The World's Worst Family Blogger Returns!

Ok, so this is kind of unusual, but I am alive... just wasn't in the mood for blogging...for nearly 6 months! So, the last post I made I explained about our Summer vacation in 2012, and here is what happened the rest of the year!

After we came home from our vacation, a few big things happened: 1) the 2012 Olympics in London, England began, and 2) I finally broke down and got an iPhone.  This is one of the first pictures I took on the new phone, it's our dog, Buckley, watching women's beach volleyball.  He seems to be enjoying himself, right?

Chase and Gunnar started school in the middle of August.  Chase was 8 and in the 3rd grade, and Gunnar was 5 and started Kindergarten!

Chase lost another tooth!

Todd taught Gunnar how to tie his shoes!

Chase started Cub Scouts! Since we do Scouts through our church, he didn't start until he was 8, and went back and did his Bobcat and joined as a rank of Wolf.

Gunnar turned 6! ( I also had a birthday, but Gunnar gets the cake and celebration...)



I got the most fabulous new sewing machine as a birthday present!



I made this blanket for Gunnar.  I was taking sewing classes through Jenks Community Education, just trying to learn the basics before I got my machine, and I started making this blanket.  I finished it on my machine at home, and I was pretty thrilled with how this blanket turned out.

We had the annual "Trunk-or-Treat" at church, and the twins dressed as pirates, and the big boys dressed as ninjas for Halloween. And yes, the twins are eating my home made chili in this picture!

Gunnar learned how to ride a bike...in less than an hour! He received a lot of birthday money and wanted to buy himself a new bike, but my husband insisted that Gunnar learn how to ride a bike without training wheels before we went to get him a new one.  Well, he asked Chase to remove his training wheels, and he was zipping down the street in 5 minutes! Chase helped to guide him at first, and then he got the hang of it.  Needless to say, we went that night and he bought his fist "big boy" bike!

We had a craft day at church, and I made these really cute holiday decorations!



We went to Mesa, Arizona for Thanksgiving that year, and here is a picture of Chase enjoying one of his favorite places to eat: IN-N-OUT!



We let the boys decorate the Christmas tree...and all of the ornaments were on the bottom half of the tree!

My Dad and I took the twins to visit Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  They started crying, so I took over and made sure we had a decent "santa" picture.

Gunnar was hospitalized with pneumonia.  He got sick in the afternoon, and was admitted into the hospital that night.  When he gets sick, it happens super quickly, so we keep an eye on his health. He was there for 3 days, and hopefully, he won't have to return this year!

The afternoon Gunnar came home from the hospital, he lost his first tooth!

My Mom had a birthday, and my Grandma made her this lovely red/white checked afghan!

We celebrated Christmas, and my amazing mother-in-law made each of the boys a new blanket (which they have continued to use every single night since Christmas 2012!)

So, that was the rest of 2012 in a nutshell.  And by the way, HAPPY OCTOBER! I can't believe we're already in October! I will post more pictures this week to get you caught up on what we did in 2013, and I will do my best to keep up with the blog for the rest of the year!

Salt Lake City!

Hey, folks! Thanks for reading the blog! So, as I mentioned yesterday, we went to Aspen Grove and from there, it was almost a 2 hour trip up to Salt Lake City.  Well, it probably took us a little longer...I kind of had to see a doctor.  Not that kind of doctor, an eye doctor.  I somehow obtain a corneal abrasion in the last full day at Aspen Grove.  I'm not sure if it was because something hit my eye, or I rubbed my eye funny, or if I slept with my eyes open again.  Yes, I do that.  I sleep with my eyes open, and I think I might have slept with my eyes open and had my eye stick to the pillow.  Gross, right? Anyway, I saw a wonderful doctor in Lehi, Utah, got some prescription eye drops, and drove up to Salt Lake.  We met up with Todd's parents, and his two sisters and their families and had lunch before heading over to Temple Square. 

