Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A Weekend Enjoyed!

It was a good weekend.  We had a pretty low key day on Saturday, which I love.  We spent the morning at  home, cleaning, cooking, watching cartoons, then...I went on the dreaded 9 mile run~!  I made it!  It was tough at times but it was a good run.  I was exhausted afterwards.

A friend of ours had a birthday party that night and so my mom came and stayed with the boys.  Yep, we were out until 1am thank you very much!  I think after having kids, late nights are harder to do because it took everything out of me the next day.  We went with a big group of people to a Karaoke Bar and had a blast.  We sang, danced, screamed conversation to each other because the music was so load, and just had a great time being out together.  Oh and for the record, NO, I didn't sing!  I just watched everyone else sing and sang from the sidelines,hahaha!  I cannot carry a note for the life of me and don't dare ever blasting this lovely voice on a mic!

Sunday we just hung out at home in the morning.  Believe it or not, but we didn't have any Superbowl plans this year and so the boys just started watching the game while I got myself together to go to a birthday party for a friend of our boys.  We were invited to Big Al's.  OH my goodness!  That was the place to be for Superbowl.  HUGE TV screens everywhere, the kids got to watch AND bowl and then after it was over they got to eat pizza, birthday cake and then go and spend $10 on video games-the people throwing the party gave that to each child.  Crazy, I know, but WHAT a huge blessing because the boys had SO much fun! 

I am not sure what it was about the evening, but 2x I had two different couples come up to me and hand me their extra tickets and money cards to let the boys have!  We ended up getting an extra $14 (each boy got $10 already, so we had a total of $44 to spend on arcade games), tons of tickets, (like 600),  and each of the boys actually walked away with some cool prizes from the prize store!  Talk about a little boys paradise- hahaa!!! Very cool. 

It's ways like that that God looks out for us and reminds me of the little ways he loves me!  It's all in the little blessings, but they are so significant.  When we got home and to bed that night, we prayed thanking God for such a wonderful family day and that he blesses us so much in small ways!  He is a GREAT God!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Thankful Friday!

I love Fridays.  I look forward to sleeping in a tiny bit on Saturday and spending the weekends with my boys.  Here's a quick list of the things I am thankful for right now...

  • My husband and the way he makes me laugh.
  • My kids.  I love to snuggle with them, hang out with them, hear about their days.
  • So thankful for the Lord in my life and that HE gives me new strength each day.
  • For yogurt and granola.  A yummy treat with fresh blueberries.
  • For our little house. 
  • For having a car that works.
  • Friends and the way they inspire me to be a better friend, mother, wife, and woman.
  • For good books and good blogs.
  • The morning sunrise and the evening sunset on a partial sunny day.  The way the clouds color.
  • Hot showers.
  • A yummy latte, although I haven't had one in 2 weeks.  (taking some time off of coffee and switched to tea.)
  • So thankful for health.  When I have been sick, it makes me realize how lucky I am to be healthy.  Thank you Jesus that upset tummies don't last forever.
  • Thankful for my boys who keep coming in and asking if they can play a board game with me.
I guess that would mean it is time to go.  We are heading out to soccer tonight so I need to spend some time with them now. I pray I don't freeze in the cold.  Why oh why isn't their love basketball!?!?!? hahaha!  I guess soccer will do, it's so fun to watch.  OK.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Weekend update, a little late!

I am not very good at this blogging thing and figuring it all out.  I still am trying to figure out how to put tabs at the top of the page, home and about me!?  Anyone want to help a sister out?  I am still not 100% sure I like my design either.  I am still playing around with that one.

This last weekend went by fast.  It was a great weekend.  Our church celebrated it's 10 year anniversary and I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time.  It was great!  I also conquered a six mile run from my house,  up and over Rocky Butte and back!  Phew.  Training for this half marathon stuff is not joke!  My knee has given me a little trouble so I have been babying it a to try and recover, and I have to admit it is frustrating.  I make a goal, try to accomplish and then get blasted with the whole achy knee stuff.  It's a huge realization that one, I am getting older, and two, I am no longer the skinny little runner I once was! HA!  So, yesterday I ran on the treadmill.  Can I just tell you how not fun, running in your little house, staring at the window in front of you for 3 miles is!?  But, I decided that running on the treadmill in the warmth of my house rather than the freezing cold outside was worth it!  This weekend is my biggest run yet, a 9 miler.  Pray for me.  I want to finish it without a hurting knee!

My oldest son got his hair cut on Monday and he looks oh so handsome!  His hair was getting a bit out of control on the long side!  The boys also got sick this last weekend, but seem to be recovering now.  I love how well they play together AFTER dinner.  I don't get it, really.  BEFORE dinner, while I am cooking it's like they cannot stop fighting.  We eat, talk, hang out a bit, and then they are off and playing as if they are best friends immediately following while I clean up the kitchen!  What is it about that?  I love those moments though.  I listen from the kitchen while the water is running in the sink, they don't know I am listening, but it's in those little moments that I am reminded of how much He loves us and what a gift it is to have such wonderful boys!!!  It is such a blessing to my heart when I hear them interacting, laughing, and playing together.

Friday, January 28, 2011

finding the time.

I find it so difficult to sit and find the time to write.  I desire to, but I get so caught up in catching up with everyone else's blogs that I forget to post in my!  I am learning, very slowly, how this whole blog thing works.  I even checked a book out at the library to help me!  Kind of funny, I know.  But, I plan on figuring it out though, and soon I will be a consistent writer! 
 
