Friday Five: The haves and have nots

Here are five things that will not be happening this Christmas:
Gifts and cards that should have been mailed will not be on time
I will not unwrap a Lexus
Geo will not get a 700 inch tv or microchip sized blu ray player that plays movies on his glasses
Gabe and Bits will not have four million gifts under the tree
and finally
the dishes will never be caught up

*sigh* such is life...hehe

Here are at LEAST Five things that WILL happen this Christmas:
I will call home and every single one of my family members will greet me with "It's Christmas you idiot" and I will reply "It's Christmas you idiot" and then we'll laugh and wish each other a happy day

I will make far too much food and everyone will stuff themselves silly and barely be able to move

At least one person will cry over their gift, probably me, but hey, whatever

The kids will get too many gifts from everyone and will play blissfully on the floor for hours with them
and finally,

We will be surrounded by family and friends and will love the togetherness of it. Maybe we can even get Grandma Alice to swear again (it HAS been seven years since that fateful Christmas when Grandpa Harvey spilled a giant bottle of water on the kitchen floor and Alice ran in swearing...just sayin' haha)

And here are five things we have this year that make ME happy:

I have cookies from my grandmother's recipe that are sitting in a cookie jar that belonged to my great grandmother that MY mother made (lots of momma history in one little jar, huh?)

Listening to Bitsy sing her favorite Christmas song (which is "jingle bells batman smells, robin laid an egg, the batmobile lost its' wheel and the joker got away HEY") and then the resulting giggles from her "naughty" song

Watching Gabe and Bits under the tree, looking at gifts, whispering conspiratorially to one another about what might be in the packages.

I have an amazing husband; seriously amazing. I adore this man and am so happy to spending another Christmas with him

and I'm happy that being together with everyone will make everyone happy. The fact that being together makes everyone happy makes ME happy and Christmas is about being happy, right?

I hope you'll all have a wonderful holiday wherever you are and whomever you're with :)

Wordless Wednesday: Sleepover!

Ah yes...

It's that time of year again; crunch time. Christmas is one week away and let the frazzled craziness begin...or not. You may recall that in years past we've started keeping Christmas really low key and as a result have enjoyed it much more than we had in the past. This year has been no exception. Geo's been working a lot but the kiddos and I have been watching Christmas movies, doing leisurely shopping, and talking about winter break plans. So far so good, none of us are too stressed out about anything yet-in fact, all of the Christmas gifts save a few are completely wrapped. I have to pick up a few last minute gifts but we're done. Done done done! I'm so looking forward to a calm peaceful Christmas in our new home this year. For the first time since moving down here, we're not going ANYWHERE on Christmas day; everyone is coming to us. It'll be nice to not have to get out of my pjs and put on make up until everyone comes over for dinner in the afternoon. Gabe and Bits will get to play with and enjoy their gifts without having to rush around getting ready to leave.

In other news, today my grandmother would have been 80. It's really hard to think of her at that age. It's hard to think of her as the great grandmother to 8 great grandkids. Christmas was her holiday; she loved Christmas. She had a rough upbringing; her mother died giving birth and by the age of three she was in foster care. She was a proud member of the United States Marine Corp and was a widow a mere 26 years into her marriage; she raised three boys and enjoyed being with her grandkids. She was feisty as all get out, a little firecracker if you will, and she is so sorely missed.  More than just missing her, it makes me incredibly sad that my kids never got to meet her. SarahAnne (whose middle name is my grandma's maiden name-Velia) is so much like my grandma, it's kind of spooky. The first night she was born, I looked into her eyes and my grandmother was staring back at me; my mother has often remarked that she thinks Bits is Ethel reincarnated, which both amuses and creeps her out haha. I'm incredibly thankful that at the very least little bits of her are carried on in her great grandchildren.

And on that note, it's off to get some puttering around the house done...hope you're all enjoying your Christmas season and not *too* stressed out!

Thankful Thursday: Grandma Caren

Today a very special lady's birthday, someone we're VERY thankful for...Grandma Caren. She's kind and thoughtful and quite possibly one of the nicest people I've ever met. I don't think I've ever heard her say an unkind word about anyone, I've never seen her mad, and she's just a genuinely nice person. She's adored by her entire family, especially the grandson of hers who is almost as tall as her now (hehe). We're all so lucky to have her in our lives, she truly makes it better by just being here. Happy birthday Caren, we love you!!

Wordless Wednesday: Merry Christmouse

And Now A Gabe Post!

Yesterday was a Bitsy post, today is a Gabe post :)

Gabe is inching closer and closer to eight, every day, it's kind of hard to believe that my itty bitty is almost eight. *sigh* It goes quickly.

This morning he and I went out to do some shopping on our own, I gave the kids each $10 to get each other a Christmas gift (hooray budgeting haha) and Gabe decided he'd get hers while we were out today. We were looking at gifts and he says "Oh I just can't decide" and started to wander up and down the aisles looking at things and doing math in his head (which is semi audible) He finally decided that rather than ONE gift, he was going to get her as much as he could for his ten bucks. He's a smart shopper and ended up getting her THREE gifts (hooray for sales :P) and carried the bag out to the car himself. He said to me "Oh man, I can't WAIT for Bits to open these presents, she is going to LOVE them and I bet she'll even give me a kiss!' He was in a great mood (and still is actually) because he was so happy about getting her the gifts.

I can't get over how sweet he is; I mean, yes he has his moments where he drives me absolutely bonkers, but more often than not, he's just so so sweet. He's caring and thoughtful and wants other people to be happy, which are excellent traits for a person. We're all so lucky to have him in our lives.

Hello There!

Been while since I updated; between moving and inefficient customer service by our internet provider (cough) we just FINALLY got back on line.

I will have a "real" update later but for now I just wanted to share some silly things Bits has said lately.

Yesterday she was laying on the couch and very seriously asked me "hey momma, do frogs have noses?" (I said I assumed they did and she seemed satisfied)

Last night for the first time since Thanksgiving weekend, Geo has had a night off, so he went to bed at the same time the rest of us did. Bits was getting a little loud in her bedroom so I hollered "hey you, be quiet" SHE yelled back "No Mom, YOU be quiet, Daddy needs to sleep" I started laughing and couldn't stop. It was so funny. She's such a goofy girl. She is constantly doing funny things. Yesterday morning when the kids woke up there was snow on the ground for the first time this year, she picked up Bam (who was a summer born kitty) and smooshed his face up against the door and said "oh look Bam, it's the first snow" and then had a ten minute conversation with him about how fun snow was and if he was a kid what he could do out in the snow. Bam looked less than impressed, but she was happy so, whatever, right?!

