "Huh. You've got your hands full." I spoke with a bit too much enthusiasm just to spice things up. I remarked that yes, indeed my hands were full and three boys is oodles of fun. I think she then tried to smile, but was so put off by my obvious ignorance of overpopulation that she couldn't. The effect was fairly comical. I give her props for at least remembering to try to be polite to the customer in the face of such atrocity. She kept glancing at my cart full of boys and as I signed the receipt she said, "You got a set of twins in there?" To which I replied, "I sure do!" She lightened a bit and said, "well...you have a nice day."

I shouldn't let it, but it bothers me when people are obviously upset that I have "so many" children then they soften toward me when they find out two of the three are twins.

Long story short, I'm so thankful that I have purpose and (usually) perspective in life. I am grateful that such knowledge gives me confidence in the face of negative strangers in the world. Sometimes, those zingers still bite. But most of the time, it's merely disappointing.

Yes, my hands are full. I'm so grateful they are.

What are you thankful for today??

P.S. I'm grateful for starfall.com today, too. With the little ones napping and Jonz playing reading games on the computer, I can lay down and try to snooze off this annoying migraine hangover. Yay:)

Saturday, May 15, 2010

I love Saturdays...At least Saturdays like this:)

It's been a lovely Saturday.

We slept in.

After breakfast, Bret mowed the lawn while I cleaned the kitchen.

We went grocery shopping; always a fun family activity.

We came home; Bret and I cleaned out the fridge and made lunch.

The little 'uns took a nap (actually, they're still in bed!).

Bret put together his new early Father's day present of a hammock stand.

Jonzy discovered that our lilac bushes (or are they trees?) have bloomed, so I cut some and brought them into the house. They smell heavenly.


I did round two of planting in the garden.

While gardening, Jonzy (who has been fascinated with death, and we have had many conversations of death, heaven, God's plan, etc.) sat in his chair by the garden and here's our conversation:

J: Mom, do you know everything?

M: Not everything, but I have learned a lot in my life.

J: Did Heavenly Father tell you everything?

M: Not yet. It takes a long time to learn everything, but I'll keep learning and I'm sure he'll teach me all of it eventually.

J: Does Heavenly Father know everything?

M: He sure does.

J: Will he tell it to me?

M: You'll have a long time to learn everything and he'll teach you what you want to know. You can ask him questions in your prayers.

J: Okay...Mom, are you going to die?

M: Yes, but hopefully not for a very long time.

J: I don't want you to die.

M: Well, I don't want to die yet, but I have to die someday. And it will be okay, I'll get to go to heaven and be with Heavenly Father and Jesus. And then someday we'll be together again in heaven.

[Apparantly, this was not his prime concern today] J: But I don't want mommies to die! Who will drive the cars?!?

M: Oh, there will be plenty of people to drive you places when Mommy dies. Hopefully, when I die you'll be more than old enough to drive yourself.

J: Why can't I drive now?

M: You have to be 16 to drive. Don't worry. It will come soon enough and you'll be able to drive the car.

J: Okay!

And he skipped off happily.

Kids are awesome:)

After gardening, I utilized Bret's Father's day present and enjoyed these views-



-and the birds singing. It's absolutely perfect weather today!
Then Jonz climbed under the hammock and started poking me in the leg, anxious for his turn to lay down. So we sat in the hammock together, while he jumped up every few minutes to collect something from the yard and request a picture of it.

Saturday- so far so good. Off to put together burgers for Bret to grill.
Hope Saturday has treated you nicely, too!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Thankful Thursday-Friday

*sigh* I did it again. I was getting so good at not missing Thankful Thursday and now I've missed two in three weeks. My apologies, oh faithful five readers. I'm sure you've waited with baited breath for me to post:)

I was recently blessed to attend the sealing of my "little" brother to a wonderful woman. Temple marriages are awesome to be present for, and family marriages even more so. You may remember, as mentioned in this post, I embarrass myself on such occasions. I inherited a weepy gene from my grandfather. After the events of last Tuesday, I am convinced that not only have I inherited the gene, but that it has since mutated in an alarming fashion. After the blubbering episode ignited by the spiritual happenings at my oldest brother's sealing, I was sure that had I just not tried to take steadying breaths, I could have avoided making such embarrassing sobbing noises. Considering what happened on Tuesday, I'm certain there's nothing I can do to avoid embarrassing myself.

Let me paint for you the picture. Temples are beautiful. The peaceful presence of the spirit is immensely strong in the temple. The sealing of loved ones is one of the most joyous events to ever witness, knowing that your family is being tied together for eternity. It's an amazing experience for everyone involved! Such things elicit strong emotions. The stronger the emotion, the harder I cry and the harder it is and the longer it takes to stop. I tried the entire time to keep from crying! But can you blame a weepy girl when she's in the temple, taking part in that glorious spirit, seeing her brother glow even though she can only see the side of his face, seeing his brand new wife and her brand new sister glowing just as bright, and she's surrounded by loved ones?? And when things culminate at the end and she gets to hug the newly sealed couple...can you really blame her for crying?

Still, I wish I didn't have to make embarrassing noises...Have you ever seen Sense & Sensibility, the one with Emma Thompson?? Hang on, let me see if the clip I want is on youtube...


Yep, that's the kind of noises I was making in the quiet halls of the temple. After the first one jumped out of my throat as I exited the room I remembered the whole no-steadying-breaths thing, clamped my mouth shut, and tried taking small breaths through my nose. To my surprise, the noises didn't stop! I put one hand over my mouth and nose, then both hands, pressing harder and harder, trying to quiet the noises and calm down. Nothing helped. It's like the sobs were jumping straight through my neck. When I realized that there was nothing I could do to stop the noises, I suddenly was struck by how funny the situation was. This realization did not help as now I was fighting the noises combined with giggles. It would have been downright hilarious had I not been in the temple, ruining the reverent atmosphere.

All I can say now is, I'm glad it's over, but if I had to endure the embarrassment again in order to be there at such a wonderful sealing- I would.

I am so thankful for temples. I am so grateful that my brother and his wife (did I mention how ridiculously giddy I am to have another sister?!?) chose to be sealed in the temple. I am endlessly thankful that I got to be there. I'm so thankful to be related to so many wonderful people. I'm thankful for my husband who made it such a special trip. And above all, I'm thankful for such a loving Heavenly Father and His incredible Plan of Happiness.

What are you thankful for today?

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Thankful Thursday

I didn't post last week...Now it is this week.

There is much to be thankful for today, but my brain is in a current state of mush. I can't hardly formulate a sentence in my brain without getting sidetracked by another thought.

I'm thankful, I really am. However, between the millions of thoughts rolling through my mind dealing with my husband, my boys, my house, planning for an upcoming roadtrip, trying to figure out school and summer schedules, organizing my feelings on recent political happenings, etc. I am unable to think clearly enough to write a wonderful blog post. I am sorry. I hope you all pause to think on your blessings and see the hand of God in your life today.



What are you thankful for today?

P.S. Embedding doesn't seem to be working today. Click on the video twice and it will take you to the youtube channel where you can see the whole thing. Don't worry, it's a very safe site:)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Lyrical differences

These are the lyrics that I heard while singing "Baa, baa, black sheep," with the Jonzman tonight:

Baa, baa, black sheep have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for my master,
One for my leg,
And one for the little one who lives down the lane.
Baa, baa, black sheep have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

...Close. But no cigar:)