 I had been to Temple Square when I was 18, and my oh my how it has changed! We walked around the grounds of the Temple, and checked out the statues and fountains with the family.

 I asked Chase to take the time and read about each of the statues (a sneaky way of helping him practice his reading!)

 This is the old Tabernacle...hence the Mormon Tabernacle choir.  This place was so neat, because it has this amazing feature that no matter where you are in the Tabernacle, the sound resonates so clearly.  There is a series called "Music and the Spoken Word" that is also performed here (as a side note, the guy who announces for the series was a speaker that we saw at Aspen Grove!)

After we checked out the Tabernacle, we headed across the street to the Conference Center, where they hold General Conference every 6 months.  I love this picture of Chase and Gunnar in front of the glass fountain in the Conference Center!

 There are a lot of wonderful LDS art pieces on the different levels, and I was particularly fond of this stained glass window of Lehi's vision.

 In this hall are all of the portraits of the men who never became the Prophet of our church, but acted as 1st and 2nd counselors.  This portrait is of Parley P. Pratt, who happens to be Todd's great-great-great grandfather.  Back then in the church polygamy was still being practiced, and Todd's is related to him through Parley P. Pratt's last wife.  Todd, his Dad, and his late Grandmother McKnight all shared the same high hairline, and it was always attributed to the Gamble side of the family, however, after seeing this portrait, I'm dead certain that hairline goes all the way back to Parley P. Pratt!

 Our guide took us to the roof top terrace and we took this family picture in front of a photo mural meant to signify reflecting on your past family members. 

Here is another picture I took of the Temple.  I love how great it turned out- it actually made me feel like I am a decent photographer!

Anyway, that was our Summer vacation journey.  Tomorrow I'll be catching up on what happened in the

fall, and hopefully posting more pictures of the family as well.

July at Aspen Grove

Alright, I promised to catch up from back before the November blog post challenge, so here we go! After our family trip to Arizona, we headed up to Utah for a family reunion at Aspen Grove Family Camp just outside of Provo.  I always heard about driving up the canyon for years, and this time I finally got to experience it, and it was lovely. Well, it was raining, but I did get to see where Sundance is (ya know, Robert Redford and his film festival?), and Aspen Grove is just a little further up the mountain from it.  We checked in, and pretty quickly everyone started to show up and we all unloaded our cars within about a 20 minute window. 

This was our family style cabin that we stayed in- isn't the area just gorgeous? We were nestled in at the base of the mountains, with pine trees all over the place...and aspen trees...hence the name, right? Anyway, we had Todd's parents, 2 brothers and their families, 2 sisters and their families, our family, and Todd's aunt and uncle.  It was awesome!

The next day was Sunday, and since this was a BYU (aka Mormon) family camp, we had church services outside. OUTSIDE! Do you know how amazing it was to watch a butterfly float past me and have the sun shining bright as we were taking the sacrament and singing hymns? It was one of the most incredible sacrament meetings I've ever attended.  The big boys sat with the cousins, and the twins were running around with my older nieces (which, by the way, Mason and Parker picked out who was their "caretaker" and stuck to that cousin the entire week!)

That Sunday happened to be Chase's 8th Birthday. Before church, he opened up a set of scriptures that had his name engraved on them, and a case to hold them.  We had a party for him after church, and had cupcakes to celebrate.

We told the wonderful staff at Aspen Grove that he had a birthday, and they brought him up to the front of the cafeteria and sang "Happy Birthday" to him, and he got his own birthday cake from them! PS- the food there was AMAZING! And that cake was just as good as any one you would find at a nice bakery! We never went hungry there, let me tell you that!

Here's another one of me and my man! Todd totally impressed me while we were there.  He went there every year with his family as a kid, and I got a small glimpse of what Todd was like as a kid.  Plus, we had never been apart for more than a week in our entire marriage, so being away from each other for 2 weeks really made us appreciate being around each other again!