She's so silly and that's just one of the reasons we adore her :)

Friday Five: Five Things I Know for Sure (updated)

Last week I asked for the five things YOU know for sure...here's what I've gotten:
1) It's always easier than it looks.

2) If a drink doesn't taste right, add pink lemonade.

3) Fruit punch is the cure for a bad mood.

4) It's always okay to admit when you don't know something. That's how you learn.

5) Cakes/brownies are always done when the edges pull away from the pan. Always.

1. A baby's laugh can smooth the edges off of the roughest day.
2. Some people are simply miserable and will do anything to bring you down with them. It is okay to let these people go from your life.
3. Doctors are wrong a LOT.
4. Liking your spouse is at least as important as loving them.
5. Wintry Sunday nights are best done up with a long-sleeved nightgown some soup, hot tea (or cocoa) and a movie or a good, scary book.

1. If you find out all the facts instead of assuming, problems can be avoided 99% of the time.

2. You can always count on your kids to love you unconditionally. The love of your kids is something that never dies no matter what the circumstances. And that is also true for a parents love for their children.

3. I am always right! LOL Kidding. I am quite often wrong about things and know from experience that it makes things so much easier if you just admit it when your wrong.

4. Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming, "WOO HOO, what a ride!"

5. When your kids think about their childhood they are not going to think about all the material items they have or how clean the house is...they are going to look at how much love, attention and nurturing they receive from their parents.

1."all I know is that I know nothing". Socrates
2. it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know
3. my wife is the most important part of my life
4. my taxes will be due April 15th
5. sometimes you're the tiger, sometimes the tiger devours you


Feel free to add more if you think of them! Great submissions everyone!

Thankful Thursday

Happy turkey day! Of all days of this year, we're supposed to be incredibly thankful for what we have...and I am.

In no particular order, things I am especially thankful for right now:

-A yummy Thanksgiving dinner with family.
-My 4 month old boyfriend Logan. He's a flirt and Aunt Chrissi loves it.
-A new house that our children will grow up in and Geo and I can grow old in.
-Geo. I'm seriously so thankful for this man; we've had our ups and downs but he's an amazing person, husband, and father. He works his butt off to provide for us and I couldn't get any luckier if I tried.
-Gabe and Bits; they drive me insane but my god do I adore them. I'm thankful for Gabe's cheery disposition in EVERYTHING and his great sense of humor and I'm thankful for Bitsy's charming personality and her quick thinking mind.
-Our friends; unfortunately some things have happened in the past few months that have shown us who our true friends really were; those who've always had our best interests at heart--and those who did not; for those who always have our back, I'm so thankful and for those who have proven themselves to be selfish and hurtful, I'm thankful for you too, because it put things into perspective for us.

There are so many other things I could write for this list; my parents, my siblings, Geo's family, Gabe's teachers, our amazing medical family, etc etc but it's late, I'm tired and I have a ton of packing to do in the morning. Good night and I hope you're as thankful as we are this Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday: STRIKE!

Happy Birthday Hunky Hubby

*whew* I made it! A very happy birthday to my very own hunky hubby Geo today! I'm pretty much the luckiest girl in the world to have you for a hubby...here's to many more happy birthdays together! Love you!

The Season of...

Tis better to give than receive...
The season of giving...
It's the thought that counts...

These are things that we drill into our childrens' heads year after year at Christmas time. Parents have been doing it for generations and will probably continue to do it for generations after my children are grown. I have said these things to Gabe and Bits and my parents said them to me, etc etc.

BUT all of this is just talk. Most people do NOTHING to back up the words they spew to their children; it's almost like second nature to say "oh honey, Christmas isn't about getting gifts, it's about giving gifts/spending time with family/whatever"

We like to back up the "season of giving" with actions; each year we do the best we can with what we have to do something for someone else who may not have the means to enjoy the holiday. This year is no exception, as always, though, money is short (let's be realistic, when ISN'T it? haha) but we have plenty of time. Gabe has an entire week off for Thanksgiving this year sooooooo

we're going to be Salvation Army Bell Ringers! We're going to dress up head to toe in warm clothes and ring bells and be obnoxious and loud and wish everyone around us happy holidays, merry Christmas, blah blah blah whatever we want...and why are we doing it? Because Gabe and Bits need to KNOW that when mom and dad say something like "tis better to give than receive" we mean it. We are going to be giving OUR time to help others in need. We are going to lead by example so they realize (maybe not in the moment or even in the near future, but at some point) that we feel good when we do something for someone else and that's what the holidays SHOULD be about; happiness.joy. friends. family. love. peace. giving. caring.

Not gimme gimme gimme gimme. Not "oh my god, I have to have the 'insert trendy toy here that will break in a week' or I will diiiiie" Not anything except peace on earth and goodwill toward others. I'd like to challenge all of you to back up your words with actions this holiday season. Don't just say it DO it. Put those words into action....your children will ALWAYS remember that you were a person of action, not just empty words.

Friday Five: Five Things I Know for Sure

Today's Friday Five is a bit different, it's interactive-I'm going to list five things I know for sure (five truths, five observations, whathaveyou) and you, dear readers are encouraged to do the same in the comments section and then next week I'll share them with everyone. Sounds fun, right?! RIGHT!

Here we go:

(In no particular order)

1. You should never turn down a chance to use the bathroom

2. Sometimes it isn't about YOU and the other person really just needs their space without you projecting your issues onto the situation (actually, I find this to be more that sometimes true, lol, I find it to be true 99% of the time)

3. You should strive to learn something new every single day, even if it isn't life changing knowledge, learning something new every day is a GOOD thing.

4. Listening is more important than talking, as the old cliche goes, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

5. No one is perfect, not even you, so try to give the benefit of the doubt when dealing with someone or something frustrating.

Now it's your turn...

Thankful Thursday: Babies

I'm thankful for babies today; this morning at 2:39 Cooper James came into the world; he's the newest edition to our family, belonging to Geo's cousin Matt and his wife to be, Anne. Baby and momma are doing well which we are thankful for as well! Welcome to the world Mini Coop, we're so glad you're here!

