Busy busy busy

I can't believe we are two months into our school year, the twins turned TWO, we had a super fun family Staycation and I haven't blogged about any of it! I tried to post from my phone on our homeschool blog, but it kept erring out so that didn't happen, either.

In the past few months, we have definitely turned a corner in our post-twin-arrival life. We can actually DO things, and plan things, and have them go somewhat as expected. The twins go to a sitter who lives down the street from us three mornings a week while we do some of our homeschool, and after the first few times of crying for 5 or so minutes, GubGub was just fine with it. Now they look forward to playing with "Hayla" (Makayla) and Peyton. It has been so nice to have the time to do school uninterrupted, and to not feel like I'm just shuffling them to the side while I try and do things. Noodle is a pretty fantastic babysitter, and can manage for 2-3 hours without a problem, so David and I get to go on DATES again! They go to sleep around 8 o'clock and the vast majority of the time they sleep until at least 6 a.m., often 6:30.  GubGub is the early bird, sometimes waking too early (5-6:00) and not going back to sleep, but overall it's pretty good. Sleeping well is something I will never take for granted again as long as I live. Okay, I probably will take it for granted because that's how humans are, but I certainly have a new appreciation for it after the 15 or so months of lousy to awful sleep I had after they were born.

So now that I am feeling human again, I am trying hard to find some parts of the old me that kind of went into hiding the past couple years. It's hard to feel just sort of broken, and realize you've been feeling that way for a while but there just wasn't time to really look at yourself and assess the damage. I've also come to the somewhat painful realization that some areas in my life that need attention and improvement aren't going to just get better on their own. Some things you don't grow out of, no matter how old you get. You actually have to dig in and do the work yourself. Talk about disappointing! I guess there really aren't a lot of automatic perks that come with aging. Self-improvement requires effort. Boo. (Imagine a somewhat sarcastic winky face here.)

I'm feeling hopeful about life, generally, though. David is totally rockin' the data science world and it is neat to see him excelling at something that suits his interests and talents so well. I'm grateful beyond words to have him doing something that he both enjoys and provides for our needs and many wants. It was a long time coming.

Well, I'm sure I could go on a bit more about various things, but it's past eleven and I'm trying to be responsible and get enough sleep. Most nights, anyway.

gratitude attitude

Thanksgiving is only a couple days away, and I just haven't been "feeling it" this year.  Which of course makes me feel kind of guilty.  It isn't like I don't have plenty to be thankful for.  But I have mostly been feeling kind of sorry for myself (I know, lame).  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas and shopping and finding great deals and perfect gifts and also sewing something fun (the past few years it has been monsters or, one year, a doll) for each of my kids.  At the end of October we had to take a hard look at our finances and realized that, largely due to the $$$$ that it cost to get the Vanagon all up and running again, and ALSO due to some old bad business debt that came back to haunt us and is requiring monthly payments, we needed to do some serious belt-tightening.  So just when I was about to get into the holiday spirit, I needed to get into the penny-watching spirit.  And watching the money go to needed new tires for the van and then a replacement tire for a blow out on the Scion was so depressing.  And both of the older kids and myself are in need of new eye prescriptions that'll have to wait.   Gratefully, I was able to do a couple of photography sessions this month that helped out a little with a couple of the costs. While I know that holiday spirit is more than spending money and all that, it's still a stressful time to be watching every dollar.  And we still haven't been able to fix our upstairs shower that has been nonoperational since last September.  Sigh...

BUT, I am grateful for my family.  I'm grateful for David and his hard work to provide us with what we need.  I'm grateful for each of my kids and the craziness that has to be somehow making me a stronger and better person.  I'm grateful for good friends who make life more pleasant, and for friends who lend an ear and/or a helping hand.  I'm grateful for the things I've realized the past year about Christ and his love for us, and the supreme importance of learning to love others.  I'm grateful that the twins are older and that I'm not nearly as exhausted and sleep-deprived as a I was a year ago at this time.  I'm thankful for all the beauty of nature, and particularly the mountains that I can see out our windows and as I drive around the valley.  And even though it cost us a lot of money this year, I'm grateful for my VW Vanagon and the fact that it is so comfortable to ride in and still costs so much less than a newer van would.

