Christmas Blessings

The kids were full of anticipation Christmas morning to see if Santa had come in the middle of the night- here they are waiting (not so ) patiently on the stairs:


He came, Santa came and ate the cookies!

We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus to keep in mind that he is the true reason for the season of giving and the first Christmas gift, then the gifts were opened one by one. I just love the look of pure joy and excitement in my children's eyes as the presents they have so desired are slowly revealed:





We had a wonderful Christmas as a family this year, we were truly blessed by all of the gifts we were able to give and receive this year. Then we moved the celebration over to my brothers house to celebrate with them and spend time with my new nephew, what a Christmas blessing. There's nothing like snuggling with a newborn on Christmas:



I think Ben enjoyed his first Christmas surrounded by those who love him and the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree:

I hope that each of you had a very Merry Christmas, see you in 2010!

Christmas Joy!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, I just LOVE this time of year. The first snow fell a few days ago and we had fun playing in it:

We stayed outside for an hour and a half just playing, building, throwing snowballs at eachother and laughing. Nothing like coming inside and warming up to a nice warm cup of hot chocolate.
All of our gifts are wrapped and we are ready for fun with our families this week. The most wonderful surprise came EARLY on Monday morning when I got a phone call that my sister n' law (my brother's wife) was in labor. This is their first child, and my first time being an aunt for my own sibling's child so VERY exciting times.

He is so handsome, the birth went well and he is healthy as can be, such a Christmas blessing, so now on Christmas day we will get to visit with our new member of the family, love him so much already!

Yesterday we spent all day baking 5 different varieties of Christmas cookies and we went to visit my grandma and grandpa in their nursing home today and brought them cookies and Christmas Joy and they were so happy to have us visit (and eat some cookies: ) We go to Christmas Eve service candlelight service tonight and I can't wait to celebrate Jesus' birthday with my family.

I hope that each of you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy this time with your families.

Spreading Christmas Love

Last night I went Christmas caroling with Lauren and her girl scout troop to a local retirement community. They had a list of residents who rarely or never receive visitors (which broke my heart). We knocked on doors and the residents eyes just lit up with the sight of little girls singing carols. They would bob their heads to the music, sing along (sometimes loudly) and complimented the girls after every song.
This lady was asleep when we knocked but roused quickly at the thought of having girls sing Christmas carols (can't you just see the joy in her eyes):

In one couples apartment, they asked us to come in and the girls surrounded his recliner before we noticed he was sitting there in his underwear.... oops! The nurse got him a blanket and the show went on : ) He LOVED the music and was singing so loudly with them. When the girls were done his wife said "where are you going?" and we explained we had a lot of other rooms to visit, to which she replied "ohhhh I would just love it if you could stay longer"..... heart wrenching.
Our final destination brought us to this lovely womans apartment:


She was so sweet and enjoyed them singing so much. As the girls turned to go she said "can I please have a hug", each girl lined up and hugged her one by one. She asked each girl their name and told them how beautiful their names where and to have a very Merry Christmas. Lauren was THRILLED because the lady told her "I have a grand daughter named Lauren, such a beautiful name."
What a wonderful experience and a great lesson for our girls. It did my heart good to spread love this Christmas season, especially to those who needed it most.

I love my dog!

Every December in Cincinnati they have an annual Reindog parade, it is such fun!
If you want to see what it's like, check it out:


We picked up Mickey's outfit today...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
I think he likes it : )

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE this time of year. I love looking at the Christmas tree glowing in our living room at night. I love shopping for presents for loved ones, and wrapping them. I love walking to the mailbox and getting Christmas cards. I love driving around with the family at night in search of pretty houses all decorated with lights (we did this last night). I love all of the wonderful things that the Cincinnati area has to offer this time of year.
This morning I went with the kids and my mom to the Shriner's Hospital Gingerbread House Display Contest, it was wonderful. Here are some pictures of our favorites:
They had a Gingerbread house in the Culinary Arts Competition area that was the "UP" House, loved it!