The best part of Aspen Grove is that the kids break off into age groups and are gone almost all day long doing crafts, hikes, and other fun things. 

Here is Gunnar enjoying a fun, albeit short trip up the climbing wall.  He made it half way up, then casually turned around and said, "OK, I'm done!" and was lowered down.

Here's Chase making his way up the wall with his group.  He almost made it to the top, but got scared and came down. 

 Here's Todd climbing up the ropes course.  The first part is a log with cutouts on either sides, and you have to work your way up it and jump over to this wall that had foot holds on it.

Once you reach the top of the foot hold wall, you move across wires that snake and wind around the course and put you back to the foot hold wall. And you repel down from there. 

I attempted to do this.  The cute young man who secured my harness became rather...uh...let's just say he had his hands on parts of me that only my husband is allowed to touch.  I kinda messed with him as he was tightening the straps across my chest; I looked at him and said, "Wow, you're not even going to buy me dinner first?" He turned the brightest shade of red, and I giggled, and Todd had a good laugh.  He was only 18 or 19, and still had braces on...how could I let that joke slip away?!  So I started up the log, however I got about 3 feet up, it started to sway in the wind, and I experienced fear like I've never known.  I demanded that I get down immediately.  My husband rocked this bad boy 3 times...I felt like such a loser!

Here is a great picture of Todd, his brothers, Dad, and brother-in-law after they all finished making wooden writing pens.  They used wood lathes and cut down blocks of wood and turned them into really lovely handmade pens.  This is another great feature of Aspen Grove- when your kids are in their groups having amazing adventures, you can do whatever you want! Our family spent a lot of time down in the craft hut painting pre-made items.  I painted a mini beehive and made a vase for my Mom.  If you don't really enjoy arts and crafts, no problem! You can play sports, hike, participate in different tournaments, visit the snack shack, or, if you're like me, you head back down the mountain to Provo to do a little shopping. 

And here is yet another example as to how awesome my husband is.  Todd, his sister and her husband and I decided we wanted to try archery.  They had a potato hanging from a wire string and if you hit the potato, you were known as a "Potato Slayer." So, what does Todd do? He hits the potato.  Yep, I married a winner!

Here's another cute picture that I liked.  It's Todd and his older brother with the twins, I just love the expressions on Mason and Parker's face!

Aspen Grove was almost a full week long and it was really wonderful.  We had a great time as a family, and it was really awesome to spend time with Todd's family.  I kept saying, "The next time we come back..." for several months after our trip, and we have tentatively set a date when the entire McKnight family will go back.  Not only was it a fun vacation, but the fact that it was a BYU run camp meant that there was a lot of different spiritual experiences to have as well.  I really loved it and hope our boys will have the same kind of wonderful experiences there that their Dad had at their age!

Tomorrow, I'm planning to write about our trip to Salt Lake City, Utah- tune in for more fun highlights from the end of our Summer vacation!

Yes, I am alive!

Hey, all.  Just like my title reads, yes, I am indeed alive.  I haven't posted since last year, nearly 6 months, but it's just been a super hectic year thus far.  I made a personal promise to myself to post every day this week, and kind of update what happened since I last posted...and I'm fairly certain I was supposed to update from before that as well.  Whoops! Tonight, I'm in a bit of pain; I cleaned my house today and somehow reactivated a nasty back issue.  I had really bad sciatic nerve pain on both sides of my back, hips and legs during my pregnancy with the twins, and today was a nasty reminder of what I experienced over 3 years ago.  Simply put- I'm just not in the mood to make a huge post.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be better and I can play catch up!