So, when it comes down to it, I know that life is pretty good, and I have a lot to be thankful for. :-)

I've read this a couple of times now...

and it has been a powerful reminder of eternal truths each time.

Thanks Be to Our God

today I'm happy about...

...feeding my family dinner & dessert for under $5. ($1 can of yummy soup, $0.29 package of cornbread mix, $0.99 half gallon of chocolate milk, $1.99 - $0.65 coupon vanilla ice cream, $0.69 2 liter root beer). Granted, it wasn't fancy or super nutritious, but they loved it and we can have root beer floats again tomorrow!

...Sprout's ultra-deluxe car seat arrived today. We could barely buckle his other one, and I know it had to be uncomfortable the last few weeks. Thanks to my awesome mom and (one of) my awesome SILs for helping with the purchase. This one should last him a good long time!

....it took me four tries, but finally I got a good fire going in the fireplace. I guess I'm rusty after 8 months of no practice.

....learning a useful embroidery stitch that will help me make cute faces on my Christmas projects. No more "fake" embroidery. Now I know something! (This video library of stitches is so awesomely helpful! It's like having your very own granny!)

....David's business is slowly but surely acquiring clients! There might be an actual income in our future!

laddie & gratitude

(if you squish the title of this post, it's "latitude.")


I read it in a whirlwind to finish before our discussion group met tonight, but I give Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter (same author as highly reviewed-by-me Freckles) five stars. This book has it all--enlightening thoughts on education, characters who inspire you to improve your own life, mystery, adventure, romance, humor, fabulous pastoral descriptions...I could probably go on for a bit longer. This book is on the Thomas Jefferson Education short list of classics to get started in furthering your own education and developing the skills necessary to be an effective mentor, and after finishing it, I can plainly see why. This book is online in its entirety on Google Books. I was fortunate enough to borrow a copy from a friend, since it isn't quite the same to sit at my computer on a metal folding chair and read such a lengthy work. (sidenote:I think I need a more comfortable office chair....maybe it's time to hit D.I. when I get some disposable income.)

Anyways, you should read it. It's fabulous.

Today I'm grateful for ward/neighborhood members who look out for each other. And for people with skills willing to share them. And that my house is no longer 85 degrees.

ICHTHOBERFEST '07

Last night we hosted our annual Ichthoberfest party (pronounced "ick tho ber fest"). It was, by all accounts, a roaring success. We had some new folks who didn't attend last year, as well as most of those who DID attend last year. We had much food, of course, as well as fish-shaped sugar cookies to decorate, foam fish cut-outs to decorate, a fishy pinata, a fish "pond," and karaoke. David prepared his super delicious grilled salmon, which there is never enough of (it's SOOO good!) and we've been craving ever since the party ended. Since the weather was cold and windy, we opted to set up in the garage instead. We actually made it look quite festive, and it was a good forced reason to vacuum and sweep down the garage, so now you don't stab yourself in the feet with corn cob litter from the rabbit's cage should you happen to venture out there barefoot. (Which I frequently do.) It was a whirlwind three hours, as most everyone was gone by 8:00 and we started at 5. And that was okay, because we packed a LOT of fun into those three hours, and since most of the attendees were parents of children, people wanted to get home for bedtimes and other important things. And David and I were pooped after a day of cleaning, decorating, and other preparations. Our smaller parties with significantly fewer people (held monthly) usually last until 11 or so.

On Friday I was grateful for the shop vacuum, which allowed me to suck up dirt, pebbles, and even a couple of plastic bags accidentally while I was cleaning the garage.

Saturday I was grateful for good friends and good food. Oh, and for the invention of karaoke. You should have seen & heard me belt out "I will survive." Bet you didn't know I had an inner diva!

