Sunday Grains of Gratitude.......

Wow - it's November again - NOVEMBER!!! Seriously? I can't believe it. I dare scientists to show we aren't in some sort of time warp - cause we've got to be!!! I swear the world is turning faster ;)

Sorry I've been so delinquent in my grains - it's not cause I'm not grateful, but I feel so strapped for time and pulled in so many directions, I haven't had a chance to formulate my thoughts and put them down in a post! I have so much to be grateful for!!!!

This week I'm grateful.....

We could carve pumpkins :)

(do you like H's gap in his teeth? The orthodontist is expanding his palate and this is a temporary gap - we're calling him David Letterman :)







I could finish pictures for the Soccer Yearbook and take a few of C and her friends in the process :)






















That C works hard in school and received an All Region Academic award again this year :)


That Big K came home on Thursday night to celebrate her 19th birthday a few days early! It was fun to get together!!!!















That Little K's soccer season ended on a positve note - a WIN!!!! She progressed and developed her skills this season and had such a postive experience with her team and coach. You could really see a change in their skills and level of play from their first tournament games in July til the end of the season. She gained a lot of confidence and competitiveness and she was thrilled that she had the opportunity to be a captain for her team.









that the big sisters could come and cheer on their little sister for her last game!









that it was Halloween!!!! I love Halloween - although it was a bit rushed and hectic and crazy this year due to the soccer yearbook. I'm thinking that although I will miss HS soccer, my falls for a few years just might not be soooo busy, and maybe that is a good thing! The kid's loved their costumes and had a great time dressing up, going to their parties at school, the ward party and trick or treating! Brady LOVED trick or treating this year. He went to more houses than he has ever gone to before and could have gone even longer - but mom and dad were tired LOLOL He ran up to each and every door and knocked and said "TRICK OR TREAT!!!!" and then "thank you" once he got his treat :) He loved all the decorations, even the scary ones that he was nervous of at first - he wanted to check everything out. He really loved all of it!!!!














that the little kid's Halloween parades were at different times - so I could attend both!!!!!






I'm just so grateful for everything! Life has it's ups and downs, and I feel so crazy and behind on everything all the time. I'm sure I'm failing each and everyone of my children at any given time in a week, I know I'm failing in my housekeeping and laundry duties, I'm a terribly forgetful friend, and delinquent blogger and poster on my internet boards, but, in spite of all my apparent failures, I feel like I am so blessed, in so many ways, each and every single day. Life is GOOD!!!!!

What are YOU grateful for today????

Happy Halloween 2009!!!!!

One of Brady's favorite movies is Nightmare Before Christmas - so I thought it would only be appropriate to use a Jack Skellington picture to wish you all a very Happy Halloween!

Brady loved Halloween this year - he had a great time being dressed up at school and during the Halloween parade and his party (even though his mom was a crazy woman helping first graders make paper plate skeletons which were taller than they are!) He had a blast trick or treating and ran to each house with gusto and proudly held his bag up and said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" :) He loved going with friends, and he did more houses and ran faster and farther than any previous year :)

The other kids went off with friends this year to parties, and trick or treating - so it was just the hubs and I with Brady and his good friend next door and then another little girl from down the street joined us a bit later. It was kind of strange to not have the other kids with us. They are all growing up - most of them aren't even back yet from their adventures with their friends. I'm not sure I like this growing up and leaving stuff - it's kind of bittersweet!

It was a fun dayall around though :) Starting with cousin Madeline's baptism this morning, then some tidying up and making yummy stew for our pumpkin shaped bread bowls, then finally trick or treating. It wasn't the same with out everyone though - especially Big K! For the last 19 years we've always spent time celebrating both Halloween and her birthday - but this year she is gone and we celebrated earlier in the week. It seemed very strange to not be waiting to open her presents and sing and have cake tonight! We miss you Big K and hope you had a fabulous time at your stake activity tonight! Hope you post pictures on FB :) Happy Halloween/Birthday Pumpkin!!!

Hope you all had a fabulously fun and haunting Halloween :) I'll post pics tomorrow :) I never did get one with C in her costume - bummer - I think it was probably hilarious - she stuffed herself into a little kid's bird costume and went as Kevin (the bird from UP) with some friends who were the boyscout and old man :) I'm not sure what Big K went as either - I think they were being Disney characters maybe????

