thankful 23

Today I am thankful for Jess and the 11! years we have been together :) I look back and the good times have far wout weighed the bad. We have grown up, together and even more in love. With failing relationships all around it makes me even more thankful to be so in love with him. What started as a cheerleader wearing a jersey to the championship game has become one great life that I am forever greatful for. From all the trials and tribulations we have been through we have held hands and prayed for hope. Our daughters are proof we can make it through. Eleven years is great but I look forward to the next 111 by his side.

Thankful 17

17 I am thankful for 2 of the best gifts God has ever given me. Honestly I dont think we could have been any luckier. We were given two beautiful intelligent beings to shape and mold to be images of God.

Ellie is so adorable and uses the best manners. She is kind and caring and loves to help do everything but clean :) She is a mommys girl and if I leave for two minutes when I walk in the door she tells me how much she missed me. She is as smart as she is cute. Right now we are working on reading. She knows all of her letters/ and sounds so we decided why not jump into reading. My aunt Kelly gave us some books that she has memorized but since as she reads she points to the word she is reading she is picking up on words like the, I , a, and etc. Ellie overall is more than I ever wanted in a daughter. I remember thinking right after she was born how no two people in this world could ever make another Ellie. I still look at her and think the same thing. Amazing!
And my Hadley. If I had to describe her in two words it would be Daddys Girl. She loves me too but when she sees her dad her eyes light up and she takes off for him. I actually love that about her because we have the same taste. im head over heels for her dad too :) She loves LOVES babies. Luckily we have a lot of them here so she gets her fill. She also is one smart cookie although she doesnt talk much (maybe because her sister never takes a breath). You can ask her to go get anything and she goes and grabs it and brigns it to you. She loves dogs (like me) and gives the best hugs in the world. Jess and I were so lucky to be twice blessed.

I chose to share this thankful on day 17 because that is their birthdate and I am not sure it could be any more special than that!

Thankful continued

15- I am thankful for being so close to most of my family. I can count the number of times I have ever had someone watch the girls that was not a part of my family (or Lindsey). I love seeing my girls love them as much as I do!



16- I am thankful for my inlaws. No matter the differences we might have they love me as if I was their daughter and they raised the most wonderful husband. They love my girls and are patient when the girls dont warm up right away.

17- See next post

18- I am thankful for football. Once again, I know pathetic, but it is so much a part of our lives that I honestly dont know what we would do without it. (NO Blaze readers that does not mean Jess is playing next year! He can be a fan :) )

19- I am thankful for fall. The weather has been beautiful and watching the change of seasons is one of my favorite things. I welcome it each year and the jeans and hoodie weather is the best. And when I have to say goodbye and wear my winter coat and hats and mittens I know that it will be back next year :)

20-I am thankful for my education. I dont think you appreciate all the teachers you had until you grow up and are trying to teach your children. They put so much love into what they do and I am thankful that they cared enough to give me an education I am proud of.

21- I am thankful for my grandparents who are still alive. and I am thankful for each new day I get to spend with them. I know we do not see you enough and we need to make them a priority because you just cant get those days back!

22-I am thankful for choclate because some days it just makes me feel so much better :)

Thoughts on raising kids

I have been thinking a lot lately on how I want to raise my kids. there are things Jess and I know we want to do and things we know we dont want to do. But some things have been coming up that have really got me thinking.

First ever since Ellie did the trike a thon I have been thinking that we need to find more ways to help others around us. I want her to grow up not only knowing it is our duty as Christians to help those in need but to actually have experience doing it. I want it to come naturally to her and not to ever feel like it is a chore to be done.

Secondly I want her to help on her own accord. I recently put together a lesson on Advent for our kids at church and found some great articles on having kids help those in need. Among the great ideas I read that it is important to teach kids that although it is great for parents to take their kids shopping to buy that toys for tots, it would mean even more if the kids had to use thier own money. Sacraficing for others is not always an easy accompl;ishment especially to kids but if you really think about it what a great lesson on teaching them to share with others what they themselves have.

