LOL

"Remember Girls, always wear your balls. Unless there's an emergency -- then you take them off."

This was the sentence I overheard as I walked into the room where Chloe and Jillian were playing... Definitely needed some clarification on that one! Turns out they were playing with some of their new toys - little animals that have plastic balls as homes... Too funny.

The Best Christmas Present of All

We spent Christmas Eve at church where we attended service and then Nathan and I served in the toddler room for two services. During the toddler service, the volunteers put on a small production of the Christmas story. We used Wyatt for baby Jesus. He is such an easy baby, so calm and almost universally happy - and this circumstance was no different. He smiled at all the toddlers singing their songs, smiled as I held him and kissed his chubby little neck, and then smiled, a little less confidently, when I placed him in the arms of the teenage girl who was playing Mary. He stared up at her and then at the wise men and then he went back to the nursery until I went to get him for the next service.

Jesus is our greatest gift --- but this little "jesus impersonator" is a close second. :)

A Blessed Christmas

Things I’ve been able to say (and hear) thanks to this Christmas…

Look at BooBah eating his ball – its as big as his head. (Boobah (Wyatt) got a big, soft ball full of holes from Auntie Leeda)

Quit climbing my leg with your car. (The kids got two RC cars (very cool) from Grandma Elaine)

Nathan, its time for Anakin to stop conquering  the kitchen.(Nathan got large Star Wars figurines and there was a staged battle in the middle of my kitchen floor.)

Mama, there’s a Snoopy on your butt. (Said by Daddy – Boogie got me comfy, fluffy Snoopy jammie pants.)

Shake it Chloe! (Leeda and Bread sent Dance Party 3 for Wii. AWESOME!)

Mama, you’re perfect!  (Grammie sent the game – Perfection – and I was the first one to get it all right)

Chlo, you’re beautiful! (Said by Daddy. Just because she is.)

Look, he shakes his tail when he walks! (Said by Mama – Chloe and Jillian both got walking Littlest Pet Shop toys. Very cute.)

Boog, pay attention to me – not your butt (Again courtesy  of Dance Party 3 game).

Nathan, go get a green – well, go get a Yoda colored crayon. (Said by Daddy who was helping Nathan make an origami Yoda)

Good job Boobah! Good job eating your elephant! (said by Mama – Wyatt got a crinkly, chewie elephant lovie from Grammie.)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Does this song say anything else?!? I mean, Come on! (Said exasperatedly by Daddy -- Nathan had put “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” on repeat in his room.)

And, the best...  Watch out kids, Daddy’s dancing.

Making Christmas Cookies. :)

Spoiled

It seems that blessings are a theme of my posts lately. Today is no different. I was reminded yesterday of just how wonderful a husband I have. I have to back up a few days to properly tell this story. Lowell has been working 6 or 7 days a week for the past couple of months and so some of the yard work around the house has begun to slide. He decided that on Friday, we would spend the day tackling our yard together. He worked 12 hours on Thursday and then went, Friday morning, to a friend's house to help him with his car. He came home and slept about 3 hours and then he worked 12 hours Friday night also. So, when he came home Saturday morning, instead of going to bed like any "normal" person would, he got out the weedeater and got to work. Meanwhile, the kids and I started picking up trash and toys, weeding, pruning and raking. About 12 we went inside for lunch. As I was making sandwiches, I noticed Lowell was begining to fall asleep on the couch. That was when Nathan reminded me that his parade was that night. I remembered about his parade, of course, but I didn't even think about Lowell staying awake to do the yard and then still wanting to go to the parade... I woke him up to tell him about the parade, and ask what he wanted me to do - when I should wake him up, either in time for the parade (in 5 hours) or in time to go to work. Being the wonderful dad he is, he wanted to make it to Nathan's big debut. So, after sleeping only 3 hours the day before, he slept about 4 hours Saturday, went to support his son and then went back to work Saturday night. Sunday, Lowell came home and crashed. The kids and I went about our normal routine. We cleaned, played, and got lunches ready for the school week. In the evening, the kids were supposed to be taking baths...
I say "supposed" because, to add to my husband's crazy few days, our water heater went out. We have no hot water. None.
About 4pm, Lowell got up and started boiling water. I was cleaning, taking care of Wyatt and trying to cook dinner and the time was getting away from me. Without mentioning anything to my wonderful husband, he took it upon himself to drag the hose into the house and start filling up our bathtub. He boiled pot after pot of water until it was ready for the kids and then took over the dinner preparations while I bathed the kids. After we ate dinner (yummy hamburgers) and played a couple games, I put the kids to bed and started my homework and writing notes for my client's files. While I was on the computer, Lowell started boiling water again. He filled up the bathtub for me, lit candles, set up Christmas music in the bathroom and made a wonderful surprise for me... After my husband worked so hard, he made this special effort to help me relax.
I feel spoiled. Spoiled and blessed. And thankful that I have such a wonderful husband.
Life happens. Water heaters go out. But family is what counts. And where it counts -- I'm blessed.

