first thankful thursday

I'm starting a new thing called Thankful Thursday. I know, I know my last thing petered off a bit. I still have hope that I will restart Fitness Friday again one day but it's not going to be anytime soon. I just do not have the discipline nor the energy to write about how to be fit every Friday. 

I do however have the energy to write about how thankful I am for all the many blessings God gives me every day. I make no promises. I do not promise to post something every Thursday, but that's the goal. I urge you to do this with me. It's so good for us. I have a lot to complain about as we all do but what good is that going to do?

I follow a few funny mom (and dad) pages on Instagram and Facebook and although they are hilarious it seems like lately all that moms are doing these days are complaining about their kids in sarcastic funny ways. I do that a lot of the time too, don't get me wrong. It's all to lighten the mood. Obviously mothering (and fathering) is difficult. But I need some balance. So that's why I'm doing this thankful Thursday thing. Wish me luck. 

I will forget a few Thursdays because, frankly, a lot of the time I don't know what day it is.

So, this Thursday I am thankful that I got to spend those rainy days last week inside. I'm thankful for my friend that took my independent little seven-year-old to church because she just wanted to go even though I did not feel up to it and neither did any of her siblings. I'm thankful that she just wanted to go. I'm thankful that even though I was as sick as a dog in bed for 3 days my husband was home to take care of everything. And I'm thankful that he didn't have to take any time off because he was already off. I'm thankful for another friend who brought me groceries when Dan went back to work because there was no way I was taking 4 kids to Vons in the pouring rain.

I love sitting in the corner of my family room looking out the window at my amazing backyard view. What a blessing and something to be thankful for.

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

random pics

Every night I sing You Are My Sunshine to Addie. Not because I'm such a good mommy but because Addie's in charge and she wants mommy to sing "shunshine." Every night.

This is her singing to her baby...

"You are my shunshine my only shunshine. You make me happy you make me saaad. You make me cryyyy."

That's not really how it goes Addie.

This is Dan's to do list. Cute pencil <3

Mya's 2nd grade portrait. And Winter's Kinder. No more paying for overpriced pictures. I'm protesting from here on out. Just took a picture of the proof... if you didn't get that from the pics. 

Okay that's what I originally wrote. But then my sister Wendy made me agree to keep ordering them for her. She's not on board with my protest.

Winter took care of these two for 2 minutes. Then she got tired. I know Winter. I know. 

(Back in November) I took this picture because I was excited to find this many clean articles of soccer clothing in the pile of clean clothes on my bed the morning of game day. 

This is breakfast most mornings. I wish I was kidding.

We're gonna need some more trucks.

These two love matching. Well Mya loves matching and convinces Winter to play along. And luckily we receive hand me downs from twins with lots of matching dresses. 

You never know what you're going to find in the pantry...

I was so proud of this nutritious dinner I had to take a pic. Doesn't happen very often. And look how colorful.

mya's scary audition

Mya came home with a flyer from a local non-profit kids theatre organization. She handed me the paper and said, "Mom, I want to do this!" I looked at it and said, "Ummm ok I guess." It worked out that we were able to fit it into our crazy schedule and we drove down to audition for a kids musical. 

 On the way there, I started getting nervous for her. I warned her about the different things that they may have her do, like sing or dance in front of people. She didn't even seem at all concerned about any of it. She was like, "Yeah okay mom." 

When I was in 2nd grade, Mya's age, I signed up for the school talent show. I sang, Somewhere Out There from An American Tale. I practiced and practiced and when the big day came, I was more nervous than I thought possible, but I was pretty confident when I was finished that I had done a pretty amazing job. I mean, I even did cartwheels during the instrumental part. It was a talent show after all. But I didn't earn any trophies or medals. In fact I came in 4th out of 4 people in my age group. It affected me greatly. I never sang a solo in front of people after that. I didn't want Mya to experience the same heartbreak I did. I didn't want her to be so nervous that her heart felt like it was about to explode. 

But Mya is not like me. She is all business. She went in there, learned the dance and the song, Good Ship Lollipop, and sang and danced it like she had been doing it her whole life. There were probably about 100 people in the theatre including performers, parents and staff. She looked so tiny on that stage. But she was by far the best little performer there. She sang loudly and confidently. And she smiled and danced with personality, just like they told her to do. 

I beamed with pride. I was so surprised and pleased with her. Not just that she did an awesome job, but because Mya can do anything she sets her mind to. Anything. She is driven. She is confident. It's going to be so fun watching her grow. I love it when I can see the gifts God has given my children. 

