Wish

I found the most beautiful little dresses today. With 4 girls how can I not always be looking for something different. www.chasing-fireflies.com

I was actually trying to find a fabulous Valentines dress or skirt I could make and this is what I found.
But I would need a small fortune to outfit the girls. So for now I will stick to the basic Gap tees and jeans.

I made it to District

Opps....I mean Madison made it to District Science Fair.

Did I mention I hate projects that are really take home projects for the parents.

Actually Madison did a lot of the work...but Mom had to put her decorative touches on the board. I guess I really caught their attention and she zoomed passed the classroom level, onto the school wide level and now to district.

Madison really does know her stuff though. What 3 life support systems a flower needs...what her controls were...what her variables were...what is a biocide and acidfier.

So heres to the ROSE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. If only I could find one for almost 38 year old mommies, I would be rich.

Oh by the way, the winner of the roses was the combination of water, bleach and Sprite. 3cups water, 1 cup Sprite, 1/4 tsp Bleach. The roses lasted the longest. Who knew.

Yin and Yang

And they said it wouldn't last....well it's been 14 years of blissful marriage. Never a fight or ill word spoken. Never a complaint or negative thought. Always positive and uplifting.

But seriously...it's definitely been a roller coaster ride over the last 14 years...having some great thrills but also the lowest of lows together.

But we have survived them all.

Job changes, 5 pregnancies and 5 babies, MBA schooling, Death of a Child, Busy church callings, New Job, HUGE MOVE, new state, new life.

They say if it doesn't kill you...it will make you stronger.

Some days I know that is true and some days I wonder if they really have any clue.

But I have learned that each of us are very different and handle the stressors of life extremely different.

Our challenges have made us each stronger in different ways and we have learned to allow each other to be different and not expect the same reactions.

Otherwise we would have given up long ago.

We have learned the true meaning of "enduring to the end".

Some days is prettier than others on how we are enduring.

But each day is a new day...full of choices on how we will allow the trails to affect us...how we will treat each other.

And hopefully today is better than yesterday.

So hubby thanks for the all the ups of the last 14 years of marriage and thanks for patiently loving me through all of the lows.

From the outside we are the Yin and the Yang of marriage.

But it works..our differences have helped balance the other out.

Loves and snuggles to you.

Candy Anyone

Poor Riley gets the shaft on birthdays. I promised her a party after Christmas...she seemed okay with the family party the day of her birthday and a "friend" party after.

So as promised I held up my end of the bargin. The week after Christmas we invited a few friends over for a Candy land Celebration party. I had all intentions of going all out on the fun activities and games...but ended up just setting a cute table and having 2 craft activites and then letting them run amuck for the next hour.

The kids didn't care..they just kept coming back for more candy...go figure.

Out of starburst, whirly lollipops, gumballs, skittles, candy canes, rock candy pops, swirl pops, candy rings, Dots, twizzlers, and candy necklaces....Guess what their favorite was????

Rock Candy Pops. I would have never guessed that...I thought maybe the big whrily lollipops...but the old fashioned rock candy sticks won. Notice all 3 kids clutching them in their hot sticky hands. I found the empty sticks stuck all over my house later.

And this is how Riley felt about her birthday party. She couldn't keep the cheesy grin off her face all day. But I did confuse her a little with a family birthday party the week before and then a friend party the next week...because all day she kept going around saying she was now 5 b/c her 4 year old party was last week.

I guess she is counting in the number of cakes and not years. Thank goodness they don't count my age like that...I would be 985 cakes old. YUMMO!!

Humor Me

I guess like all...we tend to reflect on a another year passed and another year upcoming. So humor me as I reflect....

• 2008 was our first full year in Utah. We didn't buy sleds and snow toys for the kids last Christmas...becuase I wasn't sure I was staying. But I have made it a full year...with less complaints as the year went on and we bought sleds for the kids this Christmas. I guess we are here a while.
• I learned to slow WAY down and enjoy the things around me more. Things move much slower here...and it took a good 6 months to get the "Kingwood mentality" pushed back a little. No one cares if I go to school in my sweats and no make-up. Less pressure to have your kids in tons of extra ciricular things. My child can still be a soccer player, on swim team, and the dance squad, or cheerleader even though they didn't start lessons at age 3.
• 2008 still didn't bring close friends here...just the ones I see occassionally in passing and then on Sundays at church...but it has allowed me to figure out ways to fill my own time and not rely on others for escape. It has also made me treasure the ones I had in the past. Your Christmas cards were little treasures to me. I pinned them all up on my memo board to remind us of all our sweet connections. And they are still there.
  
• 2008 I still don't have the body I imagine I could have..I still buy the new exercise video and think that will do it...or think I will stick with a new walking program...or totally swear off carbs forever...but last night as I was reading my new Shape magazine (yes I still dream) I had a breakthrough. in the words of one reader who wrote in..."I am grateful for a body that could bear 5 children and still turn my husbands head." It will never be perfect but my hubby loves me as much as he did when my tummy was flat and my hips were narrow.
• 2009 will bring a more prosperous year. A year more prosperous in friends, a year more prosperous in heathly living, a year more financial fit (as I shop less and budget more), a year that I will be more prosperous in the things I want to do.

HUGS TO YOU ALL! and heres to the best 2009 for you!