This was a pretty one:



This one was of Findlay Market, the attention to detail was amazing. It was in the professional category.

There were sooooo many houses, they blew me away. If this blogger photo upload was any quicker I would upload them all, but I digress.........

We had such a great time looking at all of the houses and voting for our favorites. Then we got back into the car and headed over to another Cincinnati treasure, Krohn Conservatory. The pointsettas were just beautiful!
The kids and I in front of the pretty flowers:


Mom and the kids in front of the pointsetta tree:


The live nativity scene they have outside wasn't open today,they said it will be on the 11th so we'll have to return.

So much more things to look forward to and displays to see. On our list are the downtown displays, Holiday in Lights drive through at Sharon Woods, Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo, the Reindog parade (gotta look for an outfit for Mickey for this one), seeing a Nutcracker performance and a live Christmas Carol performance at the Aronoff center, and a new one to try: Neiderman farm. Another tradition of ours is sitting around the Christmas tree and sipping on hot chocolate with the kids while we tell Christmas stories. You can't forget all of the holiday baking and decorating to come too, just LOVE this time of year. I hope you are enjoying it with your families too!
-Lesley

Answering Life's Difficult Questions

Tonight Lauren and I went to a local pottery store to create a special gift for someone who will remain nameless in fear they may read the blog. On our way there Lauren talked my ear off in typical Lauren fashion (no radio is required when you are in the car alone with Lauren). As we drove around she started talking about how much she missed preschool. When I asked her why she missed it she of course mentioned her teacher and then she said "I also miss talking about Jesus at school, why can't we talk about Jesus in Kindergarten". Wow, that question blew me away....... I started talking about the difference between public and private school to my inquiring 6 year old (most of which I thought would go over her head) and explained to her that is why we go to church on Sunday, so she can learn about and talk about Jesus because they don't do that in a public school. She did not seem satisfied by my answer, and more questions kept arising.
I didn't want to tell her yet in her young mind that not all people are believers, seems a difficult subject to broach with your 6 year old when she still believes in Santa Claus and what a huge bottle of worms that will open up when she questions that, will she automatically question her belief in Jesus as well?
These are the subjects I wish I had a parenting manual for. Anyone want to write one?

It costs HOW much!?!

This year, my school district switched from traditional medical insurance to a Health Savings Account. We have a 4000 dollar deductable we have to meet (the district threw in 2000 towards that deductable). Up until the deductible is met we pay for EVERYTHING at cost. After the deductible is met you pay for nothing.
This is an interest bearing account and it is YOUR money, so what you don't spend rolls into the next year, etc. I was hoping I wouldn't meet our deductible this year so some money would roll into the account next year since the district isn't putting as much in towards the deductable next year. Well....... now I'm thinking that isn't going to happen. I've gone to the doctor a few times, kids a few times, and each appointment has averaged around $125. Well, today I took Luke to the eye doctor and it was $375!!! WOW!!! I didn't anticipate that. Tim has prescriptions to fill next month and I've been calling around and it's averaging around $375 for ONE months supply. It's funny in this country how when we have health insurance we just blindly hand over the card and don't have a clue what the medical professionals and medication companies are charging us........ well, my eyes have been opened and I don't like what I see.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and as I sit here my head is spinning with all I am thankful for this year........... isn't that a WONDERFUL feeling.
I am most thankful for my relationship with my Lord and savior and my salvation and his undying GRACE. I know that it is because of him that I so thankful and blessed.

I am thankful for my wonderful marriage of 11 years. Being married to my best friend is an awesome feeling. I am thankful for his constant support and love, for always making me laugh even when I want to cry, his devotion to me and our children, and for just being the outstanding man that he is- LOVE my husband!


I am thankful for my two outstanding children.

I am truly thankful for their health and well being and their individual personalities that make me smile and proud to be their mother on a daily basis. They are AMAZING children and make my job as their mom an easy one.