Glow on Monroe

Saturday was the Christmas parade in Buckeye. And my little Nathan was in it! :) I took a picture of their group, not knowing where he would be and, of course, I took it too early.... That being said, he enjoyed himself and had a great time! I yelled "Yay, Nathan!!" and he turned toward us and gave us a little "trombone wave". He later said that he couldn't wave, smile and play him music at the same time, but he was happy to hear our support. The parade was quite entertaining. There was a train covered in lights with a little ferris wheel, music and two big bubble blowing machines. There were miniature ponies pulling little carts, VFW members on Harleys, APS trucks, a fire truck, lots of floats from local churches, and others. The most memorable float came from APS (the local power company). It was one of those huge electric trucks with a big set of inflatable reindeer on top and a snow making machine. The girls loved standing in the snow. Chloe, Jillian, Wyatt and Lowell and I watched the first half of the parade and then Lowell walked down to the end of the parade route to get Nathan.
So proud of my little musician and thankful for a nice evening with the family. :)

Update and More Blessings

I don't know why I have this aversion to writing all of a sudden. It seems like sooo much effort to type up whats been going on around here. But that's just it - not much has been going on! Wyatt was dedicated at church last weekend. That was fantastic. Lowell came to church that Sunday to see it and then we went out to lunch with a friend of mine. Lowell has been working an insane amount of hours - 65-70 each week. We're saving up so that we can go on a mini weekend vacation before the end of the year. Lowell has two floating holidays that he has to take or else he will lose them and we had such a good time when we went to Tucson a few months ago that we're going to do it again. I'm currently working on figuring out who can watch the kids while we're gone. I'm parting them out to different houses and Wyatt will definitely be the most challenging...
Work is going well. I have clients that I really like and I feel like I'm making at least some progress with almost all of them. I do have one who makes me feel completely stuck; I just don't know what to do to help this person. And then I also have a client who was born the year I graduated high school. That made me feel pretty old. Lol.
The kids are doing really well. The big kids have their Christmas programs this week. Tonight was the girls'. They had a lot of fun and did fantastically. I am very proud of them. Nathan's parade is Saturday and then his concert is Tuesday. They are also working on Christmas projects and they have a holiday shoppe where they can buy little trinkets for their siblings, friends, family etc. at school.
As for me, I'm almost completely done Christmas shopping. I have a couple things I am ordering online that I haven't actually ordered yet and I have one more gift for Lowell to buy. Other than that, I'm done. Now comes the irritating part - waiting until Christmas so my family can open and enjoy the gifts I've been going all over town to get them! :)
Wyatt has become mobile. He doesn't exactly crawl yet, he "inchworms". He will pull up his legs and then slide his upper body forward. I don't believe this movement is specifically for the purpose of getting from one place to another, he seems to do it just because he's irritated with being on the floor. He can move quite quickly from one side of a room to the other, however simply by rolling over. And over. And over. Its amusing to watch him and the big kids love to see how far he can go around the room.
Speaking of my babies... They made me cry today. I am so overwhelmed by how blessed I am by them. I just can't wrap my head around how fantastic my kids are....  As I've posted before, we're learning Bible verses in the car. On the way to school, I usually quiz them over all the verses we've learned. I give them the address and the first word if they need it.... Over 20 verses without a single error... Nathan, Psalms 18:1, "i..."   Jillian, Psalms 34:1, "I will..."  Chloe, John 3:16, "For..." And on and on it goes like that... And they keep wanting to learn more. And, even better, I've been blessed to see them use what they're learning. When they are frustrated I've heard "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Phil. 4:13)   When they're fighting, I've heard "Bear with one another and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." I can't even begin to explain how my heart swells when I see these babies learning God's Word...
And then, this morning.. I was not thrilled about getting out of my nice warm bed but Wyatt was laying in his crib talking and wanting attention. Chloe came in the bedroom and starting talking to him, telling him how much she loves him, and then she took him out into the living room where I could hear the other kids ooohhhwwwing and aaahhhwwwing over him as well. And then, to go even further, Chloe comes into the bedroom and asks where I put the diapers so that she can change him.
My daughter asked if she could change Wyatts diaper. Again, I have no words.
All I can say is, I am blessed. Blessed. Overly and abundantly blessed. I have such wonderful children.

