Being Thankful

After catching up on some blogs I have been inspired to write about the things that I am thankful for. I know the list could never end so I will try to highlight the most important and recent things in my life.

Everyday I am thankful to my Heavenly Father! I love to think of life in the pre-exsistence! I am grateful that I have this knowledge. I often think of how much I love my own children and then I know that Heavenly Father loves me more than I can ever comprehend.

Everyday I am also thankful for Jesus the Christ. I know he lived a perfect life and that he died so that I can once again return to live with Him again. He is my daily example and when I don't know what to do with my crazy kids I ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" This simple questions allows me to step back and hopefully be a better mom. Knowing Him is such a blessing in my life. I know that he loves me too.

I am thankful for parents who love me and are such great examples. Their decision to serve the Lord has blessed me in ways I have seen and in many I have have yet to realize. The raised me with love and kindness. I am thankful for my sister and brothers who taught me how to get along with others. I know they love me.

I am grateful to be married to my best friend. He is a wonderful, kind, thoughtful and loving husband who helps me everyday. He puts up with my shortcomings and doesn't say anything if dinner isn't ready and the house is messy. I knew the day I married him that I was marrying my soul mate. He continues to strengthen me and help me on my journey of life. He has given me 3 amazing and inspiring children. I know Colin loves me.

Along with Colin came an incredible family the I am so thankful for. I love all of them so very much. I really have the best in-laws a person could ever want. I know they love me.

I cannot think of my children without tears. There is nothing I could say that would do justice to them. With every part of me I am grateful for Mia, Jackson and Cole! I am thankful that I get to have them in my life, for all the things they teach me, their example of forgiveness, for all the times they have forgiven me, that they keep me young and that they are mine forever. I love it when they tell me they love me!

I have wonderful blessings in my life and I am grateful for all of them!

Getting Around

Jack is really getting around well and it really isn't as bad as most people think. He doesn't complain of any pain or even of wearing the cast. He was even outside yesterday with a thick sock of Colin's, a grocery bag and the other thick sock. It has only slowed him down a bit. He can walk up and down the stairs with no help. The best part is he doesn't climb up on the counters. I don't think I've said, "Jack, get down, stop climbing."

On another note, Jack and Mia were introduced to the world of the Little Rascals movie. Unfortunatly it has taught them to say some things I would rather them not say but, the other night Jack was up late due to a late nap so he went to bed with me at about 10. We were singing as usual and Jack broke out into "You are so Beautiful." It was much more entertaining when we were in bed, he made up his own verse even, but this one is pretty good. He is such a sweet guy.

Sorry about the angle. I forget that I can't video this way.

A really cool camo cast!

I took Jack to the orthopedic doctor yesterday morning. Can you believe I got in the same day I called?! I have to make several trips to the car just to leave. I had to carry Jack and the diaper bag to the car, head back into the house, get Cole and the xrays. Remember, our garage is not attached to our house, its only about 29 degrees out, there is snow around and we have to use the side door that leads to the sidewalk because the grass is worn and muddy. Oh, and of course I have left 10 minutes later than I wanted to because I had to change Cole again because he really spit up all over his clothes. It was a struggle to say the least. We got to the office on a prayer. I hadn't been there before and had only glanced at the google map. I knew the area vaugely. I had to park away from the front door quite a ways and wondered how I would get in with an infant carseat and a sleeping child, xrays and my diaper bag. I am sure it was an interesting sight. We got in quickly, saw the student and then the doctor. He confirmed what we already knew and tried very hard to get on Jackson's good side. He was a bit too enthusiastic for Jack. The hard part came when he had to get a full leg cast on. I had to hold Jack's body, the student held his right leg and the doctor and the casting guy put the cast on as fast as they could. Jack fought the whole way through and just into is Cole started crying. I then had to hold Jack's leg and upper body while the student held Cole. After the cast was complete we tried to get Jack to ride in a wheel chair and he would have nothing to do with that. The student then had to carry Cole out for me while I carried Jack, pantless and it was only about 30 degrees out. The cold didn't bother him at all.

Overall he has been a great sport about it all, walking around, just slower, much to my liking. He sits in the stroller and we have to carry him to and from the car. I was completely exhausted by the time we got home. I did get a nap but by 7pm I was wasted again. It didn't help that Colin had to be on call last night.

I prayed a lot during the day that everything would go well and it really did. Jack was pretty good, Cole was pretty good, even when we had to go to Target to get sweats for Jack. Jack won't have any growth problems and he only has to wear it for three weeks, no more. They will just cut it off, no more xrays and he should be fine.

He's gone and done it!

