Thankful day 20

I'm so thankful that my 2 cats can finally be in the same room as one another with out death matches breaking out! It has taken awhile and they are still far from friends but there is a lot less  hissing and growling around here.

Thankful day 19

Im very thankful for my brother. He means so much to me. I think he is pretty awesome.
Happy Birthday Raja!

Thankful Day 18

I am thankful for passports! My whole family has them now and I feel like the world is open to us! I want to take them so many places!

Thankful Day 17

I am thankful for my Gramma. I have always adored her. Growing up, her house was my absolute favorite place to be. She is so wonderful and sweet. I am very thankful to still have her around so my kids can know her. They think the world of her also.

Love you Gramma! <3 p="p">

Thankful Day 16

I am so thankful that my kids have interests. Be it swimming, dancing, chess, star wars or anime. They have so many things that interest them. Whether they stick with these or not, its great that they are trying them and deciding that they like them or not. I fully believe that having interests will help them a lot in life.

Thankful Day 15

I'm so thankful for downtime. Sometimes I feel like I am running around like crazy but the last couple of weeks its been calm. I'm so glad to have some time to just sit down and relax.

Thankful Day 14

I am thankful that I got to take my kids to Disney on Ice today. I bought the tickets months ago, I got a presale deal. Our tickets were only $11 each and we were in row 13 right in the center. The seats were great. I saved the tickets and gave them to Chelsea for her birthday. I don't think she had any idea what Disney on Ice was before we went but I think she had a ton of fun. Zach was marveling at the skating. He couldn't believe they could do things like that.

It was such a fun family outing! I love doing stuff like that with my family.

Thankful day 13

Today i am thankful for the library. Chelsea and I go to storytime every week and we both look forward to it. We love to go other days too. We can find almost any movie we want to watch at the library. We have an endless amount of books to choose from. I think the amount of time we spend in the library has helped foster my kids love of reading.
Plus its walking distance from our house!

Thankful day 12

I didn't post yesterday! Dang it! Always a day late and a dollar short!
I am so thankful for my Kindle! My mom gave it to me and I love it! I don't know how i got through without it before. I can carry it with me all the time and it doesn't weigh me down. Plus if i finish my book, i have 10 more ready to go. I still love a real book but having the kindle is so convenient and i get to read so much more!

Thankful Day 11

Today I am thankful that Zach is starting to make real friendships. He is like his mamma, it doesn't come easy to him. He gets along with everyone but he didn't have any real friends. In the last few months I have seen that changing. There are 3 boys in his school that he has been hanging out with more and more. He had his first sleepover a couple of weeks ago. And today he was invited to his first birthday party that wasn't an invite the whole class party. I think its pretty fantastic that he is making friends. =)

Thankful Day 10

Today I am thankful for Ted. I am so very glad to have you as part of our family. He is a great dad to me, a great Papa to my children and a great friend to Brandon. We are so very blessed to know him. 

Ted and I are so much alike that my mom says he is my real father. It is a huge compliment. We have so many of the same interests and laugh at the same things. I know that if he recommends a movie or show or anything to me, I will love it. 

Happy Birthday Ted. I love you!

Thankful day 9

Today i am thankful for theraflu because i feel crap and its the only thing that makes me feel better when i have a cold.

Thankful day 8

Today I am thankful for time with my BFF. She texted and asked if I wanted to go to a movie and things worked out that i could. We went and saw Looper. It was an awesome and messed up movie. I am so glad we got to go. I had a great time.
Im also thankful for the sci-fi episode of Castle! Im nerding out over the fun of it. :)

Thankful day 7

I didn't do my thankful last night! I'm at the beginning and already forgetful. I will try to ensure that that doesn't happen again!

That being said, I am thankful for early bedtimes! I was soooo tired last night, I kept dozing off in the chair long before I usually go to sleep. So I called it quits and went to bed at 10pm. Which is quite early in my world. =)  It was pretty cool to set my alarm and have it tell me how long until it went off!

I am glad I just went to bed and didn't stay up awhile longer, I'm sure my second wind would have hit and I would have been up half the night. Then I would have had the same problem today.

Thankful day 6

I was going to eschew anything political today even though every thankful think I have seen today has been about politics. But the announcement of who won the presidential office came out before my blog post and it changed my mind. I am thankful that my candidate won. I do think that he is the better choice for our country. I am a little sad I missed the announcement that he won. I thought I had time to load the dishwasher and when I got back it was done. That was disappointing. But only mildly. =)

I am thankful for the people who stood and fought before us giving us the right to vote. Giving us the opportunity to judge and argue with people who would otherwise be friends. I have a strong distaste for politics, I think it brings out the ugliness in people, but I am very very thankful to live a life where we are given a choice. Where we can make our voices heard. A place and a time where we are not told who will rule us but where we get to mark a ballot that gets counted. I hope that the people I know and love don't take that lightly. Especially women.  Women fought for that right for us. We call it a right but someone had to demand it first. It was not given lightly. Women lost their familys, their freedom and their lives. We need to honor that by educating ourselves and taking the time to voice our opinions and voting. I do not care who or what you vote for, so long as you vote. Don't silence yourself after everything that was done to give you a voice.

