Our Volcano

Sammy & Josh helped me make a volcano and then make it erupt. I did this as a project for a class I just finished. It was a lot of fun. I got the info from http://chemistry.about.com/b/2009/08/05/wordless-wednesday-chemical-volcano-eruption.htm

Happy Birthday Sammy!

Sammy turned 7!

We just had a simple family birthday at home.

We do a big party for the kids on their even birthdays.

Sammy with his new clone trooper blaster. That boy loves Star Wars! I sometimes wonder when he will grow out of dress-up. He has such a vivid imagination! I love it!

Sugar Doll Award

My sweet cousin, and fellow blogger, Elizabeth at http://cafelizbeth.blogspot.com gave me and my blog an award. Thanks, Elizabeth! I'm not sure that my blog warrants an award as I haven't updated it for a month, but I really appreciate it :). Now I am supposed to pass this award on to another blogger.

And the award goes to ..... my sister-in-law, Charlotte Brown at http://charlotteandjoebrown.blogspot.com/ for the beautiful stories she shares about mothering a child with special needs. Cha, you are an inspiration!

More Lemonade..

• I am grateful for First Grade Patriotic Programs and that I was able to go and watch and listen to Sammy as he loundly and proudly sang songs about our great country. He's such an intense little performer. He makes the funniest little faces. Oh, and he got kissed on the cheek by a girl in his class before the performance :).
• Krispy Kreme - even though the doughnuts are fried and fattening, I love going with Brian and the kids when the "Hot Doughnut Now" light is on. We all love to watch the ride the doughnuts take on the doughnut machine as the dough proofs, rises, fries in oil, is flipped, dries a little, and takes an ride through an icing waterfall, eventually landing in our mouths. Yummy!

Making Lemonade...

My dad has this saying that goes something like this: "When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade!" And then he usually forms the fingers of his hand into a "U" which means, "smile". It used to work when I was a kid and a teenager, but adulthood has kind of beaten the optimism out of me and now it just kind of drives me crazy. Like you can really just smile and everything will be okay...when your children are all crying and screaming at the same time and you only had 3 hours of sleep last night...or when you wake up to a huge mess that your children made making their own breakfast - ice cream and pink milk....or when they have poured syrup all over the carpets while you were taking a shower...Or more serious problems that many of us face financially, physically, and emotionally. Life throws us a lot of lemons. Can we really find the sugar and make lemonade? It is so delicious afterall - and it quenches our thirst so perfectly.

Well, I'm turning 31 in a few weeks and my year of being 30 had a lot of lemons in it that kind of sat around and rotted and didn't help anyone. It's time to turn over a new leaf. Starting now...in the winter...the hardest time for me (I get depressed and want to move to a warmer climate every February because I'm just DONE with the cold!). I am going to make lemonade everyday (Josh would be happy if he thought this was literal) and kind of make a gratitude list to help me get through the next few weeks until Spring. Because it's true - my dad is right. You can make good choices, but sometimes things just happen. Life throws you lemons. You can try to make the best out of it and maybe it will sweeten up your life a little. Optimism can go a long way.

This is what I am grateful for today:

• Our pediatrician gave me prescriptions for all three of my children even though one of them was at school. Josh & Holly have ear infections and Sammy has had a terrible cough for a month. It saved me another trip to the doctor - and another $25 copay.
• Simple things that make life easier. Macey's in Orem sells premade pizza crust - 4 personal size crusts for about $3. Brian used them in the pizzas he made tonight for dinner and it was easy and delicious! And it was so nice to have a break after taking care of sick kids since 4 am. And I'm grateful for a loving husband who volunteered to make dinner - while dancing with our baby, Holly, to some Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
• Hobbies. I ignored the dishes and the laundry and spent an hour or so sewing baby blankets today. I really enjoy sewing and I don't take the time to do it. It is service - I donate them - and I enjoy making them.
• Silky pajamas - even if they're polyester really. Warm enough and cool enough - basically just right for winter and summer. I'm comfy and ready to snuggle my honey and watch something on tv.
• Hope. Hoping that I will get some sleep tonight and that tomorrow I will feel better. I just don't run well on empty. This girl needs some sleep or she's cranky!

Well, that's all I can do for now. My eyelids are getting heavier and I'm yawning as a I type. Here's to making lemonade and hoping that Spring comes soon!

Sick of Sickness...

I am sitting in the basement with my poor little Sammy boy who has thrown up so many times today we have lost count. It is 10:30 pm. He is asleep on the couch and I am worrying about him since he is having a hard time keeping anything down. My poor family. We have been sick a lot lately. Brian and I both had the most horrendous cold last weekend. Since we moved into our new home in the middle of December, I have only been able to go to church 3 times because I have been sick or one of our kids has been sick and I have stayed home with them. I just feel so tired and run down. It has been really hard.

I was thinking about 2009 and figured out that 3 times during the year I had to recover for 2 months at a time from giving birth, having bladder surgery, and having a hysterectomy. So, that's 6 months out of 1 year that my body spent recovering. That is a lot to go through in a year physically and emotionally. 2009 was a really hard year for me, especially the emotional trauma of having to have a hysterectomy. It's hard for me to even think about it. It makes me really sad. I have some medication that helps me with that, but it is still hard for me to accept that I will never - in this life - have another little tiny baby and that my body is broken in a way that cannot be fixed.

This scripture has new meaning to me:

Matthew 9:20-22

"And, behold, a woman who was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."

I believe in Jesus Christ and that He lives. Because of His resurrection, my body will be made whole again and I will be able to have children again in the eternities. Even though I am crying, just knowing that gives me comfort and peace. My body is the way it is for a reason. My trials will strengthen me and teach me. Everything will be okay. I just have to remember to have faith and trust Him, even though it is really, really hard right now.