Old Clothes

Today I cleaned out my closet and I discovered that I fit into most of my clothes again!! This is very exciting for me since some of these clothes were getting too tight before I got married and almost all of them were out of the question while I was pregnant and some time afterward. I'm really grateful that pregnancy and nursing actually helped me lose weight and that I'm keeping it off so far.

Sleep and snow

I'm grateful that the girls finally slept well and slept in, allowing me to sleep better and sleep in. We've all had colds and haven't been sleeping well. Today I actually feel rested and they have been acting like they feel better, too.

I'm grateful the weather was nice enough to take the girls out to play in the snow for a little while this afternoon. They do love to be outside, but they're not sure what to think of snow yet.

I'm grateful for the fact that this week has been quite relaxed. Ray hasn't had any big projects to worry about and he's been around a little more than usual in the evenings. It's been really nice.

The Gospel

I am so thankful for the gospel and all that it teaches. Death is such a sad thing, but it is good to know that we will be together again. When it is your time to go, it is not quite as sad as when someone makes it there time, but either way it is sad for those of us who are left. I am just so glad to know that things will work out on the other side. I would go into this more, but that is not the point of this blog, I am just happy to have the gospel in my life and that it helps put things in perspective when death is involved.

Ray

I forgot to mention yesterday how nice it was to go to church at the same time as Ray. He has had early meetings for the entire life of the girls. So the few occasions when we go to church at the same time I really appreciate his help with the girls. It is easier to get them ready. It is easier to get them into and out of the car. Everything is just much nicer and I always appreciate his help.

Now for today, I am grateful for girls that will entertain themselves well enough that I can get a few extra minutes of sleep.

I'm very grateful that I don't have animals in my house and that my husband agrees with me that we never should. This evening we stopped by to see some friends and they have cats. It reminded me how glad I am that Ray doesn't like indoor animals any more than I do.

Our Branch

Today the weather was beautiful (it almost made it up to 50) and the roads were clear which was wonderful since we had a little extra driving to do.

Today was the last week for us to be in the college branch, since the girls are almost old enough for nursery. We're leaving with mixed feelings. It is good to move on and have new experiences. But I'm going to miss the good friends I've made in the branch. This branch has been wonderful for us. Ray was baptized into the branch. We met in the branch. We've had so many good friends and great experiences while here in this branch. I'm very grateful to the wonderful leaders, and for all our friends. I'm also glad to move into a ward where our little girls won't be the only kids making noise. :-)

Warmth

I am grateful that it is warming up a little bit. I love snow, but I don't like the sub-zero temperatures we've been having.

I'm grateful that my girls seem to be getting over their colds. It's always hard to have sick babies and so nice when they are feeling well again.

Learning

I love watching my children figure things out. They try so hard and are so proud of themselves when they get something. It's amazing to watch. It's also interesting to think about all the things we all had to learn once that we completely take for granted now. Sometimes we forget there are new things out there for us to explore, we lose the child-like curiosity and get comfortable in our little tiny world. I'm grateful that my children are teaching me how many interesting things are out there and that everything has potential for fun. I'm also grateful for the reminder that I still have things to learn if I will only look for it.

Merry Christmas

This has been a beautiful holiday for us. I hope it was for all of you, too. I'm so grateful for the birth, life, atonement, death, and resurrection of our Savior. I'm very grateful to have a day to celebrate Him.

Random things

I'm grateful my girls let me sleep in a little this morning. I'm very grateful I was able to get so much done today. I didn't think I'd get to most of my list, but I think I got it all done. (If not, I guess it wasn't that important because I forgot about it.)

I'm grateful that the weather has warmed up ever so slightly.

My girls

I'm very grateful my girls took a nap this afternoon. I'm also grateful that they played quietly enough that I was able to lay down for a little while.

I am grateful that Ruby is a good eater and will eat almost anything I put in front of her.

I'm grateful that the neighbor boy shoveled my sidewalk so I didn't have to.

Pictures

Today I was looking through a lot of pictures, trying to put some together for a project, and I realized how grateful I am for my digital camera. It's much easier to organize, store, and look through digital pictures. Also, my camera is a good one, so it takes good pictures. Along the same lines, when I couldn't find everything I was looking for I started looking at my siblings' blogs. I'm grateful for the blogs to keep in touch and to pass along information and pictures. It's really nice to be able to have pictures of my nieces and nephews. Since we don't see each other very often and kids change so much it's a good way to keep up on what they look like. I hope it will also help my kids know who their aunts, uncles, and cousins are.