Until then, I'll catch ya on the flip side!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 30

Well, it's the last day of my month long posting.  It's been a good run, and I've enjoyed it.  So, here is the one thing I am most thankful for, above all else- my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our beloved Heavenly Father.  I was not raised in a religious home, I didn't attend church as a girl, but I knew there something out there that I needed.  When I was around 13 I began to seek out religion for myself.  I read a version of the Bible cover to cover, and I decided I wanted to attend church.  I went with different friends to their churches, I even went with my older sister to the church she attended in high school.  Catholic, Methodist, Southern Baptist... they were fine, but just not for me.  Then, I had a friend give me a Book of Mormon, and invite me to go to church with her.  As soon as I sat down, I knew I was home.  It wasn't always easy to be the only "Mormon" in my family, but I knew I was doing what was right.  Is it right for everyone? No.  It's not a faith or way of life for everyone, but it's what I know is true.  I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when I was 17, and I have never looked back.  I met Todd at church, we got married and were sealed in the Oklahoma City Temple for time and all eternity.  We've had 4 wonderful boys and each one was blessed and given a name, and our eldest son was baptized this past July.  I am proud to be a member of my church, I love it, honestly, and I don't know who or where I'd be if I hadn't found it.  I know I am where I am supposed to be, I know it to be true with all my heart and soul.  I am thankful for my Savior and Heavenly Father and for all that they have blessed me and my family with.

And with that, I end my 30 days of Being Thankful posts, and I look forward to doing it again next year! I promise things will get back to normal soon enough.  I'll recap about our Summer vacation, the boys starting school, and Halloween in the coming weeks. 

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 29

Well, I'm a day behind...again.  I ran out of time and by the time I realized I hadn't posted, it was already midnight and I was going to bed.  It was a good day, and the boys were in rare form.  The twins slept in until 9 am, and 2 of the 4 boys had wet sheets, so I had extra laundry to do yesterday.  I thought the twins wouldn't take a nap, because they slept in so late, but boy was I wrong! They took over an hour and a half long nap, which is pretty good for them during the week.  With all of the eating the day before and the great sleeping yesterday, I'm starting to think these 2 are about to have a growth spurt.  How much bigger can they get before they turn 3?  They already wear size 4T clothing!

 Before I went to pick the big boys up from school I got a phone call from the school nurse.  She said Gunnar had run into a pole on the playground and had a massive lump on his forehead.  Poor kid! She said he never cried, and they held an ice pack on it for 15 minutes, but the lump didn't go down.  Well, at least he'll have a great memory of it since today is school picture day!  The kids all played together in the backyard yesterday, which was pretty fun to see.  Usually, the big boys ride their bikes in the front and we let the twins play in the backyard, but they all ran around in the back together.  When the big boys decided they wanted to go ride their bikes and they left the twins, Parker came inside crying because he wanted his brothers to come back out and play.  It was pretty sweet to see, actually. 

So, what was I thankful for? My boys.  All of them. I love those affectionate little guys to pieces and would do anything for them.  They truly are my world at this stage in my life. Yes, it was sad that we didn't have any girls, but I've realized that there is only room for one big female personality in our home.  Essentially, there just wasn't any more room for a girl- especially if she would have been like me! I love the fact that I am the first love of my sons' lives.  I love that they all need me right now, and I love taking care of them.  I hope they listen to me when I give them dating advice, and that they find strong, independent, intelligent, spiritual women to marry someday.  So, to anyone reading this blog who has daughters, listen up! I am doing my best to raise my sons to be worthy of your daughters.  I am teaching them how to cook, clean, stay organized, be polite, and love the Lord.  And yes, I have explained to one son in particular that if he doesn't learn to respect me he may not respect his wife.  We're working on that one...but, the point is I'm raising my sons with the awareness that what I'm trying to teach them now will affect them the rest of their lives, including when they're married.  I think about my future daughters-in- law, and I pray for them and for their parents to raise them to the best of their ability so they will grow into the wonderful young women who will join my eternal family.  I may not have had any daughters of my own, but somewhere out there in the world are 4 little girls who will someday marry into my family, and I hope to be able to love them and treat them just as wonderfully as my mother-in-law treats me!

