The Best Birthday EVER ~ Day 5

My morning started with breakfast in bed, and a morning where my husband took care of getting the children ready for the day. One child ended up staying home, she was sick earlier in the week and I was giving her one more day to kick the flu, one had the day off, and one went smiling and giggling on her way to class and I didn't have to do a darn thing. Thanks to my husband, I woke up feeling wonderful.

I received a phone call later that day from a friend, inviting us to the movies. My daughter saw the doctor, was in the clear, I had all three girls with me now, so why not? So off we went and met our friend and her three girls. Movie choice, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. There we were, my friend Sarah, myself, and our 3 girls each in tow, a total of 6 little ones lined up in their seats, candy in hand, and smiles from ear to ear. It was the first time I had ever taken my 3 year old to the movies and she even loved it. This was all Sarah’s doing. She was making not just my Birthday special for me, but special for all the girls. She is one of the most giving people I know. I just sat there feeling so happy. I could feel their joy.

After the movies we made a trip to see Santa. We got the girls pictures done, plus a group shot. This is now a tradition that we will keep for years to come. My youngest jumped up on his knee and the two older girls crowded around him with wishes and sparkles in their eyes. "We have been good girls Santa", they told him. My oldest, who is 8, still very much believes in Santa. I know this will not last for too much longer and her sweetness and innocence touched my heart. It is a moment that froze in time. It will stay in my heart forever, when she is 16, when she is 24 and when she is 42 I will remember her face and how much hope and innocence it held in that very moment. Those are the moments people call priceless.





After Santa, we went on to dinner at PF Changs and once again this was Sarah’s doing. We all sat and laughed and the girls sang Christmas songs at the table. At the end of our meal came dessert. YUM is all I can say. We got up to leave and I walked to the table that was seated next to us to apologize if the girls were so noisy. We were celebrating and sometimes it is hard to keep the noise level down. The older couple told me we had made their meal. That they enjoyed the girls so much and that both my friend and I are so blessed. "How lucky you are", they said, "to have such beautiful loving children." That right there was the icing on my cake.

To end the day my youngest was in her very first Christmas program and she stood on stage with such pride. Smiling and winking at her Daddy, singing as loud as she could. It is hard to believe she is getting so old.

At the end of the day I can honestly say this is one of the best Birthdays I have ever had. My new things for the day included a new movie, Santa group shots, chocolate moouse dessert with dinner and a first time performance from the youngest in our family.
Thank you to my husband, my daughters, my friend Sarah and to all my family and friends for their Birthday wishes. 36 ROCKS!!!

My Gratitude Journal ~ Day 4

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie

My mother and I purchased the book Simple Abundance written by Sarah Ban Breathnach some years ago. I would even say it has been close to almost 10 years since I first purchased this book. It has so many good insights and good ideas but one of my favorites is the idea of a Gratitude Journal. In this Gratitude Journal you write 5 things you are grateful for everyday. These blessing could be the smell of your favorite candle to the roof over your head. This is to help you focus on the blessing and abundance we have in our lives because we all have things to be grateful for everyday. It helps you focus on what you have rather than what you don't. I really love this idea, and is something I would like our whole family to focus on this coming year.

Today my new thing for the day was buying three gratitude journals for myself and my two oldest girls. We sat down together and wrote 5 things and shared them with each other and tonight we will share them with you.



I am grateful for:
1. Running into friends at the grocery store, I actually enjoy this!
2. I am thankful that even though my parents don't live close I can still call them every day and that they are still here and a part of my life
3. I am thankful for my oldest brother who always comes running in any emergency, stays calm and takes charge of the situation.
4. Hands down, for a hard working loving hubby,
5. I am thankful for 3 wonderful healthy children.

My 6 year old said she was thankful for
1. Sarah giving her so many stickers
2. Her mommy
3. Her daddy
4. Her sisters
5. School

My 8 year old said she was thankful for
1. Food
2. Her Sisters
3. Her Christmas tree
4. Family
5. Uncles and Aunts
6. Toys
7. TV
8. A Home

The best apart about this is my 8 year old wanted to know if she could write more than five. She told me, "There are so many things I am thankful for mom, I am not sure this book has enough pages."

Homemade Christmas Cards Save Me From Grumpville ~ Day 3

I woke up this morning with a headache the size of Texas, my stomach was in knots and I was TIRED. You ever wake up and think....lord please just give me another 20 minutes. This was one of those mornings. The afternoon went OK, but I swear someone must have kicked the crap out of me while I slept last night because every bone in my body hurt. I came to the conclusion by 4:00pm (yes it took me until then when I passed out during my daughters reading of Junie B. Jones) that I must have some sort of bug.

