Gratitude Thursday

This week has been a little discouraging for me. I don't know why. The kids are back in school, everyone is finally healthy, the hype of the holidays is over, I am completely broke, gas prices keep getting higher, we have 5 inches of snow and it's 20 degrees outside. I just feel so negative inside.

I was blog browsing this morning and I came across Laughadaisy's blog through 2 Kids and Tired (both blogs I totally recommend!) Today Laughadaisy's post was about some of the things that she is grateful for. Reading her list made me realize that I need to change my attitude. I am feeling negative because I am choosing to. So now I choose to find some things to be grateful for. (Ha-Ha! An attitude of gratitude! Not intentional but it works!)

1. I am grateful for my husband! He is my Rock! He is very patient with me. He loves me no matter how silly, thoughtless or brilliant(sometimes I really am!) my actions are. He has sacrificed so much in his life because he chooses to be with and love me. He believes I have a good heart and that I am capable of so much more than I believe that I am. He helps me to set my sites high and not settle for less.

2. I am grateful for Z! He is my Hero! What would I do without Z? He can do anything and I expect him to do everything. He tries so hard to do what is right and to be completely honest. His personality radiates goodness. I love that he has started to give me a hug every morning. I love that he talks to me about everything. He called home last night from Young Men's and asked to talk to me. He just wanted to tell me that he was on his way home.

3. I am grateful for J! He is my Warrior! He is always rescuing something or fighting off some demon. His love and compassion for all creatures touches my heart. He is funny and he makes me laugh. He has an amazing memory and I love to hear him retell lines to movies or books or conversations over and over and over. His sensitivity to the spirit and things that are sacred is very humbling to me.

4. I am grateful for S! She is my Angel! She is everything that I am not but that I wish I was. She is a hard worker. She loves to clean my house. I love that she is always writing letters of love and appreciation or making little gifts or drawing pictures for her friends and family. She strives for perfection in all things. She is accepting of things good and has zero tolerance for anything less. I have so much to learn from her.

5. I am grateful for A! She is my All-star! I love that she is so kind and honest and full of goodness. She is very good with little children. She is always so happy. She surrounds herself with things that make her happy. She loves to learn and try new things. She is very forgiving and very rarely does anything wrong. She is very strong and brave. She often tells me that "being brave means doing what's right, even when it's hard!"

6. I am grateful for K! She is my Princess! Whatever she wants, she pretty much gets. I love that she is so determined and confident. She is always dancing and singing and talking, talking, talking! She loves who she is. She has a big spirit in a little body. She makes life around her beautiful and exciting.

7. I am grateful for H! He is my Champ! He loves to play rough. He is always sticky and messy. He likes to be really loud. And he's full of hugs and kisses. He has my grandpa's smile. He has big eyes that study everything around him carefully. He is very aware of everything at all times. I am so glad I chose to have one more. He was definitely worth all that I went through!

I feel so much better now. This has definitely put me in a better mood. What would I do without my family?! Thank you Laughadaisy for helping me to remember what is really important today.

Have a great day!

Taking a moment to vent...

Dear Mr. Clause,


My kids have been back to school now for 3 days since Christmas and the only thing they can talk about is all the things that their friends got from you for Christmas that they did not get. Apparently, the HOT item this year was the Wii and for some reason, you did not give my children one. Also, every child has their own new cell phone and ipod. And once again, my children got jipped! Were they not good enough this year? Did you just run out? Can you help me out here? I need some answers!



Feeling a little scrooged,

mom2my6(disappointed)kids

Going Nuts!

Yesterday I had a little...."procedure" done to hopefully find out some more answers as to why I have not been feeling well the past year. I didn't realize that I had to fast 24 hours before. I figured the "prep" I had to do 12 hours before my appointment was enough. So, after I ate lunch on Sunday and then read my instructions of things to do before my appointment, I got the joy of my finger meeting my throat as I faked that I had not eaten anything for the previous 24 hours. Then it was on to the "prep." It was AWFUL!!!!! I didn't sleep at all that night because I was so sick and I was anxious to get up and get on with things. Monday morning my parents came to watch my younger kids because I had to have Hubby at the procedure to drive me home. Hubby ended up having court that morning so my Dad got to drive me. Thanks Dad!

As the nurse was putting in my IV she told me that I would be "consciously sedated." Basically she said that I would be awake but I would not remember any of it. "GREAT! Now I will be talking and rambling about whatever and I will basically have no control over it AND I won't remember it." Hubby got to the office before they put me out. The nurse went to get him so that he could come in and "say good-bye" to me! Wow! Do I feel nervous now?