I am thankful for my parents.

I was blessed by having two incredible parents growing up and they now have turned into friends and there isn't anything better than that. I talk to my mom almost every single day and I am thankful for that friendship and her support and for dad's listening ear and advice whenever I need it. More than that, I am thankful for the examples they gave to me of parenting, marriage and struggles that were life lessons for me that have molded me into the person that I am today.

I am thankful for my brother and his wife (my sister n' law) and the baby that they will have here in the next month or so.

I am already an aunt to many nieces and nephews on Tim's side whom I love dearly, but am SO incredibly excited to meet my first blood nephew for the very first time. I hope a lot of babysitting is in my near future, I desperately need a baby fix!

I am thankful for my extended family. Tim is one of seven children and that is a lot of family, nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters in law and parents n' law, or as my mother n' law puts it "Mother n' Love, not law". They are wonderful to me and have always excepted me into their family as one of their own and for that I am truly thankful. (there are so MANY of them, I chose one picture of Tim's mom with Lauren to represent the whole crew below):



I am thankful for all of the friends that I have, the old and the very new. It is funny how with time friends change because your interests change and how some stay true and how you cherish those relationships. We have made very new friendships this past year and it has been wonderful watching those develop and I am truly thankful for what they have already become and how much they will grow in years to come.

I am thankful for the wonderful children that the Lord has blessed me to work with on a daily basis. I am not going to lie, being a special education teacher is a STRUGGLE on a daily basis and takes a every single bit of my time and energy at work every day but I LOVE those children with all of my heart. I know the Lord blessed me with a gift and I am thankful for that. I am thankful for my staff that works with me every day - they are not paid much and they are the most dedicated bunch of women I know and I love them for that and am truly thankful for their hard work daily!

I am thankful for our home, shelter, Christmas presents that are purchased and ready to be given downstairs, our family pets who bring me joy (and headaches at time) I do love them so! Thankful for our cars to drive, money in our bank account and job security.
I am extremely thankful the various trips we have been able to take this past year and have planned to take in the upcoming year.
Disney:

Gatlinburg:

Kiawah Island:

Grand Haven Michigan:



Disney for Halloween:



It boggles my mind every time I think about it.

So yes, I have a LOT to be thankful for in 2009. Thank you for being a part of our lives. I pray that you have a wonderful, magical, memorable Thanksgiving this year and that you take time to remember everything you are thankful for!

MIA

Wow, I have been MIA for a while, life has been speedily passing me by lately. A lot has occured since I last posted.
We enjoyed Lauren's cheerleading season, and Luke and Lauren's soccer seasons, those have quickly wrapped up and now Lauren has started girl scouts (which she is THRILLED about) and Luke is starting Upwards basketball.
Minnie has adjusted to her new home nicely:

We just got back from a FANTASTIC trip to Disney World where we were able to enjoy Disney in the cooler temperatures of October and experience new things. Tim and I LOVED Food and Wine Festival for the first time:


And as a family we enjoyed Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, that was WONDERFUL!

We then came back to the reality of school and work and life, but are enjoying the unseasonably warmer temperatures this year, lots of time outside and sunshine which has been nice for this time of year.
Tim and I have become more active in our new church in the Children's ministry so that has been wonderful.
The kids are both having great years in school and learning a lot, they have a great school with excellent teachers and for that I am truly thankful.
Lauren celebrated her 6th birthday:

I can't believe how fast they are growing. I still cherish every single hug from them and remind myself daily how lucky I am to be their mom. I know the days too soon will be gone where Lauren says "mommy, wanna play with me!?" or Luke begs me to snuggle with him (which now happens daily with both of them). I just feel so blessed to be their mom.
So, life is marching on in our household and we are excited for the upcoming holiday season, so much to look forward too, trying to get the most out of each and every day.