So here is my plan for this holiday season:
Get Chris's address in Afghanistan and take Ellie shopping and use ten dollars of her money as well as some money of ours and buy goodies for his unit. Lesson I am hoping to teach that their are people (like uncle Chris) who are overseas who are helping to keep America free so we may do what we want here. Yes I know she is three but she will get it. she still talks about the helicopters we saw flying over our house as they were leaving for war.

Take her shopping to pick out a toy for toys for tots. Lesson- There are lots of little girls and boys who dont get Toys for christmas and we can help them so they can have something to open on Christmas too.

Make ornaments for the priests in our life. for father Brian who married us and baptized Ellie, For Fr. Tim who baptized Hadley, and for our new Priest Fr Jim. Lesson- to be thankful for them in sharing our faith and to let them know we appreciate what they have done for our family

And an idea a parent from church gave me that I just love. she makes/buys small ornaments and wraps them and puts them in her purse. When they see a salvation army bell ringer not only do they drop change in the bucket she hands them a small ornament thanking them for the time they have given to help spread the Christmas message of love. Lesson- Both of us will learn to take the time to appreciate the little things people do that almost always get overlooked. LOVE IT!

Any other ideas you have? I would love to hear them :)

Thankful Part 2

November

4- I am thankful for my sister Sadie. On this day 15? or so years ago she was in a very bad car accident and I am very thankful to have her still here today. Although we fought and fought when we were younger she is one of my best friends today. I know she loves me unconditionally and that no matter what she would have my back.

5- I am thankful for my sister Maggie. After years of sharing a room together the age gap has lessened and she is another great friend. She has been through a lot in her life and she had rose above some really crappy things. Life isnt fair and although it is a hard pill to swallow she survived the unthinkable, losing a child, at just 17. Shes not only my sister and friend but a hero as well.

6- I am thankful for my brother Drew. Take my personality and flip it around and you have Drew. Although at times we are so different that is what I love the most about him. He can let those little things go and not think of every possible negative thing that could happen. This is a trait I long to have. And he also loves unconditionally. When he gives you a hug you can feel the love behind it. He will always be my Drew Boo

7-And to finish off my sibling I am thankful for Louie. I have always felt a bond with Louie from the time he was little. I am so proud of the person he has become. Even beyond the talent he posseses he ahs the truest kindest heart. He is a great role model for any young man and I am proud to share that he is my brother. He will make something big of himself. He cares deeply for others and puts his heart into everything he does. I hope my kids learn this from him, heck I hope I learn this from him!

8- I am thankful for my mom. I mean heck she raised five FIVE! outstanding citizens basically all on her own. She loved each one of us and found a way to connect with each one of us differently. Each one of us five are so different, but she found a way. You know she did a great job though when adult children come together and all get along, do stuff for each other, and talk on a regular basis. I have found that is not a trait very common in todays society.

9- I am thankful for my dad because without him I would not be here. I may not be as close to him as I am to my mom but I have never felt like he didnt love me. I never felt like he was not proud of who I have become.

10- I am thankful for a roof over my head and food to eat. Although i am ready to move and want a bigger house. We actually do fit in our house and wants arent always needs.

11- I am thankful for the nieces and nephews I have in my life. I can honestly say I love them as if they were my own children. As the years go by and the accomplishments they are starting to build up grow, I find myslef sharing stories of them with others as if they were mine. I love you Devin, Cayden, Jayce, Charlotte, Corbin, & Jaelyn!

12- I am thankful for my cousins. Who knew it would be so much fun growing up AND old with some of the best people in the world!

13- I am thankful for babyzone. Although I dont get on much now, I have made close friends with ladies all over the US. What started off with a common due date has grown into lifelong friendships. I have now in person met 2 of the ladies and I am hoping to meet many more! (one already scheduled in Feb!)

14- I am thankful for tv. I know I know lame, but besides books, it is my favorite way to chill out. and for a sick mommy who doesnt feel good and doesnt want to be a jungle gym it is the best :) ( I know I am pathetic)

Thankful in November!

