Thanks

This has been a hard year for us. We've been blessed but I am once again anxiously awaiting the beginning of a new year with hope that this next year will be even better. I am so thankful to the family and friends that have been so supportive of us. Some family has been wonderful and very supportive. Some not so much so. I am very thankful to those sweet souls who have blessed our lives in the past year. I can't tell you how much your support has meant to us.

Black Friday

Since Jeff and I got married, we've become Black Friday shoppers. I've enjoyed it and we go out almost every year, as long as there are things we want. This year, I was able to get most of my bigger gifts online for really cheap before Black Friday. However, I still wanted to go out to get a few things, such as pjs, jeans, and a handful of other stuff. My best deals this year were scored online instead of in the store on Black Friday morning. I did go to Walmart, which was a zoo as always. However, as always, I was able to meet some very nice people who helped me out and were very friendly. I stood by the pjs to wait things out and met some new friends who let me pick out what I wanted long before the sale started. It was a total zoo, as always, and things were gone very quickly, as always. The line was also tremendously long, but people were very friendly and great. I scored some awesome deals, they let me price match so I didn't have to stand outside at the next store, and it was great. I came home by about 2:00 a.m. and went to bed. I was hoping to get up early enough to go out for a couple of other things, but by the time I woke up I didn't have enough time to get back before Jeff had to go to work (poor guy). Unfortunately, with sick kids I don't know if I'll be able to hit the last few stores I want to today. It's all good. There's still Cyber Monday :)

Thanksgiving- Part 2

After finishing my last post while Jeff and the kids were at Thanksgiving dinner with his parents, I got a call from Jeff asking me to start a bath. Apparently Zach had an upset tummy and threw up in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. He came home, took a bath and watched TV for the rest of the evening. My poor buddy. Nathan and Zach were supposed to sleep over at Grandma's house, for the first time in years and really the first time just because. Nathan still got to go, but Zach didn't because he was sick He was so incredibly disappointed. He's missed out on so many holidays because he's been sick, and it breaks my heart that he missed another fun thing. I told him we'd make it up to him somehow. Anyhow, Zach and Addison both went to bed early and will hopefully get over this very very soon. It's been an odd Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. We always do dinner at Jeff's Grandma's house. She had been deemed "Super Grandma" because she is amazing. She is 97 years old and the sweetest woman I have every met. We moved Super Grandma out of her home into an assisted living center because she couldn't keep up with the yard work and housework as well as she would have liked. She has transitioned pretty well and we hope they are taking good care of her. We were planning on doing Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Karen's house, but unfortunately both Grandma and Karen got hit with the flu. Grandma ended up in the emergency room on Sunday night, and was diagnosed with pneumonia. While there, she ended up with a nasty bout of the stomach flu as well. Karen was sick enough, that we weren't planning on doing dinner at her house as well and it was moved to Jeff's parents house (aka Disneyland Grandma and Grandpa). I've been able to talk to her a few times this week, including this morning, and it sounds like she is doing much much better and that Karen is on the mend as well. We hope that they recover as quickly as possible.
Every year we've done double Thanksgivings and this year was the same. We do dinner at my parents house at 1:00 p.m., and then we were planning on doing dinner with Jeff's parents at 3:00 p.m.. By the end of the day we are all very stuffed, but it's wonderful to spend time with family. Unfortunately, Addison woke up this morning not feeling well. We think she ended up with the stomach flu as well and spent the morning throwing up. The poor thing! This is the sickest I've ever seen her. In order to take care of her, Jeff stayed home for the first part while I did Thanksgiving dinner with the boys at my parents. We had a wonderful time and Nathan said his Thanksgiving was pretty good. He really loved the chocolate pie at the end and I had a hard time getting him to leave. I enjoyed spending time with my parents, as well as my brother's and their families. I just felt bad because we had to rush out the door. I'm home with Addison while she's taking a nap, and Jeff and the boys are at his parent's house doing Thanksgiving dinner right now. I hope they have a wonderful time and I'm sorry I missed seeing them. I just hope my baby girl gets better soon.
Thank you to each person who has blessed are lives!