P.S. Welcome to our new reader in China!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 28

Ah, Wednesday...this week is almost over! It was another ho-hum day around here.  We just hung out around here, and it felt like I was feeding the twins all day long.  And then when the big boys came home, it was the same thing.  Even after they filled their bellies at dinner time, they all wanted more food after dinner! I'm thankful we have food enough to feed all of our hungry boys.  There are so many families that have a hard time feeding a small family, and we're especially blessed that we are able to feed our family of 6.  We don't have a huge family, but with a family of all boys, I know I'll have to go back to work just to supplement the food bill.  I'm just so blessed that right now our family can survive with me staying home with the twins and only Todd working.  I know we were not always so fortunate, so this is something I deeply appreciate at this time. 

Only 2 more days of posting, people! I had better think of more things to be thankful for!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 27

Today I'm thankful for some of the cute things my twins say/do during the day.  This morning, when I was dropping Chase off at his building, I said, "Goodbye, Pumpkin! Have a great day! Love you!" And he told me he loved me, and he told the twins goodbye.  As soon as he shut the door, I hear Mason say, "Bye, Punkn Pie!" It was just too cute! Then, I gave the twins some M&M candies, and Parker found some more and brought them to me asking me to open the package.  I explained that Nana (that's what the boys call my Mom) brought them for Chase and Gunnar as well, and I asked him if he thought he should share them with his big brothers.  He looked right at me and said, "No, MINE!" They constantly keep me entertained and I am just so fortunate that I get to stay home with them all day.  I love my twiny twin twins!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 26

Well, today was my laundry day and BOY it was a doozy! I did laundry all day long.  I did not, however, put away said laundry.  There is always tomorrow for that.  I'm super thankful for an electric washing machine, and an electric dryer.  I'm also thankful for Tide liquid detergent and Downy liquid fabric softener- they make our clothing smell like perfection! So, I did a little bit of Christmas shopping today.  My Dad was kind enough to watch the boys while I ran out for an hour or so, and I'm thankful to have most of my shopping done.  Let's see, what else am I thankful for this Monday? Oh! I'm thankful for the guy who comes to spray my house for ants, because they just don't seem to be dead yet, but at least they'll be out of my house now.  I'm thankful for staying busy all day long, and afternoon naps.  I'm also thankful for the wonderful dinner we had tonight- roast beef and carrots (that simmered in a crock pot all day,) mashed potatoes, corn, and gravy.  YUM-O!  And right now, at this exact minute, I'm thankful for Jimmy Fallon and bedtime.  Goodnight, y'all!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 25

It's another lazy Sunday around our house, and it's going to be a busy evening getting everything ready for the big boys to go back to school.  I've also vowed to stay up late and watch as many shows as I can on the DVR.  It's going to be a busy week...I can feel it.  So, tonight I'm thankful for long Sunday naps with the twins, and finding the motivation to get my house back in order after coming home from vacation.  And bedtime for children.  I'm SO thankful for that!

P.S. Hello and welcome to our new reader in France!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 24

I am so bloody tired! We went to bed late last night, and we were up early to fly home from Arizona.  The boys were wonderful on the plane, and even though it's been a "go-go-go" type of day, we didn't slow down when we got home.  My Dad dropped us off at home, and we basically did a quick stock of what was in the house, and headed out to Sam's Club for some shopping.  We hadn't had a proper lunch and only ate snacks on the airplane, so everyone was a bit hungry.  Thankfully, Sam's Club had a lot of their sample carts out tonight for snacks.  So, after we shopped our tails off, we unloaded our groceries and headed to my parents' house for dinner.  Then, we came home and put the kids to bed.  Now, we're trying to watch as many shows on our DVR before we fall asleep. 