On facebook many people are doing a status a day of what they are thankful for. I decided I wanted to do it in my blog. I probably wont blog everyday but at the end of the month I hope to have 30 things I am thankful for. Living the life I do I know that wont be a problem.

Nov. 1- I am thankful for my God. With him all things are possible and he is good all the time. My faith is so much of who I am that I am very thankful that I hold a place in my life for him.

Nov. 2- On Nov 2 (my grandma Charlotte's Birthday) I am thankful for my loved ones who are now gone. I hold memories of each of them and love telling stories of the fun times we shared.

Nov. 3- I am thankful for my freedom and for the soldiers who fight to maintain that freedom!

Trike A Thon

Last week Ellie participated in the St. Judes Trike A Thon with her preschool class. We (I) set a goal of $35 to be raised so she could get the t-shirt. I sat Ellie down on my lap and we found St. Judes website and I explained to her how this hospital takes care of sick children and uses money to help them. I told her when she did the trike a thon that she was raising money to help those kids and the hospital that takes care of them. We asked our Family and friends to donate and support Ellie and boy did they ever. Ellie raised $175.00 for St. Judes Hospital. After it was over and I asked her if she had fun she told me I loved helping those kids to feel better. What can we do now to help others.
I am so thankful that she has a kind and caring heart (even if she likes to pick on her sister). I am researching more ways Ellie can help St. Judes and other charities in our area. I would love to foster the art of giving in her so she loves it as much as I do.

Finally.....

It has been ordered. Since I heard about the Kindle I have wanted one. Reading is my favorite hobby. I love the way my imagination can paint a picture of what I am reading. It calms me and I often find myself rereading books off the shelf I have read several times because I dont have a new book to read. Well thanks to swagbucks I will now have the capability to read just about any book I want by a quick download and it is much cheaper than buying the book. Plus they have hundreds of free books that can also be downloaded. I went with the $139 Kindle because my Phone can be a Hot spot so I should not need the 3G network on the Kindle, plus if I do go anywhere I can plan on having enough books to keep me busy!

And because I am a girl and I still had left over Amazon gift cards from my swagbucks I bought this too make it prettyAnd this to protect it in my black hole, I mean purse. Arent they pretty. I love the whimiscal patterns. And I cant wait to get it!

After it was all said and done I paid 10.99 for everything. I joined swagbucks in Jan. 2010 and have been using it as my search engine to go to blogger, my emails, facebook, and any other site I deccide to visit daily and randomly I will win swagbucks. As I accumulate the swagbucks I have been redeeming them for Amazon Gift Cards because my heart has been wanting the Kindle so badly. Jess told me I should use them to get something I wanted so I decided to do something for me for once. Well this week I should be receiving my long awaited winnings in the mail! If you have not already you should try swagbucks out. There is no gimic there is no trick. You just use it as your search engine and win randomly. If you refer people you can win up to 1,000 swagbucks along with their winnings and that is how I built up my swagbucks so fast.

I have refered many family and friends who were very hesitant and did not see the point but after trying it out they love it too. My referral link is www.swagbucks.com/refer/sampooh If you are interested you should check it out. I am sure glad I did!

Trike A Thon

Ellie is going to be participating in her preschools Trike A Thone for St Judes. if you would like to donate and help her reach her goal of $35 you may follow the link to her page. She would love to surpass her goal and help kids at St judes. I hope that starting young in charity work will give her a giving heart. :)

Ellie's 1st day of Preschool

Yesterday Ellie started preschool. She is in the Mon & Wed Am class. Both Jayce and Thomas are in her class as well so I am a little nervous that she wont make new friends. I was hoping she could make some girlfriends as well but she is one of 4 girls. :) But nonetheless she should make some great friends (outside of the people we already know)Jess took the day off work and we packed up the van and headed to Tiger Tots. she was more than eager to get there. She found her hook right away and hung up her bag and coat. went it an found her name and put her girl on the train. The picture is of Thomas but you can see Ellies name right next to Jayces.

