Loving Life

So here I sit, blogging, when I need to be doing 30,000 other things.  I had glorious hopes to have my house all shiny clean by the time I picked up my mom-in-law from the airport tonight.  Instead, I have shiny clean spots in my house.  For example, my microwave is gleaming inside and out.  My fridge got a good cleaning too inside, should you ever want to look inside of it.  I put up a new shower curtain to replace the highly torn up, rust covered old one.  Other random things got cleaned.  I guess I wasn't dealing with big picture this week - just little projects that have irritated me for the past several months.  I would try to download some pictures to show you, but I'm still having issues with that and don't have the time to figure it out.  Maybe later.  I was grocery shopping at Aldi's yesterday and saw some Thanksgiving pies deeply discounted there.  Deeply discounted as in 25 CENTS EACH.  So I bought three.  I k...

Hello everyone!  I apologize for my slacking on posting lately.  I don't have much by way of excuse other than normal busyness.  We had a great Thanksgiving.  My aunt lives a few hours away and is a hotel manager.  So we went had Thanksgiving at her hotel this year.  We went up the night before to spend the night there (a nice perk of having a hotel-managing aunt).  We got there pretty late, so we didn't do much other than get settled in and go to bed that night.  In the morning, the kids were super excited to go swimming in the hotel pool.  We spent an hour or so down there playing in the pool, enjoying the hot tub, and then watching the kids continue to play.  The girls' lips were starting to turn blue with cold, but they still were sad when it was time to go back to our room and get ready for lunch.  My aunt made an amazing feast for all of us.  Yea!  We spent the afternoon playing games, talking, watching football and ...

This morning we had to take Aaron to work as his car was not working.  So I figured we should do something a little out of the ordinary to spice up school.  We got some day old donuts from Casey's and then headed out to the coffee shop after dropping Aaron off at work.  We sat there and did our school work while I drank some nice, hot coffee.  The kids each got a small treat there as well once school work was finished.  They have a great little area for younger kids to play, so Abby was happily occupied the entire time.  Ana finished her school work quickly so she could go and play with Abby.  David sat and dallied around, he's still working on his school work here at home as he didn't get it done while we were there.  I enjoyed the change of scenery too.  We might have to do that every once in awhile this winter when school days start to seem long and monotonous.  A change of pace is always nice! Today, the girls get to go to a friend...

I've been having "one of those days."  Days where you feel overwhelmed by all there is to do and how little time you have to do it.  The weekend was hectic and fun, but left me with mountains of undone tasks.  Sigh.  That's how I felt when I woke up this morning.  Another sigh.  I tried writing a post this morning and it felt too whiney, so I deleted it.  My purpose in posting isn't to make you feel sorry for me, because really, is my life all that different from yours and all that you have on you?  This afternoon, while I was doing my dishes (which is a good time to think), I was reminded of a little magazine article/blurb I read a few weeks ago.  It talked of changing your attitude.  It was all good stuff and things I am constantly telling my children - "you can't change the responsibilities you have to do (chores, schoolwork, sibling behavior), but you can change how you view them and respond to them and that will make your lif...

I have pictures to upload, but for some reason the server is not allowing me to do that.  Sorry.  I guess this will be a picture free post.  I'll post pictures later of my lovely night the other evening.  Thursday evening, Aaron decided to take the kids out for supper at McDonald's since he had been working evenings the past three nights before that.  It would give him some time with them and give me a bit of a break from continuous child exposure.  I told the kids that he was taking them to McD.  Abby's response was, "No, we can't go there.  McDonald's has yucky food."  David reprimanded her by saying, "Abby, you are just saying that because that's what Mom always says.  You haven't even tried it before.  Mom says we have to try things at least once before we can say if we like it or not."  I laughed, hearing my own words being used in defense of McDonalds.  It's true, I don't go there.  I can't stand the food there....