Tonight I'm thankful for laptops with DVD players that keep my kids quiet on a plane, I'm thankful for my Dad's home made Gumbo, I'm thankful I had such a wonderful week with my McKnight family out in Arizona, but I'm thankful to back in Oklahoma.  Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 23

So, as I mentioned previously, yesterday was Thanksgiving.  So, what was today? BLACK FRIDAY! Normally, people would be getting up at the crack of dawn or earlier to go find amazing at retail stores.  In the past I have participated in the shopping madness, but today was different.  I checked the ads and found absolutely nothing we needed, and since we're traveling it's not like we could have bought a whole bunch of stuff anyway.  Well, I take that back, Todd went out last night when some of the stores were open.  I mentioned to his mother that he needed some nicer clothing for work, and she ended up taking all of her sons and a grandson shopping at 10:30pm.  They didn't make it home until nearly 1am, but they found some great deals and brought home some really handsome clothing.  So today, all of the girls took a trip to the nail salon and we had manicures and pedicures.  Do you know how long it's been since I've been pampered like that? I haven't had a pedicure since I was pregnant with the twins, and I haven't had a manicure since I was married 12 years ago! I'm thankful for the wonderful nail techs who worked on my feet and hands, because trust me, after so many years of not having a pedicure or a manicure, it took a long time to get my hands and feet in better shape! I'm quite proud of my nails; they look so pretty and sparkle with all of the glittery polish that is layered on them.  They took great care of all of us at the salon, and I am VERY thankful to my wonderful mother-in-law and all of my sisters-in-law and nieces for that fun bonding time.  Plus, I'm thankful I had the opportunity to get out of the house and was able to be pampered a little bit.  I very rarely do those kinds of things for myself, because I full on believe that if I leave the house it will fall down without me there.  I know it won't really happen, but I also feel weird spending money on myself when I know I can use the money to take care of the boys or get them things they need.  So, here's to being pampered along side my McKnight sisters! It was a much deserved and much needed trip to the salon!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 22

I know, I'm a day behind, but yesterday I was very thankful for my family.  I would say "my husband's family," but I think they are much more to me than just "in-laws" and I am so glad we are able to have everyone here to spend time together as a family! We ate wonderful foods all day long, and while the boys had gone out to do some Black Friday shopping, the girls had their very own game of "May I," which was so much fun.  We got to bed late, but all in all, Thanksgiving was pretty wonderful.  And yes, I missed being with my parents and siblings back home, and I missed all of the wonderful food there, but I know I'll get to eat it again at Christmas. All this month I've been posting about what I'm thankful for, when really I need to be thankful to the individuals who made this "thankful" time of year possible- the Pilgrims.  They set out for a new land where they could practice their religion and not be persecuted for it.  They faced trials and hardships in their lives like I have never seen or experienced, yet they were willing to take the risk in order to raise their families in a land of freedom.  I am thankful for those few who helped establish a colony, for those brave souls who left everything behind to start over, and for those willing to befriend them and teach them how to survive off their new land.  Why am I so thankful? Because they laid the foundation for what the United States of America was to become to the eyes of everyone who set foot on her shores- a land of freedom.  And for that, I am most thankful.

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 21

OK, this is going to be short.  Today I am thankful I had the chance to enjoy some of my favorite things in Arizona- 1) beautiful weather, 2) my wonderful in-laws, 3) Cafe Rio.  I'd also like to add I had a really fun time hanging out with my sister-in-law today.  We went to see the new "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II" in the theater, and it was SO much better than any of the other movies.  Too bad it took 4 movies for them to figure out how to make the best one. She and I then ate lunch together, and came home and hung out before we helped make dinner for the family.  Aren't big family dinners great?  It's been a fun and very busy day, and even though we are going non-stop when we visit, my favorite part of the vacation has yet to happen.  "May I," the McKnight family's favorite card game, is being played tonight.  Todd and I only play with his family, and that only happens about 2 times a year.  So, I'm thankful we are going to play tonight, because it's a lot of fun!

