SueZQue tagged me a few days ago… so, here goes!

What was I doing ten years ago?
Living in York, NE – working and going to school (as a very OLD student… or at least a lot OLDER than the 18 year olds I was in class with).

5 places I have travelled:
Las Vegas, NV (who knew I’d end up here?)
Maupin, OR
York, Nebraska
Abilene, Texas
Tulsa, Oklahoma
(apparently ALL our vacations are family or friend oriented)

5 snacks or treats I enjoy:
Diet Coke
Popcorn
Milk Duds
Nachos
Chocolate of any kind

What would I do if I were a billionaire?
Give money away every day to everyone I know who needs it
Pay off all my debts and the debts of everyone I know and love
Hire a maid and a cook
Buy a mini-van
Set up funds for my childrens’ futures.

Places I have lived:
Sacramento, CA
Lincoln, CA
Santa Rosa, CA
San Leandro, CA
York, NE

Jobs I have had:
Nursing Assistant
Drive-in Movie Theater attendant
Clerk in a craft store
Pre-school Teacher
Self-employed

People I am tagging:
I am so bad at this – how about if you read this, consider yourself TAGGED!!

Ok, he’s been here since the 14th, and I’m just now getting around to mentioning him?  BAD Auntie Char!

My brother Ken and his wife Sarah welcomed a new baby boy to the family on the 4/14, AT 4:14 p.m.  His name is Brodrick Jonathan, and we all call him Brody.  Now, for a few pictures…

And the one that makes me cry every time I see it…

I’m so, so, so thankful for this baby boy Brody… for his two big sisters, Gracie and Clara, and for their daddy and mama – my little brother Ken and his wife Sarah. 

And today, I especially want to say a little prayer of thanks for Sarah.  She just went through a third pregnancy – one that they didn’t completely plan to experience – but she made it through like a trouper and helped bring a huge blessing to our entire family. 

Sarah is an awesome mom, and I aspire to be like her.  I know I never will BE like her, because God made us different, but I still try!  She is soft-spoken, gentle, caring, sweet, nurturing, calm, collected, loving, and so much more.  She is totally gonna rawk this “Mom of three” business – and I’m sure she’ll do it better than I do!  (In fact, she’s probably already handling it easily, while a year later I’m still in survival mode!)

Sarah is the perfect wife for my brother, and the perfect mom to his kids.  I’m so glad God brought her into our family and made us sisters.  And I can’t wait to get on a plane so I can hug her and the rest of the gang, and tell her in person how thankful I am for her and those three amazing kiddos she gets to raise up!

And yes, in case you haven’t guessed, I’m nominating Sarah for Laura’s “Honoring Mom’s” Mother’s Day event. 

And now I’m gonna go look at baby Brody’s pictures again and try not to miss them all so much!

P.S. I would have posted a picture of Sarah and Brody, but I’m pretty sure she would prefer that I NOT post pictures of her in hospital garb right after delivering a baby.  Call me silly…

 

 

It’s time for another Gratituesday post, and today I’m writing a list. Not sure why, but it’s just what felt right.
Today I’m thankful…

• that my kids are a LOT more healthy this week than they were last week!
• for the fact that we’ve all been sleeping MUCH better this week
• for the time my husband gave me last week to get out of the house – I SO needed the mental break
• for a box full of fun books to read
• that my pantry is full of food, my freezer is full of food, and I have a menu for the next two weeks figured out for our family
• that I only have four loads of laundry to do, not six or eight
• that my family has so many clothes, that I have four loads of laundry to do
• for our new nephew Brody (how have I not mentioned this yet??)
• for family, near and far, and the possibility of a summer trip to see the ones far
• for encouraging blogs to read every day
• for funny blogs to read every day
• for bloggy giveaways to make our week full of excitement and potential
• for beautiful weather, and a nice back yard perfect for our kids to play
• that Samuel is having a better week at school (last week was kinda rough)
• that there is only six more weeks of school and we’ll have him home again every day for awhile
• that I have a laptop and can sit and write this list in the living room, even if it takes ALL day long (between interuptions).

What are YOU thankful for? Write a post, and leave your link at Laura’s blog at HeavenlyHomemakers.com!

I’m doing giveaways for most of the week at DigiScrapChat.com!  Be sure to check it out… every day.

The last couple of days have a little rough. With a pretty icky allergy attack on my part, followed up with a trip to the ER for lil Allan – I’m still feeling a little wiped out. (You can read all the details in my recent posts at DigiScrapChat.com, if you haven’t already).

I woke up this morning still achey and listening to lil Allan cry because he can’t have milk. It wasn’t the most pleasant of ways to wake up, but it was a huge improvement over yesterday’s events.

I’m so thankful that lil Allan is doing better, and I’m thankful that he is healthy enough to actually throw a fit because he can’t have milk today.

I’m thankful for a flexible work environment (i.e., I’m the boss and own my own business), so I can take a couple of days off – or at the very least I can work in little spurts in between holding and cuddling my kiddos.