Being a parent is such a huge roller coaster ride. It has high highs and low lows. But those highs make those lows totally worth it. And my oldest is only 7. There is so much more in store for Dan and me. What an exciting thought.

All of the kids that auditioned were picked for the same part in the musical and we actually decided that it would be too big of a commitment this time. But I'm so happy we went down there. 

weekend in bako

I didn't use to like Bakersfield. Now I love it. It's where Wendy is. I love that sister of mine. Last weekend I got to go hang out with her and the fam for two nights and two and a half days. I loved every minute of it. And lucky for you, Wendy is a little selfie happy so I have documentation of the entire weekend.

She always outdoes herself. She had a theme for my getaway weekend. A spa retreat theme. She even made me a brochure. Or something like that...

There was a robe and fuzzy slipper socks waiting for me.

And wine and treats!

She had candles, the fire going, and music...

And gift baskets...

And fresh flowers on the night stand...

And a picture of us in the bathroom ha!

We signed up for a 5K Saturday morning but it rained so we turned the car around and waited until it stopped raining and walked our own 5K in her neighborhood which I love. We walked through the lines of almond trees. I was so happy.

Then we shopped all day. Wendy looked up the top thrift stores in Bakersfield and we hit all of them and a couple more. They have THE best thrift stores. I can't believe how many brand new kids shoes I got for a few bucks. The ones in Azusa get snatched up the minute they hit the shelves but for some reason, the moms in Bakersfield are not aware of this awesome goldmine of brand new shoes for $4 and $5. Fine by me. I was very happy.

We had lunch at CPK and shopped some more.

Then we went to a paint night. So fun. Again, happy.

I took a bubble bath somewhere in there... I can't remember when exactly. Wendy has a jacuzzi tub in her bathroom. She gets it all set up for me every time I visit. Candles, a fireplace, and soft music. So happy.

Sunday morning, I slept in. One of my favorite things, even before kids. Then I enjoyed a cup of coffee out back... This pic does not do that place justice.

Then we went to brunch. It was super lovely. I ordered a bagel with lox for the first time. Loved it.

Then we did MORE thrift store shopping. They have like 4 Goodwills in Bakersfield. Crazy. And awesome. I don't normally shop there because we boycott them because Dan read an article on how the CEO is uber rich and pays the employees pennies and it's not really a non-profit. BUT I made an exception. Glad I did. My kids are set in the clothes and shoes department for the next two years or so.

And to top off the already perfect weekend, she and her fam sent me home with a truck load of items they no longer wanted so I could sort through them and keep some and sell some, another favorite hobby of mine.

Best weekend ever.

thanks mom

When I have a really bad day, I start feeling the mom guilt take over and those common thoughts come to mind. Will my kids remember this day? Am I teaching them to yell and be mean when frustrated? Am I teaching them poor cleaning habits and poor nutrition? I hope they feel loved through all of this.

Then I think back to when I was a kid. When I was around 4, my parents divorced. My mom was a single mom from then on. She worked full time then came home exhausted to raise four kids. The house was always a mess. There were always piles of dishes next to the sink and piles of dirty laundry to be done. We didn't have a dishwasher and the washer and dryer were outside, downstairs in the laundry room in a sketchy Eagle Rock neighborhood. Doing laundry at night wasn't ideal. So she often did 10 loads of laundry on Sundays. I remember my mom being pretty tired most of the time. She was always kind of distracted. Now I know why. She had so much to do and think about. I don't remember her losing her temper every day like I do but I'm sure she did.

But through all of it, not a day went by that I didn't see her on her knees in prayer. She prayed all the time. She prayed to find her keys. She prayed for the people on the side of the road who had just been in a car accident. She prayed for money we didn't have. Every single day she prayed and never showed us any doubt that her Heavenly Father would take care of her and her four kids. Her faith was extraordinary.

I believe she taught all of us the single most important lesson she could have. Life sucks a lot of the time. It's way harder than we think it's going to be. It is pretty much impossible to do it alone. We need Jesus. We need to lean on Him if we want to have that peace that only He can give.

Mom, thanks so much for showing us what it's like to have a relationship with Jesus. I hope you realize that although things weren't perfect growing up, you did good. We learned through your example to lean on Him.

So now, with little ones of my own, things are insane and I fail miserably. A LOT. But through it all I try to teach them that no matter what happens, Jesus loves them and He's always there for them. Leaning on Him is the single most important thing they can do.

Here we are, mom and me.

And here I am with my bros and sis.

And you know these guys.