At just 2 1/2 years old my extreme child has his first fracture. Today, about 4:30pm, Jack decided to stand on the arm rest of our desk chair and jump off. The chair fell over and when I ran into the room he was laying on the floor with the chair on his leg. I could tell he was very hurt by his cry and by the way he held on to me. Normally he cries and then is off and running again. I calmed him down and tried to get him to walk on it but he wouldn't. I called Colin and he was about 1/2 hour away from home. I knew in my gut that it was probably pretty bad, Jack just never complains about being hurt. I made an appointment with my pediatrician but when Colin got home we decided to just go strait to the ER. I guess they took an xray of his foot and found nothing so they xrayed his leg. Colin said it is a buckle or torus fracture on his fibula almost to his knee. I just said to my sister yesterday, "I can't believe he hasn't broken his neck." Well thankfully it is only an incomplete fracture. Colin is not yet home from the ER so I will post pictures of Jack later. I guesss they put a hard splint on it tonight and I have to call the orthopedic tomorrow to get it cast Meanwhile, here is a picture of the chair. The armrest is about 30 inches from the ground.

Snow is falling all around!

We woke up to a cover of snow this morning. It fell some time before 4 am. The kids were so excited. Jack just wanted to tromp around in it but I wouldn't let him before we bought snow boots. My kids eat snow like it was candy. Could it be better than candy? We bought boots and as soon as we got home they started shoveling the deck and eating to their hearts content. I am still teaching Jack not to eat the dirty snow. I think it is time to buy a sled before they are gone.

Happy Birthday Mia!

The night before Mia's birthday I stayed up to make her a Hello Kitty Birthday Cake. It was my first attempt at making a nice cake.

For school I went in with Cole to celebrate Mia's birthday. She read two books to her class and we had cupcakes. She really felt special!
Mia decorated all the cupcakes herself. We used a pastry bag and a star tip. It made it soooo easy and there wasn't that much of a mess.
We headed to Build-A-Bear in the afternoon. They were so excited! How could they not be?
The Cake. I did make it look like a kitty but not so much like Hello Kitty. She loved it though and I was pleased with my work.

A little about Mia

My girl turned 5 last week. Where has the time gone? She has grown and matured so much over the past couple of years I can't get over it. She continues to be a wonderful help and loving sister to her baby brother, Cole. Mia loves Jack and would be lost without him most days and others she could just get rid of him. He is learning what pushes her buttons and pushes them often. He gets a great reaction from her. His lot is life seems to be to torture his big sister. A trait in all brothers, I think. Mia thrives in preschool and loves her friends. She has started to really separate roles and sometimes take a step back from playing with boys because they don't like to play "house." She is boy crazy just a bit. The cute thing is that there are a few boys that have confessed their love and interest in marrying her, at least to their mothers and relayed to me. She likes the attention I think. Recently she was invited to a birthday party and she was one of two girls. The boys, ages 3 to 5, wanted to sit by her and expressed excitement in her coming along to pizza. Boys already?

Mia wanted quite the party this year and I guess I gave in. She wanted a Build-A-Bear party and a sleepover. I limited it to 3 friends. She had a blast, stayed up past midnight, got gifts she really wanted and played pin the flower on Hello Kitty. I was exhausted the day after and told her next year we were only having a family party. It didn't help that Colin had to go to some training. We had a fun party!!! She loved it and I think it was all she wanted.

No one I know from Texas is like this

Great Blog

I was reading a comment on my sister-in-law's blog and started reading it. It looks like a great resource for food storage and the like. Take a look!

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/

October

I have been meaning to blog about our fun adventures all month now. Since I didn't get it done as it went by it gets to be put all together now.

We carved our pumpkins early this year, too early. We went away for a few days and left them in the house. Mia's was very moldy on the inside and Jack's was starting to wilt. They had a great time carving though. Mia helped Colin pick out all the pumpkin seeds to toast. The kids loved to snack on them. They did a great job!

We then went out of town to Virginia. We love it there! Matt and Crystal blessed sweet baby Asher. I have no idea how my sister-in-law does it. She is a mother of two and teaches at two different higher learning institutions. My brother-in-law works nights at a very difficult job and they hardly get to be together as a family. They are great at making it work!! I really commend them on their efforts. We were also with Abby and Mom and Dad Croshaw. Colin and I took Jack and Mia to a children's museum, met some friends from Blacksburg at an apple orchard, visited and stopped at IKEA on the way home. It was so nice to get away for a few days and even better to see family. The longer we are away the more I want to get back to Idaho to be close to most of our family members.

Another weekend we went with our friends to a haunted hayride. Mia was soooo excited and Jack didn't. He was nervous/scared and so he had his hands over his ears the whole time. They had a Curl up and Dye tent and Mia thought it was DIE. We were 3/4 of the way through and she didn't want to go any farther. We went through and she was okay. It took a lot of explaining when it came to the dye part. I really think she thought she might die. It was cute and I am so glad we have had no nightmares because of it.

Our church puts on a Halloween party. It was a week before the 31st. The kids loaded up on candy, ate on it for a week and then went trick or treating and reloaded. They really haven't asked for much lately. I think the novelty wore off. I am going to throw the rest away in a day or two.

Aunt Leslie came out for a few days. It was very nice to see her, we missed Uncle Alex! Seeing so many family members so close together made me homesick when Leslie left. It was very relaxing and always great to have another set of hands. Who wants to come next? We are waiting.