I’m thankful that we have health insurance, a 911 response team that comes within 3 minutes of a phone call, a clean hospital to take our children to when they are sick, doctors and nurses to care for them and reassure us that they will be ok.

I’m thankful that lil Allan’s croupy cough is gone, or nearly gone. His fever is gone. He is fussy because of the milk issue, but he’s on the mend!

I’m not glad that lil Allan went through the croupy experience, but I’m thankful that IF one of my kids had to experience it, that it wasn’t Martha who is still so little and unable to tell us how she feels.

I’m thankful for the night of sleep that we ALL managed to have last night.

What are you thankful for today? Feel free to share in the comments here, or head on over to Laura’s blog at HeavenlyHomemakers.com and link us up to your blog post about Gratituesday!

Man alive, I am so bad at thinking up tips for WFMW. I think and I think, and I think some more. And nothing. Sad, isn’t it?

But, today it’s ok. Because my friend Laura has written a fabulous WFMW post, and you can go read THAT instead!

And now I’ll get back to thinking… cause what’s more fun than sitting around your living room wondering if ANYTHING works for you? Oh, it’s a thrill a minute around here, yes indeed.

38 years ago, on April 8, 1970, my wonderful husband was born. Only God knows how thankful I am for Allan, although I do try try to show Allan so he has SOME idea. How fun that his birthday falls on a Tuesday, so I can devote an entire Gratituesday post to him.

So, a few of the reasons I’m thankful for my husband:

1. He is light-hearted and fun and relaxed about most things, and he helps me to be less serious.
2. He makes me laugh regularly, and he encourages the kids to laugh regularly.
3. He works hard so that I can stay home with our kids, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep things that way.
4. He has a really big heart, and he is sensitive and caring (even though he puts on a really tough guy front some times).
5. He treasures me, and he honestly thinks I’m beautiful, AND he tells me regularly so I never forget it.
6. He takes good care of me when I don’t feel well (which unfortunately is too often), and he takes very good care of the children too. He takes seriously the vow, “in sickness and in health”.
7. He spoils me regularly – there really isn’t anything that I’ve ever wanted since I met him that he hasn’t tried to provide.
8. He is passionate about a variety of subjects, and we can talk for hours (well, we could before we had all these pesky interupting lovely children.
9. He is really talented with home improvement projects, and he is always thinking of what he can do next to improve things around here.
10. When he DOES home improvement projects, he does them WELL. As with anything else, he believes that it is worth the time and effort to do these projects right the FIRST time.
11. He adores his children, and he lets them know it all the time. He genuinely loves to spend time with his kids. Fatherhood becomes him, and it often takes my breath away when I watch him play and interact with the kids.
12. He has very strong opinions, and he is not afraid to stick to whatever he believes.
13. He is confident and sure, and he is helping our children grow in confidence.
14. He is sentimental, and he has high regard for his heritage.
15. He is willing to admit when he’s made a mistake, and he apologizes when he hurts my feelings.
16. He is super smart, and there isn’t much he doesn’t know about most any topic.
17. He is willing to cook, clean, do laundry, do the grocery shopping, and a myriad of other things to keep our home running smoothly. He’s had to do more than his fair share of that since we married, since pregnancy didn’t agree with me. He’s also HAPPY to let me do all those things instead.
18. He is not picky about what I fix for dinner. I know he would never complain about what’s on the table.
19. He has the cutest dimples ever, and thanks to his genetics, our two youngest children got them too.
20. His hugs take all kinds of stress away, and he is always willing to hug me whenever I need it.

Oh, there is so much more… really. He is not a perfect human being (how boring would THAT be), but he is just the right man for me. I’m so thankful every day to be married to him, raising children and making a home with him.

Happy Birthday, honey!!

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What are YOU thankful for? Head on over to Laura’s blog at Heavenly Homemakers, and link us up to your Gratituesday blog post!

Yes, I know it’s Thursday, not Tuesday, but I’m just SO grateful for this next little tidbit that I needed to post another Gratituesday edition this week.

Why am I so happy?  Well, excuse me while I shout…

WE FIGURED OUT WHAT’S WRONG WITH MARTHA!!

Ok, that sounds bad – nothing is really WRONG with her, per se, but she has not been her delightful self for a couple of weeks.  She hasn’t been sleeping well (understatement), and talk about CRANKY baby!  Poor thing… we thought for awhile that it was all the commotion around her birthday, and the six extra people in our house for a week, and the Easter hooplah.  Yeah, it may have been PARTLY that, but we have a new theory and so far it’s been proven correct.

So it turns out that she isn’t really tolerating milk all that well.

Duh mom – such a simple thing.  When did we start giving her cow’s milk?  Oh, about two weeks ago when this whole cranky baby thing started.  So, on Tuesday night we gave her formula again for her night-time bottle, and she slept and slept and slept some more, and woke up HAPPY! 

So we’ve gone back to formula for the time being, until we can visit with her doctor about the transition to “real” milk.  It’s certainly worth the price of formula to get SLEEP AT NIGHT!  (Oops, sorry for the shouting – I’m just REALLY thankful!)

Now… if we can just figure out what’s wrong with lil Allan…