Photo Friday

This one is for you Uncle Robbie.  We love you!

Taking Candy from Sarah (a PSA)

My sweet, sweet Sarah....  Isn't she just an angel baby? 

The other day Sarah was putting her jacket on to go outside when she came into my office and said, "Look mommy, a Skittle."  I said, "Oh, Sarah.  I like Skittles."  She then said, "You can have it mommy" and she gave me the Skittle.  Without thinking, I thanked her and popped it in my mouth. 

As soon as it hit my tongue, I could tell there was something on the Skittle.  Something furry, fuzzy on the Skittle.  Then, in the far nether regions of my brain there was a PRIMAL SCREAM...  and the tiniest voice whispered "You didn't give Sarah any Skittles today."   I immediately spit it out and called to Sarah. 

"Sarah, where did you get the Skittle?"

"Was it yummy mommy?"

"Uh-huh, yeah.  So umm, where did you get it?"

"I found it in my pocket mommy!"

She went skipping out the door as I immediately grabbed for anything I could to rinse my mouth out. 

So this is a warning to all of you...  not only should you not take candy from strangers, you should also not take candy from cute little girls named Sarah. 

52-Week Challenge: Week Six

Welcome to week six...  before we move forward, how did everyone do last week?  I'll tell you, it was really hard to keep my needle in the positive last week.  I posted another quick post "The Weaver" to help keep some perspective on it all and it seemed to work.

That is until Tuesday evening rolled around and I got even more news of illness.  My grandma suffered a mini-stroke and my brother-in-law was back in the hospital.  That night, I went to bed angry and sad and confused and every other word the thesaurus can pop out.  Right before I fell asleep, I just asked myself "Why?  Why them?"  The next morning, this verse kept creeping into my mind:  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). 

The rest of my week, I dedicated to being grateful.  Grateful that my children colored pictures for their Uncle Robbie, who they know and love.  Grateful that we are now in the States and making the decision for Ronnie to fly home is much easier. Grateful that not only are we in the States, we are in Washington and 2 hours away from my grandma, who both my girls love to go visit.  Grateful for having friends whose hugs linger and make you tear up thinking about them.  There are so many more things to be grateful for in this world than are to be mad and pissy about.  And I got the lesson I needed last week. 


Okay, so week six is almost a gimme week:  Take a multivitamin.  Taking a multivitamin is like having a little more car insurance than what is required by law. 

Like tracking, I need to do better about doing it every day.  I make the girls take a vitamin every night, so I will be joining them for it.  And I have the little OCD girl who can't go to bed without one, so I'll tell her to remind me that I need one too.  When looking for a multivitamin, be sure to get one that doesn't have more than 100% of your daily intake.  Really, it's just wasted.  I've found that taking a prenatal or the good ol' Flintstone vitamins are perfect.  And who doesn't love taking Flintstone Vitamins??? 

If you already take a multivitamin, your extra credit is to get more probiotics in your diet...  either yogurt or pill form will do. 


Other resources:

Choosing a multivitamin:  http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/choosing-a-multivitamin-00400000001551/

More vitamin information:  http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/f-w03/multi.html

The book we're following: http://www.amazon.com/52-Small-Changes-Healthier-ebook/dp/B0056J4ER0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325722556&sr=1-1

Jenn's blog: http://thewoogies.blogspot.com/search/label/52%20Small%20Changes

The Light! The Light!

This really wierd thing happened on Friday.  There was this big yellow thing in the sky all day.  It was bright and warm and it filled me up with happiness from head to toe.  Being completely oblivious to what this large yellow thing was, I took it to the library and found it was the sun.  Who knew - the sun shines here?!?   WOW! 

All kidding aside, we had an amazing few days of weather.  It's the kind of weather that you don't need a jacket and you want to run and play outside.  And this time of year in the PNW, it is very rare to have this sort of weather in early February...

So the girls and I soaked it up!   First, we headed to one of the many local parks after school on Friday.  It was so much fun.  The girls rode bikes while I got a quick run in.  We played on the playground and went down to the duck pond.  The girls even let me take a few pics while we were exploring the stream and park. 

Saturday we woke up to a bright blue sky - again, something we couldn't pass up.  We packed a picnic lunch and headed to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma.  When we got to Point Defiance Park, it was too pretty to not eat on the sound so we pulled into one of the beach parks and played for a bit.  It was such a clear day that we could see the Olympics and the Cascades along with all of the large mountains in the area.  We spent the rest of our day exploring the zoo and just plain enjoying the gorgeous day. 

Photo Friday

** Every Friday, I will post a picture from our life.... enjoy! **

Christmas Dinner with the Stockmans, Korea, Christmas 2009

Ain't no party like a Princess party - woot woot!!!  We had dinner with our good friends, the Stockmans.  While we were cleaning the dishes up, the dress-up parade started.  So much fun!!!!

The Weaver

Sweetest DW, I hope you don't mind that I lifted this from you...  It certainly touched my soul and I think it will touch others as well.   

Last week, I was surfing FB after finally getting some internet back in this house.  Basically, catching up with my friends that I don't get to see.  My friend had a status post that brought me to tears.  Do you know how many times do I have to remind myself that it is "Thy will be done" not "my will be done."   I am just a carpenter in my life but He is the architect...  something I do well to remember most days.