I am the first to admit I do not like being sick. I just do not have the patience for it. It makes me grumpy and bah hum bug and cranky to say the least. I went all day without doing something new and then at 7:15 we had a visitor. Our friends drop by some sweet treats for the holidays, her children sang us a song and it put a smile on all our faces. That is when I realized a great way to get rid of my foul mood, do something nice for someone else. I wanted to do something that would make someone smile like what they did for us. Since the flu was waging war againist my body, I knew singing tonight was out of the question but something else came to mind. Something that brought about my Christmas spirit. I decided to make Christmas cards for my nieces and nephews. I remember being so excited to receive something in the mail as a child and I hope this does the same for them. I went online and found a cute design, Rudolph singing his heart out. I hope this will put a smile on their faces.

My new thing for the day was making Christmas cards for my wonderful nieces and nephews. The truth is I haven't sent Christmas cards to the kids before, Christmas cards are normally sent to the adults. Valentines yes, but never Christmas cards. My plan is to stick them in the mail tomorrow and enclose a candy cane. The little ones will actually recieve their cards and they will signed from Santa. The older kids cards are from us and a little different. The should get them in a few days and I am excited to hear about their reactions. I can honestly say that I am going to bed with joy in my heart.

The Five Love Languages ~ Day 2

The Five Love Languages was recommended to me by my amazing friend Sarah. Today I finished it and I have to say I learned a lot. It talks about how we all feel love in different ways. Some feel love through Words of Affirmation, some through Quality Time. Others feel love through Receiving Gifts, others Acts of Service and some through Physical Touch. Gary Chapman calls these the love languages. I found out with my husband my biggest love language was quality time. What I desire most is to be able to have quality time together and quality time with the kids. His on the other hand, is acts of service. He works two jobs and works hard at everything he does to express love to his family. Now my job is to figure out ways to express more love to him on his love language and because he loves me he will now read the book and make more effort to do the same. I think marriage is a combination of love and work. We have our highs and lows but we know that at the end of each day there is no one we would rather be there with than each other. There are some days when there is more work but I can honestly say there is ALWAYS love. The love dare refers to this as agape, unconditional love. I have also been reading the Love Dare which is an amazing book. My dare for the day is to do something out of the ordinary for my spouse - something that proves that my love is based on choice and nothing else. To demonstrate love to them for the sheer joy of being their partner in marriage.

So for today I did two new things. I read the Five Love Languages, which I HIGHLY recommended to any married couple and I also cleaned the downstairs spotless for my husband who loves a tidy home. Let me tell you cleaning and scrubbing floors after the kids are in bed is not my first choice, but my hubby is.

Making a List ~ Day 1

Today I had a wonderful conversation with a dear friend. We talked about choices and how these choices that we make every day, affect who we are and where we are at. We shared that too often the things we are told, can affect us years later, and how we shouldn't base our choices on those statements. She had mentioned how she loved the Nike logo Just do it. So many times the choices we make, or even don't make, are based on fear and or insecurities. That sometimes you have to step out and Just do it.

She made a statement about being the heroine in your own life. Picture your life like a movie; what would you want the heroine to do? I thought about that all day today. Too often I think we can even act the villain, telling ourselves we aren't smart enough, thin enough, or even good enough. I love the idea of being the heroine. When I look at my life/movie I would like to see more comedy, more action and more adventure for our family. I would like to have more romance time for my hubby and myself, and I would like my life/movie to inspire others. This evening I sat and made a list, lets call it a plan for my movie. I listed over 100 things I would like for myself, the heroine, to do. Although I started this list, I know that sometimes what inspires a heroine to take that leap of faith is in the moment. We can't always plan the new things that come our way, but if we have an open heart, I feel the possibilities are endless.

My new thing for the day was making a list of dreams and adventures and staring as the lead role in my amazing wonderful life.

Starting Over

So here I am again, attempting the impossible. I had an interesting year to say the least. I feel like this year has been series of roller coaster rides, but I guess that is life... we have highs and lows but the important thing is to live each day to the fullest and to not take the little things in life for granted. Sooooo long story short...I am at it again. I read through my blog and thought, why did I stop? Life is always going to through you curve balls but sticking with it and deciding not to let it get you down is what will always keep your spirits high. So yes... I am starting over. I am going to try something new every day. Yes....every stinking day!!! I may just list the challenge and the verdict but everyday I will remind myself just how blessed I am because I am.... I am so very blessed.

Day 85 ~ Pitching Clinic

My new thing for the day was a pitching clinic with my oldest daughter. I had as much fun as the kids did.

I use to love to pitch. I would pitch for hours against a wall outside our house. It has been years since I have pitched a softball and I didn't realized how much I missed it until I had a chance to play again.

My daughter and I both had a great time and I plan on the next sunshine day I will take my hubby outside and have him catch some pitches, not just my daughters pitches but mine!