I am so grateful . . .

I hope you all had a safe and fun Thanksgiving holiday. It's pretty fun, isn't it? Eating and chatting with friends and family - I sure enjoyed myself.

There are so many things I am grateful for. I have been listing some of the things on my mind each time I post a blog. Today, I'm just going to make a list of MORE things I am grateful for.

1. That I live in the land of plenty. I ate SO MUCH yesterday at our Thanksgiving feast with my family. I also used gas at my own discretion to get there, stayed as long as I wanted and drove as fast as comfortable on the way there and back. We have so many great things to enjoy in America (cars, gas, food, medical care etc . . . ) This really is the land of plenty.

2. That I can give service in my church. Sometimes I'm not as grateful as I should be. But really, what a great opportunity to have someone trust me to teach kids or to rely on me to answer the promptings to visit someone, to use and develop talents and to be part of something that is healthy and wonderful in my life. I really am grateful that I have a calling that I can grow and serve in.

3. I am grateful for friends. Where would I be without all of you? I have so many great friends with sanguine personalities. You all make me feel so warm and fuzz! Truely - that is a blessing.

4. I am grateful for my ability to see and hear. I would be lost without words and music. I know there are ways to experience those things, I'm just grateful I don't have to face the challenge of figuring that all out.

5. I am grateful for sugar. I know it's an artificial high. I can do artificial.

6. That my cats are tolerant. They really should have run away a long time ago. There really should be scratch marks all over Sammy. I couldn't really blame the cats with how she man handles them. I am grateful they put up with all the extra loving and don't react adversely to her affection and wild ideas of "fun."

7. I'm grateful I live near a second hand store. Hey, everyone needs somewhere they can shop - and afford it.

8. For Christmas Carols. Actually, I love the whole Christmas season. I thought Christmas carols were ruined for me because of the pregnancy association thing (I was pregnant with Sammy during Christmas.) I got sick in my stomach for a couple years whenever I heard Christmas carols. I am so grateful that has passed and I can enjoy carols with out the urge to retch.

9. My scriptures are something I am very grateful for. I am also grateful I have had the prompting to study and read them everyday. I am definitely no scholar - far from it! However, I understand them more than I did a year ago, and the year before that, and the year before that etc . . . I hope I never drop the ball on this one!

10. That I am a mother and a wife. Those two are my favorite words to hear. I don't care if other peoples kids call me Mom besides my own little buggers. I just like to be called Mom. While I was washing dishes yesterday I heard Carp talking to his aunt on the phone. He was telling her he really had a good life. He told her he had a wonderful wife. I paused for a moment when I heard that and thanked God for him and that he appreciates and love me.

So there you have 10 more things I am grateful for. Count your blessings as you watch a clip from one of my top ten favorite movies ever (White Christmas.)

Be selective in your Thanksgiving grocery shopping

Just a little reminder to be extra careful when picking out those much desired produce in the upcoming week for all the delicacies you are itching to prepare for your Thanksgiving feast. May the force be with you in your choices.




5 Things I'm grateful for:

1. That going to a place of worship is as easy as crossing the street. There are so many in this world who do not attend a worship service because of health, distance, politics or fear.

2. Carson and Brian come home for lunch. A days they come to my house, B days they go to Brians. They are a hoot. You should have seen their rendition of the Acapella Star Wars Tribute to John Williams last week. They crack me up! Check out the video on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4 and just imagine the two of them singing it.

3. Baby wipes. They are not just for baby's bottom.

4. Laughter. I love to laugh. I better. There is so many situations I get myself into that I have to laugh at or else I would die of embarrassment.

5. My husband has a job. With all the crazy layoff stuff that has been happening lately, I am grateful he has employment. Layoffs: been there, done that (three times) and would really prefer not to repeat it.

What you can do with a roll or two of packaging tape

Seth is taking a sculpture class at his junior high. His class did sculptures of people in different positions made out of packaging tape. I noticed them around the school the other day. Some of the life size sculptures were sitting on a bench or leaning over the top of the lockers and in lots of different places around the school. They were totally awesome.

Seth's group consisted of 3 girls and him. They used their own bodies to make the sculptures. For instance, one of the girls allowed her hand to be wrapped to form the hands for their sculpture and another let them use her legs. None of the girls wanted their head to get wrapped so Seth let them do it to him. What a good sport.

The reason I found the sculpture of his group so interesting was because of the subject they decided to portray. They made a vampire.