Counting blessings

I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving. I've loved being able to sit with my wonderful family and eat some wonderful food. It's always made me reflect on all of my blessings as well. I have been blessed in so many ways. Life has definitely not turned out exactly how I planned it, but I have a wonderful husband who loves me, and three absolutely amazing kids. My husband cares for me, loves me, and puts up with me with my crazy antics. Each of my children have blessed my life in so many ways. Nathan constantly amazes me with the things he says, does, and draws. He is such a joy. Zach was a "momma's boy" as a baby and I continue to have a special bond with him. He amazes me every day. Addison is a wonderful, amazing, and active little girl. I am so glad I have a daughter to share my life with. I love each one of them immensely and can't imagine life without them. Even if life isn't perfect and not the way I planned it, it's better than I imagined in so many different ways.
I am thankful for my extended family as well. I have wonderful parents who love me, and made good choices that allowed me to have a wonderful childhood and continue to bless my life daily. My dad has always had a special place in my heart and I have always been a "daddy's girl". My mom is my best friend and I love being able to talk to her about anything. I have four amazing brothers who helped shape me into who I am today. They have blessed my lives in so many ways. Even if they did "pick" on me as a kid, they also stood up for me. I had a jerky boyfriend who broke my heart and it was all my mom could do to stop them from going and having a "talk" with this boy. They are wonderful men and I am blessed to be able to continue to have them in my life.
We have a home that is adequate for our needs and in a wonderful neighborhood. I count my blessings every day to have such wonderful neighbors and friends to share my life with.
I am so incredibly grateful for my job and being able to work from home. I don't know how we would have survived without it. I am so incredibly blessed to work with such amazing people and count my blessings every day that they let me do what I do.
I am so incredibly grateful for the church. I am sure my life would have been completely different if not for the church and its standards. I am so glad my kids are able to grow up with good standards to help them in the last days, and that they know that they have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who love them more than they will ever be able to comprehend and want them to come back with them. It brings me such joy to know that I have been sealed in the temple and can be with my family forever. I will be eternally grateful to my parents that my mom chose to share the gospel with my father and that he chose to be baptized. I will be forever grateful to them that they raised me the way they did.
I am incredibly grateful for the good health we have had so far. We've had some issues, but are relatively healthy and happy and I am so grateful for that.
My list of blessings goes on and on and on. Even if life isn't perfect, I have been blessed in so many ways. Thank you to each and every person who has touched my life. I hope I can make a difference in yours.

94% Savings!!!!

So, about a year ago I started getting into couponing. I get five Sunday papers and cut coupons, check the websites, shop the deals and buy in bulk. I'm not the best at it, but it's the closest thing I have to a hobby and sometimes it's a lot of fun. I sent shopping at Smith's on Friday with the kids and bought $98 dollars worth of food (before sales, etc.) for $17. It was awesome. The next day I got my "gold envelope" rewards in the mail from Smith's and had certificates for $12 to spend on anything at Smith's. I cut my coupons on Sunday and went back this morning to do some more shopping before this sale ends. It was a lot of fun. I had Jeff take a picture of my loot when I got home, but I won't post it. There is the list of stuff I got:

1 loaf of bread
1 package of flour tortillas
8 cans of chili
6 bars of Right Guard deodorant
6 boxes of Nestle cocoa with marshmallows (10 packages in each box)
5 boxes of America Beauty Quick Cook Pasta
5 cans of Swanson's Chicken Broth
8 cans of Campbell's cream of chicken soup
4 cans of Campbell's Healthy Request Chunky Soup
8 cans of Campbell's Chunky Soup (yummy!)

I purchased 52 items. The original total was $91.44. Between coupons and savings from sale items, I saved $85.06. Total out of my pocket was $6.38, which totaled 94% savings!!! This may be the best total I've had so far. I was pretty giddy with excitement. I know I won't have this good of savings again for a while, but I still thought that was pretty awesome.