Wordless Wednesday: Have a Laugh or Two

Just One More Book

Gabe is a reader. This is a well known fact. He reads constantly and will read pretty much anything he can get his hands on. It's both endearing and frustrating. Tonight at bed I told the kiddos they could only read one book before bed, so pick one and hop under the sheets. Bitsy picked a Simpsons comic book (whatever floats her boat) and Gabriel the little smart alec picked a jet and plane encyclopedia Grampsey gave him. No joke, the book is easily three inches thick. He said "well you did say just one book Mom"

Indeed I did, Gabe, indeed I did. Gabe 1, Mom 0

Thankful Thursday: Veteran's Day

Today I'm especially grateful for our military vets. We have a lot of them in our family and in no particular order, I'd like to acknowledge and thank them for their service to our country.
Great Grandpa John-USMC
Great Grandpa Harvey-USAF
Cousin Steve-USAF
Grandpa Pop-USMC
Aunt Faith-ARMY
Uncle Levi-ARMY
Great Grandpa Bob-NAVY
Great Grandpa Siens-USMC
Great Grandma Siens-USMC
Uncle Bob-NAVY

and to all the other vets out there, known or unknown to us, we thank you for your service to our country.

(and today, is, of course, the Marine Corp birthday-Semper Fi!!)

Wordless Wednesday: Make Yourself Comfortable

Feeling Generous? Feeling Thankful?

My friend Yvonne is momma to three delightful children, her youngest was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and the wonderful folks at St. Jude's Childrens' hospital took great care of their whole family. He is now cancer free for TWO years and they're all so thankful for that...On November 19th, her family will be doing the St. Jude Give Thanks Walk and her team is raising money for the hospital. If you're so inclined, please check Yvonne's Page out and read their story and donate whatever you can and if you are NOT in the position to donate (which is okay too) please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as well as other families who are in the same position but are still battling cancer and other diseases that no child should have to deal with...and be thankful for the healthy children in your life too!

Playing in the Leaves

Friday Five: Stick it to the man

1. What kind of magnets do you have on your fridge? All different sorts; letters, shapes, words, pictures, you name it we have it.
   
2. What’s your preferred type of glue? good old elmers white glue
   
3. When is it good to feel sticky? When you're having your eyebrows waxed
   
4. What was the last thing you wrote upon a Post-It? A recipe
   
5. How much pancake syrup do you put on your pancakes? A TON

Thankful Thursday

Sometimes when it seems like everything all at once is going kind of crappy, it's a good idea to sit back and really be thankful for what you have...

I've been to the dentist twice in three days over one stinkin' tooth, rather than dwell on it, I'm thankful that we have EXCELLENT dental care and immediate access to a dentist so that I can have it taken care of.

The trunk lock on the car is stuck shut and not only is there a brand new bottle of antifreeze in there that we need, there are three giant pumpkins the kiddos didn't get to carve because they're stuck HOWEVER I'm thankful that we have a car that runs well, keeps us warm in the winter, and cool in the summer.

Geo is working 12 hour shifts overnight, we aren't seeing him much lately but I'm so thankful that in this time of economic hardship for SO many people that Geo is working and able to provide for us.

A lot of my friends are struggling right now, whether it's emotionally, physically, financially, what have you-while simply being thankful won't make these things go away, they will help ease the burden, so I'd like to encourage you to be thankful and MEAN it-make a list of all the bad crap and then next to each awful thing, put it into perspective and say something you're thankful for.

Halloween Hangover

Friday Five: Bring it to the Table

1. Some friends have invited you over to watch the big game. What do you bring for the snack table? Chips and salsa or chips and guac
   
2. What do you bring for a potluck lunch at work (or school)?
   usually a baked pasta dish
   
3. It’s a regifting party! Everyone brings some gift they never opened or used and leaves with someone else’s. What do you bring? Hmm, that's a hard one, I always get great gifts!
   
4. You’re going camping for a long weekend with a bunch of friends. Everybody agrees to bring one thing that others often don’t think to bring. What’s your contribution?Toothbrushes and toothpaste
   
5. Road trip! The car in which you’re going to spend twenty hours with your closest friends only has a CD player. What do you bring?Mad libs and my phone

Thankful Thursday

It's chilly out today, so I'm especially thankful for fleece blankets and sweaters. I'm also thankful for a dinner I didn't have to make myself, good company at said dinner AND a super cheap check for that dinner because of a free dinner gift certificate :) As I am quite often, I'm thankful for Geo's job providing us with such amazing insurance so that we can see the doctors and specialists we need WHEN we need to see them.

What are you thankful for today? How are you doing on the physical thank you challenge?

Wordless Wednesday: Logan

Something completely different

 I've entered a writing challenge and thought it might be nice if I share some of the entries with my blog readers...I won't post every entry as I'm sure they won't all be interesting, but I liked this one and thought I'd share. The topic was:
When you pray, move your feet
And here it is...

Dear Gabriel,

When I prayed, YOU moved your feet.

I don't put much stock in prayer; the thought of saying things out loud to "God" seems ridiculous to my logical brain and yet...I prayed for you every single day I knew what was in store for you. I prayed to God, Buddha, the universe....anyone who might hear my cries and answer my request, anyone or anything that might help ease the anxiety, fear, and pain I was feeling. I knew you'd never be society's standard of normal or typical, but I prayed you'd be the best you you could be...

And at 22 months, after literally praying for years, you moved your feet and you walked.

I prayed and you moved your feet.

But...was it prayer that made you move your feet? Of course it wasn't. In case you aren't aware of the meaning of the phrase "When you pray, move your feet" (and I wasn't until tonight) it basically means, God helps those who help themselves-basically talk the talk and walk the walk-make sure you aren't just putting those words out into the universe and thinking that's all you have to do.

Did I pray for walking? Yes, of course I did. Did I do anything to make sure you would walk? You're damn right I did. Hours and hours and more hours of therapy and research and tears and frustration and literally a million dollars in medical debt and YOU moved your feet.

One of my biggest hopes for you, Gabe is that you always remember that words are just words and mean nothing if you don't put actions behind them. You can talk till you're blue in the face but at the end of the day, if all you've done is talk, you've accomplished nothing. Be a man of action, not words and you, too, will see that when YOU pray FEET will move.

Love,
Momma

Wordless Wednesday: Meow?

 

Boni cat is ready for Halloween, are you?

Friends....

"God doesn't give you the people you want, he gives you the people you need. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you, and to make you the person you were meant to be"

And lately I've found this to be incredibly true...and for those reading, I hope you realize which one of these you are. I've learned a hard lesson these last few weeks and that is that some people, despite what you had hoped, what you had thought, and what you'd seen have no regard for you. Some people come into your life for the sole purpose to test you and try and take away what you have. In this case though, my happiness cannot and WILL not be destroyed by anyone, nor will my marriage or family. Misery loves company, however there's no company to be found here.

