Grateful Sunday

Lunch, the day after Thanksgiving. I could not have eight children under 12. Just so you know.

I have been so out of blogging mode, mostly because my house has been full of people for going on two weeks, but I wouldn't change a thing. We've had so much fun.

This week, I'm grateful for:

• All of our family who has come to see us! All the cousins, aunts, uncles and so forth who have made our holiday so enjoyable. Most of them have been from Neal's family, all of whom I love dearly.
• Julianne, without whom I could not have cooked for 27 people. As of Wednesday morning, we were having 14 people over, but by that evening, our guest list nearly doubled. Without Julianne to help me in the kitchen, I would have been a stress case. But as it was, I feel like I pretty much took it in stride.
• Gail and Kristi, who cooked a bunch of stuff off-site and transported all that yummy smelling stuff for an hour in the car back to my house. Again, couldn't have done it otherwise!
• my little nephew, Tucker, for making Miles so very happy, even if he eats Baby Elmo.
• our opportunity to speak in church today. Our topic was simplifying our lives and putting first things first. I think we did a pretty good job, and I didn't have a coughing attack. That is typically my body's response to public speaking.
• sweet potato casserole. Why oh why do I only eat this once a year? It is divine.
• Miles' MRI and EEG results, which were normal except for some bilateral prominence in his sinus mucosal tissue. This might or might not be what's making him dizzy, but now that I know it's not his brain or some other such scary thing, the dizziness is much less worrisome. We're trying to treat his case with medicine, and we'll see what happens after that. I'm more grateful for this than anything else this wonderful holiday season. I love my little Moe.

this may not be that exciting to you

I mentioned yesterday that Neal and I went to a Coldplay concert last week. (Last time we saw them live, I was newly pregnant with Miles and had to be the nerd who sat down for the whole thing.) It was a blast; the band is really good in real life, and best of all, they look like they're having a ton of fun being rock stars. Chris Martin skips all over the stage and likes to joke around with the audience, and when you live in Texas, there are plenty of jokes to be made. But, little did we know that we purchased such lucky tickets.

About two-thirds of the way through the show, we realized that there was a mini-stage about 8 feet in front of us, complete with guitars and a microphone. No sooner did we notice it than the whole band comes traipsing through the large crowd to perform two songs from that very small stage. They played vintagey steel guitars and harmonicas, and performed the song below (The Scientist), one of my favorites. It was completely awesome. They were talking to our row-mates (with whom we made fast friends since we were all sharing this awesome experience together), and luckily said row-mates had iPhones. So we traded email addresses and here is the proof!

I know, how cool are we.

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• my parents' visit and their willingness to watch our kids so frequently while they were here. Neal and I caught a Coldplay concert only hours after they arrived and then had a night away as well. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
• time at the Temple yesterday morning with my husband. It's been too long since we went together, and it was a beautiful way to remember our wedding day.
  
• a relatively uneventful EEG for Miles on Friday. He had to have little electrode thingies all over his head and then fall asleep. Needless to say, I was a bit worried about it, but he did great. Next up, Tuesday's MRI, which is even more stressful since it involves anesthesia. Thankfully, Neal has taken the day off and will be with us the whole time. (Miles has been having unexplained dizzy spells for a few months; we're doing tests to figure out what's going on. Prayers are welcome.)
• my new job at church, in the Primary Presidency. Although I'll miss spending time with Miles in his class, at least I'll have a chance to meet some more people!
• the nice boy bagging my groceries last night who told me I looked familiar and asked if I went to the local high school. Silly boy, I didn't dare tell him I'm almost 31!
• more family coming to see us this week! And cranberry sauce, my favorite part of Thanksgiving.
  

the way we were

ten years ago today.

love you baby!

we're whisking ourselves off to a highly fancy hotel tonight to celebrate.
conveniently, my parents are here to watch the kids. hooray!

Quotes of the Day XVIII

The kids were wrestling and flipping onto their fort after dinner last night. All sorts of squeals and laughter were emanating from near the piano. I was quietly reading my book in the other room, and Neal had dozed off while reading his. Then I heard this conversation. Nothin' too special, just love these kids.

Audrey, mid-wrestle: This is why it's so fun to have a brother: cuz you can get rough with them.

Parker: Ya, and it's nice to have a boy-ish big sister because she still wants to play boy stuff sometimes.

Audrey: Ya, that's what I like about myself, too.

Miles: Whadjoo guys talkin about?