You know I love a good vampire story! Well, remember how the kids displayed their sculptures around the school? Seth's group were asked to remove theirs. Apparently you can't display things that show blood at school! I can totally see where the school is coming from, but I had a good laugh about it.

Come on! Isn't this totally cool? Check out the red tissue paper that goes down the throat. That is imagination! There is even blood on the teeth! I totally digged this!

None of the girls wanted to take the sculpture home so Seth got to keep it. You can just imagine the perplexed look on my face when I was driving home and passed him hauling this under one arm while trying to ride and steer his scooter on his way home from school. I pulled over and helped Seth ram the life sized vampire into the trunk of my little white car. That was weird. I felt like I was breaking the law somehow. Oh well.

Maybe some mothers might find it morbid that their kid decided to make a vampire sculpture with blood represented in such an obvious manner. But - I have to say I am very proud of his vampire. It sure made a good display on Halloween night!

5 Things I am grateful for:

1. That I can share interests with my kids. Vampires aside, I love to play Guitar Hero with them, go on Harts runs with them and watch Stargate with them. These are our current interests - they are ever changing and welcomed.

2. For kids that are just kids. I drove up tonight and stopped the car to listen to the end of a song on the radio. While I was listening, Nathan opened the window drape that hangs in our shower and proceeded to start drawing on the steam covered windows. It just made me giggle.

3. The bounty of food I am blessed with. I never have to struggle to feed my family, except when I am just to lazy to figure out what to make. There is alway food in my home.

4. My general good health. I have aches and pains - SURPRISE! I am getting older. However, they are not life threatening and do not keep me from doing anything.

5. Sleep. I am getting to the point that I might just be able to count on sleeping though the night. For the most part, my kids stay in bed at night. It's just my stupid internal clock that can be wacky sometimes.

Sean turns 40

Phone conversation with my Mom (went something like this . . . ):

Mom: "Hey Sean!"

Sean: "Hey. I'm feeling a little bad. Nobody remembered my birthday today."

Mom: "You mean you didn't get my card in the mail? Maybe it will come Monday."

Sean with his 3 oldest: Cody, Sid and Alix.

I know the conversation didn't go exactly like that, but Sean did call my Mom and said that nobody remembered his birthday. This was probably because we were all invited to a SURPRISE 40th birthday party for him. Yes, he was very surprised.

MaryJane and Sean

MaryJane collected and scanned photos of Sean growing up and of his kids. She also went around to my family and hers and did video clips of people sharing memories and wishes for a happy birthday. She had them all put together in a birthday DVD for him. It was so cool!

There were a lot of people there. It was great fun to see some friends we haven't seen for a while and I always like seeing MaryJane's family because they are so nice!

My sister Jenny and some of her kids: Chase, McKenzie, Sierra and Logan.

My sister Katie, Sean and I.

5 Things I am grateful for:

1. My water heater. The pilot light went out on Saturday. When I tried to give my girls a bath there was only cold water. Thanks be given for running HOT water!

2. That I get along with my family. It sure makes family get togethers fun!

3. For funny misquotes by kids. We have taken to playing the BOM cd's on Sunday morning the hour before church to get the kids settled and ready to go. While doing my hair Gabby came in the bathroom to ask me what "decay in the past" meant. I couldn't figure out what she was getting at. She said, "The guy on the cd keeps saying it over and over." I had to laugh. I guess "decay in the past" sounds a lot like "It came to pass."

4. My home and yard. The bank still may hold a controling interest in it, but someday it will be mine. I am grateful for the shelter it provides, the security it holds for my kids, and the land that I can plop a seed in the ground and grow something.

5. Fresh fruit. I love the colors, the myriad tastes abounding, and the aromas of all fruits. I crave them more than sugary treats - well, most of the time.

Ode To A Fallen Tree

Ode To A Fallen Tree

As an oddity you joined my life,

Immediately sewing seeds of strife.

Dropping fruit not fit to eat,

Rotting squish beneath my feet.

Fermenting smells drifting through my door,

It was hard to keep up - it was a chore!

To gather the apples you've discarded,

Without love they were brokenhearted.

In their gloom they gave up their guts,

transforming to mush, driving me nuts!

Alas, there is no more fruit to fall,

but no worries, I won't bawl.

We sawed and cut and then discarded,

your limbs, your leaves and in the end, applauded.

No more rotten stink to offend the nose,

no mushy yuck between my toes.

To run in our yard without dead limps leering,

tromping on rotten apples accumulating.

Farwell to our old apple tree we bade,

I sincerely will miss all your shade.