The Flu Shot Chronicles

Today the kiddos had to get their flu shots; after our awful winter (which included a round of H1N1 thankyouverymuch) Geo and I decided that this year all four of us are getting them. We don't lie to the kids about getting shots; we don't necessarily tell them if they don't ask, but if they ask if they are getting a shot, we'll tell them if they are or not.

So Gabe and Bits saw "flu shots" on the calender; correction (!) Gabe saw it written on the calender and told Bits about it so they were in a tizzy over it today. We left one appointment to go to the ped's office for the flu shots and Gabe says "so hey, Mom, where are we going?" I looked at Geo and said "Uh, Gina's" (Gina is the first name of our pediatrician) He says "oh, okay" and continues to chat with Bits. As we got closer to the doctors' office he said "oh no. Gina is Dr. S*'s name! Oh no! FLU SHOTS BITSY!" and cue the screams and sobs.

(side note: how rough do OUR children have it, their parents have insurance and access to appropriate medical care and vaccinations. poor poor kids, their parents care about their health...ungrateful kids, I tell ya! ha ha)

So we got to the office and Gabe immediately asks how sharp the needle is going to be because he wants a soft needle and blah blah blah. I have a sick sense of humor and I said "well you're in luck, today they'll be giving shots with a rusty fish hook! no worries about the needle!" (side note number two: how mean am I? seriously? I'm mean)

We got back to the room after the children tried to bribe the nurse with pretty much anything they could think of so they did *not* have to get the shot and Bits hopped up on the table thinking Gabe was going to be first. Not so little miss, not so. I pulled her sweatshirt arm off and Geo stood in front of her. The nurse came toward her with the tiny needle (seriously a flu shot is TINY) and wiped her arm with an alcohol pad...and all hell broke loose. She started to scream (it was cold and startled her) and Gabe started to turn purple and scream "Get MEEEE OUT OF HEEEEEEREE" in the meantime, I'm trying to steady Bits so she can get the shot AND she kicked Geo right in the family jewels. He starts to double over, SarahAnne is sobbing, Gabe is screaming at the top of his lungs, the nurse is trying not to cry and I'm doing what? I'm laughing. Laughing like an idiot.

Geo stands up, says in a voice at LEAST two octaves higher than normal "okay Gabe, your turn" and Gabe proceeds to .... I honestly don't know what he was trying to do, climb out the window maybe? I grabbed him in a hug and said "alright, let's do this" The nurse came at him with the damn cold alcohol pad and he screamed (again, it scared him-why don't they warm them up?!) then gave him the shot and Gabe said "alright, fine just give me the darn shot" as he was getting a bandaid put on the shot spot. The nurse informed him that he was done and he stopped sniffling and said "wait, what? you're done? I thought you had a huge needle or something. Wow. That was no big deal"

The nurse let them choose four million stickers and then led us out into the waiting room where four parents and their terrified children sat waiting for THEIR flu shots. I'm so glad I could help their children be prepared for the flu shot this year...ha ha

*note-Gabriel did *not* attempt to climb out the window at any point during this five minute ordeal. Five minutes, seriously, five minutes was all this took from start to finish. Most melodramatic five minutes of my life, except for maybe last Friday when I did a melodramatic Adam Levine post, but we won't count that.

Bullying

It's estimated that one in six children is regularly being bullied at school; as a teacher I saw it happening (and tried my darndest to stop it) as a kid in school I saw it happening-and had it happen to me, but as a parent, it was one of those things that I really didn't pay any attention to, other than to stress to Gabe and Bits that friends use nice words with each other and we don't ever hit our friends OR allow others to hit us.

I didn't pay attention because it didn't personally affect us; we have enough to worry about without adding bullying into the mix...and that worked for us until this afternoon. Without going into a ton of detail, Gabe was physically assaulted by a kid from his school on the walk from the bus to the apartment. Because of his shunt and the fact that he was hit ON the head with a loaded backpack, he had to see the dr to rule out a shunt problem or a concussion. Our official diagnosis was "multiple scalp contusions" which is medically talk for bruises on the scalp. We're supposed to let him rest and take some tylenol and just keep an eye on him. Tonight he was treated to a late night snack of cheese pizza and a movie with his sister. He's happily laying on the couch in jams, seemingly unfazed by the events of the afternoon...

But I'm bothered...and Geo is bothered...and our little "village" is bothered and now what? What happens next? I'm the mother of a kid who is being bullied and haven't got a damn clue what to do. The teacher in me is saying "go to the school and talk to them about it" the momma bear in me is saying "rip the kids head off" (irony at its' finest) and the rational part of me isn't chiming in because I cannot rationalize ANY situation when violence toward children is EVER acceptable.

For now, I'm just going to snuggle my babies close tonight and hope that tomorrow is better.

Wordless Wednesday: We are the 99%

Three for the Price of One!

Today you get a three for one post...my wordless Wednesday post, my thankful Thursday post AND my Friday five! Woohoo! First the picture...

Now for the Thankful Thursday portion of the post...I'm thankful that I have a niece and nephew so close so that they can grow up knowing us and the cousins get to play together whenever they'd like.

And for the Friday five...

Five reasons I love being an Auntie (I'm lying, there's actually ten)
Christopher
Conrad
Caleb
Ethan
Sophia
David
Aubrey
Logan
Zoey
Liam

A New Year...

Friday was my birthday and thus the beginning of a new year for me :) Geo and the kiddos spoiled me, as did other family members. It was an excellent birthday. I spent the weekend with my sister(who had her birthday Thursday) and one of her best friends at my sisters' house in Michigan. We drank froofy drinks, got tattoos, and went to an art festival (not to mention that I also got to eat GOOD Chinese food AND authentic Mexican food-two of my favorites that Geo and the kiddos don't particularly care for) It was an excellent weekend, I came back refreshed and ready to take on whatever life has to offer. How about a few pictures?

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for cold diet coke, soft pillows, and silly small children. All should be so lucky to have these three things-at the same time-like I do :)

It's week 2 of the Thankfulness Challenge...who will you thank THIS week!?

Wordless Wednesday: Twins

Friday Five: My Favorite Color

Today's Friday Five is all about my favorite color...Maroon (5) ha ha.

In no particular order, five things I'd like to do with Adam Levine, the lead singer of Maroon 5 if they weren't a) illegal b) dangerous or c) a combo of those two....complete with pictures-you're welcome. Now quit that slobbering on your keyboard, will ya?