Happy Happy Birthday Big K!!!!!

Wishing a big HUGE Happy 19th to my oldest!!!! I can't believe that 19 years passed soooo fast - seriously - it was like a time warp :)

Hope you have had a great day Big K - and enjoyed your weekend of Halloween/Birthday celebrations!!! I'm glad we got to celebrate on Thursday :)

You are wonderful - and may this last year of teenagerhood be as awesome as you are!!!

We love you!!!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!!!!

Behind in everything!!!

I feel like I will NEVER get caught up!!! Life is just moving along at such an alarming rate!!! Things are just crazy here! Between mountains of laundry, sick kids, soccer, and week long business trips and single parenthood - I have got to figure things out!!!!

Fall break was superb - but not nearly long enough :) Hopefully I'll be back to catch up on things here soon! And - I hope you are all staying well and are happy and caught up with all YOU have to do!!!

Hugs!!!

Sunday Grains of Gratitude......

Man - what a week it's been - I can honestly say, in some ways, I am soooo glad it's over :) There were some great things, and some not so great things - but - I guess that is how life is - right??????

This week I'm grateful.....

for the safety of my children and family. My heart goes out to the band teacher at that was killed last night in an accident. I am grateful to HER for her selflessness in trying to help all the people on board that bus - I feel without a doubt if she had not intervened there would have been more loss of life. She is a hero. I am grateful that my children have been safe on each and every tour they have gone on, and every bus they have ridden on to away games, or cars they have ridden in down to soccer tournaments, girls camp, etc...

for a wonderful date with my husband last night. The food was amazing, and the company - well - there's no one better! I LOVE you honey :)

for wonderful friends who have good values, who are christlike and set good examples for me. Friends who think first, and act later - who want to help, instead of hurt. It has been a dramatic week for soccer at the HS, and I am grateful for people who see the good and want to help make positive change within the program and who are willing to give people a chance to change and want to be part of the solution. People who want to help find tools and resources to make the change so it can be a positive experience for everyone involved.

for Brady's darling teacher. She really is just so amazing - I LOVE her! He has been out all week with a fever, but is hopefully on the mend now (and now H is sick - sighhhh). She sends cute notes, and really has made SUCH a difference in his life. I couldn't ask for a more perfect teacher for him - her bubbliness and enthusiasm and overwhelming love and support for her students has made all the difference for him this year. He is not the perfect student, and still has his challenges, but he is thriving and learning in her classroom - it may not all be academics, but for Brady the things he is learning from his peers will benefit him his entire life. I am grateful to her for embracing him, his differences, and his challenges, and for loving him for who he is and doing her best to teach him :) She is just amazing - thank you Mrs. A!!!!

for Little K's amazing soccer coach. She is just, well, amazing, and patient, and darling, and supportive, and patient, and encouraging, and patient, and positive, and kind, and did I mention patient :) She has taken her little team of ragamuffins and turned them into genuine soccer players ;) The scores of our games are, unfortunately not reflecting their true progress, but, wow - the improvement over the last 3 months is nothing short of amazing! C looks at them and is sad that she didn't have their training, she sees how much they have gained, and how much better they are getting and wishes she had that same opportunity when she was 10. Of course, we didn't know anything when she was little, so hopefully this will make all the difference for Little K :) This coach has inspired Little K to work hard, to challenge herself, to not give up, or settle for second best - to give her all and then give some more, to never give up. Valuable lessons that will help her even off the soccer field :) She is awesome!!!!

for C's club coach :) She is amazing too! I'm grateful for her friendship for the last 14 years - I can hardly believe it's been that long! I'm grateful that she looked at C at tryouts 5 years ago and saw something in her and took her and developed her and gave her the opportunity to play. I think that C would be a very different person had she not had E as a coach, believing in her, pushing her, teaching her, and giving her the confidence that she could achieve her goals and be a leader. It has helped C become a leader on and OFF the field. Some would argue that we aren't a premier team, and it's true - we aren't hanging with the top teams in the state in our age group - but the girls on some of those teams? Wow..... Wow good, and Wow bad. E has taken her ragamuffins and turned them into soccer players, while still keeping their integrity and morality. They are all good, good girls - excellent students, leaders, kind friends, active church members etc... She has expected and required much, but in turn, she has given and sacrificed much, and truly loved and cared about each and every one of her players. She is amazing! Love you E!!!!