I love you all and I don't care who you voted for! As long as you aren't a jerk about it!

Thankful day 5

Today Im thankful for being appreciated. I was cooping in Zachs class and the teacher, who i adore, told me she didn't know what she would do without me and that I save her hours of work. A bit later she told someone that i was her most efficient helper. It made my day.

Thankful day 4

Today I am thankful for a full house! I am so glad to have my house busting at the seams to celebrate Chelseas birthday. That people put their day on hold to come and hang out with us to say we are happy she was born is pretty fantastic! She was so happy to have her friends over to play games and have cake and ice cream with her. Not to mention the amount of gifts she got! Thank you to all the wonderful people we love who came and spent they day with us celebrating my favorite girl in the world! I love you all!

5 cool things

Today we are celebrating the birthday of the coolest chick I know. In celebrations I am going to tell you 5 cool things about Chelsea!

1. She loves anime. If she picks a movie at the library I have to remember to switch it from Japanese to English. But if I don't, she will sit and watch it in Japanese. I am pretty sure its the giant eyes that make her a fan. 

2. She loves to wear socks that don't match. Preferably knee-highs. And always with a skirt or dress so everyone can see. To be honest, its really rare for her to be wearing anything that's not a skirt or dress. She will pair her mismatched socks with a groovy hat and head out for the day. 

3. She fully believes that I was trick or treating at the hospital and she was given to me as a treat. That is why I don't trick or treat anymore, its left for the kids now. She will tell you the story, just ask! If I say anything about her being in my tummy she corrects me, I wasn't in your tummy! You just took me home from the hospital!

4. She has very specific tastes. She gets very obsessed with one thing at a time. Very recently it was Boos, little stuffed animals with giant eyes, she spent every penny of allowance on them. Now it is Monster Highs. She was starting to really like Monster High dolls then we found the clips on youtube and she got really into them. Then the movie came out and its all she can talk about. Don't worry, she got PLENTY for her birthday!

5. Her brother is her best friend. They do everything together. If she and I go to the bank without him she insists on getting him a sucker also. She always always thinks of him. People come up and tell me things they do all the time and I don't realize why they are telling me, its so every day. If they see each other they run up, hug each other and say I love you! But not everyones kids do that, I suppose. It makes me so happy that they have that bond. 

Happy 5th Birthday Miss Chelsea. I hope you had a wonderful day. I love you so very much, infinity times to the moon and around the earth! You amaze me and make me laugh every day. I'm so happy with the person you are! 

Thankful day 3

Today I am thankful for a break! October was very hectic for me and its not quite done yet. I have my baby girls birthday party tomorrow and I have been putting a lot of time into making it great for her. I have been a bit overwhelmed, to put it mildly. So when Brandon asked if I wanted to watch a movie, instead of saying I was way to busy I said SURE! And I only let myself do one chore while I watched. =)

I still have a lot to do. I probably should have been decorating and moving furniture like I planned but it will get done tomorrow. And if my house isn't perfect at least I know the people who are coming love me enough to not care too much!

**adding** I'm also thankful for being in the right place at the right time. I was dropping stuff off at the thrift store and the person before me had donated a pair of the most beautiful floor lamps. I was able to talk the loading guy into putting them onto the sales floor for me. People in the store were literally trying to steal them from me as I was going to pay for them (by the way, they were a steal!) They are now in my living room and fantastic! They weigh like 500 pounds each and have Tiffany type shades. I am so happy about them.

Thankful Day 2

Today I am thankful for Zach. He didn't have school today and Chelsea did. Its rare that he and I get time together like that. He is so funny, he can always make me laugh. We have an app on the iPad to make animated videos and he loves it. He will spend hours creating different worlds. And they are always so funny. When he was in preschool, he wouldn't do art unless he was forced. I thought he would just never be a creative type. I'm quickly learning that you cant figure out who they will be based on who they are when they are young. 

I also never thought he would be a swimmer. He has had a DEEP fear of the water his whole life. If we went to a beach he sat in the sand with a life jacket on, if we went to a pool he sat on the stairs. Only time he would go out in water is if I dragged him. Then this summer he just went for it. Zero to swimming like it was nothing. I have had him in lessons since the beginning of the school year and he is just killing it. Every teacher tells me he is doing amazing. I told Brandon to figure he was going to have to do each level a couple of times but he hasn't had to repeat even once. This week he was diving into 9 foot deep water. I was just so amazed. I never expected that from him. Next week he starts the last class in the series. It is held in the 9' water. I cant wait to see how he does there. After that he hopes to make it onto the rec center swim team. I have every faith that he will. He continues to exceed my expectations at every turn. 