Today I am grateful for relevant lessons at church. In Relief Society we talked about "The Women of the Church," and the excerpts from President Kimball's talks were fabulous. He really mastered the whole "we appreciate & value women's contributions" without putting women up on some silly pedestal or going into the fluffy crap about how women are naturally so much more spiritual & better than men.

gratitude attitude

Today I am grateful for our cat, Minnie, who although she does NOT like being picked up and held, frequently seeks David or I out for some lovin'. Today I was upstairs reading the 7 Habits and she hopped up on the bed beside me and snuggled with me for a while and demanded affection. I think I'm genetically wired to like furry things, as I've loved both toy and real animals my entire life. But there is something extra fabulous about a living creature of another species seeking out your company. I feel it is such a privilege to have the trust of these small creatures.

I'm also grateful for David and his pragmatic approach to life. Even when I get bothered because he doesn't get emotional like I do about certain things, I think deep down I'm still grateful that he can hopefully balance me out. We're a pretty good team, I think. I'm grateful for that.

And I'm also grateful that the same week my monitor decides to give up the ghost, my neighbor sent out an email about some old monitors they were getting rid of at work for only $15. And while it's not nearly as beautiful as my "lampshade" iMac, at least it works.

But I'm NOT grateful that the lifespan of an LCD screen is about 5 years. Which is how old my iMac is. I'm also not grateful that they don't repair them for less than a zillion dollars. Because I don't really like the new iMacs nearly as well.

hooray for hand-me-downs!

So all week I've been thinking, "I need to get Spud some more long pants & winter clothes." Today I was thinking it again, then remembered that I should still have a box of 4/5 clothes somewhere. I pulled it out and was delighted to see loads of cute shirts (mostly long-sleeved) and several pairs of pants. Most were given to me during Spud's first year, so they've been stored for a while, but since he's such a big guy who grows like a weed, we didn't have to wait too long to use them. So I sent the friends who gave us their little boys' hand-me-downs a thank you again. Especially as I'm really trying to be wise with our money now, and sometimes it's easier if you don't have to go shopping to look for things. If I don't go in the stores (or shop online), it's that much less likely that I'll spend money!

Now if I could just get some girls' hand-me-downs, size 6x/7.

gonzalezes are . . .

You who know us well could likely fill in the blank with a variety of words, some of which might actually be positive!

Last year sometime I was talking to one of my sisters and she said that they'd come up with a family motto, "Kohlers are kind." I actually thought it was a nice idea, some sort of catch-phrase to inspire kids with when necessary, so I mentioned it to David. He then decided that we needed a motto, and the first thing he thought of was "Gonzalezes are grumpy." Hmph. I told him this wasn't really the idea, as mottoes are not supposed to be statements of fact, but rather inspiration to be better. Unfortunately, he got such a kick out of himself that the "motto" stuck, and while it thankfully hasn't been called upon too frequently, I didn't see it as being a step forward for our family.

So the other night we were talking after our TJEd study group, and I said I think we need a real motto. After thinking for a few moments, I suggested "Gonzalezes are grateful." He immediately liked it. We've been trying to cultivate an attitude of abundance in our household for the past couple of years, but when money is tight and comes sporadically sometimes, it can be hard to focus on what you have when you are frequently wondering and shuffling money around to pay the bills. Lately, though, I've really been making the effort to be grateful, and as cheesy as it can feel to my inner cynic, when I have an ungrateful thought or complaint, I force it out with a grateful one. This has been especially helpful in the mornings when I do not want to get out of bed. I start thinking that I'm grateful to have a bed to sleep in, grateful for the health that allows me to get out of bed unassisted and without pain, grateful for the home I have to wake up in, and after a few of these thoughts, I'm feeling pretty good about life. Perhaps I'll get my brain rewired yet!

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, I wanted to share a recent favorite comic:



I'm grateful for comics and for the little ones who want constant entertainment. (Though I'm less grateful for that need for constant entertainment.)