These glasses crack me up - just like the little girl who is wearing them.  Oh yes, she knows she's funny.  Must be the "youngest child syndrome" where you seek attention by being a goofball. I can relate. I'm the youngest child too.  We had a bit of "youngest child distress" yesterday when David got to go off to his class and Ana got to go to a friend's house.  Abby wanted to go somewhere, but alas, there was no one who invited her anywhere.  She was simply "too little" to do anything like her siblings.  I can acutely remember watching my older siblings get to go off and do all sorts of amazingly fun looking things while I couldn't because I was "too little".  A good example: we took a family vacation one year when I was around second grade and went to a place that had go-karts.  They had the absolutely coolest go-kart track you have ever seen in your life, full of twists and turns, and even an overpass and underpass.  It was...

"Facebook requires users to provide their real first and last names. Impersonating anyone or anything is prohibited, as is maintaining multiple profiles on the site. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reactivate this account for any reason. This decision is final. Thanks for your understanding, The Facebook Team" That's the email I got this morning.  So apparently, I did not use my real name?  I wonder who I am.  But today I am able to get back on my account as if nothing happened.  I'm a bit confused, but I guess that's okay.  Anyway, it's panic week at work for Aaron.  They have to have all their orders shipped out by the end of this week so they can be in showrooms by the day after Thanksgiving for Black Friday shopping binges.  Aaron has been working LONG hours this week.  We've taken supper to his work for the past two evenings so we can eat as a family and then he can continue working as soon as he's done.  I had meant to take...

I went to log onto my facebook account this morning only to find out my account has been "disabled".  What?  I looked for answers as to why this suddenly happened and the only generic reasons given for an account being disabled are:  "All accounts must abide by the following policies: ■Continued prohibited behavior after receiving a warning or multiple warnings from Facebook ■Unsolicited contact with others for the purpose of harassment, advertising, promoting, dating, or other inappropriate conduct ■Use of a fake name ■Impersonation of a person or entity, or other misrepresentation of identity ■Posted content that violates Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (this includes any obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit photos, as well as any photos that depict graphic violence. We also remove content, photo or written, that threatens, intimidates, harasses, or brings unwanted attention or embarrassment to an individual or group of people) Depend...

Yes, it's true, this weekend we said goodbye to Stanley.  I had been thinking about it and wanting to have him gone for quite some time.  So I compared the pros and cons of keeping him. Pros: 1.  The children love him. Cons: 1. he's not a very well behaved kitty        a.  constantly ripping open any package of anything left anywhere remotely in the open except in a cupboard, unless it's in one of the cupboards he can open up and get into it to continue to rip open packages (flour, cat food, bread, etc.).  VERY irritating.       b.  makes messes (see point a.)       c.  getting on the kitchen counter (to do point a.) 2. getting him neutered will cost $$$ 3. leaving him as a "man" will be bad       a.  unwanted amorous advances towards Joey (he was beginning to approach Joey in this way in his unaltered ...

Yes, I'm spoiled. I clean a house on a somewhat monthly basis. I get paid to do it. But, that's not all! I almost always walk away with other things as well.  Here's a typical cleaning day pictured. You'll notice that the frappuccino bottle is empty.  Usually, depending on how generous I'm feeling, I save around half of it to share with Aaron.  Not yesterday.  I knew he had spent the morning at the coffee shop sipping coffee and eating cookies, so I had no mercy for sharing MY frappucino with him.  : )  Sometimes a chocolate bar is set out for me as well.  I was happy to see it was dark chocolate.  Aaron doesn't like dark chocolate all that much so I don't have to share very much of that either!  I had a square of it yesterday - delicious!  So, J. & M., thanks again for all the wonderful things you give me.  You guys are so awesome!  (and not just because you leave things out for me). You remember my giveaway winning fro...

