FIRE!

Unfortunately, this is not a post announcing that my husband has landed a dream job as a career firefighter - that post will come one day soon.  This is to advocate for the fire happening on Sarah's blog.

I have so many blessings - a home, a reliable car, a healthy family.  Tonight there were 4 pots of food on the stove and there are leftovers for tomorrow.  Lily went to bed after a nice bath and a full tummy and a lullaby.  Hannah will be in bed shortly, after we play a game together.
They get fussed at, disciplined, and sent to their rooms, but they know my love and the love of their daddy every day.  Plus the love of the grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and God.
They learn each day that we can't always get what we want and sometimes life stinks, but we are blessed and we're all OK.
Somedays I wish for more and so do they, but in the words of Renee Tam, at the end of the day, "I still have what I have.  I still don't have what I don't have.  But I am still very thankful for all of His blessings.

Now for the downer, there 147 million orphans in the world who don't know all this.  There is one that I am trying to help come home.  I am not her mother.  The White family is waiting for her.  Sarah and Todd and her three big brothers.  Elisha has Down's Syndrome.  She lives in Eastern Europe in an orphanage.  When she was born, her birth parents were told she was "broken" and that a baby house was the best place for her.  In her orphanage, she lives in a crib.  She has no one to comfort her when she is hurt or sick.  She gets fed on a schedule and her diaper changed, but that's about it.  She doesn't get to celebrate her birthday or get gifts.  She doesn't have things to call her own.  Elisha's family is coming for her, but if they didn't, when she turns five, she would be sent to live in an adult mental institution where she would be sedated and left in a crib until the day she died, never knowing human love or God's love.  It sounds horrible - I want to turn away from this bad news and think it can't really be all that bad, but it is the reality of her life and so many other children without families.  (If you want to know more about rescuing these children, please visit www.reecesrainbow.org)

Back to having fun - a fire has started - a wildfire auction.  In this auction, you get to give away items you don't need - a giftcard to a place you rarely visit, a book in great shape that you won't read again, a nice decorative item, something you bake/sew/paint/make - and you get to get something you really want (delicious baked goods, giftcards to places you do go, shopping at an etsy shop - there's really no way to know what you might get).  In the meantime, you make a small donation that will help bring Elisha home to her forever family so that she can know love.

Sarah's blog is ON FIRE!
All the details are over on Sarah's blog

Here's how it works:

I'm going to post something up for grabs for just $1.

The first person to claim the item (under comments) wins the item, BUT they also have to offer something for the next amount ($2.)

Someone else can then comment to claim the $2 item, but THEY must then offer something up for $3.

It keeps going as long as we keep having fun!

In order to win, you have to be the first to comment, as well as have your item claimed by someone.

CONFUSED? Here's an example:

Example:    THE $1 ITEM IS A $5 STARBUCKS GIFTCARD. LET THE WILDFIRE BEGIN!
Jenni comments: "SOLD for $1 AND a Lia Sophia Necklace!"
                  THE $2 ITEM IS A LIA SOPHIA NECKLACE.
Bree is the first to comment: "SOLD for $2 plus a pack of Huggies diapers"
                  THE $3 ITEM IS A PACK OF HUGGIES DIAPERS.
Tammi comments: "SOLD for $3 and a $25 gift card to my Ooga Booga Etsy Shop"
                  THE $4 ITEM IS A $25 OOGA BOOGA ETSY GIFT CARD.

So, Jenni wins the Starbucks card, Bree wins the necklace, Tammi wins the diapers, and the next person to comment wins the Ooga Booga card. Easy enough, right?

Get ready for the fire!

No more what-ifs

For years it seems, I've been saying things would be better if only ....
If only we had more money
If only we had a cleaner house
If only ......

A few weeks ago I made the decision that I was going to be happy and quit worrying about everything else.  I also decided to open myself up to receive a "God-sized" bucket of blessings.  Whatever blessings are out there for my family, I know have the capacity to receive.  And ever since then everything else is falling into place.  And someone else worded the no more what-ifs idea better than me:

I'm not going to allow the what-ifs to rob me of the joy of what is!

Positive Outlook :)

I was watching the news this morning in the few peaceful moments I had, and there was a story on living to be 100.  I have a 96 year-old grandmother who was living very healthfully and independently until a little over a year ago.  I'm sure she could give me some pointers on how to live a long and healthy life, but the theme of the news story was that a positive outlook can be a key factor in a long and healthy life.

I am making a determined effort to have a more positive outlook and enjoy my moments with these blessings in my life. 

I also read a story this morning about mothers who realized they weren't trapped in their lives and left their children and "now their relationships have improved."  Being a mom is HARD WORK, but it's the work that I have chosen and God has given to me.  Walking away is not an option and while I try to be open-minded, I don't understand how these women left their children (who were not babies, but 3, 5, 7, 11, even teenagers) to go off and "fulfill their own dreams."  This is the dream - motherhood - some parts are scary, but it is a wonderful gift.

This life is not easy - but a positive outlook can make it better.

