#365

Wow. For the last year, I have ended my night with a post. Sometimes they were terribly boring. Sometimes they were hard to write. And sometimes I offended people.  No matter what, I stuck to my plan. And here we are, 365 days later, at the end of this road. 

This last year had been amazingly great at times. Other times, it has been gut wrenchingly hard. I have learned a lot about myself and the people I surround myself with. And I have proven, to myself and anyone interested in my determination, that I can accomplish a goal I set for myself. 

I didn't really know what to expect when I started this. I just knew I was going to write something every night. Which sounds easy enough. But the actual doing it was not easy. There were many times when it was hard. And two or three times I seriously considered quitting. 

But I kept on going. Probably because I am too stubborn for my own good. And, thank goodness I did. Because this has taught me so much. 

I have something to say. Whether people want to hear it or not is another matter! But the only person that is allowed to shut me up is me. 

And I am pretty good at sticking to my goals.

This blog was for me and me alone. It was so I could feel like I had accomplished something. It was to get myself in to the habit of writing every day. Which, I did!

Tomorrow, I will wake up as a 25 year old. Though I already feel like I am 35. I will do my every day stuff, taking care of the girls and the house. 

And tomorrow be for I go to bed, I will sit down and write. Hopefully something fun. 

So thanks, everyone, for going through the past year with me. Thank you for being a part of my day, or taking the time to read about my day. 

Have a good year. 

#364

I remember my first post being about spening the day at the clinic with my sick girls. Almost exactly a year ago, we did the same think as today. With a few differences.

We went to the library for story time this morning. Even though it was raining and cold, and I just wanted to sit on the counch in my pj's. After that, we went to the bank, followed by Walmart. I wanted to get as much done today as possible. I don't want to go out tomorrow. The weather is yucky, and there is a chance for snow.

After lunch, we headed to the clinic. After over two hours, we headed home with 6 different prescriptions for two girls with double ear infections/sinus infections. Which made me feel guilty. I always wait to take my girls to the dr, instead of rushing there at the first sign of illness. Which generally means, my daughters suffer for a while before I take them to the dr. But I don't like to be one of those crazy mommy's that is scared of their child having a sniffle. Oh, the joys of questioning your every move!

The weather, our busy day, and the general achiness that I feel all came together to make me exhausted. P asked to go to bed early, and K thought it was a great idea. So at 6:30 they went to sleep and I lay down on the couch with J. And I woke up around 7:30 to J telling me to go to bed. Yep, I was asleep before my daughters normal bedtime.

And I still would be asleep if it wasn't for my bladder. Good thing I woke up though, or I would have missed telling everyone about my mundane day!

Now, back to sleep for this tired girl.

#363

As far as Sundays go, today was good. 

The girls weren't feeling so great and were acting up during Mass. I wasn't feeling so great, so I had no patience and we left early. 

We decorated our Christmas tree, set out our nativity and Advent wreath. The girls loved it all. Last year they were scared of the tree, but this year they decorated it. Well, they decorated the bottom half! It looks cute and they had fun. J had fun helping them, he is such a good dad. 

After dinner, we played Candyland. This was our first time with board games. They were not thrilled with everyone bring on different spots. Their favorite was when we were all grouped together. Silly girls don't have the competitive spirit yet. But they had a blast once they got the hang of it all. 

Today was not my best day in the patience department. So after the chicks went to sleep, I lazed on the couch with a couple chocolate chip cookies. Which really helped! And when J came to sit with me, I was in a way better mood and we were able to have a few laughs. 

Great way to end a day. 

#362

Today is a sad day for my family. My sister J's family dog died. Whiskey was 13 years old. A huge part of our family. And one of the greatest dogs in the world. When people would talk about the horrible Pit Bull breed, she was my example of the amazing creatures they are. That dog loved with her every cell, and was loved so much in return. We will all miss her so much. Prayers, especially for my nieces and nephew who lost their best friend. 

Before I received the bad news, we had a good day. J and I took the girls to spend their birthday money from J's grandparents. We went to the crazy land of Toys R Us. P immediately decided she wanted the box of 6 dress up shoes. K thought it was a great idea as well. We walked through the whole store, then back to the dress up stuff. We got the shoes, and new umbrellas- Rapunzel and Tinkerbell. It is currently raining, so hopefully it will continue into the morning so they can use their new presents. 

Hobby Lobby was having a great sale. I went in to get plain glass ornaments for a project. And we walked out with them plus 2 wooden signs and 4 metal signs for our house. Everything we bought was 50% off!

3 signs were for the girls' room. They say "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight", "Sunshine, you are my sunshine!", and "I found my prince... I call him Daddy" I think we are going to save them for Christmas presents. 

The other signs say "Do one thing everyday that makes you happy", "May the Lord bless you, keep you, and give you peace", and "In our house: We do second chances, we say prayers, we do I'm sorry's, we do loud really well, we give hugs, we do love, we are family" I love them! Now to decide where they belong...