My husbands incredible creativity

My son Luke is OBSESSED with all things Mario Brothers right now. It is fun for my husband to watch because it reminds him of himself growing up with his video game obsessions. I LOVE HOW CREATIVE MY HUSBAND IS.
He told Luke that they would create a Mario Brothers Board game together, and that is exactly what he did. I came home from work today to this:


He even created the two Main characters (Mario and Luigi) so he and Luke could play:


They are playing the game as I type this and it is so cute to hear them talking over the rules of play and to watch the game come to life. These are the days that I'm sure Luke will look back on his childhood and remember......... what fun!

Fun..... Right in our Backyard!

We are blessed to live in a wonderful area of God's country. We live very close to the Little Miami river, although ever since we moved here I had just driven by. I used to canoe on the Little Miami as a child and have great memories there.
Well today was a busy day of running around from game to game for the kids but in between the madness the beautiful sunny day was calling my name. I wanted to take Mickey swimming in the Little Miami. We piled into the car and were there in less than 2 minutes, and it was BEAUTIFUL!


Mickey had the time of his life swimming out into the deep waters to retreive sticks we would throw at him (he is QUITE a good swimmer!)

It was just so beautiful! I can't believe all the time we've wasted at dog parks this summer when this was practically in our backyard - we will definitely be back..........often!

New Family Member

Last Friday night we had friends over for a camp fire, as we were sitting around the fire eating Smore's our dog was franticly doing laps around the yard. Then about a half an hour later Luke yelled from the house to come quick - a kitten was on our back deck staring into the house. When we ran up we startled her so she ran away. For the rest of the night it was constant meowing coming from this freightened TEENIE calico cat. I snuck over to her (she didn't let me get too close) and put a can of wet food on the ground which she immediately devoured.
My friend who is as huge an animal lover as I started in on Tim with me, we both were wanting to let her inside. He kept saying "no way Lesley, no way" : )
The next morning Kitty was back. I fed her again (of course) and then she kept getting closer to the screen, even Mickey (our Golden Retreiver) was begging us to let her in:

The kids and I spent the morning outside petting her and feeding her and the three of us starting working on Tim. About 2 hours after all of this I was almost successful when Tim stated "the only way that cat is coming into this house is if you get her checked by the vet" YES....... PROGRESS!!! This excited me and the kids.
Both kids had soccer games so we left and came back about 2 hours later and we immediately rushed to the back yard to find kitty. Well, we kept hearing meowing but couldn't find her. We look up in the direction of the meows and she is VERY high up in a tree in our backyard. You could tell she was panicked and didn't know how to get down. Tim got out a ladder and we rescued her from the tree..... at this point I could tell Tim realized how vulnerable she was and he officially gave in : )



So we brought her inside and we decided (after a few phone calls from friends with suggestions) that her name MUST be Minnie : ) So now we had a Minnie and a Mickey. We spent the rest of the weekend getting to know her, watching her explore the house and interact with our other cat and dog. All is going as well as can be expected.
Lauren and I took her to the vet last night for an FIV (feline AIDS) test, LUCKILY she tested negative but she had everything else you could imagine: ear mites, flea eggs, and worms. Here she is lounging in the vets office (she is such a diva):

A hefty vet bill later (and I haven't even gotten her shots yet) we came home with a clean kitty. The vet said she is already 4 months old even though she is so small which is a result of malnutrition. We are fattening her up and showering her with love. The kids have never had a kitten before. I came home from school yesterday to see Lauren carrying her aruond the house like a baby. Tim and I are being reminded how cute, cuddly, and EASY kittens are (especially compared to puppies).
I sure am glad we found her, WELCOME HOME MINNIE!

Back to School Tomorrow!