that I got to see Big K for a while on Friday night. I am so grateful she is having such a great experience at college :) I miss her so, so, SO much.

for my wonderful parents. They are just inspiring and amazing. I am excited for them to be snowbirds soon and closer to us. I miss them. I am grateful to them for raising me in the gospel, teaching me, setting such amazing examples for me, and loving me and my kids. Especially Brady - they have embraced and supported him, loved him, and done everything they can to help him when help was needed. They are the best parents a person could ever wish for, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father let me be born into their family. Love you Mom and Dad!!!

for conference last week. I was well nourished by the word, and it was great to have Big K and her friends here for the weekend. I'm grateful for modern day revelation and for the guidance and inspiration church leaders give us. I'm grateful for conference, and for a living prophet on the earth who guides and directs the church. I'm grateful for my testimony of the Book of Mormon and for Elder Holland and HIS testimony - what an amazingly powerful talk he gave. I'm grateful for forever families, and for MY forever family.

I am grateful......

What are YOU grateful for today?????

Brady's Bits......

Have I ever mentioned how much Brady loves teenagers??? Seriously -he loves them - wayyy more than kids his own age (although he's starting to really get attached to those too ;) Whenever the big girls have their friends over, he always wants to be around them and part of the action. He might even think he is ONE of them :)

Big K is home for the weekend to watch conference, and she brought a couple of her roommates and two guy friends. Brady was so excited.

And..... get this - he did something we have NEVER seen him do before......

he walked up to one of the guys and took his hand and said......

Hi, I'm Brady - what's your name?

Seriously - he said that - a whole social greeting - all on his own - unprompted.

Wow. Not much for some - but for Brady - wow - HUGE HUGE milestone :)

See what school is doing for him? He may not be understanding math..... He may not get 100% on every spelling test (or any spelling test yet for that matter LOL).... Recess, lunch, music, and PE may always be his favorite subjects....

But - he went up to someone he didn't know, introduced himself and asked the person's name.....

Wow and HOOOORAY!!!!!!!!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month......

So - educate someone about Trisomy 21 :) Say hi to someone with DS that you see out and about in the community! Tell a parent you think their child is darling, and all about your grandson, cousin, nephew, brother, friend - Brady - who also has down syndrome! Celebrate the amazingness of Trisomy 21 - cause it sure comes with some amazing perks - the snuggles, the hugs, the smiles, the innocence and purity, and the love - yup - there is nothin' like the love :)

We'll be celebrating, and educating, and raising awareness all month long......won't you join us????

p.s. if you could get all your friends and family to stop using the R-word inappropriately, that would be an AWESOME way to raise awareness :) I'm pretty sure all the parents AND the girls on the soccer team are tired of me reminding them what "retarded" really means, and how much the word hurts people and families when it is used in conversation to mean - stupid, dumb, idiot, etc..... or make fun of someone for doing something silly or goofy or dumb.

We've found that RIDICULOUS is a much better substitute :)

Fall fun!!!

It's that time of year again :) You know the one - the time where I make my children all wear coordinating (well - I try to coordinate anyway) colors and drag them out to the mountains to smile and pose and do that family picture thing - the one they call family torture :) They are getting better at it, truly - they know the drill. Even Brady..... Who walked right up the rock we always take pictures on, climbed on up, posed and said CHEESE!!!! Of course he wasn't nearly so cooperative the whole time - but I am grateful that he knows what the self-timer on the camera is for and helps us out by smiling for that for the most part :) It makes family pictures a little more in the budget :) Every year I say I'm going to have one of any number of different friends do our portraits professionally and photoshop us all pretty, but every year we seem to be lacking the funds to actually do that, so we're on our own :) I do think I need some lessons in positioning though - as the kids get older and bigger, my lack of experience does show more in getting them in the right places to have a good photograph. But - we have traditions, and it's fun to see how the landscape has changed along with my kids over the years ;) It's all good :)

So - here is the result - and it's not too shabby, there are definitely some keepers in the 200 or so that we took. I am sooo grateful for digital - as we used to take 5 or 6 rolls every fall and hope and pray that one would be good enough for Christmas cards, and still have to spend the money developing each roll :) LOVE digital :)

Sunday Grains of Gratitude......

