Jumping Daisy

I know that the blog is getting a little dusty.  I have been both busy with life, and just not feeling the writing thing lately.

Here is what I have been inspired by lately.  I have two blogging friends that are both doing an Advent activity with their children.  Jaclyn  has some great activity ideas, like a formal dinner.  I am so taking that idea one of these days!  Colleen is a master crafter and has lots of great ideas for crafts that even a toddler can participate in!  I am inspired to give  this a try in the Coobs house next year.

It seems that everyone has their own fun Christmas traditions, and I have also been inspired by Ms. Mayhem’s DollarTree shopping tradition. Watch out Grandparents, you have some one dollar treasures coming your way!

Also inspiring, is Emily.  Wonderful photographer and Pilates instructor extraordinaire. I am thinking about taking her lead and setting a real miles running goal for 2012.  We shall see how long the inspiration stays with me.

And for my greatest source of inspiration.  Pinterest.

I made these, mostly because they remind me of my Grandma, but also because they make my tree smell so nice!

And also some of these, only mine are cuter because they have pictures of Howard grandchildren on them! 😉

I am behind.  You shouldn’t be surprised by this.  I will catch up with some lovely updates and pictures from Thea’s Love-A-Lot Christmas program, her new big girl bed and Leila’s first lost tooth, but in the mean time…on the way to work this morning Cory and I were talking about our live of excess.  Too much food, too much stuff.  And there are so many in this world who are suffering to get through each day without their physical needs.  This is a problem in our own community, and a crisis across the world.  2011 hasn’t been a good year of giving for me.  I know that I have not done a good enough job giving my time and resources.  I resolve to do better in 2012, but for now, I am ending this year with my first donation to help with the famine in Africa.  And I am asking that if you have the means to give, that you do the same.

This is the way that I made my donation (Through the Facebook Causes program to Save the Children)

Here is the direct link to Save the Children

There are several other ways to go give to this cause, and there are lots of other great ways to give to those in need as well.

I conveniently need to post about three things that I am thankful for to finish off my countdown to Thanksgiving.

I have so many wonderful people in my life that I could call out a new individual every day and be thankful for months.  That is an amazing blessing.

I have everything I need and most of the things that I want.  I am blessed beyond my imagination to have only first world “problems” to complain about.  But the biggest blessing I have is that I would give up all of the *things* in my life for the three people that mean more to me than anything else.

Cory is a great partner.  He is my best friend and treats me and our girls like royalty. He is a hard working, loyal and understanding man and I could not be more grateful to have his as my husband.  I am so Thankful for being blessed with him.

I don’t think I could ever express how thankful I am for Leila.  She made a Mother, and there is nothing else I do that compares to that job.  She has taught me so much about life, she continues to blow my mind with her intelligence and her kind heart.

My Thea, the last piece of my Thankfulness trifecta.  Thea is my baby, and I am so blessed to be her mother.  She is the unpredictable child that keeps me on my toes and rewards me with the most satisfying cuddles.

God has blessed me, and I pray that I have managed to bless others with even a fraction of what I have been given.

Every day as I go about my regularly scheduled activities I find myself thinking, “Oh! That is something that I can post about being thankful for!”  But then the day gets away from me, and off I go to sleep without a post.  Today is catch up day, because I truly have been thankful the last five days…I just haven’t been free to blog.

Thankful for my memory.  I am blessed with a pretty amazing memory.  I can remember the details of my bedroom in the farm house I grew up in.  I can remember the way my elementary school smelled, and the way the yellow tornado slide would attack me with static electricity as I slid down it at recess every day.

Music. My cousin Zachary posted on his Facebook page about listening to the Judd’s and the way it made his mother jump into his mind.  I love that feeling.  The jolt of an unexpected memory when a familiar tune comes on the radio.  The Judd’s does it for me too.  I remember standing in the passenger seat of my mom’s blue Oldsmobile on the way home from Shenandoah when I was too young to be in school and I had Mom to myself.  I remember how funny my mom thought it was when I would belt out the words to “Have Mercy.”  I still love to listen to that song, and I couldn’t even name all of the songs that make me think of my Mother dancing around the house.  I am also thankful that I get to keep making memories with my Mom, and I wish my cousin Zachary had fresh memories of Aunt Kerri too.

