Family Update

Archer is home!!!  He spent the past week at scout camp.  I missed him a lot!  The house just doesn't feel right when one of the kids is missing.  The kids and I kept busy during the week with bowling, movies, grandma's house, and a Rapids game.  We had a really good time, but everything felt slightly off.  Picasso had a sleepover in the girls room, they set up the rollaway bed for him and had movie nights every night.  Of course Archer got home two hours early.  I was at a photo shoot and my sweetheart was with the other kids at Picasso's baseball game.  Instead of heading to the baseball game I went home to get my boy.  One of the first things that needed to be  done was get that boy a shower!  He had a fantastic time at camp, but came home smelling a bit rank.  His younger siblings were so excited that he was home!  That evening I took him out on a mother-son date to see Red 2 and dinner at the Alamo Drafthouse.  We had a great time and both laughed a lot during the movie.  I love that he is old enough to be a movie buddy for me!  All the kids love seeing movies, but Archer is old enough to see more grown-up type movies.  Now that he is home he is back to pet sitting, baby sitting, and working on his rank advancement for scouts.

Princess had been saving up her money all year to buy  an American Girl doll.  Let's just say those suckers are pricey!  Angel has one that she got for Christmas a couple years ago.  Santa almost cried that year.  Not really, but Santa was counting pennies to see if he could pay the elves!  A friend of mine was selling a brand new, still in box, American Girl doll for $70.  Thirty dollars off in store price!  My friend agreed to hold onto the doll for a couple weeks so Princess could get enough money together.  Princess didn't quite have enough money, but another friend hired her as a "mommy's helper" to come play with her kids so she could get some things done at home.  She finally had enough money, so the time had come.  She took her money and purchased her doll.  She named her Comet.  I am Comet's grandma or so I've been told.  I'm way too young to be a grandma.  Every night since when Princess gets hugs and kisses for bed, so does Comet.  Comet came to church with us too.  I am glad that she loves her doll so much.  She worked hard to get her!

Picasso has his last baseball game this week.  It has been a fun, but rough season for him.  He has never played before, but I think he has the makings of being a really good player.  We just need to get past the flinching when a pitch is coming.  He'll get there though.  He's worked really hard to be the best that he can be for his first season.  I hope he gives it another go next season!  I'm not sure if he will.  If he chooses not to, that is okay too.  He is a great kid no matter what.  He can keep drawing and being artistic instead if that is what he chooses to do.  As long as he keeps making me laugh, we are all good. 

Angel has been loving her kindle.  That girl is engrossed in it most days.  I worry that she spends too much time listening to her books and not reading them, but I know she does still read.  Her daddy loves his audiobooks, so that obviously has rubbed off.  We are going to be looking into surgery on her eye.  With her amblyopia she still gets a lot of eye turn when she is tired.  The surgery would tighten that up and help a lot with the eye turn and hopefully make it easier on her so she doesn't have to work quite so hard to keep that eye in place.  She amazes me every day with how hard she works at fighting her disability.  I only hope that someday I can be as strong as she is!

So that's us in a nutshell for now.  We are moving along, a day at a time.  Some days are crazy, some are "boring", some are busy, but they are always full of love.

Recovery and Sisters

There are a few things that you should not do while recovering from foot surgery. 

• Shovel wet, heavy snow.  Duh right?  It's wet and heavy and requires much pressure put on your foot.  Yet it seemed to really matter that I get the driveway shoveled before dark so that when we went to church the next day it would be ready to go.  Why didn't my sweet husband or kids do it?  My sweetheart has a bad back which was seizing up after shoveling three times that day already.  Archer was out sledding with friends and I did not want my younger ones out in the dwindling light shoveling really wet, heavy snow.
• Volunteering for things that require standing for long periods of time.  Especially soon after shoveling wet, heavy snow.  I just cannot say no when help is need.  When the help is needed with book fair, well sign me up!  Twice!  Just for good measure.  I do love book fair.  The second day I was able to sit a good chunk of it, so that was good.
• Do something that requires repeated trips up and down stairs, after shoveling wet, heavy snow and standing for long periods of time.  It hurts, a lot, and probably shouldn't be done.

Sounds like a no brainer right?  Not so much, unfortunately.  I think I have set myself back at least a month in my recovery, if not longer.  I will have to do better as I really need to not be in so much pain all the time.  I see my doctor again in a week and a half, so we will see how things stand at that point.  Fingers crossed!

In other news, my sisters and their kids are coming out for Spring Break!  We are all looking forward to that.  The kids are all really close in age, so really enjoy getting to spend some time with each other.  They have not seen each other since last summer and miss each other.  I miss my sisters too.  We are very different in many ways, but they are my sisters and I love them dearly.  It will be great to spend some time catching up with them and seeing my younger sister's cute baby belly.  So much fun in store!

Post Surgery Catch Up

Been a bit since I've blogged.  Having my surgery threw everything for a loop for awhile.  It is all getting back to normal though, so it's time to get back to putting my thoughts out there.  :)

Things went well with my foot surgery.  I'm still in recovery mode, but hoping that in the end the pain will be gone.  It does seem to be getting better, so I am very hopeful!  I can almost walk down stairs like a normal person.  Stairs are still one of the most painful things to navigate.  That and standing for longer than 5-10 minutes in one place.  It no longer hurts just to put shoes on, so I take that as a good sign.  I have to say that I am very grateful for my sweet husband and my kids throughout my recovery.  They have taken such good care of me and each other. 