Good Behavior

First I'm grateful my talk is over. It went fairly well, so that I am grateful for, too. But, even more, I am extremely grateful for the relatively good behavior of my children while the whole family was on the stand. Yes, one of them got stuck under the organ bench. And I must note that one of them fell down the steps off the stand. (No injuries.) But they did it all quietly, which is what I cared about the most.

I am also grateful that someone else showed up a few minutes late for church and was willing to help me get the girls inside. (We have Relief Society first, so I wasn't late for my talk.)

Today

I am grateful that this day is over and it is time to go to bed.

I am grateful that my children were mostly cooperative while I was trying to write a talk. I can't guarantee that it is good, but at least it is written. I am glad to be done writing it.

Snow

I'm grateful for snow. I've always really liked snow and I put up with the cold so I can have snow. It's snowed a bit today. Hopefully that means we'll have a white Christmas.

I'm so excited that we've been receiving Christmas cards. I love to hear what is going on in everyone's lives. It's nice to be caught up. That's what I love about blogs, too.

Vacation

We are on vacation! Two whole weeks of no schedule (except church)! I love school breaks.

It was up around 60 degrees today. That was a beautiful change. I'm trying to enjoy the moment, since I know it won't last.

Reminders

I've been looking through my journal from the last year (trying to remember what happened to write a Christmas letter) and I realized that I am very grateful the girls are getting bigger. In so many ways it is so much easier now than it was a year ago. Since I see them every day I don't really register the changes. But as I read over how things were at the beginning of the year when they couldn't do anything for themselves it brought back a lot of memories and helped me realize how much easier things are now that the girls can do things.

I'm also very grateful for the gospel. This evening we attended a new member discussion for my friend that just recently was baptized. Sometimes it's good to go over the basic principles and be reminded how true they are.

Today's list

I'm very grateful that my girls play well together. This evening they were chasing each other around and laughing so hard. At one point they both fell down, Cora on top of Ruby, and were laughing so hard they couldn't get back up.

I'm grateful I was able to talk to several of my family members today. It always makes my day better to talk to family.

Kids

I'm not sure if I'm really grateful for this or not, but it is positive in that it makes me laugh. Tonight we were at the church for tithing settlement and one of the wards was having a Christmas party. Their bishop was wandering around handing out those plastic candy canes full of M&Ms. He gave one to each of the girls. Over the next few minutes or so Cora managed to chew through the plastic and get to the candy. That's the second time she's chewed through a candy wrapper to get to the candy.

I am grateful that my children make me laugh. I'm also grateful that my children seem to love the nativity already. I haven't put up a lot of Christmas decorations, but of the few that I have, the girls' favorite is my little nativity. They love it. They especially love to pet the sheep. Ruby always tries to get close enough to grab the baby out of the nativity. Don't worry, I have it set out of their reach and she just tries to grab it when I'm holding her.

I'll also add, since I forgot to the other night, that I'm grateful Ray didn't get a ticket when he got pulled over for speeding on the way home from his Christmas party.

Christmas Music

I haven't been able to blog much, thanks to a retarded computer, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have Christmas music playing in my home. It just helps to get in the mood and spirit of Christmas. Music has always been a blessing in my life, in more ways than one, actually. I was asked to sing with Katrina for the Dillards VIP night and we each got to pick out $50 worth of things from the store, something that was completely unexpected when we accepted.
I also love that my children have an appreciation for music and I can already tell that they want the Christmas stuff too. Forrest will say to me, "Mom! It's the Polar Express song!" or "Hey Mom, is this the song from Elf? Oh, I just love this song." And Nadia wants me to sing her Silent Night or Away in the Manger at night before bed and she does her best to sing along. I just love it.
There are so many out there that stir the soul and remind us of our Savior and the ultimate sacrifice He made for each of us. How grateful I am to be able to sing and listen to songs praising our beloved Redeemer. I just love this time of year.

Initiative

DJ has pretty much potty trained himself. It has been nearly painless. I love that child! And, since it has gone this way, I am also glad that I didn't put much effort into it at an earlier date. So, how do you accomplish this with your children??? You put off potty training as long as possible, then, accidentally run out of diapers. At that point you realize (with great relief) that you have 2 packages of pull-ups that you'd forgotten about. You tell the child, with excitement, that he is big enough for underwear. You then explain that Lightning McQueen doesn't like to be wet. Then you praise him when he tells you that he has peed and pooped in the toilet (very genuinely, since you are so happy that he went, as you had completely forgotten that he was in underwear). Perhaps I should mourn the motherhood awards I'm not going to win, but instead, I think I'll just be grateful for my big boy's initiative.