P.S. Grandma and Grandpa! I'm so sorry I haven't emailed you! I know you're reading the blog, just know that I love you and will email you soon!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 20

OK, so I'm a day behind.  We did some holiday traveling yesterday, and while the kids were amazing during our flights, we were all exhausted by the time we reached our destination.  The best part of our day? Eating a delicious cheeseburger at In-N-Out! The worst part of the day? Trying to sleep with both twins in our room.  Mason slept like a champ, but Parker was hungry and kept crying until I finally asked Todd to get him some cheese at around 2:30 am (4:30 am Tulsa time.)  So what was I thankful for? I'm thankful my boys were so great on our flight, and I'm thankful for our reason to travel- to visit our wonderful family.  We've been looking forward to this trip for a while, and we're all really happy to be here! And I'm also thankful that my parents are dog sitting Buckley for us, and we have friends house sitting for us!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 19

Dude...what a day! So, when I know I have a lot to do in preparation for something, I get overwhelmed and I shut down.  Case in point, today I had a massive list of things to do to get ready for this week, and I just couldn't do anything.  It wasn't like my case of the "F-its" last week, my brain was just mush.  I get really tired when that happens, too.  My poor husband came home for lunch and I'm pretty sure he had never seen me this bad, because he had to make a list for me and gave me a deadline as to when everything had to be completed.  He went back to work and I put the twins down for nap...and I fell asleep as well.  We went and picked up the big boys from school and then I came home and busted my tail getting everything I could done before Todd got home.  I had the boys pick up toys while I cleaned bathrooms and did laundry.  I didn't get everything finished, so I'll get everything done as quickly as possible in the morning and relax a bit before nap time.  So what am I thankful for? I'm thankful for the days when I am highly motivated to get things done.  I am also thankful when my sons listen to me and do what I ask them to do, and a husband who can be my cheerleader and help get me motivated when I need it the most.  Now, I'd better go get some sleep, because I tomorrow is going to be a doozy of a day! Nighty night, friends!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 18

WHOOPS! I was supposed to post yesterday, but I forgot! My bad.  Any who, yesterday I was thankful it was a peaceful Sunday.  Usually, Sundays are THE most hectic day in my world.  I have to get 4 boys ready for church,  then try to corral them at church, and I run the nursery at church.  The nursery can be rather chaotic with 13 children, but it is fun and I do love each and everyone one of those little children (even the ones that swear!) So, my husband made the executive decision to stay home with all 4 boys and I went to church on my own, which is something I haven't done in ages.  It was quiet in the nursery as well, because we only had 7 kids there for the whole 2 hours.  We had a lesson on how we can be thankful, and the kids munched on popcorn while I talked about the very first Thanksgiving.  When I came home, Todd had fed the boys breakfast and lunch, cleaned up the dishes, and pretty much took care of me and was super sweet all day.  I asked who he was, because this is not how Todd usually acts on Sundays.  Any who, it was a very relaxing Sunday and I very much appreciated how low key it was. 

P.S. Hello and welcome to our new readers in the U.K.!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 17

Dude.  It's been a seriously long day.  My nephew stayed the night last night (my brother and I will swap kids occasionally) and I figured since the boys stayed up late they wouldn't get up early.  Wrong.  Well, they were all up by 8am, and after we got everyone dressed and cleaned up the house we were out the door.  I took them to get donuts, and then we dropped off my nephew and picked up Gunnar and headed to my parents house.  It's getting cold out and a few of my boys needed coats, so I asked my Mom if she would ride up to Bartlesville with me to go to the Gap Outlet.  The big boys stayed home with my Dad while my Mom, the twins and I made the trip up to Bartlesville. I had a $40 off coupon from previously using my Gap Card, a 20% off coupon, and it happened to be a big sale as well.  So, I scooped up the coats I came for, and also managed to find 3 sweaters for myself.   How much did they cost? Well, the coats were less than $15 a piece and my sweaters were less than $8! How awesome is that?! We came home and even though it was late, I forced the twins to take a nap.  By around 6pm we had a house full of crabby kids, so we ate, got them bathed, and into bed.  I headed out to get groceries and have been doing laundry since I've been home.  So, yeah, I'm exhausted and I'm ready for bed, and it has taken me nearly an hour to write this post! I am thankful to have saved so much money (over $230!) today and that I got to spend some time with my Mom in the car.  Now, I'm going to bed.