Christmas went well.  Thanks to one of my bff's and my little sis I was able to get all the presents wrapped.  The kids all loved their presents and had a great time putting together all of their Legos.  We have Middle Earth in Legos at our house!  They have had a blast playing with them and I love it.  My hubby got me Merry Christmas Alex Cross by James Patterson, a sketch book, and a drawing kit.  I haven't broken them out yet, but I am really looking forward to it!  I haven't drawn in a while and I miss it.  My mom gave me two notebooks full of family history stuff.  One of the coolest presents ever!  I am enjoying the chance to go through them and read about my ancestors.

Angel had to do a family history project for school.  The notebooks my mom gave me were a big help!  Angel put a lot of work into her project and got the highest grade possible on it.  She learned a lot about her grandparents when she interviewed them.  We're hoping to frame the family tree she made.  We are wanting to print off pictures of different family members back many generations to hang around the family tree. 
A couple weeks ago our elementary school had a mother/son bowling night and a father/daughter dance.  The boys and I had a fantastic time going bowling.  Technically they bowled and I took pictures while cheering them on.  My foot isn't quite up to bowling yet.  After bowling we went out for pancakes and ice cream.  It was a great night!  The next night was the father/daughter dance.  The girls got all dressed up fancy and had beautiful wrist corsages.  They went out to a mexican restaurant with their dad and their uncle, who was Angel's date for the night.  At the dance they posed on the red carpet, went on a horse drawn carriage ride, ate some tasty chocolate dipped fruit, and danced the night away.  I am so glad that we have a school that provides us with these types of activities.  They are truly memory makers!

We've got the Blue & Gold banquet coming up this week, the Destination Imagination tournament for Picasso and Princess the following week, and the first Rapids home game of the season that night.  We're really excited about these things.  I love being able to support my kids in their endevours and spending time with them.

That's my recap post surgery.  Now it's time to help Picasso make cheese quesadillas for lunch as we are spending the day snowed in while the blizzard is blowing outside.  I truly love my life.  It isn't perfect, or stress free, but it is fantastic.

Getting Ready

I am scrambling to get everything ready for Christmas in the next three days.  I'm having foot surgery on Friday and want to have everything done before then.  I just don't want my husband to have to worry about any of it.  Presents are all purchased, just waiting for one package from Thinkgeek.com to get here.  I've gotten about half my presents wrapped, so I've got a good start!  I picked up the pictures for our Christmas cards today.  One of the pictures on it turned out really dark, but not enough to make me reprint it.  The rest of it looks good.  So three more days of craziness, then down for a bit with my foot.  Hopefully though within a couple weeks I'll be feeling much better! 

Things aren't always perfect, but they have been good.  We have been very blessed this year.  That doesn't mean that it is always easy, but it's those hard times that make us stronger.  At church yesterday we were talking about faith, about how we are continually tested.  It's like refining metal.  You have to take out the dross (the impurities) otherwise the metal won't be as strong.  During heating it rises to the top.  So when we go through something that is hard, we can either come out the other side stronger having taken the "impurities" out or we can come out weaker by letting it get us down.  I'm often asked how I can be so happy when I'm always in so much pain.  This is pretty much why, I refuse to let it beat me.  If I push through it, continue to live my life to the fullest that I can, and try to do so with a good attitude I will come out stronger in the end.

Happy December!

Happy December!  So far no snow, which is a big bummer.  Still it is December and it should be a really good month. 

My bff of over 20 years is visiting this weekend.  He's actually here for a NFL game with his son, but they are staying at our place so it counts as a visit.  Funny enough he and my sweet husband have never met!  We've been married almost 14 years and he's never met one of my best friends ever.  They've met now and get along fine, so life is good.

I am having surgery on my left foot in a couple weeks.  Doesn't seem like a "really good month" thing, but I am hoping it is.  If all goes as expected the surgery will greatly reduce, if not elimate, the constant pain I am having in that foot.  So a good thing. 

My sister is coming to visit!  She is coming out for a few days after I have surgery to help out with the kids.  I am so excited!  I love her lots and miss her.  The kids are all really excited to see her also.  She won't be here long, but I'll take anything I can get. 
Disney on Ice is this week.  I can't wait to go and share in the magic of the show with my kids.  It will be a great night spent together as a family.

Christmas is coming!  We'll be getting our Christmas tree this weekend.  I love watching the kids all fan out to find the perfect tree.  The discussions about which one is best and why.  The smell of the pine and just the beauty it brings to my home.  It will be fabulous.

I will be wrapping presents soon.  I love wrapping up the presents to put under the tree.  The excitement that comes with the unwrapping.  The tape, the bows, the tags, the paper are all just so much fun.  Yes, I did just say that tape was fun!

Christmas Eve is always spent at my mom and step-dad's house with the family.  We eat yummy food, we put up the nativity while my step-dad reads from the scriptures, we sing Christmas carols until we can't sing anymore.  I love Christmas Eve at my parents!  Then we will head home where the Christmas jammies will be opened.

Christmas is Christmas.  It is wonderful and magical.  Full of love and wonder.  The Spirit that surrounds it is amazing.

Last, but not least by any means, is Archer's birthday.  That boy will be a teenager!

So HAPPY DECEMBER!  It is going to be a really great month!  I hope yours is too.