My big girl walked right to the circle time rug and never looked back. I did get a kiss in and a good luck but Jess did not. We didnt want to push it because she did so good so we just turned around and walked away. This is where I have to admit that although I did not cry I was very nervous. I have never left Ellie (or Hadley) with anyone besides family or very close family friends. We tried to have a baby for so long that I have been so over protective of them. And with a family as big as ours you dont have to rely on outsiders help as much!

I went to pick her up and I was glad to see they were out on the playground. Ellie has been wanting to play there since they put it in. The picture shows her class marching to the gate to go home. She is the 3rd one back. Right by Jayce once again. :)

She came running to me with a big smile on her face. she said she had so much fun! I asked her if she cried and she said she bumped her head once and cried but that was the only time. She made a straw necklace that she gave to me (and then later took back, LOL) and used scissors and cut a picture. She told me they had goldfish whales (I think it is cute that she 1-noticed they were the generic goldfish from walmart that are in the shape of whales and 2-she knew they were supposed to be like goldfish.) and juice.

Although I am a little sad she is growing all too fast I am looking forward to seeing her blossom to a much more independant preschooler. She loves LOVES learning and I just know she is going to love school.

Oklahoma

Jess's football team made the National Championship Game in Oklahoma on July 31st. We packed up the van, picked up Tanner, and headed to Tulsa. The girls did awesome on the 8 hour trip. No crying from either one and Ellie had no accidents!

We arrived in Tulsa about 8 pm and it was 100 degrees! We quickly checked into our hotel which was a very crappy hotel. Our air barely worked and one of our beds was leaning. But we were tired and the rest of the team had yet to arrive.

Although we were hoping for a great game, Jess unfortunately ended his semi pro career the same way he ended his high school career. They lost 52-10. We have met great friends through his days of playin g football and I am so glad he decided to do this but I must admit I am more than happy that this part of our life is over. it took so much time and we had NO time for any family time. He had practice 2-4 days a week and then the games pretty much took up most of the weekends.

I look forward to all the things we will be able to do next summer, including watching the team with him sitting next to me :)

Pictures to come

Shrine Bowl

My brother Louie was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl this year. This is a great honor as it is an all star game for high school senior football players. And becasue he is the "baby" of the family we went all out and made shirts, tailgated and all that goes with it.

I was disappointed that the coach would choose him to be on defense hoping he would intercept the ball and the other team did not pass theentire time louie was in. So he had 3 big hits for losses and then they NEVER ran to his side again. You would think the leading rusher in the state of Iowa in class A would get to play running back but whatever! Even though his team lost we are proud of him.

He is now off to college at Grand View and will play football this fall. I am excited to watch him in a new stage of his life but sad he will no longer be a Madrid Tiger. Words cannot describe how incredibly proud I am of him of him with every accomplishment he has received. And I am looking forward to all of the future accomplishments :)

Happy Late Birthday!

I didnt post then but I want to make sure I document their birthdays.

On July 17 (their actual birthday) we had a big carnival birthday party. We had games set up and had lots of prizes to be won. We rented a cotton candy machine (yummy!) and borrowed a popcorn popper. The kids loved having these treats. (ok mom and dad did too!) Well in true Iowa fashion it was HOT and HUMID! So after lunch we broke out the water toys and cooled off a little. Ellie had a blast and her and Jayce talked about it for days afterward

summer of swag!

I know I have shared about swagbucks before but I am goign to urge all of you to really look into it. It is awesome! I have earned $100 in amazon gift cards in less than 6 months! How did I do this you ask?
well I signed up free of charge to a wonderful website called swagbucks.com and use theri search engine to go to my everyday sites that I visit frequently and also for anything I want to search. So my facebook, gmail, farmville, aol, blogger, etc. addiction has earned me swagbucks with winning on random searches. They also randomly offer codes that you search for and you can grab those to make your swagbucks jump even higher! As your sb (swagbucks) add up you can shop in the swagstore to redeem for great prizes, $5 amazon gift cards is my prize of choice. I really wanted a Kindle but it is just not attainable in our budget but swagbucks has made me almost enough to get one!

