Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Multitude Monday: Last one in May! Wow, where did this month go!


Happy Tuesday!!

Normally Tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week, but today I am LOVING it!!
It feels like a Monday, but we are one day closer to Friday. :)

Thankful this week for Ray driving up from Iowa to help us move.

Thankful for full tummies, happy hearts, and fun memories around the picnic table last night

Thankful for the genius behind the square Smore friendly marshmallows

Thankful for my hubby & his love for me and his love for the Lord

Thankful that Harrison can memorize lines so fast. He has 3 parts in his class play tomorrow, and knows them cold. I love that he is so responsible. His parts are: a baby, a Marine & a surfer. Thankful that Ray is sharing his dad's real WWII uniform with Harrison for the marine part!

Thankful that we had an entire week free of baseball commitments

Thankful for our school's walk-a-thon... see pic below... it was an hour outside... walking lap after lap & the kids & I loved it :)

Thankful for pictures of my mom's grave back in Boston.

Thankful for my mom's pool heater, and the fact that we could swim in the rain because it was like a hot tub!! Oh the joy that water brings to our kids. Loved it. Not loving Hudson's fearless water antics ;)

Thankful that Matt's memere is recovering a little each day from a stroke she had last week. The many miles between us make it extra hard. Please pray that Memere understands that Jesus died for her, and that although she is the SWEETEST, kindest, person ever- that isn't God's standard for Heaven. Pray for Matt's mom that she will be strong, be encouraged & continue to have the opportunity to share the good news with her mom.












Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Even So Come...

Thankful this week for:
Even So Come, by Kristian Stanfill.
Lyrics:

All of creation
All of the earth
Make straight a highway
A path for the Lord
Jesus is coming soon

Call back the sinner
Wake up the saint
Let every nation shout of Your fame
Jesus is coming soon

Like a bride waiting for her groom
We'll be a Church ready for You
Every heart longing for our King
We sing
Even so come
Lord Jesus, come 

Even so come
Lord Jesus, come 

There will be justice
All will be new
Your name forever
Faithful and true
Jesus is coming soon

Like a bride waiting for her groom
We'll be a Church ready for You
Every heart longing for our King
We sing
Even so come
Lord Jesus, come 

Even so come
Lord Jesus, come 

So we wait
We wait for You
God, we wait
You're coming soon

Even so come
Lord Jesus, come

Thankful for a happy hearted hubby who patiently endured his crazy wife & kids' pleas to visit a church rummage sale & petting zoo. He and Hudbud stayed in the van while we pet animals, rode ponies & looked at junk :)







Thankful for our little 4 year old graduate!




(1 year old, Puerto Vallarta Mexico)

(4 years old, Sandburg High School Preschool)





 Thankful for kids who love their sleep & will sleep just about anywhere :)


Thankful for Meijer & their cute grave decor.


(made me smile that Dust left Dad some M&M's and after a week+, they are still there- deer and raccoons have left them alone :))

 
Thankful for Candy Land.


Thankful for victories on the field. 


Thankful for victories off the field. This was my class victory. During their Fun Friday a few of the girls wrote me a note.



Thankful that he found just a washable marker, not my Sharpie collection. I think he will be our artist :)


Thankful for an adorable end of year slide show from Hannah's school
http://youtu.be/ZrdthOSaYM4 (Copy & paste & enjoy :)) 






Monday, May 11, 2015

I love Mondays

Thankful for pineapple. Man ~ this fruit just screams Hawaii and Summer! It's been our go to dessert & although I majorly dislike chopping it - the mess- the juice- the spikes- it is oh so worth it :)
Pineapple
**Pineapple is a source of important vitamins and minerals such as thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, manganese and potassium and antioxidants and polyphenols, such as beta-carotene.
Fresh pineapple is the only known source of an enzyme called bromelain, which has been used in studies to determine it's effectiveness in alleviating joint pain, arthritis, reduce inflammation, inhibit tumor growth and shorten recovery time following plastic surgery(Haha, glad to know!!).**
Thankful to have gotten the 1st week of long term subbing under my belt. It was an intense week. SO. VERY. DIFFERENT. than anything I've done... reminded me of Michelle Pfieffer in Dangerous Minds. Seriously.

Thankful for weekends. Wow I love my family. I love the normal stuff. Even the squabbles and arguing seemed like peace after my work days were over.


Thankful for Miss Maggie who is patient, Hannah literally recaps every word & action she does, and for the endless pictures she sends. Makes me have happy mom thoughts all day, and then helps me reflect on how these kiddo's home lives are so dysfunctional and maybe, just maybe I can be that one ray of sunshine during their 5th grade storms. {So easy to over look that and just bring on the "teacher voice"... but I do know God's purpose is to let His light shine through me...deep breath... many prayers... smile... repeat :)}
Being "walruses" @ Maggies :)
Puzzles & cartoons, beat those rainy day blues

Thankful for Mondays & the newness they bring. One of my little "lovelies" arrived this morning- gave me a huge hug and said "man I missed you". YOU DID!?! REALLY!?!?!? Cant say the same....yet...;)
 Hopefully we are on a happier, smoother, calmer, road to June 12 :) :) :)

Thankful for my mom. Her patience has truly grown over the years, and I am very thankful. Her house has some kid stuff scattered throughout basically 24/7... some cleat mud tracked in... toilets unflushed...handprints on every single Hudson level area.... even with decent clean up skills in order... never a complaint... truly grateful for our bonding time over the past months.