I can't believe it - September is almost over??? It just zipped by!!!! Time to start thinking about Halloween and Fall!!!! The leaves are changing in the mountains, the mornings are getting a little crisper, the sun is setting a little earlier - it's coming!!! I will miss summer though - I love the hot, long days - my body craves the sunshine - as the days get shorter it gets harder and harder to drag myself out of bed in the mornings LOL But I do love fall - and the crisp mornings always bring back memories of when Big K was just a tiny baby, and we would go out in the mornings and the air was so crisp and clean and smelled like leaves and frost :) It seems like such a short time ago - hard to believe she is off to college!!!!

I have so much to be grateful for this week - it's hard to know where to start :)

This week I'm grateful....

for fabulous friends who offered their love and support as Brady went in for his Cine MRI. I was terrified about it all, and my wonderful friend and neighbor and her daughter (one of Brady's favorite friends) accompanied us up to the hospital and spent the day up there with us. Our 1 hourish procedure took the entire day and Annie was so sweet and patient for the whole time. She was such a calming influence for Brady when he was nervous and scared (really the first time he has felt that way about a procedure) and it was such a blessing to have them both there. I am so grateful for their friendship and love for Brady!!!

that the test itself went reasonably well. I wasn't happy that Brady had to be intubated in the end, but he is alive and well and breathing on his own and back to his happy sassy opinionated self again :) He was pretty mellow on Thursday and I was a little worried - never thought I'd hear myself say that - I often wish for more mellow boys LOL But - being that it was out of the ordinary - it was a little nerve wracking!!! I am hoping to talk to his doctor about the results today.

that we got to visit with Big K a couple of different times this weekend!!! She came up for the HS homecoming football game and to hang with C, then took C down to college for the weekend, then spent the afternoon with us for family pictures and a birthday dinner for her dear ol' dad :) It was great to hear about her adventures and see her - we miss her!!!

that C did so fabulous in her SBO Homecoming dance and had such a GREAT soccer week! Wow - after our not so fabulous season, we pulled off two very definitive wins this week - over our biggest rivals too :) This coming on the heels of a small loss to the best team in the state (which pretty much feels like a win, since the score was so low ;) has been AWESOME!!! C is playing so well, even though she is injured. She is such an example of perseverance to me, and I am inspired by how hard she works to achieve her goals.

that Little K is making big improvements in her game too. She is such a hard worker now, and it is really showing in her skills, speed, and ability to move the ball. Now we just need to get some GOALS :)

for J and H and Brady and their hugs and their ability to blow things off LOL I love that about boys - they can be fighting like cats and dogs one minute - then best friends the next. I'm not sure whether it's the short attention span or what - but I love that boys don't hold grudges very long :) I'm grateful that the bigger boys were willing to babysit a bit for me this week so I could try and take some pictures at the soccer games :) I am so behind on pictures for the yearbook - and I really need to get on that!!! Thanks boys for being willing to entertain your brother while I am out and about ;)

that we could celebrate my hubby's b-day :) I'm sure it was a bit of a let-down, as it was kind of a fractured weekend with a lot going on and the girls being gone, but I promise I'll make it up to you honey ;) You look FABULOUS for 39, my love :) I'm so grateful for him, he is such a great husband and father, and I love him more than I can say!!!

for my parents - they are just the best!!! I am excited that they will be down here soon - so we can see them more :) And - even if we don't see them more - at least it feels nice knowing they are closer :) Love you mom and dad!!!

for the primary program :) It's always a nice change from regular Sunday meetings :) It was fun watching all the kids up there. The choristers really do a great job helping the kids learn the songs. My Eternal Family was Brady's favorite one to learn this year, and he often goes around singing "I am a builder, working so hard, to build my familyyyyyy" :) He just LOVES singing time :) When the next door neighbor's son talked about having his cute little sister (the same sister who came to the hospital with us) sealed to them after her adoption, it just brought tears to my eyes. I love that little girl so much and I know that she was meant to be in their family - she needed them, and they needed her :)

for all the prayers and positive thoughts that all my "cyber" and IRL friends and family offered on Brady's behalf on Wednesday. I know they helped, and I did feel at peace that things would go alright and that Brady would be fine. Those prayers help and mean more to me than you will ever know - thank you!!!

What are YOU grateful for today?????