On Monday they are kicking off the Summer of Swag! They are going to have a five code day of extravaganza! What a fun way to make your sb jump super fast! Also they are going to offer a new high end bill ever day next week. Every 7th person will win that big bill so your chancves of winning big are increased!

Once you have an account you will love it so much you will get others to sign up using your referral code and you can earn from their searches as well. And because they are so very kind and want more people to sign up for swagbucks they have offered a code to new members through June 11. Just give the code SUMMEROFSWAG (case sensitive) when you sign up and you will get an extra 20sb!

Just click on the link and get started today! So many of my friends who have signed up wish they would have done it a lot sooner. We spend time on the internet anyways we might as well be earning something while we do it!

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/sampooh

All smiles

Hadley looks like this 99% of the time. She is such a happy happy girl. I wouldnt say baby because she is growing up so fast. She is very close to walking and if she would just drop her fear she would be good to go! She walks along anything in reach and can now go from one thing to the next. She loves her daddy. Her eyes just light up when he walks in the door. She still only says dada and hi! Although she can sign dog and eat.

Her eyes light up when she smiles and her giggle is infectious! She loves food and could drink water/juice all day long. She has learned to scream and she lets you know if she isnt happy. She is leary around strangers but loves her cousins and close family. She is so much fun and I look forward to all the fun times to come!

A says ah, b says buh

This is what our world revolves around. Ellie is obsessed with the alphbet and the sounds they make. She now knows all her uppercase letters and most of the lower (she sometimes gets caught up on few but other times remembers them) and she knows all the sounds each letter makes. You can give her a random letter and she can tell you what it sounds like and some words that start with that letter.

Our new task is to start on the sight word list. I plan on making go fish/memory card games with the sight words to make it fun. I have always said I want her to know how to read before going to kindergarten and I really see that happening. She loves books and is so smart that I think she will pick it up very quickly! It is amazing how fast she learns. I am hoping her love of books continues throughout her life. I love reading and find such joy in a good book.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Charlotte Jo

Last week May 18 was my niece Charlotte Jo's Birthday. She was born sleeping and we miss her dearly. We go out every year on her birthday to visit her grave and take pictures. I dont understand why God took her all too soon, but I sure wish she was here playing with Ellie and Jayce.

Happy 3rd birthday Charlotte! We love you and miss you!

Pretty girls

My beautiful Goddaughter Scarlett Stevie Schaffer. We had her baptism on sat. night and it was so much fun. It is always such a blessing to see these tiny babies getting their very first sacrament and joining our church. And it is even more fun getting to be her Godmother.

Since I had the girls all dressed up I decided to take advantage and get some pics. Like usually Ellie broke out her smile. I cannot wait until she gets over this. I hate it. she has the most beautiful blue eyes and she squints so you cant even see them. We are going to a wedding in a few weeks so we will try again :) Since Jess was at his game he wasnt there but we took some photos of all us pretty ladies anyway. Ellie and that stinkin smile. she is lucky shes cute :)

I squatted down so ellie thought she needed to also. Turned out it was the best pic!

Rain Rain Go Away

It has been raining in good old Iowa and the wind has been blowing! We are all feeling it. We were stuck inside all winter long with 7,000 ft of snow on the ground and now it has been raining so bad that I feel like we could open up a pool in our backyard.
But with rainy days comes time to get stuff done inside. Although my house could use a good spring cleaning I have been scanning pictures. My scanner program is acting up so it si taking a lot longer than I planned and I have gotten frustrated and anxious so many times. It has however made me aware of how very thankful I am to have a digital camera! Not only that but to have one the entire lives of my kiddos. Now to make sure I tackle that humongus picture file so when Ellie is a senior I know exactly where they all are :)