This morning, I woke to find that a dear family has lost a child, a young man who was as bright as he was witty.  As I sat and wept for them and their loss, my mind kept coming back to my friend's words.  Having the benefit of reading her perspective of loss and who is control has soothed my soul once more.  And I'm sharing it with you....

"This is a poem that a dear friend wrote for me. We were in deep discussion one night about life and she asked me a pointed question. I don't remember the details, but I remember telling her I'd ask God when I saw Him, "Why was your plan for my life not the same as my plan for my life?" I told her I thought that I had had the "perfect Norman Rockwell life" but that His plan for me was different ...from that.

We got home and googled "Norman Rockwell". I encourage you to do the same. He was A MESS!!!! We laughed and laughed at the irony. It was a fake picture of what we thought our lives should be.

I used to sing. A lot. I used to MINISTER to people through my singing. A lot. I sang at one time (I believe it was Sandi Patty, but not sure) about God weaving a tapestry of our lives.......

Have you ever seen needlepoint? Perhaps they start by sewing all the yellow....then the green.....then the red....but you still can't make out what it will look like. I had always thought when I sang those words that God was weaving a tapestry and that the closer I got to the end of my life, I would begin to see His master plan.

I have come to a completely different conclusion. GOD is weaving the tapestry. He's in Heaven. I am down here on earth looking up.

Have you ever seen the UNDERSIDE of a tapestry? It's nothing but knots and chaos! That's all I/we can see. I believe. I BELIEVE. I BELIEVE He's weaving a tapestry for you and me......and you know what? We will not know. We will not know His plan....until we can see it from His vantagepoint. I believe He gives us glimpses....and we rest in those. But I trust Him to weave my tapestry. The same song says, "When you don't understand, when you don't see His plan, when you can't trace His hand.....Trust His heart."

My life is completely different now than what I had pictured or planned. But it's GOOD! He works ALL things together for GOOD to those who love God! It doesn't say all things ARE good. It says He works them TOGETHER for good! (Whew, a whole other topic).

I'm a horrible writer. But a great thinker. So forgive the words, but embrace the thoughts.....

I trust His heart. And I'm glad Norman Rockwell was as messed up as the rest of us!"

52-Week Challenge: Week Five

Sooooo  how did the journaling go?  I think I did relatively well, considering I didn't have power for the first day or internet until last Thursday.  I journaled as honestly as I could... and so far the scale is showing a good loss for the week.  I found some areas that I could improve (more dairy) and areas that I do a little too well in (yes there is such a thing as too many fruits when there aren't enough veggies).  So I'm marking down last week as an overwhelming success. 

See that - that was me seeing the sunny side of things.  Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we all saw our glasses as half-full?  Speaking of, I need to refill my water glass since it is empty.  Remember week one?  Okay, back from a trip to the fridge with a very full glass of water.    Let's move on to the week five challenge:

Week 5 - Develop an optimistic outlook

Heee heee, now you get why I was talking about my water huh?  Glass half-full - get it???

The author is challenging me (and us) to think more outwardly positive this week.  I'm a pretty positive person to begin with...  well, sometimes.  The author give some suggestions for me (us) to combat those sometimes and turn it right around:

Use positive self-talk -  There is something to the little angel and little devil who sit on your shoulder and whisper into your ear.  Do you think athletes use negative self-talk or positive?  Like Michael Jordan ever said to himself, "No I can't dunk."  Yeah, showing my age but so what....  take a look at his career and where he started.  No one ever came that far without having some positive self-talk.  Check how you talk to yourself and keep the idea of keeping the words you say to yourself sweet.  There are enough critics in the world -- you don't need another one. I also really like what Henry Ford said "Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."

Use affirmations - "I'm good enough, I'm strong enough, and gosh-darnit people like me" LOL, I love SNL!  Cheesy, but it works.  Having a touchstone works - something that you can say to yourself to remind you.  One of my favorite ways to start my day if I'm in a funk is by reciting Psalms 118:24 "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." We'll get to gratefulness in sec.... but isn't that verse the sum of how to start your day?  What's your I think I can? 

Have a Sense of Humor -   I don't know how many times just sitting down and laughing about the predicament I have gotten myself into has saved me from a complete and total meltdown. Anyone who has been around me any amount of time knows what an utter and complete mess I am.  Keeping a sense of humor about the situation definitely greases the wheels and helps relieve stress. 

Practice Gratefulness - Going back to my verse, how many times do we take our situations for granted? The air we breathe, the roof over our heads, the food in our cupboards...  a bit of gratitude goes a long way in this world.  Besides Thanksgiving, when was the last time you honestly sat down and reflected on all of the things in your life? 

So this is what we are working on this week...  being positive, laughing and smiling more, and being grateful.   

Oh, and thank you for reading ;)

Other resources:

Positive thinking: Reduce stress by eliminating negative self-talk:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positive-thinking/SR00009
Optimism: http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/optimism

The book we're following: http://www.amazon.com/52-Small-Changes-Healthier-ebook/dp/B0056J4ER0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325722556&sr=1-1

Jenn's blog: http://thewoogies.blogspot.com/search/label/52%20Small%20Changes