I have had a good week this week.  It's been busy, but good.  I got to dye my god-daughter's hair yesterday.  It's a long story, she is 15.  Her mom had her at the age of 16 and I was a big part of their life when she was young.  She was the flower girl in my wedding, at age 4.  Time went on, I started my own family and we lost touch.  After coming back from Morocco, her mom has leaned on me for some help and we have stepped in.  I pick her up from school everyday and she spends the afternoons with our family.  I pray with all my heart that God grabs a hold of her heart. She needs him so desperately and I pray that I can be just a small reflection of Him to her.  It isn't always easy, but I hope and pray that she finds Him.  She got out of school early yesterday and I took her to the beauty store.  We found some fun stuff to dye her hair, which she has been wanting to do.  I knew if I didn't help, she'd buy some cheap stuff and really mess up her hair.  She wanted red and she has black hair which is not easy to color.  I wanted her to do it right, so we tried!  It was a lot of fun for me.  One, because I don't really ever get to do a girls hair. Two, I got to spend some good time with her and get to know her a little better, and three, in case you didn't know, someday I want to really learn how to cut and color hair!  So, I enjoy it!  But definitely need some training, I think I got bleach and hair dye everywhere! Hahaha! 
 
 

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A fun weekend

I just have a minute to update.  I have to say I love boys! 
 
I got to have my nephews this weekend-that is 7 boys altogether!  Wow!  That's a lot of energy, but we had a blast.  We took them to the community center on Friday for open gym and the kids got to play ping pong, basketball, jump on a trampoline and run around.  Normally, in this setting because all of my kids had a playmate I would have watched them play from the sidelines and "relaxed" for a minute.  But, because I have been challenged to engage myself more with them, I got right out there with them!  And, it ended up being really fun.  I played wall ball with the bigger boys, nerf hockey with the little ones, and then shot hoops with everyone!  I laughed a lot and it was fun watching all the boys get their energy out, not to mention I was burning calories in the process too!  That's always a great thing for me!!!
 
Saturday was pretty much dedicated to soccer watching and church!  It was a great weekend!  And did I say, I LOVE those BOYS!!!!  All of them.  They play so well together and it is such a delight having them all with us.  People think I am crazy to cram 7 little guys into this small house of ours, but it works great and it really is so fun, lots of work, YES, but really enjoyable! 
 
Well, that's my weekend in a flash.  I'll write again soon when I have a little more time!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

This journey...

So, I did it!  I started my own blog. 
I am nervous, excited, and trying not to waste to much  time focusing on it.  So, it will be a work in progress and gradually over time I hope to figure out how to make it look a little nicer, add some pictures, decorate it a little and just make it a place for me to come, that I enjoy. 
I am not a great writer.  I don't always know how to use words right or punctuation for that matter. I don't have a great education background.  I am not very computer savvy.  I often can't keep my thoughts going the same direction.  I don't type fast enough to catch the words in my mind.  I don't have a lot of humor and tend to be more on the serious side!  I really don't know what the heck I am doing on here. 

But, what I am, is a mom, a wife, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter and most importantly, a follower of Jesus.  He is my Father, my king, my savior, and my love.  (Although, I must admit here that you can't always tell that looking at my life. It is often messy and ugly.)  I love God and desire more of his presence in my life.  My heart is to glorify Him in all that I do!  I stay home with my kids and everyday I am so incredibly thankful for that gift.  It hasn't always been easy, but it it truly a gift.
God has really been speaking to me or challenging me lately with some things.  I get so completely overwhelmed with household tasks.  Cleaning, laundry, dinner making, taking the dog out to go potty, exercising, trying to create healthy meals, just living this thing called life.  I often begrudgingly do those tasks and resent it.  My heart will literally feel heavy because I have allowed it to overwhelm me.  I claim that those things take my time and waste it while I watch my kids play and entertain themselves at a distance.  But really, they don't.  I have control of my time and need to start making the most of it.  I am challenged to live more simply.  I am challenged to let these tasks that clutter my mind and my hands go.  I am challenged to learn to simply sit, play and wrestle with my boys, engage in meaningful conversations with my husband, to spend more time with Jesus, and take the time to ENJOY my life.  To laugh.  To embrace the many blessings he has poured out. 

My boys are growing so quickly and I am so convicted that some day when they look back they will remember me as a mom who was just busy with other things other than them.  I don't want that.  I want them to see me laugh with them, to stop when they call my name, to snuggle, to read, to engage in conversations, and to BE present with them.  It's a work in progress, but I must admit/confess, (whatever you want to call it) that over this past year I have not been very good at doing that.  It also effects other areas of my life.  I get focused on all the "to do lists" that I forget to stop and enjoy all that I have been blessed with. 

That is why I have chosen to call this 2enjoythejourney.  I want to have a place to come that reminds me of this, that I can share my simple delights, my thoughts, my convictions, funny stories, things that I have learned to pay attention to now that I am learning to take my focus off of the busy tasks of the day.  I am in the process of de-cluttering my home, and the unnecessary things that take my time.  (I just got a great book, Organized Simplicity simplemom.net by Tsh Oxenreider to help me!)  I will probably fail at times, but it is a journey...