Horrible!!

I know, its been nearly a full month since my last post. I am REALLY struggling getting myself into a habit of posting again. I am thinking I might just stick a reminder on my phone, have it go off as an alarm. I hate feeling this way about blogging though. It used to be so "natural" to just be posting nearly everyday, but lately it seems I can't find the time. :( I am sure balance will come in time, but I struggle for now. Maybe I should just aim for weekly posts? Anyway, enough about my blogging woes. On to Thankful Thursday!

This week I am thankful for my new van. We FINALLY got our tax return and were able to buy one outright. LOVE no monthly payments! Love being able to all fit comfortably and bring someone else if we wanted! =)

I am thankful for the safe delivery of my dear friend's baby. You can see her here Isn't she precious!!

I am thankful that as of now, I have no signs of "baby fever" even with three newborns and three pregnant women in my office alone. I am grateful that for now I feel content in where I am.

I am thankful for a better report card from M. Although she isn't "at" grade level (she is still just below) she is doing WONDERFULLY socially. Her teacher even put a note on there that she is like a "kid magnet" and just attracts all the other kids to her both in the classroom and on the playground. She also mentioned that she is making progress. She is going to a Monday-Thursday class after her kinder class is over and they are giving her some extra help in the sight words and letters she is having trouble with. It's call "K Pals" and she just loves it! =)

I am thankful that the "bug" seems to be passing in our house. Took it two weeks, but I think we are finally on the mend all around!

What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, so I don't think any of these are actually wordless. lol. I am going to say just a few. This is my McKayla playing a "counting" game. What you are "supposed" to do is put the number of objects in the space that the number at the bottom is. For example the one she is drawing in in this picture is the 4 spot, she should be putting 4 beans in that space. She wanted to draw instead. So in the 1 spot is 1 bunny, in the two spot - a two ball snow man, the 3 is a mommy with two kids (3 people). Unfortunately she didn't have time to finish (this was at her school's kinder 'game' night where we were given stuff to play educational games to help the kids at home) Loved seeing her in action with her classmates! I also just love the way their little minds work! =)

Not me Monday

This weekend I did not sit on the couch with my blanket and pillow and watch almost an entire season of America's Next Top Model.

I also didn't postpone bathing my children one night in hopes of feeling better. Didn't work. Ended up bathing all three, while feeling like crap, at the last minute last night.

I did not eat an entire mini bag of quakes. (in my defense it was only 3 servings and I was only 5 points over for the day. I'm being much better today!)

I definatly didn't hide my healthy veggie snacks in my lunchbox so my family wouln't eat them (again defending myself here, it was just the sliced apples that I knew they would eat all of!! lol)

What didn't you do this weekend?

Book Review

I have read quite a few books lately. Most of them I have really enjoyed. The last one was:

This is how Amazon describes the book: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

My thoughts: Its a book about a kid with cancer. As expected I did cry a bit, but I wasn't sobbing throughout like I thouhgt I might. I admit that it was different then the books you usually read about kids with cancer, and really thought provoking. It is a young adult book, so easy to follow. I would reccomend this to a friend.


The next book on my list is

This is what Amazon says: In the tradition of Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, a dazzling debut novel about the family bonds that remain even when they seem irretrievably torn apartGrowing up in hardscrabble Kentucky in the 1920s, with their mother dead and their stepfather an ever-present threat, Bertie Fischer and her older sister Mabel have no one but each other—with perhaps a sweetheart for Bertie waiting in the wings. But on the day that Bertie receives her eighth-grade diploma, good intentions go terribly wrong. A choice made in desperate haste sets off a chain of misunderstandings that will divide the sisters and reverberate through three generations of women.

What happens when nothing turns out as you planned? From the Depression through World War II and Vietnam, and smaller events both tragic and joyful, Bertie and Mabel forge unexpected identities that are shaped by unspeakable secrets. As the sisters have daughters and granddaughters of their own, they discover that both love and betrayal are even more complicated than they seem.

My thoughts: I am excited to read this one. I have a sister and understand the complex relationship that is there. Will share more when I am finished!!

One other book on my list to finish is

This was an impulse pick up at the library. This is what Amazon had to say: Wickedly hilarious and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love—all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers.

Isabella, Mary, and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. On Sunday after Sunday, at bridal shower after bridal shower, they coo over toasters, collect ribbons and wrapping paper, eat minuscule sandwiches and doll-sized cakes. They wear pastel dresses and drink champagne by the case, but amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with: Isabella is working at a mailing-list company, dizzy with the mixed signals of a boss who claims she’s on a diet but has Isabella file all morning if she forgets to bring her a chocolate muffin. Mary thinks she might cry with happiness when she finally meets a nice guy who loves his mother, only to realize he’ll never love Mary quite as much. And Lauren, a waitress at a Midtown bar, swears up and down she won’t fall for the sleazy bartender—a promise that his dirty blond curls and perfect vodka sodas make hard to keep.

With a wry sense of humor, Jennifer Close brings us through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. These are the years when everyone else seems to have a plan, a great job, and an appropriate boyfriend, while Isabella has a blind date with a gay man, Mary has a crush on her boss, and Lauren has a goldfish named Willard. Through boozy family holidays and disastrous ski vacations, relationships lost to politics and relationships found in pet stores, Girls in White Dresses pulls us deep inside the circle of these friends, perfectly capturing the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life.

Another one I CAN'T WAIT to read. =)

I love that I have started to expand my horizons. It wasn't so long ago I was only reading about 4 authors (though I still do LOVE them!!) Its good to read something that challenges you.

So, what is on your nightstand at the moment?

Thankful Thursday

Another week to count my blessings! Here are just a few of the things I am thankful for today.

I am thankful for a willing friend to be my accountability partner in my "Made to Crave" book study. I might actually finish this time!

I am thankful for the few dry days we have had.

I am thankful for the beautiful view of the snow covered foothills (I will try and get a picture up here soon!)

I am thankful for my mom & dad helping me get tickets to fly home. Not for the reasons I wanted to, but I am thankful to be able to say goodbye. Without their help, it wouldn't be possible.

I am thankful that the numbers on the scale are going the right direction. I only pray that when they start slowing (if I hit a plateu, or if it slows down coming off) that I can keep my motivation. I have lost 6.5 lbs in two weeks, so its going awesome right now, but I have a habit of giving up when my "hard work" isn't showing.

Wordless Wednesday

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts,
and we are never the same.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am going to stick with my weather theme here. =)

1. I am thankful that the snow didn't cause us any accidents. There were SO many in our area, I am grateful for the safe travel I had to and from work.
2. I am thankful that my mom and dad are in a place where they aren't too worried about flooding. Not near any rivers or anything. Makes me feel a bit more comfortable with all the rain they are getting in the Pacific Northwest.
3. I am thankful for coworkers who don't laugh too hard at me when I am snapping picture after picture of the snow yesterday. I think they understand that this isn't the "norm" for me.
4. I am thankful that it didn't freeze last night and make the morning commute hard.
5. I am thankful that I am used to the rain. =) Coming from Oregon I am pretty well adjusted to having to get wet.

What are you thankful for this week? What is the weather like in your neck of the woods. We have been pretty out of the norm here, from what I have heard. =)