Let me just say, I HATE MEDICINE THAT MAKES ME GIVE UP CONTROL OF MYSELF! I don't take sleeping medicine or anything that causes drowsiness. It doesn't make me feel better. I just fight it the whole time. I was in Jr. High when I had my tonsils out and I fought that anesthesia. I came out of that surgery screaming and fighting. The next time I had to be put out was when I had my D&C 4 years ago. I hate the time between them giving me the medicine and then everyone gets to stand around staring at me waiting for me to go out. They told me to start counting and I only got to about 8. This time I was not sure what would happen since it was a conscious sedation. The nurse came in and opened the window and showed me that it had started to snow. I was looking at the snowflakes and the doctor came in and started asking me some questions about my lab work and about my prep and the snow and then I was waking up in a really small room and I didn't recognize anything. Soon Hubby came in and I could see the clock out in the hall. It was 1 1/2 hours later. I asked Hubby what was going on. He said that they had delayed the procedure due to other emergencies. (They hadn't. I fell for it!) The doctor came in a few minutes later and started to give me discharge instructions. I started to tell him something and he said "We already talked about that." "When?" "Earlier today." "Oh, I don't remember." Then I started to tell him something else. He smiled and said, "I know." "How?" "You told me." "Really. Today?" "Uh-huh...." "Um, what else did I tell you?" He just winked and smiled.

Shouldn't there be a law against talking to patients when they are under the influence of drugs?!!

Not that I have anything to hide. I talk so much all the time that I probably would have volunteered all kinds of information and more if they had just asked. The thought that I never even knew when I went out bothers me. They didn't give me any kind of warning and the last thing I remember was me talking, talking, talking....I don't trust that my brain told my mouth to stop talking or that my mouth obeyed. It rarely does when I am IN total control.

So, today I am doing great because I have some answers about my health and I feel like I am on a road to recovery but I am worried about how much talking I did yesterday and I don't like the idea that I have no memory of those things that I said to the doctor.

Okay, this is crazy! I worry way too much about the things I remember saying to people and now I am worrying about the things I can't remember saying. AAAHHHH!!!!.......

Bad Dreams

I am looking for some advice...

I have 2 children who have bad dreams quite regularly. Almost every night!(not at the same time though) They will come into my room crying and scared and tell me they had a bad dream again. My response is "Go get a drink, go to the bathroom and say your prayers. If that doesn't work come back and get in bed with me." Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't.

I remember as a kid always having bad dreams. They were usually the same two dreams: being chased by Indians who wanted to steal all us kids from our family (I have nothing against Indian people, they were just so wild and scarey in my dreams) or climbing the black pipe in the basement that went to the toilet upstairs and then falling and falling and falling...and waking up before I hit the bare cement floor. I would go into my mom's room and she would say basically the same thing to me, "Get a drink, go to the bathroom, and say your prayers." Only she wouldn't let me sleep with her so I spent many nights sleeping on the floor next to her bed on the fuzzy animal skin-looking rug. I finally decided that I was getting too old to go to my mom's bed each night when I had a bad dream so I came up with a plan...If I kept my feet covered at night then I wouldn't have bad dreams. I know, it sounds nutty, but it worked! Even today, I am obsessed with having my feet covered with blankets at nights no matter what the temperature is because then I don't have bad dreams.

Anyways.....My question is this:

-Do your children have bad dreams?

-WHY do they have bad dreams?

-And, What do you do to help them through it?

(I guess I actually had 3 questions...Oops!)

Too Much Talking

K was talking to Hubby last night while we were in bed trying to go to sleep. She was rubbing his back and telling him all about her day. After a while, Hubby stopped commenting and started snoring. K says, "Daddy, are you awake?"...No response..."Daddy! Are. You. Awake?"...No response....She starts shaking him and yelling,"DADDY, ARE YOU AWAKE?"...Hubby rolls over and mumbles a "Uh-huh". K starts to giggle and says, "Oh, cuz I foughts you was asleep"....Hubby mumbles "I was"...K says "But Daddy, I was talking to you."

Now I know I'm not the only one that can talk Hubby to sleep at night. And I know that K has my knack to talk and talk and talk and talk....because I was also asleep long before she was done talking...