1. Go on a high speed car chase in a sweet ass car

2. Tear the label off a mattress

3. Go to the zoo, come home with a penguin


4. Stalk Adam Levine (wait, can I stalk Adam Levine while being WITH Adam Levine? I certainly hope so! and based on this picture it makes him sad to stalk himself)


And finally, in at number 5, I'd like to smack Bob Dylan while Adam Levine looks on, however since he'll be an accessory we probably *will* both get arrested...and that's okay because this is how he looks when arrested...


Again, quit drooling, you're getting your keyboard all wet!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a new job and thankful for our friend Kimme for telling me about the job! This week I started a new job, two days a week, at a local dry cleaning pick up place. It's a small staff and they are pretty much fabulous. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to a) get out of the house and b) have a little "pin" money.

As for the thankfulness challenge...hopefully by this point you've done your first thank you...and if not-get on it!! :)

The Thankfulness Challenge

Recently I read an article about a man who's life was in the dumps; he was a good guy, trusting, helpful, a good family man, but life had dealt him some crappy cards. He was on the verge of suicide to try and shed his problems when a friend reached out with a phone call and a dinner invite. At dinner, the friend told this man that he was sorry it had taken so long, but he wanted him to know that he had always been thankful for his friendship and the impact he'd had on his life. After parting ways Mr. GoodGuy went home and decided that once a week for the next year, he was going to reach out and thank someone for their contribution to his life. One week it was a verbal thank you to a cashier who always went out of her way to help him, another week it was a letter to his young daughter thanking her for always having a smile on her face. On and on, just simple little thank you's, verbal, written, emailed and even texted. Mr. GoodGuy found that his life had started to turn around; he found that by being grateful for the little things the big stuff around him seemed to melt away; his life became richer because of it.

I really enjoyed this article, I loved the message. Each Thursday I do a thankful Thursday post but in addition from now on, each week for the next year, I will be thanking someone who has impacted my life in some way and I'd like to challenge YOU to do it too. Maybe not for a year, maybe just start with a month...and work your way up to a year. If you're doing this challenge, which we'll call the Thankfulness Challenge, I'd love for you to let me know and maybe even post it on your blog with a link back to this post so we can see what kind of change for the better we've made. Who's with me?

Thankful Thursday: Cat 1 and Cat 2

It's probably silly to post about being thankful for the fur balls today, but that's what I'm thankful for today. Both kiddos had rough nights sleeping last night, not sure why, but they did. Cat 1, also known as big fat Boni cat, made a point to snuggle up with Gabe till he fell asleep and after that hopped up on top of the couch (Gabe was on the couch) and watched him for the rest of the night. Cat 2, also know as Bam Dingle Fritz Witkowski, was all snoogled up to Bits last night (The dream team, Bits and Fritz!) under her chin to help her fall asleep. After making sure she was fast asleep, he stretched out next to ME and put me to sleep. Something about a kitty purring softly in your ear and soft black ears to pet if you need to (Bam is also a black cat) are incredibly comforting. So thank you, Cat 1 and Cat 2 for putting us all to sleep last night!

*meow*

Wordless Wednesday: I Hate Gingavitis!!

The Days are Long, The Years are Short

HH and I just had our tenth wedding anniversary at the end of July; for whatever reason, I seem to think of people's children in relation to how old they were at our wedding. It doesn't make much sense, but it's how I do it...

There was a gawky kind of awkward 12 year old boy at our wedding whom I danced with. That 12 year old is now 22, has a beautiful fiance, and a baby on the way. Um...how did that happen?

Another little one at our wedding was newly eight and just wanted to dance with the bride; she was a cute little blonde who ended up going home with all of my wedding jewelry (no worries, it was all fake and I made it ha ha) This little blonde? Well you guessed it, she's 18 and just started her freshman year at Iowa State. She's a Hawkeye now...how did that happen?

Yesterday was my sweet little biver bips, er, liver lips, er uh, godson Cameron's 11th birthday. ELEVEN! EEE-LEH-VIN! At my wedding? Well he wasn't there, but he was itty bitty and probably wearing his favorite camouflage onesie. I don't see him as an eleven year old, I see him as a little guy with a dish of spaghetti on his head, I see him as a toddler with the letter "K" from his magnetic alphabet pretending to spray things and clean them, I see him as a toothly 7 year old sprawled out on my bed reading Calvin and Hobbes. Not an 11 year old who can carry on a conversation with his Aunt Chrissi and actually make sense. Not an 11 year old who's headed toward puberty in a big way. Not an 11 year old who is closer to 18 than to being 1 (sorry Amanda, but it's true...)

And my own itty bitty, small, tiny, definitely not closer to 8 than 7 Gabriel McGoochenstein. The other night, he was so sick and ended up spiking a 105 fever. I was panicking because 105 is so high and he's so little...I called the doctor who calmly talked me through my hysterics (I tend to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk some more when I'm hysterical-I talk about 10 times as much as normal which is a lot anyway lol) He calmly asked "and how old is Gabe now?" I said "he's seven and a half and his fever...." he cut me off and said "relax mom, he's a big kid now, this isn't a big deal" I said "what do you mean, he's a BIG kid now? No he is not...ramble ramble". After I got off the phone I realized that the doctor was right, he IS a big kid now. He's no longer my itty bitty needs me for everything guy. He's almost 8; he doesn't even kiss me at the bus stop anymore for pete's sake.

How did this happen? How did ALL of these children, including my own, get so damn old? Furthermore, how did *I* get so damn old? When did this happen? As my mom is fond of saying "The days are long but the years are short" She's right, as usual and I'm betting she feels the same way about me...

Thankful Thursday: This One Was Hard

It's been a really long and crappy week; I mean just crap on top of crap. I could list all the bad things that have happened in the last few days, but it isn't going to do me any good. So instead of dwelling on the negatives today, I've been trying to fixate on the positive and this is the list I've come up with today. These are things, in no particular order, that I am thankful for:

*The support of family and friends this week; particularly my sister, Tori, my sister in law Katie, my long distance bff, Steph, and my bb, Tiff.
*Our excellent pediatrician and her staff
*The Greats, who are in upstate NY, are safe and sound after all the rain and flooding they've had lately
*We went to the library today and got about four million books to read
*The weather at night has been perfect for sleeping
*Grampsey Johnny, while still in the hospital, is doing very very well and it looks like he'll be up and at 'em by Saturday. Bet he can't wait to be home...the kiddos can't wait to see him either.

And that's it for now...I'm sure there's more, but this'll do for now. What are you thankful today?