Grateful Sunday

a fort on a Sunday morning

This week, I'm grateful for:

• my happy, healthy, safe children. What gifts they are; we're so blessed to be together.
• ten years of marriage to Neal. Friday is our anniversary! I feel like I was a child when we married, looking back we were so carefree. Love will do that to you, I suppose. I'm grateful that we found each other, that we took the plunge and were married in the beautiful LA temple. And I love how much we've grown up while we've been together.
• motivation (in the form of upcoming house guests) for me to clean up and organize this house. It's amazing how much more peaceful I feel when my home is generally looking good.
• Sunny Sundays. It always seems to be the prettiest day of the week.
  

Can I just say Yay?

Next week: My mom and dad come to see us.

Thanksgiving: My sister, Julianne, comes to visit (along with Neal's dad & his wife).

My birthday, one week later: My sister Stephanie is coming over from Arizona (pretty much per Miles' request {she's bringing Stella.})

I'm slightly excited.

spinning

It's funny how all kids love to spin almost to the point of sickness. There's not a whole lot else to do today, though. Nobody feels like doing their homework or practicing piano, and we're having a cold snap. We even got a little rain; we were all happy about that.

Grateful Sunday

I've been out of computer mode (at least for me) lately. That's my excuse for having no pictures except this one of Miles eating pizza at a church party.
No time on the computer somehow translates into me taking no pictures.

This week, I'm grateful for:

• my belief that marriage is sacred and meant to include only one woman and one man. Although this belief has been attacked in recent weeks (I'm still getting angry comments on my post about Prop 8), I feel good knowing that my belief will not falter and that most of my friends believe the same way. Also grateful that I married the one man I did. I lucked out.
  
• our friends, who were understanding and gracious when we flaked on the camping trip they planned this weekend. We just couldn't stomach a seven-hour drive both ways (and our kids let us hear about it!). We tried to make it up to Audrey and Parker by doing other fun stuff Friday and Saturday. We might be forgiven. But I'm thankful for good friends who understood. Next time, guys!
• the kids, who, although they love getting out of the house, are also perfectly content to laze around. They read, they invent games, they make us bookmarks, they sometimes even ask for jobs (!); they're just good kids.
• the November issue of the Ensign (a magazine published by our church). Since we missed most of General Conference while we were traveling in California, I assigned myself (and Neal) to read two talks per day. Go us.
  

the things i do for neal

like open boxes of live lizards and snakes and safely place them in their new habitats while he's at work. i'm the best wife.

well . . .

Even though I went to bed (and woke up) with an anxious pit in my stomach because my party didn't win last night, I still am confident that, as Stephanie said, the good life will go on. There are still things to be excited about:

• I think it's wonderful that America is able to see past race and that we have elected our first African-American President. I think it reflects the way our children will view racial differences, that our efforts to teach them that we are all children of God and worthy of our dreams is paying off. I'm proud of America for that; I just wish the candidate's views were more aligned with mine. (Neal and I were also discussing how we don't believe that a Southern African-American could have won; Mr. Obama ought to be grateful for his Northern upbringing. Things are still a bit different regarding race here in the South, and Southerners are not viewed ultra favorably on the national stage. What if he were a black Republican? Thoughts?)
  
• It looks as though Proposition 8 will pass. IT PASSED!! WOOHOO!!
• The uncertainty of that was causing me major anxiety all night. Had to get up while it was still dark to check the results.
• Voter turnout: Huge.
• We live in Texas, so although our federal income tax might go way up in the next few years, at least we won't have to worry about state income tax. At least not yet. We're grateful to be where we are.
• Two words: Mitt 2012.
  

One last thing: it's my sister Julianne's birthday, and that is definitely something to be excited about! Happy Birthday, Jooj! Even though your new home state didn't come through for the Red side, we're still glad you're there working to make a difference. We love you so much, we're so blessed to be related to you, AND we can't wait to have you here for Turkey Day. I hope you're ready to help me cook.

That image above is from this Etsy shop.

Grateful Sunday

miles playing with his daddy's hair. he likes it best right after a haircut.

This week, I'm grateful for:

• a clean garage. We spent a few hours yesterday completing our moving-in process. It was just too hot to get it all organized in the months since we moved in. I'm grateful that Neal helped me so eagerly. He did the heavy lifting (and the mouse poop sweeping).
• my right to vote! When we went to vote on Friday, there were several people who were turned away due to formalities (such as out-of-state registration). I felt so bad as they went out the door, disappointed that they couldn't exercise their right. And they were pretty POd, too. (But I'm pretty sure they were Democrats, so I don't feel THAT bad.) {Totally kidding!}
• the upcoming holidays. We already have some fun holiday activities planned, and I'm excited to give my kids the cool stuff we're planning.
• my family: brothers and sisters, mom and dad. I'm missing them today.