Today is a hard day for me. Five years ago today I lost my first baby. It hurts as much today as it did five years ago.
But God is good and I am blessed. Although I do not understand why it happened I have come to terms with it but it does not make the pain go away.
But I am forever greatful for her

and her.
They are my life and they are definately worth all the rough days.

excuses excuses

I could come up with 101 excuses why it has taken so long to blog and here are just a few:
1) I have been insanely busy with church. We have 6 days left before our school year is over. I have a first communion on saturday and then another on Sun. I have reached the point where I just want to be done and so everything is a struggle.
2) My youngest brother Louie is graduating very very soon. I have oodles of pics I need to scan a book to be made. But hey I have the invites done and I have the ideas swirling in my head so it is just finding the time to actually gettin it done!
3)Ellie has decided that 6 out of the 7 days a week naps are overrated. She will not fall asleep so my once glorious naptime to have time to get stuff done turns me into hushing ellie and jayce so they dont wake up Hadley from her nap for the thrid time in 15 minutes.
4) Jess reformated my computer and I didnt know what I wanted to do with pictures. So the other day I spent 3 hours uploading and organizing my 2010 pictures. Not fun and I will never ever ever ever let them pile up that much again.
5) Jess has started football (both coaching and playing) so my 5 minutes of free time has been narrowed down enormously. The only night he is home before the girls are in bed are Sun and Mon. so I spend most of my night cooking, feeding, bathing, cuddling, and putting to bed, then of course cleaning up at least the mess from supper. By the time this is all done Jess is walking in the door to shower and eat then I get a shower and then I am so exhausted I go to bed. He loves football both coaching and playing but I am burnt out. I never wanted to be the reason for him to stop but honestly I have to put my foot down and next year this WILL NOT be happening.

I could go on but I will not. Look for recent pics to be added soon.

crazy busy

This time of year is so busy for me. iset goals and I struggle to stay afloat with all the surrounds me and all that I need to do. Everyday I add as many things to my to do list as I cross off. But I am alive and healthy and my girls are healthy and I am as in love with my husband if not more than the day I said I do. I am surrounded by great family and friends and good books.

Speaking of good books my good friend Christina lent me a book a long time ago (sorry Chrissy) and I am finally just picking it up. it is about marriage and I usually am not into non fiction books but I am enjoying this book and it is reaffirming my belief in how I want my marriage to be. I plan to update my thoughts with this book. Im thinking I might need to start a bible study. Any good ideas out there. something easy and refreshing for someone who is new at the whole bible study thing!

March already?

I cant believe it is March already. It boggles my mind how the older you get the faster time flies.
the sun has been shining and I can tell the difference how I have been feeling. I am a much happier person when the snot in my nose does not freeze when I step out the door! Ellie and Jayce are just itching to get outside as well. they spent today talking about outside and what they were going to do once it warms up some. When we were walking into Tiger tots today Jayce yelled STOP! Look Ellie there is grass! I about died from laughing. Who would have thought brown grass blades would be so exciting! Especially to a 2 and 3 year old.

yeah for good days

First completely random but these are from last year at this time. me pregnant with Hadley and this is Ellie on Feb 10, 2009
I cannot believe how much she has changed and that she was outside with no coat on and I remeber how nice it was. :( we have not been outside to play in forever because our snow piles are over her head. We are on day 80 of connsecutive days with a five inch snow depth. The record before this year was 54 days.

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this am. I was tired and cranky. (obviously by the time I am bloggin I have a problem with staying up too late!) the boys came and were kind of loud and before you know it Ellie and Hadley were awake. I snapped my way through breakfast and brushing of teeth and then TRIED to check my email but was interupted. I then get ready to get dressed and a lovely white truck with the letters FEDEX stopped in front of my house. I threw on my hoodie and ran for the door. What could it be! I opened up the package and it was..............FREE JEANS!

I became a fan of lee jeans on facebook back in December and somehow won a free pair of jeans. I completely forgot about them and needed that surprise today. I was eager to try them on and they fit great and did I mention they were FREE! they smelled like fuel so I threw them in the dirty clothes and finished getting dressed.