I can't believe the summer is over, it was a great summer! Tomorrow is my first day with students.For those of you who are unfamiliar- I am a multi handicapped teacher in a public school system for 2nd and 3rd graders. It is a very difficult and challenging yet rewarding job. To say it has been stressful getting things ready for the first day of school is an understatement. I found out YESTERDAY that I have a move in with very intense needs and here's hoping I have the aide support that I need to help my stress level, that's to be determined which is probably why I am sitting here typing instead of sleeping as I should be to get ready for tomorrow.
I do insanely love the students that I work with and I feel it is my calling to be with these tremendously wonderful individuals every day, teach them, grow with them, laugh with them, and love them! I wish I could take away the politics, the drama, the STRESS that comes with my job - wouldn't that be ideal! I just pray that tomorrow is a good day. That all of my students have a wonderful and safe first day of school and that I don't come home in tears. Unfortunately my son, who is now wise beyond his years said : "mommy, tomorrow is the day you always come home crying saying you don't know how you can do this anymore!" How sad! I hope tomorrow is a great day!
Lesley

WHAT'S THAT SMELL!?!?!

For the past 2 weeks in our house we have had a HORRIBLE smell coming from our finished basement. We researched things online, poured bleach down every drain, we even had a Roto Rooter plumber come out and they couldn't find anything (fortunately they didn't charge us to come out). Out side of our house our water main had a sink hole of sorts so we had the water company come out and check it out, they repaired it and we were praying that would solve our problems- but that night, the SMELL WAS BACK!?! AUGH!!! We just didn't know what to do. We called our local sewer treatment facility to see if it was a potential backup, they came down and couldn't find the source either.
This has been the topic of our conversations daily for the last 2 weeks, after we had done everything we knew what to do we honestly didn't know what the next step would be and it was causing a great deal of stress.
WELL TODAY I FOUND THE SOURCE OF THE SMELL!!!!! We had gone to yard sales this morning and Lauren had cleaned up with a HUGE new Polly Pocket and Barbie stash for super cheap. I was downstairs helping her clean things up, get rid of old things and organize the new. Well, in our toy bin right by the sewage line in our basement that we had the plumber look at, the sewage company look at, etc. was a baggie and it was MOVING! I looked closely, smelled "THE SMELL" strongly and SCREAMED for Tim to come quickly. The kids had dyed Easter eggs at Easter time and apparantly one of the baggies of eggs had ended up in the toy bin and the egg had cracked and THAT was the source of the smell........... UNBELIEVABLE!!! We were entirely grossed out AND relieved at the same time. I am so thankful that is all it was and even more thankful that we didn't pay for another plumber to come out and were spared the expense. If I would have found the egg AFTER I had paid big bucks for a plumber I wouldn't have the smile on my face that I do now : )

Is it really THAT time already!?!

The summer is winding down.... what a WONDERFUL summer it has been. This summer we spent 18 glorious days in Disney, made new friends,lost several teeth (Lauren's first included), spent endless days at the pool, Lauren learned to swim in the deep end (YEAH!), enjoyed a wonderful vacation on Lake Michigan, days at Kings Island and at the water park,and the zoo,Vacation Bible School,campfires with Smore's,sleepovers; lots of GREAT family times.
I hate this time of year. I love spending the summers with my family SO much, and seeing that come to an end is always so hard for me.
I can't believe I'll have a third grader and a Kindergartener this year. Here is a picture of Luke on his first day of Kindergarten that seems like only yesterday:


I am so sad that I won't be able to put Lauren onto the Kindergarten bus this year - it literally breaks my heart. Her first day is only my second day of school and right in the middle of when I see students so there is no way I'll be able to break away. She's so awesome though - doesn't seem to phase her. Here is my baby girl on her first day of preschool last year:


I am really enjoying this stage of parenting- helping them learn to swim in the deep end, having them fight over who gets to cuddle with mom first, but watching them grow is also just so difficult, I blink and they are another inch taller, their loosing teeth, their entering KINDERGARTEN and THIRD GRADE! Wow!
I am so blessed being their mom, I will soak in every single hug, every moment, I just love them so very much!

Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo!

