thankful ...

4~ I'm thankful for freedom

It is with shame I admit that you may have heard words escape my mouth such as a sarcastic "gee, I'm glad we live in a free country" or something like "so this is what they call freedom?" ... usually it's in regards to school rules and/or "systems" that seem like they're taking away parent's rights! But the truth is, we do live in a free country - it may feel like we have our hands tied in certain areas, but just imagine how much worse it would be if we didn't have the freedoms we have in America!

Now, I'm not up to date on much of anything ... and I certainly don't know much about politics or our government, etc. So, please don't think I'm saying I do. I'm speaking just for myself - these are just my opinions based on the little bit of knowledge/experience I have!

Being a military family, I'm also aware of what our freedom really costs. Recently two men from our current base (who were deployed) were involved in a tragic event - one was seriously injured, the other lost his life. I know many people disagree with war and with a lot of what happens in our world ... but I feel we MUST be thankful for the soldiers willing to fight for our rights as a country.

I've never given any of this much thought, to be honest. Right now, though, I just have this overwhelming need to be very thankful for all the freedoms we have. I'm proud to be an American.

p.s. sorry if this all sounds like mumbo jumbo - it's the true ramblings of my mind at this very moment.

so NOT a fluke ...

so, yah - I almost forgot - the waving thing ... I think it's here to stay (as long as we keep encouraging it)! This morning hubby said "hi" to Zoey as he walked over to get her out of bed, she responded by lifting her arm and waving it back and forth! He was excited, picked her up and told me to say "hi" to her - so I did ... her response? Both arms excitedly "waved" in the air (think sports or getting someone's attention - I'm talking full arm wave).

In fact, right now Zoey is having floor time and I keep turning to check on her and - she's so silly - she's down there with one hand up in the air, waving! How cute is she?!

thankful ...

3~ I'm thankful for forgiveness

I guess this is on my mind (still feeling guilty about the gym, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I had enough self control to quit eating this dang halloween candy) this morning. I've been having a tough time with my kids lately, the big kids in particular - but even Liam has become quite prone to "express himself" as of late! What does this have to do with forgiveness? Have you ever noticed how - generally - forgiving kids are? I used to wonder to myself, why do these kids love "her/him" so much - it was situations where I felt like the person was super strict or whatever ... now that I'm a mom I know why - kids forget, which sort of makes them super forgiving! Now, not that I'm naive to think my kids actually don't recall my yelling fits, we often discuss how even though I'm a mommy - I still do wrong things. Being a grown up does not make us perfect. It only means we really should no better! Annicka especially inquires as to why I do this, that, or the other thing. Recently I told her some of it is old habits I never learned to break - and once you've done something for all your life, it's super hard to stop (I also pointed out that's why it's good to try to break some of these habits as a kid)! In the heat of the moment my children may say they hate me and they've even said "I'll never forgive you" - but once we all cool down I can usually speak to them, apologize (if I need to), discuss it, and be forgiven!

I'm so thankful that God is so forgiving too! Where would I be without His forgiveness?

full of excuses ...

that's me! I lay awake this morning and had a total mental debate of whether I should get up and go the gym or not! One excuse was that I went to bed feeling sick and woke still not feeling 100% (but I did feel much better). So, after much debate, I rolled over and fell back to sleep. Poor choice. I had strange and unpleasant dreams and I woke up with a headache - not to mention the guilt of being too lazy to get up and get to the gym. I tried to reason with myself that it was ok because I wasn't feeling super or because I needed the sleep after having a hard time getting to sleep last night ... but they're all just excuses! The truth is, and I knew it at the time, I needed to just force myself out of bed and go get in a little exercise - I don't know why I'm suddenly shying away from it - it's not like I work that hard.

I don't want to berate myself too much, though. I know how I am and I know if I start really putting myself down about it I'll quit all together. I can still meet my "three times a week" goal ... the question is, will I???

being thankful ...

so, I just got this idea from a facebook friend - every day of the month of November, post something you're thankful for! I want to do it on my blog so I'll have it to look back on - plus I might remember a bit better this way (have you noticed how much better I've been doing since deciding to post less on facebook and more on here?)! so, I missed yesterday - so I'll do two today:

1~ I'm thankful for my children

this could get long! I really don't know what my life would be without my children! I really hate to admit this, but I've been going through this sort of selfish phase lately ... different from my normal selfishness! In some ways, I think it's been beneficial (like me just saying - hey, I'm gonna go to the gym ... which I do while they're asleep, but still) and in others, not so much. It can actually be easy to imagine all the freedom one might have if they weren't responsible for a home and little ones ... but it's not a fun thing to think about, because then you realize all the joy you'd be missing out on. Parenthood is most certainly a difficult task, but it's true what they say - about how rewarding it is as well. We're currently trying to get some things under control around here and get the kids to be a little more responsible around the home ... and I'm trying to yell less, this is very difficult for me - it just seems to be in my nature to be loud when I'm frustrated! but back to the point: I'm so very thankful for each of my children, and while they may think otherwise (and sometimes they express this) I love them for just who they are ... I do not want to change them whatsoever, just teach them to be respectful and responsible!

