Making every little bit count

Here is Anna, taking advantage of our snowfall because this has been a crazy winter with almost no snow lasting 24 hours. As you can see we didn't have much snow, but that didn't stop Anna from making a snowman.

Anna again -

Grandma M. gave us a bunch of beads and one day when she "wanted to sew" with me, I got out the beads and the kids LOVED it. They made necklaces, bracelets and rings. It was so sweet to watch them making the jewelry for the sibilings too! This is day 2 with the jewlrey and the other kids were all at school, but we thought Grandma might like a picture! Yes she did pick out her outfit, but we stayed home all day :)

Notice anything different?

ok - you probably don't because most of you know me without glasses! Since I have moved back to Iowa and especially in the last 2 years, I have had to wear my glasses more and more and more. Working on the computer without my glasses has become a misery and really I have become an almost full time glasses wearer. I tried contacts the year we moved here and hated them. Back then I only wore my glasses for the computer and maybe a movie, and I didn't think my vision was clear nor did I think the contacts were comfortable. Fast forward 2 1/2 years. I hate wearing my glasses all the time, including to work so I decided to give contacts another try. True confessions - I couldn't get them in...that was one of the things I hated on my first try. But my dear hubby is a contact expert and put my contacts in for me.....that is true love.

They feel good and I feel like my vision is good with them in, compared to the first time I tried contacts. I think my prescription is now stronger, so the contacts make a bigger difference, plus these are a different kind that Ken indicated "breath well". Whatever the case may be. I am back to being glasses free!

Now that makes my heart glad.

Although I took a break for a few months, I am back to watching my budget and trying to make good financial decisions. Moneysavingmom.com is a blog that I used to read and am back to reading now that things are slowing down. The author of the blog, Crystal, recently released a book and I considered buying it. Then I read the story below (click on the link "good deed") and bought the book. I love it when people do a good deed...(like Paul Newman donating his proceeds to charity - it makes me love his salsa even more :)

good deed.

I am not urging you to buy the book (email me and I will send you my copy when I am done), but reading the post will make your heart glad.

2011 Year in Review

The kids and I did our "year in review" papers again this year, but when I went to scan them, it just wasn't worth it. Carolyn did hers in pencil, so it didn't scan well, Matthew left a few blank and had silly answers for a few and Joel crossed out like crazy and the scanner acted up. So I will just tell you a few high-lights:
Betsy-
best thing about 2011 - celebrating my parent's 80th birthdays with a reunion with my entire family (that made Matthew's list too under "special memory")
Matthew-
What makes you happy? - victory (competitive you think?)
Carolyn-
What is your favorite toy/possession? - my American Girl doll Annie (yes, she finally saved her money and bought an American Girl doll - yes she has $20 to her name until her birthday, but I think she is pleased with her choice. Maybe it is a good thing that she won't have much money, because she does need to learn to be less "spendy")
Joel-
What was your greatest accomplishment? - hitting a ball far in baseball (this boy loves his sports!)
Anna-
If you had one wish, what would it be? - That a princess would find a rose and give it to the king and they would marry. (hmm - she loves "princess" themes, which is so interesting because we haven't watched the Disney princess movies, but she still loves the idea of a princess, but at least her "what do you want to do when you grow up?" is no longer "be a princess"....she said "take care of kids")
Ken-
not quite finished :)

2011 was full of work-related change for me....deciding to return to clinical audiology, volunteering at Boys Town Hospital for 10 days in Omaha, going back to school, getting a new job. I am so thankful that it is behind me. Please say a prayer for my peace at work. I have worries that I will do something wrong or someone will get mad or that I forgot important ideas during my 10 years away from clinical work. I am so thankful to have a job that I enjoy and that I can do for just 15 hours a week. During training I was working more than that and still had my Boys Town work to do and it was too much! I like spending time at home, with just Anna, quiet days just getting things done that are needed for the family! (Tax time is coming! I am probably one of the few who love to do taxes!!! It must be in my blood.)

One thing I learned in 2011 is that Matthew, despite his strong math/science interest, is an artist! Here were my gifts from him for Christmas. (I did hint that I would love the self portrait and was so pleased to receive the painting that I hadn't yet seen.) I love that they still have art in middle school.

Word of the Year - THRIVE

I have a blogger friend, who is a real-life friend from Newburgh, who always has a "word of the year". I must have skipped last year (although my New Year's post focussed on organizing and improving), and 2 years ago I had a phrase ("work-in-progress"). I think before I started blogging I had the word "Joy" as my word of the year.