I then went and everyone got ready for school without complaining or without me nagging to get ready over and over and over. Team Umizoomi was on when we returned and so Jayce and ellie were happy. They helped themselves to the cheezeits and even got a sippy cup of water after going potty by themselves (seriously when did my 2 year old become big enough to do so much for herself) hadley and I decided to farm (on her farm this time :) ) and everyone was happy.

Maggie came over with Corbin and we dined on cheese quessadillas for lunch and then.... WAIT FOR IT......EVERY ONE OF THE KIDS NAPPED! you have no idea how long it has been since they all napped. I sat down and searched for some swagbucks and farmed (my farm this time!) After nap I hurried them off back to sadies so i could go see my cute new little cousin in 3D/4D! Abbie invited me to her ultrasound and I cannot wait to hold that chubby cheeked little girl. She is adorable!

I got home and my friends Christina and Jon Weber swung by to visit and drop off some DVDS for me to watch. It was great visiting with them and talking about all that fun stuff that goes along with being a grown up and starting a family. we really need to spend more time with htem because I miss my Istina!

Jess then came home with Cheese Pizza Hut Pizza (double prize for him for bringing home dinner and remembering no meat on Friday!) and brought in the mail. and what was in my mailbox but a free sippy cup from juicy juice!

My great day is finished off by earnign some more swagbucks through searching and codes! I have no idea what I am going to turn them in for but I am excited at the possibilities!

swag bucks

If you have not already today is the day to join swag bucks! it is their birthday and they are having some major fun. I have been at it about a month and I have already earned the equivalent of about $15 in amazon gift cards. I am saving mine up for chirstmas as we are going to try and do a lot more shopping online this year.
To get there just click here.

I truly only earn by searching the sites like facebook, farmville, blogger, and any other thing I am looking for that day on swagbucks. I have just been racking up the swagbucks and it puts a little excitement knowing that I am essentially earning free things with tasks I do every day!

farming

I was doing good but those weekends are hard on me. My weekends are crazy with work thrown in and Jess has started the girls practice so there is not a whole lot of extra time and when there is I like to spend it with my 2 great kids and my wonderful husband.

Saturday was very nice around here. I played with the girls all morning, they both napped (which is a very rare occurance with ellie anymore) and I worked on my farm. Everybody needs their thing and since scrapbooking is my thing of choice and quite frankly I one cant see my table and two dont have a big enough block of time to do it, I have taken up farming on farmville. :) Laugh all you want it keeps me sane, gives me something to look forward to and makes me manage my time better. I have even started Jess a farm. I often get the eyeroll from Jess but this weekend he was off and on the computer a lot. I finally said what are you doing and he has found a castle game. I laughed and rolled my eyes and said farm or castle there is no difference! I think the eyerolling about my farm will stop :)

UGH!

Here i am trying to make my life better and on the very second day of Lent I feel yuck! I am trying but I just have a negative outlook on things. So I am going to get out all my complaints so I can forget about them.

I am so SICK of the snow. I love Iowa the change of seasons, the people, and not beign cramped. But seriously, the snow can stop. We currently have snow in our yard up to ellies armpits. Now how are we ever supposed to even try to play in it when it would just bury her. I desperately need to get outside and soak up the sun but we cant. It is freezing all the time and it seems like it is just one snowstorm after another. In all seriousness i told Jess to start looking for jobs somewhere warmer. I say this all the time but I honestly mean it. I am so sick of this weather and I feel that spring will be skipped over here because 1)it will take the snow forever to melt and 2)once it melts we will be having major flooding everywhere. And then to top it all off the past 2 days the sun has been shining but opening my curtains causes me the greatest headaches from the reflection of that wonderful sun of the blanket of snow. UGH!!!

Because they have been cooped up inside for months now Jayce and Ellie have their outside voicesinside ALL the time. It wakes up Hadley, gives me a headache, and just irritates me. But really can you blame them since the last time they got to play outside it was OCT!