Coming Back to Blogging

Its been over two weeks since I posted. Part of the reason is because I have a hard time posting anything when times are difficult. Whenever I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed or upset, I have a hard time sharing what's going on in our lives because I have a hard time looking past the bad/frustrating/annoying/painful/stressful/etc. things. So, in order to break this post-less streak, I'm going to concentrate on the many, many, MANY things I have to be thankful for and joyful about.
Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior
His Word
My children are healthy.
We are having beautiful weather - a little chilly, but a nice change.
My practicum is going well. I'm enjoying it and learning a lot. And I really like my clients.
I have everything I could possibly need - I don't want for anything - food, shelter, car, clothes, anything.
We have kittens.
Its almost Christmas.
I have wonderful friends that I don't get to see nearly often enough, but who I'm blessed to stay in contact with electronically.
Specifically I'm thankful for:
Moron, Britany, Kirsten, Abby, Stacey (except I haven't talked to her in I don't know how long :(... ), Linda, Michelle, Erica, Deborah, Jacquelyn and others.
I have a husband who loves me. And demonstrates his love for me in tangible ways. For example,
he asks about my day and really listens when I tell him
he loves our children
he works hard. Really hard. to provide for us.
he buys me the "expensive" shampoo when he goes shopping
he's not above cooking dinner or doing the dishes or the laundry or the grocery shopping if I need him to
he plays with our kids
he takes care of the yard
he takes care of our cars
he worries about things so I won't have to
he encourages me to stay in contact with my friends
he knows what is important to me and makes it important to him too. Like getting me Christmas decorations for our yard when he found out his friend was getting rid of some. Even though he would rather do almost anything than bring home more stuff. Thoughtful.
he tells me I'm beautiful/smart/sweet and "his girl"
he makes spending time with me a priority
he's willing to crawl under the house because he knows I'm scared of bugs and spiders and other yucky, deadly things that live there
he tells me he loves me all the time
he's willing to change a diaper. If he has to.

I'm also thankful for
rainy days
emails from friends
comments on my blog posts
old pictures from my grandma Elaine that tell me more about her side of the family - specifically, my dad as a little boy (she even sent me a couple of his elementary school report cards! :))
a wonderful church I feel blessed to go to every week
the privilege of hearing my children recite scripture and having them ask to learn more
while it sometimes drives me crazy, I'm thankful that my children want to tell me about their lives - their days, their friends, their dreams (especially their dreams.. in detail... ugh) and the things they find funny... These days will soon pass and I'm thankful now that they actually want to include me
twinkle lights and Christmas decorations
a special relationship with my grandmas
supportive in-laws
 yard sales
getting rid of stuff
on the rare occasion it happens, a clean house
obedient children
music, there is almost never a quiet moment in our house or car - the radio is ALWAYS on. We all love music and find comfort in it.
that we decided to cancel our TV
Wyatt's yell/growl/scream
I have a happy baby! :)
I missed out on colic all four times. Praise God!
and so very many more things....