(And I've also got to commit to taking more pictures of these sweet girls - I think I will never forget these moments, but I'm sure they will become blurry with time.)

How long has it been?

I haven't blogged in well over a year. Lately I've been reading some blogs, both friends and strangers. Some of them, like CakeWrecks, have me laughing so hard I cry. Some, like Sweet Baby James, make me realize that blogging can record precious memories.
So since the last time I blogged, Hannah has:

• turned 2
• been diagnosed with a life-threatening allergy to cashews and other tree nuts
• had tubes in her ears
• become a big sister
• planned her 3rd birthday party, which is less than 2 weeks away

I have:

• fallen in love with teaching first grade
• gotten pregnant (that was with baby #2 - it's been a really long time since I posted anything - I'm NOT pregnant with #3)
  
• given birth to another beautiful baby girl, Lily Marie
• recognized even more blessings in my life

One unexpected journey our family has been on is DH's firefighting schooling and EMT training, leading to his search for a fire fighting job. This was all the result of an unexpected layoff due to the "economy," but we know it is a blessing in disguise. He has discovered his passion and purpose, and we have learned to be much more satisfied with much less.

My current goals are:

1. balancing a full-time job with 2 kids
2. De-cluttering
3. training for a half-marathon
4. losing the rest of my baby weight
5. possibly becoming more "green"

So I intended to go to bed early tonight, but that will not happen. Time for me to count my blessings and get to sleep

My blessings:

1. Toby
2. Hannah
3. Lily
4. My job
5. My home
6. My friends
7. The great doctors we've had in the past year
8. My parents, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother, and in-laws
9. That Hannah won't tee-tee in her bed, she'll only tee-tee in the potty (that's what she told me on her way to bed tonight.)
10. That Lily is "talking OF a storm" as her big sister puts it
11. And that somehow Lily already seems to be getting a couple of teeth and hasn't complained about it at all (so no one can see these teeth except me, but I swear they are there)
    

TuTu Cute!

It took a lot of work to make this tutu, and even more to get a picture of Hannah in it. I was surfing the web a few days ago for ideas on how to make a Christmas tutu for pictures of Hannah. I found directions on how to make a tutu dress and saw a little girl in a red and green one and I couldn't resist. It didn't cost much, but I totally understand why people charge $50+ for them. It took a long time. I did the red and green, ran out, had to go buy more, then added ribbons and jingle bells. I finished it just a couple of hours before Hannah's appointment to have her pictures taken. The professional ones we did turned out OK, but not great. We just couldn't get her to be still long enough to get a good picture. I took 25 today and didn't really get anything great. We are going to a Christmas tree farm on Sunday, so maybe I can get something for the Christmas card then.

Even though it took hours and hours to make the tutu, I really enjoyed making it and I'm thinking of making me and Hannah matching ones for Halloween.

If you've got tips on how to change the background to make this picture Christmas Card perfect, let me know!

It's Been a Long Time!

Time flies in this busy, wonderful life. It's been months since I posted. I finally have a week off and a chance to catch up, so watch out for tons of posts coming. I've been busy teaching first grade, which I LOVE! I am so proud of how well all of my students are reading. I'm on the PTA board, which I will post a little more about later.
Hannah is loving her school. The first 2 weeks or so were rough on all of us, but now she says, "Yay, School!" and grabs her backpack every morning. She even wants to go on Saturdays.
I've been cooking up a storm. A big hit this fall has been Lemon Snowflake Cookies. I intended to make them for a fall potluck for both Toby and I to take to work, but we got a yucky stomach bug and I didn't want to share my germs. I ended up making them for a Veteran's Day program at my school. Everyone loved them. The recipe makes lots, too, so I even had a few to take to Hannah's teachers. This past weekend, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for Toby's family. It's a fairly new tradition that we started because we aren't here on Thanksgiving Day. Hannah and I are gearing up for a Christmas Cookie Playdate in about a week. We are going to bake the cookies and her friends are going to help us decorate them.
I've spent the last 24 hours making a tutu dress for Hannah. We are going to have pictures taken this afternoon in her Christmas dress and in this dress. I'll take some pictures of her in it when she wakes up from her nap.
Little by little, I'm getting the Christmas decorations out and trying to keep my house clean. I guess I'd better go use my last few minutes of free time to work on that some more.

What a blessing!

I haven't had much time to get on the computer lately, which has been a blessing itself, but spending time with family and friends has been an extra special blessing lately. Last week, we got to spend a day with my grandmother, mom, aunts, uncles, and cousin. My grandmother just LOVES Hannah and how much she can do. I really enjoyed spending time with everyone and playing cards with my mom and grandmother.

This past weekend, we all went to visit my best friend and her DH, and Hannah's fiance. The trip was wonderful for all of us. DH and I got to spend some time together without having to worry about anything else like our usual chores. Hannah got to play with someone her own age. And it was wonderful for me and Kelly to have time to talk and catch up on motherhood and all the other aspects of our lives in a way that no one else quite understands. This time was such a blessing for me and my family.

Here are some pictures of Hannah at the Kemah boardwalk and her first time on the beach in Galveston.