The huge apple tree was taller than my house. Now, that's unnatural. Many of the limbs were dead.

The limbs may have started to die before we moved into our home 7 years ago, but I know for sure they have been dying off every year since. It is sad to see it go. However, sometime dirty deeds have to be done.

5 things I am grateful for:

1. The imagination of all my favorite authors - especially my new favorite - Brandon Sanderson.

2. My knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to honestly know it's right and true.

3. Guitar Hero. It's an innocent addiction - one that I don't want to kick.

4. Girls Night. I don't know which one of you chicas out there decided to start that, but I so need it in my life.

5. Photos. I can't imagine a world without images to spark a memory and invite a smile.

Halloween 2008

I better get some pictures from Halloween posted before I forget! It's kind of a pain to help my kids figure out what they are going to dress up in for Halloween. BUT - I always love to take pictures of them when they get there costumes on.

Sammy was an Elephant.

Gabby was a Web Spinner - Spider Princess.

Nathan was a Ninja.

Seth was a Philly's Fan (Baseball and Hockey.)

Carson was - well, I guess a cow. He really caught me off guard when he walked into Gabby's school Halloween party with this cow head thing on.

A room mother perk - I got a picture of all her classmates and her teacher in their costumes.

I've decided during the month of November whenever I put out a post I need to enumerate 5 things I am grateful for.

1. My washing machine. It is a thing of beauty to not have to pound my family's clothes with a rock to get them clean.

2. The internet. I love keeping in touch with people down the block or 2000 miles away through this wonderous invention.

3. Coupons. I've saved quite a bit of cashola lately with those puppies.

4. My family. Of course.

5. The change in seasons. I have a need for each of the different season. The winter, so I get stuff done in the house. The spring, because I get inspired to clean. The summer, because I love to garden. The fall, the best of all of them, because I need the beautiful color and chill in the air to inspire me stop and appreciate the seasons in general.

This one's for Peggy

I love Peggy. She has a great personality and is a reliable source for a good laugh. I loved her 8's blog she wrote. I especially loved that she left it up to those who read her blog to decide if they wanted to do a post on the same thing WITHOUT the guilt or pressure to do so.

So Peggy, this one's for you . . . because I like making my own choices and feeling responsible for them emotionally.

8 T.V. Shows I like to watch. (Disclaimer: I don't watch T.V. - really, I don't. Though I did watch some of the election results last night to see what direction our country is headed. Woooooooo, Nelly! Anyway, I watch T.V. series on DVD's.)

1. Firefly
2. Angel
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Stargate
5. Stargate Atlantis (Currently viewing for the first time. We're on the second season.)
6. Bones (on my list to watch)
7. M*A*S*H
8.

8 things that happened to me yesterday:

1. I voted.
2. Went to Walmart.
3. Finished reading Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson - EXCELLENT!
4. Started reading Winter's Heart - 9th book of the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan.
5. Felt compelled to make homemade bread. Yummy.
6. Did general housework.
7. Kissed Sammy's neck. I love kissing her neck.
8. Gave Carp a backrub that didn't require anything else of me.

8 of my favorite places to eat:

1. At my kitchen table with every member of my family present.
2. My Mom's house.
3. Anywhere one or both of the Merryweathers are cooking the food.
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Kneaders
6. Any mexican food place minus Los Hermanos.
7. Olive Garden
8. Picnics during the summer.

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. Actually making up my mind as to what I'm buy/making for whom for Christmas.
2. New doors.
3. A Christmas tree in my living room. I love Christmas trees!
4. New Years Eve - we have a feast!
5. Finishing my hallway painting.
6. Starting my wool tree skirt - though it will probably take me several years to finish!
7. Finishing Carson and Nathan's quilts.
8. Finishing that #!^$%& OMDR stuff for the junior high.

8 things on my wish list:

1. Ipod shuffle to go walking with.
2. Straight hair.
3. New kitchen cabinets, flooring and appliances (does that count for 3 wishes?)
4. Overhead lighting in my living room.
5. Ford F250 quad cab v8 black with lift.
6. New walking shoes.
7. For The Hobbit to be released earlier like Twlight and not later like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
8. To get my door fixed on my van.

8 people I tag:

I'm taking a note from Peggy's book and leaving this up to you. It's really not that hard and it makes a fun post for others to read! So, if you're willing, you're tagged! If you don't feel up to it, that's okay too. I wouldn't have done this last week but this week gave me a little more time.

Have a Happy Day!