My house is cluttered. There is junk everywhere. I want to start over. Get rid of everything and only get the necessities. I really plan on doing this but honestly I cannot get motivated.

It has been one year exactly now since I have scrapbooked. You cannot even see my table under the piles of junk. Jess is always gone working or football (which is already starting to irritate me and it is just starting) and I have no time to do the things I want. When he is home I feel like I should be hanging out as a family. I just cant win.

I am in a rough spot right now with my job. I am just not feeling like it is what I should be doing anymore. For all the reasons I took the job are slowly being taken away one at a time. But leaving is not the best interest of the church right now and I just dont know what to do.

Im sure there is much more that are on my complaints list but this is what is heavily weighing on my mind right now.

On a much happeier note at Ash Wednesday mass last night the sermon was on bettering your life during lent. He spoke how there are 3 steps to do it. a) Take an inventory of my life; b) Make amends; c) Make a difference!

I know there are many things I can change to make my life better and I feel i have a good grasp on step 1. Step 2 making amends is what hit me in the face. Part of me is holding on to anger that I need to let go to better me. I need to stop and realize that forgiving and forgetting will help me grow. You do these things for yourself not for the person you are forgiving. And lastly I am left to think on how I can make a difference this lenten season and everyday after.

Lent 2010

I have decided this year for Lent that I am going to better my life. My hope for this year is to make my family more of what I want it to be and also to deepen our faith inour family unit. I want to blog everyday, pray as a family every day, and spend more time together doing stuff that is fun and that we all enjoy.
I have heard it takes 30 days to form a habit and I want all of these things to be a good habit I have. And since Lent lasts 40 days it will be perfect.

well hello!

It has been forever since I have blogged. I dont know what my deal is but I just seem to be dreading it. I love to have documentation though so I have decided that I am goign to try to blog everyday during Lent to get back into the habit. I know the girls will enjoy looking back on these memories and I will too so here it goes

So much has happened in the months since I have blogged last so a very quick picture catch up with very vague descriptions.

In October we decided to head west to California because ticket prices were just so cheap. We spent $39 each way for 3 of us, stayed with my cousin Cindy and just hung out. We had a great time and it was nice to just get away! while we were there we took family pictures on the beach. they turned out great and here is a quick shot

Upon returning our Hadley Jean was baptized into our Church. Her godparents are our friends Jon and Christina Weber.

Louie and the rest of the Madrid Tigers made it to the dome again to the state semifinal game. Unfortunately they lost but we have loved watching Louie play all these years and he has now signed to play for the Grandview Vikings next year. We (I) am an incredibly proud big sister!

Hadley had a matching outfit as well :) they also used these as their Halloween costumes

On Thanksgiving my sister Sadie announced she is having another baby. We announced with both girls that we were expecting at Thanksgiving so it was kind of neat to continue that tradition although I will admit I am very thnakful that is was not me who was pregnant this time! (I dont have a pic for this)

We had a great first Christmas with our Haddie. The girls got tons of presents and despite the weather we made it to all of our family functions. I love holidays and spending time with our families!

In January we welcomed another nephew into our family. Corbin Joel Furness came out a boy much to Maggie and I's surprise! We just knew he was a girl but I guess we thought Hadley was a boy too so it shows how good we are at the guessing game ;) The girls love him and Hadley is very interested in his binkie! We have now gotten to babysit 2 times and we love having him around! This Valentines Day Nick proposed to Maggie and now we are looking forward to a wedding!


And lastly we have adopted a new dog into our life. I have been wanting a dog since we lost Blue but with kids I was not looking forward to potty training one. Someone we know was getting rid of their dog because their cat was not to happy about sharing the space with a dog. We went and picked up Maggie changed her name to Maddie and welcomed her into our home and hearts. She is a great dog, loves the kids, and is 100% potty trained! The chunky monkey is the picture is quite cute as well. I wonder who her mom is! :)

And because I now have a 7 month old and a 2 1/2 year old and they are so stinkin cute here is a recent pic :)