2~ I'm thankful for my husband

Maybe I should have put this one first, but they're not in order or anything! I'm very thankful to have a husband who so willingly provides for us. I know that he would never sit around and make us go without - no matter what, he would always work and provide - and that means a lot to me! I love that he gives so much of himself to us. He is more than willing to take care of our children, I don't have to beg ... he just does it cause he's daddy and he loves them. I love that he doesn't mind me going out with a friend while he stays home with the kids - how awesome is that?! (I do have to remind myself not to take advantage of this!) I love that he has a "hobby" (if you call it that) that he's passionate about. Really it's more like an active collection, but it really is fun seeing the sparkle in his eye - like a kid on Christmas morning - when he finds a good deal and gets something "new"! (but don't tell him I said this - I'll completely deny it - I gotta keep my cover, after all) It's seems like it's far too easy to see the negative and pick people apart with all their "faults", which is why I keep trying so hard to focus on the good in people. Our husbands should be one of our greatest "treasures", I think - so I know I need to try harder to show all the appreciation I have for him. He really is a super duper great guy!!!

oh my gosh - she just totally waved ...

well, sort of! so, for a few weeks I move her arm for her to say good-bye (at physical therapy, etc.) but she never makes any attempts on her own (except that one total fluke when she completely stretched out her arm and moved her hand side to side at our friend). So, I just was walking through the "whatever" room and she's on the floor in the living room (they're open to each other) and I held up my hand and "waved" (the little kid sort of wave, where you scrunch your fingers up and down - ya know) and she totally lifter her arm up into the air - fingers spread on her hand (think high five)! I literally squealed with excitement ... I did it again ... and so did she! Oh my gosh ... Zoey can wave! I tried to video tape it, but her enthusiasm had dulled - she did it, just not so big as before!

Oh my little Zoey ... how wonderful you are and how fun it is to see you doing all these fun things!

p.s. speaking of fun things - she now gets up on all fours and "rocks" - you know how they do, back and forth! She's made no attempt at moving her hands, so crawling may be a while off yet - but she gets up and stays up longer and longer - way to go little miss!

happy ... well - I wouldn't go THAT far!

The truth is, every time I hear "happy halloween" I still cringe inside! As I mentioned before, though, I've eased up quite a bit - last year was our first year to dress up and this year we added trick-or-treating (though I was sure to tell the kids, it's a year by year thing and it could change again)!

Now, you may notice a certain adorable little someone seems absent ... have no fear - he was there and thoroughly enjoyed the outing, here's the story:

Everyone was all dressed up, make-up applied (this was only for our vampire), and excited as ever ... I convinced Liam to quickly put up his purple hood (he really doesn't like it) so we could get the full Buzz affect in a photo - and that's when it happened! As so often happens, for some reason I don't pay attention to the little picture of a battery on the screen of my camera - and so it seems as though it just goes dead out of nowhere, I never realize it needs charged until I go to take a pic and it won't work. That's precisely what happened. Here was my sweet little Buzz all happy and cooperating for a photo and the camera would not snap. I had no idea where my old point and shoot was, so I had to resort to the video camera - which is so poor quality (worse than the point & shoot) it's ridiculous in comparison to the video quality! Anyway, it was that or nothing - first I videotaped my Buzz, and then proceeded to take photos of my little pumpkin, my little batman, and my vampire ... and completely forgot to return to Buzz. Hopefully between having written this down and having video I will still always remember the huge smile on his face when I attempted to take his picture!

After all that, we met up with our friends and got going! We made it around our block before deciding that was far enough for Zoey - it was so windy and cold (it actually warmed up later, go figure). So me, my friend, and all our kiddos (minus Zoey) continued on. After a while her hubby was able to take a break from work and he joined us as well! We did all the streets over near our house (the ones off our "main" road) ... the kids had so much fun! Liam was too cute saying "chrick er chreat" and then "thank you"! At that point we headed toward home, our friends had to leave - but we decided to drop Liam off and head out in the van to see if we could find a few more houses still handing out candy! We did! Then we came home and Annicka & Jericho each got to eat one candy. Then, of course, it was bed time.

We certainly did have fun. Annicka was especially freaked out by the houses that were really into it - to the point that she hesitated until the younger kids ran past her! There were a few that Liam didn't like, too ... Jericho didn't care at all! We got a TON of candy - seriously - I don't know if I've ever seen so much candy in a home (not to mention the other little gifts, some of which aren't pictured - like the McDonalds toys!)! I sorted it all out this morning and even took a pic - you know I had to!

Hope everyone else who participates had a fun and safe evening!

Now for the real fun ... I'm SO excited for the holidays coming up - my parents are coming for Annicka's birthday and Thanksgiving! Then it's my most favorite: Christmas!!!