Wordless Wednesday: Teeth Before and After

Oh My Gourd (and Other Veggie Tales)

The last week has been, in a word, pretty sucktastic. (that's a word right?) I've been writing this blog post in my head for the last 24 hours and still haven't gotten it quite right yet...so bear with me if this post is awkward.

In the last week, we have seen our pediatrician three times, the dentist twice, my chiropractor twice, I've been to the pediatrician with my nephew twice, the hospital with my nephew once, and we're headed to the dentist again tomorrow.

Katie tripped down our stairs and took Aubrey with her, Bitsy got a black eye playing soccer yesterday, and Gabriel has developed a rather naughty potty mouth. I hit myself in the mouth with a heavy zipper pull and thought I knocked my tooth out. Geo's dad is in the hospital because of a bad reaction to some meds he's on.


This week has sucked...however a lot of other good stuff HAS happened, so the week hasn't been a total wash; we had friends over for a bbq, we had overnight guests and a trip to the flea market, we ate gourmet gelato, we slept in, we took naps, and we watched plenty of movies. We had a surprise dinner guest one night, we went to grandma's house for a bbq, and we spent time with friends and family. HH has been off for five days-and coherent and well rested for ALL of them and that right there is enough to make the week amazing.

At this point, all I can do is laugh about everything that's happened because it's beyond ridiculous; it's beyond believable to most people and yet...here we are, fifty two doctor's visits later...keep Bits in your thoughts if you will-she is having a tooth pulled tomorrow..and also HH's dad (Grampsey Johnny) who's still in the hospital trying to get things figured out.

Wordless Wednesday: Little Lady

Okay! Toast It Is!

I keep hearing from people that these are the best days of our lives and that we're gonna miss the "good old days" when our children were young and keeping us busy. I don't doubt that they're right but in the moment it's hard to see it as such. How about an excerpt from a typical day in our house:

I wake up at seven and spend two and a half hours (approximately) getting Gabriel up for school. At 7:22 or thereabouts, he groggily walks out of the bedroom to the bathroom where he splashes his face with four drops of water and looks at his toothbrush and calls it good. We spend fifteen minutes having this conversation over and over and over and over:

Mom: What would you like for breakfast?
Groggy Gabriel: werkoc8a9
Mom: What?
GG: wr823usfsdk
Mom: okay toast it is

If we happen to make it through breakfast without a major catastrophe we call it good. If we make it to the bus stop ON time with a fully packed backpack and lunchbox I paste a gold star on my mom board when I get back.

The feeling of elation at being the best mother in the world (trademark pending) pretty much ends one and a half minutes after Bits gets up.

Mom: Good morning Bitsy, how are you?
Bitsy: (read this in high pitched voice really really fast) HIMOMMMAHOWAREYOUIHADREALLYGOODDREAMSLASTNIGHTBLAHBLAH
Mom: Mhmm, what would you like for breakfast?
Bitsy: (screaming) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIHATEBREAKFASTWHYAREYOUOFFERINGMEBREAKFASTWHENYOU KNOWIHATEITDOYOUHATEME?!
Mom: Okay, toast it is.

Breakfast is done and it's time to get on with the business of the day...but not before cat one and cat two get in on the act. I don't speak cat, but I can try and translate what they're saying:
Cat one: meow meow you should probably feed me today
Mom: what would you like
Cat one: filet mignon, caviar, and whole milk fresh from the cow
Mom: okay! toast it is!

Cat two: meow meow, I'm dumb, you could feed me cardboard and I'd be happy
Mom: Okay! Toast it is!

If during the course of the day nothing manages to catch fire, fall out the window, get stuck in the toilet, or end up all over the wall, I call it good. In fact, if I can brag for a minute, I call it an AWESOME day and strut till it's time to miss bus pick up in the afternoon.

Dinner time is utter chaos, in fact if you could hear the noises coming from the apartment, you'd probably think it was either a) a zoo at feeding time or depending on the day b) a wrestling match complete with grunting sweaty wrestlers, I mean, children.

The best part of the night is bedtime. Oh who am I kidding? No it's not. It's worse than the morning. It's loud and awful and stressful and I want MY mom to read me a story by the time it's over.

Mom: anyone need anything before I shut the door?
Gabe: yes, can we talk about jets? what kind of jets do you like? do you like big jets or little jets...blah blah jets jets jets..blah blah
Bitsy: (at this point sobbing) MOMIHATEGOINGTOBEDINMYOWNBEDIHAVENIGHTMARESANDTHECATSDON'TLIKEMEANDIWANT
TOSLEEPWITHYOUPLEASEPLEASEIDONTHAVEABESTFRIENDTOCALLONTHEPHONEIHATEBEINGFOUR

Mom: okay, toast it is!

At this point cat one and cat two get in on the act;
cat one: meow meow get those damn kids to sleep so you can pet me, brush me, and attend to my every need in the manner I've become accustomed (he's rather articulate for a cat, let me tell you)
cat two: meow meow, yeah what he said...oooh what is that shiny thing?oh hooray a moth. oh look over there....*crash* cat two has run into the wall and knocked himself out...at least someone is sleeping in the house.

Obviously this is a *slight* exaggeration, though at one point in our lives all of these things HAVE happened (other than the cats speaking, man that would just be too weird)

I love my kids, but as Geo and I were talking about last night, sometimes when you're in the thick of it, it's hard to see the humor in what's happening, it's hard to see the memories we're making. He said that after two days of us being gone on vacation, he was so bored and lonely, he could barely stand it. As he said "at first it was wonderful. No one making messes, no constant laundry or vacuuming, I could listen to whatever I wanted, watch whatever I wanted and no one cared! WOOHOO it was wonderful until the third day and I realized that the kids are what keep things interesting around here" (the cats don't speak to him, apparently) and he's right, the kids DO keep it interesting, our lives would be incredibly dull without them. I mean, I would NEVER have to listen to an explanation of the screen being knocked out on accident at six am (that was this morning, I was woken up to Bitsy crying, quietly saying "momma, I knocked out the screen in our window accidentally getting my pig out of the window" and oddly enough, I knew what she was talking about because I'm mom and mom knows these things! there WAS a pig in the window last night, he needed some air!) I wouldn't ever get to hear jokes from Gabriel like "what did the zero say to the eight? Nice belt!" and then hear him laugh hysterically about it.

I think this quote says it all:
While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Okay! Toast it is!

What Does This Say??

