From grumbling to gratefulness

I was reading a blog today that has become part of my morning ritual to read in order to get a fresh, Godly perspective early in the morning to start my day off right (http://www.jillsavage.org/) and I loved her idea of turning grumbling into gratefulness.  As a working wife and mother, I often grumble when I have so many things to do in my life and feel like I cannot put as much effort in to things as I would like.  As I reflect on my past and my future, I have more things to be thankful for then many people and for that I give God all the praise and glory. 

Today and forever I ‘m thankful for:

• Home...whether clean or dirty; my family has a warm home to come to each night.  To gaher with those we love and to raise our family.
• Toys...though I want to scream when I find them in crazy places (makeup drawer, trash can, etc.), I am thankful that I can provide my child with little pleasures to make her happy and to help her learn.
• Paying bills...because it means Brandon and I have good jobs and can provide for our family when others aren't so lucky.
• Matney...because God has given me the best job in the entire world, being a mother!  Mothering can be challenging at times, but with each little kiss or hug or "forry, forry", I am more and more thankful that I have a healthy, beautiful child to call my own and to raise in to a beautiful, talented woman.
• My husband...3 years ago this weekend we were celebrating our last weekend of singleness with our friends at our bachelor and bachelorette parties.  Though we have our own trials and tribulations as all spouses do, we always know the other one is there and no matter what the challenges we are faced with, we will overcome them together with love and understanding.  For richer or poorer, in sickness and health, we are for life!
• Family...they are always there to listen and to love.
• Faith...because it means I have an extended family in Christ and no matter how hard things may seem, being renewed in God's body and blood means I am forgiven of my sins and all things will be provided through Christ, and we will forever live in an eternal home. 

Each and every day I have something to be thankful for and I pray that when I start to grumble about my responsibilities or anything else, that I am instead truly thankful for all my blessings.

Laziness

We are enjoying a lazy weekend!  The weather is cold and windy this weekend so we have been decorating for Christmas and planning our menu for Thanksgiving.

Matney has started taking an interest in watching movies more and was so excited when I put an Elm* movie on.  She sat there for over 30 minutes just watching away.  

Silly Saturday

It is finally Saturday again and I am l-o-v-i-n-g it!!

Saturday's are my favorite day because I get to spend it with this little sweetie while Daddy goes to work.  We spend our Saturday mornings cuddling, watching cartoons, and doing laundry.

Today is a moumental day.  Matney has been working on potty training this week and she pooped in the potty this morning!!  YIPPY!

Today is one of those days were I have a lot of projects I want to do, but don't really know where to start.  Matney is going to her Granny and Grampy's today for a few hours, so I will have some quiet time but not sure that I will know what to do with it.  Maybe I will watch a movie or wrap Christmas presents or take a nap or read a book...all in silence. 

Yeah for Saturdays!

Happy Birthday, my love

My dearest husband is celebrating his 28th birthday today and my sweet little girl is celebrating 19 months!  They are two peas in a pod and love each other so much; it makes my heart swell with pride.

Brandon is the husband and father I always dreamed of for myself and my children.  Though we have our tough times, just like any other couple, that is what makes us grow and love harder and stronger. 

Thank you for being you in all your craziness manliness. Thank you for making me smile when I am sad or for giving me advice when I have a lot on my mind.  Thank you for loving me and my flaws. Thank you for loving our little girl and taking such good care of her.  Thank you for everything you do for us and provide for us, even when I forget to say it.  Thank you for all your hard work each and every day to help provide for us. 

I love you more each and every day and cannot wait to spend all the rest of your birthdays with you. 

Happy Birthday, my love!!

Trick or Treeet

We had a wonderful Halloween and are blessed to have such a great family to spend it with.

Matney had an absolute ball trick or treating last night as the cutest little ladybug ever.  We kept trying to get her to say "trick or treat" but all she would do is yell "treeet!" Once she figured out people were giving her candy willy nilly she was off, bounding from house to house with a very funny evil laugh along the way.    

Our little frog, ladybug, doctor, and the unseen Capt*in Amer*ca (not a single picture of him to be found) were all adorable and made me very proud to call them mine!

Such a cute witch and ladybug! 

Craziness!



Until next year, the ladybug has flown away!



Silly Saturday

We are having a wonderful fall day!  Hope you are too.

!HAPPY SATURDAY!

Just what this Momma needed

This past weekend my wonderful sister and I sat out for a weekend of no runny noses or cries for help, no poopy diapers or "what's for dinner". It was just a weekend for the girls!

Our wonderful Uncle Brent and his wife, Jackie were gracious enough to open their home to us so we would have a warm cozy bed, and even treated us to not one, but two wonderful dinners filled with peace and quiet as we ate our scrumptious food and drank our wine.

We headed to Kansas City on Thursday night after leaving the boys with Nannie B that night and Friday.  It was pretty funny when Abby and I pulled in to her driveway after picking up all the boys and were  expecting to get a snack ready for each of them, when we noticed Nannie B's car in the driveway 30 minutes earlier than expected - we both just looked at each other as if stunned and then yelled out "Nannie's here!" It seems Nannie B knew just how excited we were and that we were ready to get away!

As we often do since we are so much alike, we had a plan as to what time we needed to be where and how long it would take us to get there (not to mention lists of things we wanted to purchase).  Neither of us sat an alarm, but were wide awake at 6:30, filled with anticipation for our day of shopping!

We started the morning at the Junior League of Kansas City 2011 Holiday Mart and it did not disappoint!! We were in line at 9:30 for the doors to open at 10.  Jackie joined us for our day of shopping and came home with just as many treasures as we did!  Let's just say there was a lot of shopping and very little eating or resting between 10 am and 4:15 pm.  Holiday Mart has tons and tons of cute boutique shops, food, decorations and more all in one place so it makes for a great day of shopping.  Who knew you could stay at one place for 6 hours and not get tired of shopping?! 

 After our day at Holiday Mart we made a few more stops and then Uncle Brent and Jackie took us to a nice dinner at the club at Staley Farms. 

We knew we had a lot more shopping to do on Saturday morning, so again we planned our departure time for when the stores would open.  We were lucky enough to make a side trip to see our cousin, Tyler's new house.  Let's just say it's a fixer upper - anyone want a red jacuzzi from the 1970's or a parquet dance floor for your basement?

We made so many more stops that I don't think I could even count, but we will sum it up by saying we started at about 10 am and got home from Kansas City at 10:45 pm.

We did squeeze in a trip to our favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's.  After spending over an hour in the store we left with two grocery carts full (it was for 3 families, okay) and loaded up the car.  I don't have the pictures to prove it, but the only space there was in the car was about a foot and a half across the top so we could see out the back! 

Abby and I love our children more than anything, but a little refresher is needed every now and then.  And it is an extra plus to get hit on not once but twice while away! 

I can honestly say that for the first time ever, I have over 50% of my Christmas shopping done after spending a wonderful weekend with my sister!

Thank you, Abby, for a wonderful weekend!