I took advantage of a rainy/cloudy day AND our zoo membership yesterday and took the kids to the zoo - WHAT FUN we had!
They have re done the Cincinnati Zoo Vine Street Entrance and it is BEAUTIFUL! They have a nice bridge walkway over to the new entrance, it made my kids who have been to the Cincinnati Zoo a trillion times say: "have we been to this zoo before mommy".
We immediately went to feed the giraffes, what a cool experience - it was worth the $1.00 a cracker they charge:


Being eye to eye with a giraffe is an awesome thing!


We enjoyed the moderately cool temperatures and the light drizzle which effected the crowds and just had a wonderful zoo day. I don't remember the last time we were at the zoo where the kids were BEGGING to stay longer at each attraction!
We went into the nursery in the childrens zoo area and saw the most ADORABLE 1 month old baby cheetah, oh my goodness, SO CUTE!



There was even a baby kangaroo a lady was carrying around in a pouch and feeding watermelon- the kids really got a kick out of that.
Then we headed to my favorite exhibit in the zoo - the polar bears, luckily he was going for a swim:


It is always amazing to me just staring at this enormous creature swimming under the
water, the kids of course loved it too.
Then we headed to parakeet landing and fed the parakeets. The kids had fun feeding them and they were landing on people like crazy:



Poor Lauren FREAKED out when one landed on her head:


But she recovered quickly and went right back to feeding them. We enjoyed a train ride, a carosel ride, the petting zoo where they fed the billy goats. A nice leisurely lunch, the insect house and of course jungle trails to see the monkeys and the gorilla house to see the huge gorillas. We made the whole day out of it, what a wonderful zoo day!

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

So today I was watching the Price is Right with Lauren. I have always loved that show. I remember watching it as a kid and always dreaming of getting my chance to be on stage and win the big prizes. In the summer when we happen to be home when it airs at 11:00 I always say "turn it to channel 12 Price is Right is On!" They have grown to love it along with me. Well, today when I was watching it with her I said "I have always wanted to be on that show Lauren" her response absolutely CRACKED me up! She said "MOM, you need to LIVE YOUR DREAMS, everyone lives their dreams but you, you've done your dream to be a mom but you need to do ALL your dreams." Silence for a minute and a HUGE smile from me thinking of what a deep thing my FIVE year old daughter had just said......... then she continued by saying:
"I've had all my dreams come true, I have a good family and a great mom"
Wow, talk about making a mom's day. What a sweet sweet girl I have been blessed with.

Both of my children are such a blessing to me, such good kids. I want to put them in a bubble on some days and just freeze time, freeze their purity, freeze how much they love me at this moment in time, just FREEZE. they are growing up so quickly, time is slipping through my fingers. Lauren lost her FIRST tooth this weekend, and Luke lost his seventh tooth. Lauren enters Kindergarten this year and Luke enters 3rd
grade. WOW, it seems like only yesterday I was holding my preemie Lauren in a nursery or Tim was rushing me to the hospital after my water broke with Luke.
How do I freeze time?

Why are girls so mean to one another?

As a girl, growing up I had some terrible encounters that I can remember QUITE clearly of girls at school just being downright mean, cruel and nasty to me. I remember many times being in tears explaining to my mom what the girls had done and her always doing her best to calm me down and console me. Well, now unfortunately for me the role has been revearsed and I'm trying to explain to my dear daughter at the age of 5 why girls can be mean. She came home crying today because a neighborhood girl had been mean to her and was making fun of her - Luke was an awesome big brother and came to her defense and brought her home in tears. Boy, my heart just aches for her. WHY ARE GIRLS SO MEAN???
Boys don't do this. Now, of course there are boy bullies out there and "not so nice" boys, but girls I have found (some girls) just do anything they can to cut other girls down, insult them, and just level them- why is this? I know our school counselors office is always full of second and third grade girls due to this fact, always having to squelch one incident after another.
I tried my best to explain to Lauren that this girl will not have many friends because of her actions (this girl has a history of this) and that she doesn't want friends like this anyway. I told her to stand up for herself when girls do this, don't just hide away and cry, say "stop treating me like that!", etc. if she feels that she can, or just ignore them the best that she can- don't give them the justification of seeing you upset. BOY that is a HARD lesson to try and teach to a 5 year old. I told her that Jesus made her a special little girl with a special heart and he will give you wonderful friends that will treat her the way she wants to be treated (she of course instantly came up with an example of a sweet little girl who is her friend).
Don't you just want to put your kids in a bubble and shelter from all of this!?! Why can't all kids just be nice to one another ... .oh yeah, that stupid sin nature in all of us.......... lovely!