We had planned to decorate for Christmas today. J even got everything from the shed. But we never got around to it. The girls didn't take a nap because we were out shopping. And they are both getting pretty yucky- looks like we will be going to the clinic on Monday. So we took it easy and played with their new shoes. Around 6, K brought me her pj's because she was ready for bed. 

So tomorrow, the first Sunday of Advent, we will deck the house in pretty things. While we listen to Christmas music. 

I wish my P could sleep better. Every night this week she has been waking up with a cough and a cry. And now K is joining in. 

#361

Migraine Holly, vomiting and coughing P, sensitive and snotty K, and sore throat J. That was our family today!

I went to bed with a migraine, had a horrible night sleep with cray dreams, and woke up with a migraine. Thankfully, J let me sleep in super late. But he woke me up so we could take the girls to the movies as promised. My sister gave them money for their birthday to go to the movies. So to Happy Feet 2 we went.

The chicks loved the movie. Cute penguins, singing and dancing- what more do you need? It really was cute and the girls sat still for the whole movie. They ate popcorn and had juice. Everyone was happy.

Then, on the ride home, P got upset and was coughing. two seconds before we pulled into our driveway, she vomited. A lot. And then a lot more. So we got the girls in the house, stripped them down, threw them in the bath. Stripped the carseat down, threw what we could in the washer and hosed off the rest. I am thinking the popcorn + coughing/phlegm were the vomit culprits. But if her cough and snot (which she has shared with her sister) don't ease up, a trip to the dr might be in order.

Since we were all feeling yucky in one way or another, the evening was spent in pj's with a new but forgotten present. J and I bought the girls dry erase preschool books. Letter, number, and shape tracing. And all on dry erase, so they can be practiced a million times without murdering a trillion trees. The girls loved their new books. We worked on letters, and a little on numbers. They were so excited to trace the letters and get an idea of how to write them. J and I were the proud parents cheering on their girls. It was a great thing to watch, and I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.

#360

Part of my brain has a hard time enjoying thanksgiving. If you let yourself think about it too much, it becomes a bit depressing. 'The first Thanksgiving' was all about helping one another. The natives of this land took the newly arrived immigrants under their protection. The new people were taught how to live, grow food, and stay alive in this strange land. Bonds were formed. And at the end of the harvesting season, the abundance of their laboratory were shared. Thanks was given in earnest. 

As time marched on, as it does, the natives and teachers were pushed back farther from their land and eventually farther from this world. While the immigrants became the natives. Every year they remembered their good fortune and gave thanks. But never thanked the people that taught their ancestors to survive. 

Like I said, it can be depressing if you think about it to much. 

This day, and what it has transformed in to is not all bad. It is actually pretty great when you celebrate it in thanks. Which is what we tried to do at our house. 

I cooked and baked a great meal. My daughters played. My husband cleaned the house so it looked great for our guests. My dogs waited for scraps they didn't get, and barked at anyone who dared to walk by our house. 

When our friends arrived, we talked and played and finished the preparations for a great meal. We said Grace. We ate. And then we talked and played some more. 

I really an thankful for my life and everything in it. I have an amazing family, friends who mean so much to me, health, love, and the promise that I will always be loved by our Father. 

What more could I need?

Well... Honestly I could use a migraine free life. That bastard is killing my thankful mood at the moment. 

#359

This morning was hard. P had a horrible night. She and I were awake after 2 am because she was upset. I think she had a bad dream and some gunk in her chest, which combined to give her a fear of going back to sleep. Do we cuddled on the couch for a couple hours. And when I thought it was safe, I put her back in her bed with extra good night-sweet dreams kisses. Then I fell into my bed and a sweet comatose sleep. For what felt like five minutes. 

The girls were up before 7. And even though she had less than 9 hours of consecutive sleep (she usually gets close to 12) P was in a great mood and as chipper as could be. Me, not so much. So I turned on 'the dragon movie' and let Hiccup and Toothless entertain my daughters while I relaxed. 

This evening I began baking. And tomorrow I will cook a killer Thanksgiving meal and bake some more. But first, let me share a little backstory. 

Christmas 2007, Jacob had just gotten home from a deployment. Really, he had been home for a little over 24 hours. And I wanted to make him a pecan pie, because e loves them. And, you might have heard, I like to bake. So I got a recipe and made my first pecan pie. 

It was horrible. I think that was the first and only time I have screwed up so bad that I threw out something I had baked. I felt like a total failure- for the completely ruined pie, and for looking like a fool in front of my husband whom I had not seen in 15 months. Bad, bad memory. 

This evening, I made pecan pie bars. My first step back into the pecan pie ring since that first fail. I was nervous. I almost didn't make them. One doesn't easily forget that kind of screw up.

But, my friends, my house smells amazing. The bars are cooling on the counter. And they look pretty. Tomorrow will be the true test, when they are cut and tasted. But tonight I will go to sleep feeling like I conquered that damn pie. 

Which is a great way to feel on the eve of a holiday for thanks.