Thursday, April 25, 2013

just a few things...

Today I just need to ramble a little bit...about black birds (and how much I despise them) and dreams, and weight loss, and my kids, and maybe a few other silly things.  I feel like I am missing so many things these days, mostly because it seems that I am just busy, busy, busy from morning 'til night! My three kiddos keep me hopping!  I want to treasure these days and memories, but some nights I go to bed forgetting all of the wonderful little blessings that might have happened on that particular day.  I really want to do a better job of recording those things. I guess I feel like if I don't have a picture to go with a particular post, then I should wait before I blog about it.  I need to let that expectation go for now, and just write...and record...and cherish these days.  So here goes... :)

Kris bought me a huge, 50 pound bag of black sunflower seeds for my backyard feeders.  I was so excited because I thought that good seed would attract good birds...well...I do have a few cardinals and finches, but my feeders are being taken over and overrun by black birds.  I have had the bb gun out and ready trying to get rid of a few, but I've missed so many times that they are no longer afraid of my feeble attempts to eliminate even one of them...ugh.  So I checked on birds and blooms, and it suggests making a caged feeder...so that's what I think I will try to do. Tweet, tweet!

Dreams...I woke up to a terrible one the other morning, and it really upset me.  I was telling Katie about it later that day, and she said that she still prays a prayer she prayed when she was little.  She asks God to "not give her any dreams, no good dreams or bad dreams, just a plain sheet of white paper."  First of all, it just fills my heart up that she still prays every night, even though she's 13 and isn't be tucked in every night!  Secondly, her faith is still amazing.  She truly believes that God will answer her prayers and protect her when she sleeps.  She believes in those prayers because God has answered so many prayers for her.  Before we had Asher she prayed every single night for, "mama to get a baby in her tummy, and let it be a girl and look just like me"  She prayed and believed, and got Asher first, but then Claire, who is so much like her, in EVERY way!  Even though she is truly a teenager now, she is still an amazingly wonderful blessing to us.

And weight loss (or actually gain)...I am on the wagon...prayerfully this time for good.  I have started tracking my food again on Spark People, and it just helps me so much. We bought a yearly gym membership at our local rec center.  It's a nice small gym, not crowded, and everyone has been friendly there.  Kris and I have been going about 2-3 times on the weeks we have gone, but we have missed a few weeks for various reasons (mostly because we would rather sit in our pj's cuddled on the couch watching Castle or Blue Bloods and eating ice cream or Krispy Kreme donuts) Ha!  I wish that were not true...but it is.  From now on I will be cuddled on the couch AFTER I've got in my exercise, and with a nice crispy carrot stick! I am going to try and blog about my progress again, and this time I hope there are no major surgeries to knock me off track!

And finally (maybe)...the kiddos...they are all doing really well!  Katie is settled into school, and she loves her church youth group. She is on the leadership council for the youth group, and gets to help plan events and projects.  She traveled with her school choir to World's of Fun for a singing competition.  She loved WOF, and seemed to have a really good time.  They did well with their singing, too.  She is still very enamored with all things Paris, France, and the Eiffel Tower.  She says that she and I and Claire are going to take an all-girls trip there when she graduates from high school...I think maybe I should have started a savings account for that a loooong time ago!  She is a dreamer, and an artist, constantly working on sketches and decorations for her room.  Like I mentioned above, she is 13, but she is still our girl...our sweet pea...and no amount of teenage hormonal outbursts can change that (and she has plenty...ha!)



Asher is doing great!  He had Kindergarten Round Up at the beginning of this month, and we weren't at all sure what his reaction to it was going to be.  We all sat together at first, and then they asked the kids to go with their teachers to see the kindergarten rooms, and the parents to stay for some more information.  I was so afraid he wouldn't go, and he approached the teacher veeeery slowly, but he did it!  He went with her, and LOVED the K room...mama was tearing up, Daddy was almost tearing up, but we all made it through it...and it wasn't even the first day of school!  Yikes...just thinking about it makes me have tears well up.  It will be ok!  He is still hugely into dinosaurs...he got the big Imaginext T-Rex that he has been begging for well over a year for his birthday, he was SO excited!  He is so easy to please, just the littlest things make him happy. Kris brought him home a handful of small dinosaurs from a garage sale and he was beside himself...he is just a joy!



And Miss Claire...I'm not sure where to start...she is SOMETHING else!  Kris and I agree that she is the most loving and affectionate of our three children, but she is also the orneriest!  She is into something at all times...and I'm not exaggerating.  The moment you look away she has found a writing utensil and is being an "artist" like big sis, but usually somewhere she is not supposed to be at all!  She gets into every cupboard and drawer, every closet and cubby...always "meddling" (as my grandma used to say of me!) The amazing thing, though, is how much she loves all of us.  She is truly happy to see any one of us who has been gone for any length of time walk in the door.  She gives the biggest smiles and the tightest hugs, and her kisses...oh...they are the best.  She puckers her lips, and says, "mmmmmmkisss" and then lays one on you, it's the best.  I know her getting into everything will pass...she's only 2 for a little while...so I will just treasure every mess!


I know I have said this 963 times before, but sometimes I am still in complete awe of God's blessings in our lives...who knew that we would have THREE amazing children?  HE did...and that's what I need to remind myself of every single day...HE holds my life, my future, my heart in his hands...and that is a pretty amazing place to be.  I am so thankful...just so thankful.