I love seeing how he grows and changes. I cant wait to see who he grows up to be. The only thing I can say for certain is that he will be amazing! 

30 Days of Thanks

I have seen an awful lot of people on facebook today doing 30 Days of Thanks. And being that I have so much to be thankful for, I have decided to do it also. I wanted to do it in blog form though because I want to be able to reread it later and its much easier to find this way.

Today I am thankful for my moms involvement in letting me be involved. She helps me with so much. I would not be able to be as involved in my kids educations as I am if not for her. She shows up on co-op night with kids meals and when I get home she is sitting on the floor playing candy land. I have no idea how many hours she has spent watching my kids, especially Chelsea, so that I can be at school. I truly appreciate it. With Brandons schedule its not always easy to plan on being somewhere but knowing I have backup makes all the difference!


**this should really be longer to really show how much I appreciate her but I am on my way to bed and trying to squeeze it in before the end of the day, my brain isn't working and I'm having to retype EVERY word**

Fun times

These may deserve separate posts but they are just getting one. =)  We have been having fun lately!

The other day we went to the park with some of our favorite friends. There was a splash pad and a big field to play games. As well as the fun playground! I really didn't take many pics. Maybe next time. =)

Zach in the water

My wet princess

La Dayna and her kids in the water

Wet, cold Evvie

We went to the Murray 4th of July parade and carnival.
The parade was really fun, the kids COULD have ridden in it with their dance studio but I decided to let them watch instead. (You don't get candy if you are ON a float)

Waiting for the parade

My cute fam

Watching for the beginning of the parade. 

There was a CAMEL in the parade! 

Me and my girl!

Jeeps!

We also went to the carnival but my camera died. We checked out some booths, saw what a pilgrim settlement was like, got sprayed with firehoses (chels caught it right in the cheek, not so fun after that), Chels got her face painted, Zach and Brandon did a water balloon toss, they did the fishing pond. So much stuff and so much fun but sadly no pics.

Brandon got called for work so we left the carnival and headed home. I planned on making cookies but I just COULD NOT get myself to turn the oven on after being out in the heat so long. So we hung out for a bit then my sister came over and we headed to fireworks. We stopped at Blimpies first and Brandon called and said he was done with work so he met us and went to fireworks with us.

We went to the Holladay city fireworks. They did a really good job. It wasn't super crowded, we got in and out easily and they had a great show.

Chelsea. I think this pic is awesome

Wrastlin' 

Zach

Glow sticks

Crazy! 

Boo Boo

Night pictures are fun

Glow sticks

Firework glow

Baby and her glowsticks

I finally made the cookies today since it wasn't as hot. We made a plate of them and took them to the fire dept.

It was a good 4th of July couple of days! I wish we could have spent time with my Mom and Ted but they were needed somewhere else. I hope you all had a wonderful time also!

Brandon

I do not take enough time to appreciate my husband. He puts up with a lot from me. We have been married for 7 years. We would be heros in Hollywood. Anymore its pretty good in the real world. We struggle and have our ups and downs but we stick it out together. There are times that we don't put the effort in, its so easy to forget after awhile. And there is always something else that needs your attention. Some days he drives me so crazy that I want to scream. And while I am completely positive I do the same to him he handles it better. Most of the time.

 To be honest, I am kinda bat-shit crazy sometimes. My feelings get hurt WAY too easily and when it happens he is the one who hears about it. Last night I had a bit of a melt down over something that isn't his fault but he gets the brunt of my upset-ness about it. I cant talk to the person who causes this feeling in me and to be honest it wears me down. I don't understand the problem and I spend a LOT of time obsessing over it. It has been affecting my mood quite a bit. But when I freak out on Brandon he sits and listens and holds me and tells me I'm crazy but its ok. Sometimes its exactly what you need to move on from a toxic situation. I am able to realize that it still has to be resolved but I cant do that until the other person is ready. It still hurts and still sucks but I can spend less time stressing about it.

Thank you Brandon. I really do love you so very much. I hope you know that even when I am so out of my mind that I cant see straight. I am so lucky to have you. <3 <3

Rockport

Misty invited us to join them at Rockport Reservoir this weekend. I have been dying to go play in the water so we jumped on the chance. We loaded up the kayak and rented a paddleboard and we were on our way. The water was still a bit cold, think ice water on a hot day, and the wind was blowing most of the day but we still managed to have a super awesome fun day!

Beach helping Chels in the kayak

Me out on the paddleboard!  

Lunch break 

My fishy girl

The beach

Beach on the beach. =D (Chels is wandering around chanting that)

Cute girlies

LOVE this pic!

Aquatic hitchhiker

Holding on!

Swimming time

Sandcastle building underway. 

Fisher on the paddleboard

Floaty gymnastics. 

Misty

Lil piggy! 

Most he got in the water. 

Paddleboard trip with dad

Taking Beach for a spin

Piggy piggys 

Chelser in the kayak

Beach out relaxing.