Poor Jeff

Jeff came home from work on Friday about a half hour early and said he wasn't feeling very well and had an upset stomach. We had decided to do a movie night with the kids and I started to get things ready. Jeff joined us for a couple of minutes were Addison as crawling all over him. She loves her Daddy so much and constantly uses him as a jungle gym. After a little bit, Jeff went upstairs and remained upstairs for the rest of the night. We think he had food poisioning from something he ate that morning. He said he's never been that sick in his entire life. I felt so bad for him, and so incredibly helpless. He was so incredibly miserable he couldnt' keep anything down. Finally, at about 11:30 p.m. his stomach finally settled down a little and he was able to get a little sleep. the next morning, he said his teeth hurt, and his entire gastric system just ached. It's now Sunday morning and he said he can't laugh, sneeze, cough, or anything like that without his throat and esphagous hurting. I felt so bad for him, but I'm so glad he's on the mend.

Croup

I hate croup. I was so scared the first time one of my kids had croup. I still hate it every time they have an attack, which is usually in the middle of the night. Nate woke up this morning at about 5:00 a.m. because he couldn't breathe. The nebulizer we usually use went back to my brother-in-law so we were without a nebulizer this morning. I went back to the old fashioned methods. We sat in the bathroom and had the shower going to build up the steam. When that didn't work, Nate and I rapped up in blankets and sat on the porch. It was actually a neat experience to sit on the porch and watch the stars. We got to talk for a while and his breathing seemed to improve. I enjoy those quite moments we get to be together. Even so, I hope we don't have to go through croup again.

Zach

I went to work early early yesterday morning so I wasn't home when the kids woke up. Zach is always an early riser. I asked Jeff how the kids were and Jeff said that Zach woke up at 7:00 a.m., asked Jeff when it would be morning. Jeff told him that it was morning right then. Zach then turned around without a word, and went back to bed. He slept for another hour or so. Bucket loads and Bucket loads of personality.

Picking Nate up from School

Ok, so you may think I'm crazy, but I actually love to pick Nathan up from school. This is partly because I'm still having a hard time having him at school full time. Last year, kindergarten wasn't too bad because it was only half of the day. Most days, Nate gets out of school at 3:30 p.m. now. It's just such a long day and I really miss him. Anyhow, half the week I pick him up and the other half a friend picks him up from school. When I get him, I park my car and walk across the crosswalk and wait for him by the fence, just like I did with kindergarten last year. I could just wait in the car since he's fine to cross the crosswalk on his own, but I prefer to get out. The reason being is Nate has turned this into a game. Whenever he sees me, he gets a big grin on his face and runs as fast as he can towards me and usually jumps into my arms or gives me a hug. It melts my heart every time. I know that soon he's going to get older and not want anything to do with his mom. I'll take whatever I can get for right now.

Brushing teeth

Ok, so its been forever since I've done anything with my blog, or even read other people's blogs. Life has been insanely busy. I've basically been a full time mom and, for the most part, work a full time job at the same time which means little spare time and little sleep. Working from home is a wonderfully amazing blessing, but a curse in some sense as well. However, I am extremely grateful I am able to do it and LOVE my boss. Anyhow, I'm going to hopefully find spare moments to work on my blog/journal again soon. Any how, I just had one of those moments that just made me laugh. I was playing around with Zach (4) and Addie (1) and put Addison on Zach's shoulders, which turned into a horsey ride. That eventually lead to me giving Zach a horsey ride. While I was down on all fours with Zach on my back, Addison came up to me with her tooth brush and was trying very hard, to brush my teeth with her tooth brush. She even showed me how to open my mouth so she could brush my teeth. As I had no desire for my daughter's toothbrush in my mouth, I was able to fend her off, much to her dissappointment. I was one of those crazy mom moments that just make me laugh and want to remember.

On a very different note, I was thinking about one of those moments where I was overwhelmed with the thought of being a parent. We had Nathan and were in the hosptial, knowing full well that we got to take care of this sweet baby boy. However, it was when I was filling out the paperwork for him in the hospital, signing all sorts of releases and papers on his behalf, that it really hit me that I was a parent, and from that moment on took full responsibiilty for this child. I think that was one of the moments were it really hit me I was a parent.

I LOVE my family and am constantly grateful that I get to be a part of their lives. I'll hopefully try to be better about blogging. I want to remember every moment of these sweet kids lives.