Today Bits and I had to go to the jewelry store; my poor engagement ring needs to be fixed; the prongs are worn and the diamond is loose-not a good thing. So as I'm standing there ordering the new head for my ring (and honestly, when the woman asked "would you rather have a new head?" the 12 year old boy in me wanted to answer "no, I'd rather have a new butt, this one has a crack in it!" but I restrained myself...barely) and Bits comes up to me with a flyer for a resetting event. She asked, "what does this say momma?" I told her it said they were resetting rings. She asked what that meant. I told her it meant if you had a loose stone or a ring that you didn't like anymore you could get it redone so you could wear it again. She thought about it for a minute and said "hmmm"

Jokingly I asked her "what, lady, do you have a diamond I don't know about that you need to put in a new ring??" and started to laugh. She looked at me and said VERY matter of factly "yes, I do momma. My big diamond heart fell out last week and you haven't fixed it yet, maybe they can fix it here" I had to think about it for a minute and then it hit me. A while ago someone gave Bits this obnoxious gaudy ridiculous DELIGHTFUL thoughtful gift of a huge honkin' ring that has a HUGE heart shaped "diamond" in the center. It was literally glued in place with rubber cement or some such thing, it didn't take long for the heart to fall completely out...and now, apparently, we need to take it to a jeweler and have it reset, probably in platinum because this girl has expensive tastes already. *shakes head* I guess I'll never ask her something like that again, will I? That'll teach me!

(also, I'm still giggling over the new head thing for my ring...mostly because it reminds me of the joke about having a new butt instead of a million dollars he he. I'm such a 12 year old boy)

The First Week of 2nd Grade

The first week (WHAT?!) of second grade is nearly over. I'm not even sure how that happened. It's been an eventful week to say the least, full of epic momma failings he he. We had supply drop off and Gabe's teacher handed me his name tag and said "please be sure he wears this on the first day" No worries, I stuck it in my wallet where all important things go and then promptly forgot to stick it to his shirt before he got on the bus. Whoops.

How do you follow that up? Oh let's see, how about mixing up bus times so that your kid misses the bus on the second day of school? Yup, that was what I did for an encore. As Gabe and I were walking to the car so I could drop him off at school he said to me "Jeez Mom, way to go, it's my second day of school and I'm already missing the bus"

So today is day three and what will I mess up? NOTHING! His lunch is packed (and double checked!) he has an appropriate snack in his bag for breakfast, a full water bottle, his gym shoes AND his art shirt. The bus leaves in a half an hour and I'll be down there in 20 minutes! I'm guessing, though, given my luck, I'll probably forget to get him off the bus and he'll wander up here scowling, wondering to himself how he got such a negligent mother. I suppose at least, he'll have something to talk about in therapy when he gets older, right?

As an aside, it's recently come to my attention that people seem to think that I'm singling them out when I blog, that my blogs are an attempt to brag about how *amazing* and *wonderful* I am. Let me say this, I started this blog to chronicle my children growing up for family who doesn't live nearby to see what they're doing on a regular basis. Oddly enough if you go back to my first few entries (and you can't right now because I have to fix my url and I'm not quite internet savvy enough to fix it at the moment) it's nothing but "bitsy can say these words: blah blah blah" or "Today Gabe helped me plant our herbs. Look at all the cute pictures" In recent months, I've become more vocal about politics and things I observe. I am going to have to put a disclaimer on my blog, much like the ones in the front of books, "this is a work of (mostly) fiction, identifying names, events, and places have been changed to protect people. Any resemble to people, past or present, is purely coincidental." Because while I may blog about seeing my family or throwing my niece in the pool with Gabe and Bits, when I blog about feminist issues, parenting issues, social issues, etc I'm not blogging about anyone in particular. I'm a reader, an AVID reader. I often see articles on line that spark my interest and this blog is my outlet to say what I have to say about the things I wonder about. Oddly enough, yesterday Geo came across my "potential blog ideas" list and said "what in the world are these? These don't make any sense together" well of course they don't, they weren't meant to be read in order or as a list of things that make sense!

If for some reason, you come across a blog and immediately think "that Chrissi is such a b*tch, here she is blogging about ME and what I'm dealing with" please take a second and ask yourself WHY I would chose to single you out on MY blog. Take a second and think to yourself "Gee, do I maybe have some issues that I need to work out and it's being vocalized here?" I blog about current events, I blog about things that bother me, I blog about whatever the heck I feel like blogging about, without any regard to what other people may say or do or think about what I am blogging. So here it is: My blog is not a direct reflection of any one thing or anyone person in particular; I write to get things out of my system, I write because it gives me a little bit of spending money every once in a while, and I write because I enjoy it...and with all that being said, if you're so insecure that you think every single thing ever written on this blog is about you, perhaps you ought to look a little more closely at yourself-you're projecting your own insecurities on to me and I simply do not have the time, patience, or desire to deal with it. I deal with more than enough in my own life that I don't need you projecting on to me too.

Now back to your regular scheduled blogging about cute kids, annoying rants on feminism, annnnnd whatever the hell ELSE I feel like talking about :)

Thankful Thursday

I know I say it all the time, but I'm so thankful for my hunky hubby Geo. He's such a hard worker and takes such good care of us. By the time he's done working on Sunday at 3 p.m., he will have put in 76 hours this week-his long weekend for Labor Day will be well deserved, that's for sure. I envision a weekend full of grilling, cold beer, and catching up on True Blood together. I'm a lucky girl indeed, to have married such a great man. Love you HH.

Take Me As I Am-Or Not At All

I am a "take me or leave me" kind of girl; I think I have a personality that you either love absolutely or hate absolutely-I don't know that there's any middle ground whatsoever...and I am okay with that; after thirty odd years of being like this, I'm comfortable in my skin; I'm comfortable with my faults, my quirks, my what have yous.

I am gossipy and nosy and sometimes down right rude. I'm brutally honest to a fault, I judge hard. If you lose my trust, it's hard to gain it back. Sometimes I make snap judgements that turn out to not be correct. I'm hard headed, I have a type "a" personality and it's annoying, and while I can forgive easily, I have a very hard time forgetting.

On the flip side of this though, I am fiercely loyal to those I love. I will bend over backward (and then some) to make sure people have what they need. I am (mostly) a lover, not a fighter. I like things to be peaceful, even and calm. I love to laugh and love to make other people laugh. I try to see the best in everyone whenever possible even if I don't always SAY those things out loud (which I probably should do more of to be honest)

My mom and I had a really interesting chat when I was home; she basically said that her policy on people is "if you don't like me, fine, don't like me, but move along and quit wasting both of our time" and I like that. That's going to be my new policy, if you don't like me, I don't care, but I'm not going to waste ANY more of my time on you and I'm not going to waste my breath, time, and resources TRYING to make you like me or see me for who I really am. It's time that *I* started respecting and loving myself as much as I do other people and stop spending precious time on what others think of me. So, from here on out, if ya don't like me, move on out :) And if you DO like me (there's one or two of you out there lol) it's a safe bet that I like you too :)

Wordless Wednesday (has words): 2nd Grade

Today is Gabe's first day of second grade; getting on the bus this morning he was so confident and self assured. He was ready for whatever this day had to bring and prepared to do battle if need be. He's such a great little guy and it's been such a pleasure watching him grow up.