Thankful for a new caffeine find


Thankful that God has blessed my big bro with a special lady. Seeing the rock yesterday really solidified it & made me smile & thankful to HIM for all HIS blessings. We all know that NONE of this would be possible without salvation, grace, forgiveness, mercy & love. Kamilla Hill... has a cool rhyming ring to it :) :) :)


Mother's Day reflections:

Thankful for our 1st born. Still remember everything about his arrival. Such a joyous time in Glendale Arizona! Harrison was such an easy baby and is still such an easy going boy. Still remember that adorable black & white childrens place romper he wore on his 1st Sunday, hair spiked, 3 days old. *sigh....time...slow...down*
Thankful that Harrison loves all things sporty, all things creative & all things active. The sweatier he gets, the happier he is. I love that he cares about his 6 pack- which he has ladies and gentlemen!! Seriously not from my gene pool ;) Thankful that he is a team player & an encourager. We are thankful for that big heart of his. We pray that he never loses that and that he gives that beautiful, huge heart to the Lord.
**Proverbs 23:26**
Thankful that Harrison's team pulled together and won on Saturday, a whopping 10-20 victory! They had been on a 2 game losing streak, and they needed to get back on top. They worked together, laughing & joking even during strikeouts, they were always encouraging each other & I loved watching big H catch 2 pop flies, and hit each time he was up! *Except for that one time... when the ball hit him... serious ouch... funny bone injuries aren't that funny*

 School gifts are always my fave... :) :) :)


Thankful for Hannah's love of celebrations. Thankful for her love of color. Thankful for her love, period. She is a hugger. Her love language is most def "physical touch". She loves hugging and kissing and dancing and being as close to her family as possible. Hudson gets to experience her love all day while they play at Miss Maggies, and he loves his big sis, SO much. I love that Hannah gives us a run for our money. She has an inquisitive mind that never stops...until she hits that pillow each night. She will be the best haggler at yard sales this spring... Miss Negotiator at everything! She has a hard time hearing no, but has worked so hard to have self control and obey. She says preschool is "boring" because she already "knows my ABCS and can count to 24". She loves numbers & I wonder if she will be our mathematician. She commented today how its funny "my cracker has 4 sides, the box has four sides, and I am 4 years old". at 7 am? {yes cheezeits are a great snack for breakfast - haha!}Her love for shoes, markers and makeup make my heart swell. She is SO my little princess!!


Thankful for Hudson's love of life. He seriously makes all our hearts so full & makes us laugh! Yesterday he was eating cake, then it was done, so he scooped up salsa. Ate it. face turned in a million grimaces, we all laugh, he looks up, laughs with us - with his adorable nose all scrunched, then repeats over and over. He is a charmer yet he is shy & covers his face with his arm if you are new, or if he is scared, he is a goof & loves tackling his siblings, he is ALL boy & loves the mud and all things on wheels, he is a clown & a book worm. The book worm part makes my teacher heart VERY happy. There is just one special truck book he loves & will sit and look at over and over and over again with much excitement & comments.
We are so blessed by our happy, tender hearted 2 year old.



 XOXO























Friday, May 1, 2015

Multitudes in May

Thankful for Big H. He is one of a kind. He came home one day, and said Mom I have good news. The girl of my dreams came up to me at recess & said I like you. (And then she ran away).
Young dreams. Too sweet. Made me reflect on my kindergarten sweetheart.
We did chat about reality though and the fact that he is only 9 - and although its adorable & fun, she will most probably tell other boys the same thing... and so he knows he has to be tough... but is enjoying it for now ;)

 (Here are some more pics from last Sunday's White Sox experience)

 



Kamilla & Big H : new hat courtesy of Uncle Dusty

Thankful that after 20 months, we no longer pay Public Storage on the 1st of every month, HALLELUJAH.

Thankful to have learned a hard, pricey lesson, that things in storage get moldy & smell funky & that all our "stuff" is just stuff & more than 50% of it was donated or trashed. 

Thankful for oreos, a nice way to bribe 3 kids to be my "helpers" at storage for 3 straight days. Back & forth, unload, reload, drive... repeat..repeat...repeat...repeat.. you get the idea ;)


 Thankful for Tide & baths!

 Thankful for our trash man who so kindly loaded all our junk into his truck...he made it look so easy!

 1/2 of our organized "stuff" 

Thankful to have remembered that a family I nannied for, labeled their tubs with a letter and then recorded what stuff was in that letter tub, in a notebook.,., seemed smarter than labeling it Kids room and Bathroom etc... more user friendly for next time perhaps... and yay for Rubber Maid tubs. We learned these worked WAY better than boxes...

Stuff for a garage sale, & then I got smart & donated it all. No headache for my weekend & I got oodles of 30% off coupons to Savers!!!
*Not the cool bike, that's a keeper :)*


Thankful for baseball season. I love that it gets our family outdoors, for hours at a time. It was mighty chilly last night, but we survived.

Thankful for a way to finally get my vitamins! Yay for a yummy drinkable version. #Costco

Thankful for another long  term sub job, in the same district, different school, as my last gig! Also 5th grade, Seems like 5th grade may be my new calling? Excited for 1st day on Monday! :)