Anyway my word of the year is "THRIVE". I want to enjoy 2012. 2011 was a good year and was one of change. I don't want that this year. I just want to THRIVE, I want my family to THRIVE. I don't want to just "live", I don't want to "improve"....I just want to live in the moment and THRIVE. I want to take time and enjoy the moment. You can't THRIVE if you are always worried about what you did in the past or what you might happen in the future. I want to live in the moment and love it. If I make a mistake, I will work to correct it and not make the same mistake again, but I will not focus on the mistake, I will focus on THRIVING and helping my family and world do the same.

Christmas 2011

We had a lovely quiet Christmas. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share of our time in Burlington Christmas day because my camera didn't come in from the car. Several great pictures were taken that I can print once the camera owner (my niece) downloads to Snapfish.

Here is Anna with her Nativity Scene. She received new pieces from her Godfather, my brother Steve.

Carolyn and Joel sang in the choir Christmas Eve. It was lovely. Carolyn was chosen to cantor with 2 other girls for the first half of the Mass (the older kids take turns throughout the year). You would have thought she had won the lottery! I love when they come home from choir and sing together.

In my family, the grandkids all gather on the stairs for a traditional picture before going down to the Christmas tree....just trying to explain why this picture was taken on the stairs. It is a tad more impressive with 14 kids, but I love this shot! (the kids are holding ping-pong paddles to match the table they received for Christmas - which then was returned because it was defective and replaced with a nicer one)

After the kids opened and gave their gifts, we played and packed up the car to go visit Grandma and Grandpa (my side - Ken's folks are in Texas). We had a lovely afternoon at my folks and a wonderful dinner at my brother's house. The next morning we were delighted that our "close in age" cousins came to Grandma and Grandpa's house too. We headed home in the afternoon, pausing briefly for dinner at Wendy's restaurant midway during the drive. Nice dinner, bad ending - I took Anna to the bathroom and left my purse under my chair and then left the restaurant. I remembered it the next day, so Ken took the kids an hour back toward Burlington and picked it up for me while I finished up some of my work for Boys Town! All's well that ends well, thank goodness for a nice husband!

Therapeutic Blogging

That's what this post is hoping to be. Today is a tad overwhelming. The worst part is that my sister's good friend and my walking partner's good friend each had a devastating loss in their lives today. My sister's friend's teenage son lost his battle with cancer and my walking partner's very good friend died of the same disease leaving her children without a mother.

These things make you think about life. As I drove to get Matthew at scouts I wondered how my family would cope without me. Ken couldn't really keep his job if he didn't have me at home. This week he is in Philadelphia M-F late. He couldn't do that without a mother to watch his children. But alas people are faced with this each day.

I also think about J., my sister's friend who has to bury her son. How does someone do that without complete despair?

Anyway....I am trying to get beyond the sadness of it all. It makes me want to think, that all this day to day stuff really doesn't matter, but we know it all does. I still need to feed/clothe/teach my children, pay my bills, keep the laundry from taking over etc. So as much as I would like to not stress about these things, I still do.

Ok, so far this post hasn't been extremely therapeutic. But here goes. I think it helps to remember the good when faced with times of sadness. To remember things for which I am thankful. The list, Thank the Lord, is endless, there are so many blessings. It is important to remember that these things are bigger than the list of worries.

Here are a few things for which I am thankful - in picture form:
FAMILY (my kiddos)

FAMILY (my parents and siblings - here at my parent's birthday celebrations this summer - now my folks really are 80 - this summer we just pretended ;)

FAMILY (this summer there were 33 of us together plus a handful of significant others - here is just a small grouping) It was wonderful to be together and celebrate the lives of my parents.

FAMILY (Ken) and FRIENDS (at U of Iowa Homecoming this October) What a blessing to get to spend some time with old friends. Ken's folks and sister watched the kids, which was fantastic. It was great to spend time with Ken and friends we only see once or twice a year...or less than that.


I am thankful that I have things that sometimes seem stressful:

-crazy amounts of laundry - that means we have plenty of warm clean clothes to wear

-dirty dishes in the sink - that means that we had food to eat and fun (basketball and Boy Scouts) activities to run off to tonight. Watching Joel play basketball makes me smile. He is so serious about playing well, all the while he has runs down the court with a happy look on his face. He just loves it, which is fun to watch...even when it means everyone will go to bed late when Ken is gone on Monday nights during basketball season.

-learning a new job - I am returning to a career I love. Of course there will be things to learn - how could there not be after 10 years, especially in a new setting with different job responsibilities.

Please pray with me for those people who lost loved ones today. Pray also that we can have the right perspective on life and keep God at the center even when we feel pulled in many direction. Pray that our children learn to live with that same God center - that is what this world is all about. And as a quick addition, pray for my friend N., who had an offer on her house. That they can sell their house and get through all the bumps that come on the relocation road with as little stress as possible!

God Bless You!