I got a fair amount of work done out at Aaron's folks yesterday.  It was a gorgeous day and I wanted to finish up the outdoor work before winter officially hits.  I finished getting the garden area cleaned off and learned a valuable lesson in the process - don't forget your work gloves at home!  This was the biggest cut.  There are about 8 other smaller ones all over my hands.  This one bled for quite awhile and through several bandages.  Blech.  I also came home smelling like manure thanks to the farmer nearby spreading manure on his fields.  Double blech. Here is David and Abby playing their favorite game together.  They take turns hiding Abby's princess figurines around the area for each other.  It's very cute and solidifies David's status as best big brother in the world. I got into a bit of a baking frenzy today.  I do this every once in awhile when I'm in the mood to bake.  Then I go overboard and make LOTS of...

I had a very great weekend (sorry for not posting - I was too busy having fun).  In honor of our upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, here are ten things I'm thankful for from the weekend, in no particular order. Coffee House - I spent two hours there on Friday morning by myself while the kids were at their classes.  I took along my Bible, my journal, and a notebook.  Can't go wrong with that while sipping coffee and eating a monster cookie.  It was two hours of extreme happiness Ice Cream - I have eaten a lot of it this weekend.  Flavors: Rocky Road, Turtle Tracks, Peanut Butter Panic (more on this later), Vanilla, Chocolate, Raspberry, and a peanut butter chocolate mixer at Culvers.  (I told you I ate a lot of ice cream this weekend, do you believe me now?).  Running - I ran 8 miles on Saturday morning.  My foot felt great and I felt great.  Yardwork - I finished cleaning off my garden and mowed up the bazillion leaves in our tiny ya...

I found a recipe for "banana snack cake."  It was really addicting.  I ate more of it than I should have because it is called "banana snack cake".  If it is labeled "snack" that means I should eat it for a snack, right?  And I should snack frequently too.  I should call it "Make sure you exercise before you eat yet another piece of this cake".  It was actually fairly healthy to begin with as "snack cakes" go - low sugar, low fat.  I substitued whole wheat flour as well to add a little more fiber.  I guess I did add a few chocolate chips to the batter, but just enough to get an occasional chocolatey gooeyness here and there, not saturated with them.  But really, I don't feel bad about eating as much as I did.   I mainly feel bad about my apparent lack of self-control when it comes to things like this.  That's why I don't make many treats anymore unless we have people over to help eat them!  So here is my recipe: ...

I'm in a post-marathon uncertain time.  I don't know how to train.  I don't have a super specific goal in mind, so my runs feel a bit nebulous at the moment.  I would like to work on getting faster now that I have done my marathon.  But faster for what race?  I'm still thinking about training for half-marathons.  It seems like it would be a little easier on my body than marathon training.  The problem is that winter is now approaching and that makes training so much harder.  I have to have a very concrete goal in my mind or I will choose my warm, comfy bed any day over cold, dark runs.  It's also harder to train harder when the weather is yucky.  But I'd hate to lose the base I've built up this past year due to being lazy.  So I need to get a program ready for myself and get a new goal very soon before I lose my motivation.  Thankfully, I have my friend Julie egging me on to keep running in the mornings.  That helps t...

 Anybody want him?   This is the one remaining houseplant of mine that I haven't killed yet.  I'm hoping it will pull through.  Stanley showed no remorse.  Bad kitty.  Thankfully he didn't use the dirt as a litter box.  Wouldn't put it past him to do something like that...

My poor Ana is sick today (and yesterday).  She's so pathetically sad when she's sick.  It's nothing major, just a fever and bit of upset tummy.  She's getting lots of TLC today, no school, got to watch a movie and took a nap.  She hasn't even felt up to eating any of her candy from trick-or-treating.  Speaking of candy, here's what I decided to do.  They each got to pick out 30 pieces to keep, and I'll let them eat a set amount each day (today was 5 pieces) - when they eat it is up to them.  If they want to eat it at breakfast time and not have any later on in the day, that's fine with me.  Let them figure that one out.  Abby finished hers very quickly this morning.  She wanted more, but I had to remind her of the rules.  Later on this afternoon, she was crying about something and told me that, "The only thing that will make me stop crying is a piece of candy."  I told her I was sorry to hear that since that meant ...