I don't want to grow old!

We just returned from a wonderful 2 1/2 week Disney vacation - we had an amazing time.
While we were away my grandmother was rushed to the hospital where she stayed for awhile and is now in a nursing facility in the local senior citizen facility that she and my grandfather had an apartment in. The kids and I went to visit her today and I just don't think I was prepared for what I saw. Physically she looked pretty good, not too different from when I had last seen her, but mentally she is not the same and it was just so darn sad. She is in a wonderful facility - but you just can't sugar coat things like that - I would NEVER want to be where she is and reality tells me that someday I probably will be. She is in a small room with a roommate. She basicaly spends her entire day (other than when they pick her up for therapy) sitting in a recliner in her room starring at the wall or dozing. I offered to turn the t.v. on for her, to get her something to drink, if she wanted us to wheel her outside - to all of which she replied "no, I'm fine". How sad, how very very sad. This once vibrant woman, who I have seen pictures of when she was my age- and the woman was gorgeous - it just breaks my heart. As I watched my kids cling to her and give her hugs and tell her how much they loved her, it was wonderful to see the joy on her face. She said "sometime soon you won't have to visit this dreadful place". Luke later said : "I think she meant she will be in Heaven". I think that's what she meant too, I think she is ready to go . . .and you know what. . .I don't blame her.
When we were leaving I asked her if there is anything that we could do for her and she said "no, just get out there and enjoy life." WOW, I certainly will. I will cherish every moment of this life that is mine and be greatful for each blessed day.

33 Years.......... Wow!

Well, today is my 33rd birthday. I was awakened by wonderful presents from Tim and the kids and had a wonderful birthday full of shopping, a pedicure as a gift, lunch with my mom and dad and dinner out with Tim and the kids - it was a wonderful day.
I can't believe I am 33 years old, there was a lot going through my head as I blew out my candles this evening:



First of all I was thinking "I am truly blessed" in every single way a person can be blessed. Most importantly I have my health, thank the Lord for my health and the health of my family. The Lord has blessed me with a loving husband who is my best friend, two wonderful children, a great extended family, a steady income, wonderful friendships both old and some new, a beautiful house over our heads, a great church to worship in, a neighborhood full of caring people, a job that I do indeed love (although stressful at times), and the blessing of our financial security that allows us to travel so many times to our beloved Disney World and other multiple travel destinations throughout the year.
As the positives rush through my mind, of course negatives always creep in too. My 33 year old body is not the body I had as a teenager, a twenty year old, or even a 30 year old. It is my own fault, I love to eat and hate to exercise - I know that needs to change. I am working on embracing my 33 year old body and the changes that have come with it. When I went to get my drivers lisence today that had expired the lady asked me if my weight had changed since my last lisence and I laughed out loud and said "yes, unfortunately you can ad 30 pounds onto that number : ( " But in times like those I need to focus on the positives again, knowing that in reality - is my body THAT bad? Do I need to be so focused on what jiggles and not just embrace who I am? I know that I need to work out more and eat better and I realize that more than ever because my metabolism has caught up with this 33 year old body, but I'm also realizing there are worse things in life and not to let it get me down.
So, in my 33rd year of life I will try and find a new sense of self and confidence and embrace the changes. I will commit to exercise more and eat better overall and try and focus on what matters MOST in my life: the love of my family and the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me which are honestly to many to count.