Darned if you do, darned if you don't.

I feel a rant coming on; a feminist rant actually. A damned if you do, damned if you don't rant. Yesterday an article hit the web entitled Tough Gals: Do They Still Exist. It was an article that basically said women are becoming too "girly". We're too girly because we blog about gardening, knitting, and cooking.

Yes, you read that right, WOMEN are TOO girly.

I'll let that sink in for a second...

It used to be that women were too "manly"; that we were trying too hard to be like men. The backlash over female politicians is just ONE example of women trying too hard to fit into a "man's world". Apparently women are no longer allowed to be girly, we must be tough, except that when we're tough, we're no longer girly and as EVERYONE knows (insert eye roll here) that's just not attractive.

It seems like women just can't do right by ANYONE. You're either too feminine or too masculine, you're either super mom or a horrible mom, you're either an overly devoted and submissive wife or you're the wife who has her husband's testicles in "her purse"

There is no middle ground when it comes to how we're judged; it's always got to be one extreme or the other. We fought for equality, we continue to strive to make this world a friendly place for our daughters, nieces, and sisters and every other woman out there. We don't want to be seen as the "weaker sex" (because honestly, it's not true-what man do you know can squeeze a watermelon out of a lemon hole and be up walking shortly thereafter?) Women before my generation fought so that we could be tough OR girly...or a combination of BOTH. They fought so WE didn't have to fight for these things...and yet, here we are, all these years later STILL fighting for the right to be ourselves...whether we're ball busting politicians, girly cupcake baking bloggers, or somewhere in the middle.

It seems like it's a never ending battle; as women we'll never please anyone...so we might as well please ourselves, huh? So keep on you cupcake bloggers, you kick ass front line military women, and you somewhere in the middle ladies going about your day to day business. You don't have to live up to anyone's standards and expectations than your own-that's what generations of women before us have fought for-the right to be ourselves-don't let small minded people take that away from you.

It's Not Fair

Gabe is in the "it's not fair" phase of his life (the first of many, I'm sure) Dr. Montessori made a point to mention (more than once, I might add) that when a child hits six or seven, they suddenly have a sense of justice, mostly pertaining to themselves, but eventually pertaining to other people and other situations as well. Once a day or so, Gabriel will tell me something isn't fair. Today it wasn't fair that he had to wear socks with his shoes, it also wasn't fair that he wasn't allowed to sit on his sister. While it's annoying to hear him whine "it's not faaaaair" twenty two thousand times a day about insignificant things, I know it's normal and he will eventually grow out it (at least for a little bit, I expect that around sixteen it will start up again, ha ha)

What I can't deal with is grown people continually lamenting about how unfair something is. We all have things in our lives that aren't particularly "fair" however, at some point you need to quit yer bitchin' as they say and DO something about it and if you chose to do nothing about whatever it is you think is so unfair, then shush your lips. Put up or shut up as they say :)

Here are a few things I've recently heard/seen/experienced people saying weren't "fair":
It's not fair that my spouse is working long hours, I never see them.
It's not fair that I have to be up all night with a new baby.
It's not fair that the neighbors have a new car and we make more money than them and don't have one.
It's not fair that I am not able to go on vacation when so-and-so was able to go.

Really people? REALLY? These things aren't fair? How about some examples of things that REALLY are not fair. It's not fair that 200 people were recently let go by our local Lowe's store with NO notice; it's not fair that a friend of mine is dealing with the reality of having a disabled son and has no real life support system to help her deal with it, it's not fair that some people have no vehicle at all and walk or bike everywhere like many people in our apartment complex do. It's not fair that young men and women are coming home in body bags because they're fighting overseas. It's not fair that small children are dying of cancer. Do you get my point?

There's a newish phrase to describe the pissing and moaning people do about trivial things; it's called "first world problems" and really, let's be realistic; if we're pissing and moaning that we can't get a NEW car or take a vacation, are we really THAT bad off? There are people right in your neighborhood who can't afford a SINGLE car let alone a new one, there are people in your neighborhood who would love a single DAY off of work but can't for fear of not having a job when they get back or losing that income.

To be fair, I'm guilty of complaining about stupid things too; I'm guilty of complaining that things aren't fair; in fact, one time I was complaining loudly to my mother about the fact that it's NOT FAIR that Gabe has a disability (and really, it's not...but bear with me here) My mom, who by the way is a cancer survivor, said "you know Chris, I used to feel that way about my cancer, I used to scream at God 'why me? why me? this isn't FAIR' and one day I just realized, 'why NOT me? SOMEONE has to make up the statistics' and yes, it sucks, but it's life and we deal with it. Yes it sucks that Gabe is disabled, however SOMEONE has to be that number and maybe you didn't plan it that way, but it is what it is and now you deal with it"

And that's kind of been my motto since that day. No it's not fair, but why NOT me? In all reality, our lives are GOOD. Even if we can't buy a second car right now; even if we can't go to the Dells for Labor Day, even if I do NOT see Geo much because of 60 hour work weeks. How can I, in good conscience, complain about these things when there are so many people who are so much worse off?

Geo's grandparents have a quote they shared with us that they love and we've come to love it as well:
"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have." I'm finding that as time goes by, this is truer and truer. Be happy, be grateful, be CONTENT, you'll be much richer for it...and there's NOTHING unfair about that!
 

Friday Five: What Goes In

1. What goes into your coffee or tea? (no coffee, gross!) sugar or honey and an ice cube or two
   
2. What goes into a good omelet? Cheese and ham
   
3. What goes into your ears on a good morning? Sarah McLachlan of course!
   
4. What goes into a healthy but yummy lunch? chicken, lettuce, veggies, cheese, and a bit of salad dressing
   
5. What goes into a productive evening? uh, hard work and hand grenades?!

Thankful Thursday...two things

Today I'm especially thankful for two things; the first is the wisdom and perspective that comes with age and the second is my kiddos imaginations and senses of humor. I have two seriously imaginative and hilarious children and it makes my days (and nights) much more interesting and fun.

What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday Vacation Edition