January Goals

I have so many things that I want to improve or change or learn but they are the same things as last year and the year before and...you get the picture. I'm not improving on very many things and my list of resolutions gets longer each year, so in order to try to check some things off of my list, I am going to break things down into categories and then work on a few things each month. Maybe writing it down and tracking my progress on my blog will help me to do better this year. I have "High Hopes!"

So here's my goals for

More Graphics at pYzam.com

Personal:
I will spend one hour each day renewing my spirit. During this hour I will read and study my scriptures and I will take time to practice playing the piano again.







Family:
I will take advantage of our evening time together. On Sunday we will study a Conference talk together and then have a weekly planning meeting. On Monday is Family Home Evening and Friday, this night will be our Family Fun Night where we just play together.






Health:
I will cook breakfast each morning before my kiddos and hubby head out the door and have dinner ready each evening before 8 o'clock.







Home:
I will completely clean one room each day. I figure by doing this, the whole house will be cleaned every two weeks.









Marriage:
We will have prayers together each night.







Long Term:
Food Storage-January:take inventory and make a plan for the year.
(I typed in picture of food storage and this is what came up. I thought it was funny!)








Wow! It's a good thing I only picked to work on a couple of things this month. I basically feel like I have taken a very long vacation from my life and now I am playing catch-up! I have so many more things that I need to do but just putting this many down has already put things into perspective for me. I guess I tend to have "Big plans" but "Small actions"

Do you make New Years Resolutions? How well do you do at keeping them?

New Years Animations provided by MySpaceAnimations.com

More of the same...

Yesterday I went back through my entire blog and deleted all names. As I did this, I was able to glance through all of my posts. I loved laughing and remembering all the good and bad that has happened over the past 8 months that I have been blogging. I have to confess that I have NEVER been good at journal writing so I have years and years and years that I have written nothing down. Yesterday, I realized how much I have lost because I did not take the time to write it down. So, if I thought that this blogging was a waste in any way, I am now completely convinced that if this is the only way I enjoy journaling, then it is worth it for me.

I wish that I was writing that we are all better and completely enjoying the holiday vacation, but the kids are all still sick! A has been throwing up since last Thursday. She is so weak. DH finally gave her a blessing last night. Today she woke up "starving" so maybe we are making progress. S has been fighting a stomach ache since Saturday. She seems worse today. H is still not his usually self. He is not eating much and has severe diarrhea. His bum is so raw! But it's not bloody anymore. We did get our lab samples but I do not have permission to tell that story. I'll just say it involved saran wrap and a really big mess all over DH and it was really funny, but at the time it wasn't funny at all! HeHe...Z and J eat a little and then they lay down and sleep because their stomachs hurt. K is the only one who has not been sick at all.

Sunday we stayed home from church and after a rough night for everyone, we spent the day shampooing all the carpets and furniture and washing the bedding and scrubbing the bathrooms. Not exactly my idea of keeping the sabbath day holy but there was no way that cleaning could wait until Monday. We all felt much better after everything was cleaned up!

So much of the Christmas holidays are about eating and eating and eating but we are pretty much sick of eating. No one feels good afterwards. I told the kids there was dessert for anyone who finished their dinner last night. They all moaned and said "No Thank-you!" They ate what they could and went to bed early.

Having said that, we've tried to do a few fun things, mostly centered around food. On New Years Eve we played games and had our delayed Christmas Feast. We had ham and twice baked potatoes and veggies. Later, we made molten lava cakes! Yummmm!!!!! After a few more games, the kids headed up to watch a movie and DH and I and H headed off to bed. Unfortunately, with all the sick tummy's, we still did not get to bed before midnight.

Yesterday night we made individual homemade pizza's. That was fun. No one could eat them because they all felt nauseous but they had a good time making their own perfect pizza.

My sister Kami flew out from the MTC on Monday. She should be in the Philippines today. We are so proud of her decision to serve a two year mission for our church. She's going to do awesome!

My other sister Deb and her family moved from Ohio this week. They have been traveling since the 29th. They have been going really slow. They have 3 little boys and they are driving their truck and pulling their 5th wheel camper. Mom said that they were in a wreck on Monday. Once they got to Wyoming they hit black ice and fish-tailed and somehow they were hit by a semi. They were very blessed. No one was injured, their truck is still drivable and the camper is okay. They should be in Utah today. It will be a relief to know that no one is traveling and all have arrived safely at their destinations.

I am finally hoping to finish up my Christmas cards and get them in the mail this weekend:)!!!! (Or maybe the first of next week, but for sure by next weekend.) And I can't wait to finish up my goals and make a plan for the year. I have high hopes for this new year!