Our Neighbors.  We love our new house for lots of reasons, but I have to say that living next to fun people that you want to see when you venture out to get the mail is a really nice thing.  It is the luck of the draw and you never know who you will end up next too, but we are lucky so far.  And if you want to be lucky too, there is an empty lot for sale on our other side! 😉

Pilates.  I don’t really like exercise.  I tolerate it for the good feeling that I have after I have completed my work out.  Pilates is the exception.  I love it. It is relaxing, but slimming all at the same time.  Over the past year I have lost 20 lbs and have considerably less of me spilling over the sides of my jeans and the only thing I have kept to consistently over that time is Pilates.  I do it for my sanity, for my relaxation and for my “me time.”  The benefit to my body is just a bonus!

Diet Dr. Pepper.  So far I have been avoiding the most obvious answer of all.  I live on the stuff. It is my vise, it is my lifeblood. If not for the Diet Dr. P I would be even less approachable.  So you should be thankful for it as well.

I am the kind of person that doesn’t keep a lot of close friends.   I think a lot of many people and have plenty of of acquaintances that I enjoy spending time with from time to time.  Cindy is a friend that is as close if not closer to me than my sisters.  And that is saying a lot.  Through Junior High, High School, College, Marriage and Motherhood Cindy and I have been through all of it together, and I am so lucky to have such a great friend to look back on the memories with while we enjoy watching our families grow.

As a full time working mother, time for friends is scarce.  One of the things that I really like about my job is the great people that I work with.  When everything else makes it hard to get up and go to work in the morning, I am thankful for lunch dates and instant message conversations with my peeps to get me through.

I have a couple of *really* picky eaters in my house.  I try hard to introduce new things, and I am nearly always met with turned up noses, whining, and when I am really lucky…fake gagging.  It can leave me feeling quite defeated when I work hard to provide something that is both healthy and at least accepted by the kids after coming home from a full time job.  Pinterest has introduced me to lots of ideas and recipes and I have found a low carb, healthy meal that my kids really do eat!  I am thankful for

Beef and Broccoli

Having two kids is awesome.  I love them both so much as individuals, and as a twosome.  I love watching them play together and interacting.  Teaching each other new things.  But today I am thankful for one on one time.  The time that Cory and I have had with Thea tonight while Leila gets some one on one time with Aunt Cassie.  I realize that Cory and I both need to take more time to spend with each of the girls one on one, because it makes the girls feel special and it gives us a chance to concentrate on what makes each of them such neat individuals.

When Leila was little we wanted to give her an idea of what to expect day to day and the routine was generally; Grandma Day, School Day, Mommy Day, School Day, Mommy Day, Family Day, Family Day.  As the kids have gotten older, the “special” days have gotten fewer.  There is no more Grandma day and no more Mommy day.  All the more reason I am so thankful for Family day!  The weekends are what get me through the weeks most of the time.  Not only do we get to spend the day with our kids but we nearly always have time with Grandma Lori, Pappa Carey and any number of Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.  This has been a particularly nice couple of family days, even with a Hawkeye loss.  I am so thankful to have such a big and loving family, and doubly blessed that they are all so close by!

The older I get, the more I appreciate my mother.  She really is an amazing woman.  She worked, went to school and ran a house overflowing with 5 children while my Dad traveled during my elementary school years.

Being a mother is a thankless job, I certainly know that now, but now that I am older I really hope that my mom knows how much I have appreciated everything she has done for me.  From the countless french braids and pony tails, the way that she would always get me a new coloring book and box of crayons when I am was sick at home.  The singing and Dancing though our evenings of dish washing and laundry folding.  My Dad taught me a lot of responsibility and good judgement (I like to think anyway :), but my mom taught me how to let go.  How to have fun, and how to make the most out of what you are given.

I am so blessed to have them both and to have the example of their love for each other through the good times and the rough times to help me be the best wife and mother that I can be.

Love you Mom, Happy Birthday Beautiful lady!