P.S. Thanks to our new reader in Sweden!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 16

Ahhhhhh, Friday.  I had plans to go do some Christmas crafts up at church with the wonderful ladies in the Relief Society.  I was planning on taking the twins, but I realized that I didn't want to hassle with the interruptions that would happen with those two running around.  So, I called their favorite babysitter- my Dad.  I left the boys at home with him and headed up to church.  The R.S. President and a member of the presidency had EVERYTHING set up perfectly and all the crafts were perfectly separated out for each person.  I sat down and started chatting as I started painting my wooden blocks, and then after a few blocks and letters, I realized I had shutdown and was solely focused and pushing out my crafts.  So, sorry if I acted weird offended anyone by not talking to them. After 2 hours of painting I still hadn't finished, but I had to leave to come home for lunch.  Luckily, I had all the supplies at home to finish what I needed to do, and I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out.  My biggest problem with doing crafts is that I'm a perfectionist, and I expect my finished product to look exactly like the model.  So, on this late Friday night, I'm thankful for all the wonderful people who helped put on the Christmas craft event at church, and for all the ladies who came and participated.  I am not a person to come up with crafts on my own, so thanks for whomever came up with the wonderful ideas for the crafts.  Hooray for crafts!

30 Days of Being Thankful- Day 15

Well, it was a more productive day.  After totally losing my cool over a ridiculous woman who nearly hit my car this morning in the drop off line at school, I came home and angrily cleaned my house.  I vacuumed, mopped, cleaned the kitchen, and did 4 loads of laundry...before noon.  I also stayed in a bad mood for the rest of the day...which didn't sit well with my husband.  He was kind enough to bring home lunch for us, but the pleasantries stopped there.  Between getting the kids in the car to pick up the big boys, I started texting with Todd's little sister (who I just adore) and we chatted about our Thanksgiving plans.  She brought her special brand of sunshine to my cloudy day, and I appreciated it thoroughly. So, after I got the kids home from school, Chase started giving me major attitude.  I didn't have the right snacks in the house, I never let him do anything he wanted to do, I was treating him like a baby- ya know, 8 year old boy stuff.  So, I fixed Gunnar a hot chocolate, and I asked Chase if wanted one as well.  I brought it to him, and he spilled it all over the laptop, and he promised me that he cleaned it up.  I fixed dinner, and just as I was about to sit down and eat, I discovered a massive stain on the carpet and hot chocolate under my laptop.  I yelled and made him clean it up, then went back and had to clean it up some more.  Needless to say, after being angry for what seemed like all day, I needed a break.  Luckily, my sister-in-law here in town and I had already made plans to go to The Vintage Pearl's holiday open house at their new location.  It was such a nice event, and I ordered a necklace I had wanted for about a year.  Also, it was really great to get out of the house for a while.  We ended up staying out until 10 (on a school night, no less!) and it was just really good to hang out with her and talk. 

So, after that little rant, today I am thankful for sisters-in-law. I have 5 of them, and each one is different and unique in their own special way, and I love them all!  They all offer their own "brand" of fun and happiness that I fully appreciate, and I enjoy spending time with all of them.  Thank you, sisters and sisters-in-law of my husband and wife of my brother, you all make me smile and I needed that today. 

P.S. Thanks to everyone in the U.S.A., Germany and Russia that are reading the blog, but now we can thank our new friends in Israel and South Korea!