Black Friday Week

So much to be thankful for...a few of the things I am thankful for. Bauer hit his head at school and luckily didn't need stitches. Just a butterfly bandage from the nice school office staff. Thankful for the nicest school staff around.

Kessler telling me we haven't taken a picture In a while. Thankful my kids like to be with me and feel like

they can talk to me .

Flying the friendly skies, thankful for a good job.

Thankful to spend time with my family, it has been a rocky road for some on my mom's side of the family. Thankful that I learned the lessons that I learned when I was younger, that I don't have to learn them today.

Diamond Debacle 2013 it started with Cooper watching tv and holding a fake diamond, not paying attention puts it in his ear, still in a tv trans and then realizes he can't get it out. He then tries to get it out with a skinny black thing, I don't really know what it was. I walked past and he had the black thing in his ear I didn't think much of it, and a few hours passed. Alivia then came and told me that Cooper has something in his ear, so I walked into the family room he still has the black thing in his ear and I look with a flashlight and I see a shiny diamond looking thing.

LONG story short, we tried everything to get it out, ear numbing drops (when kids have ear infections) irrigating it, even the vacuum, tweezers, you name it we tried it. 

The next day went to the doctor, the pediatrician tried and couldn't get it out, too close to his ear drum and didn't want to puncture his ear from the shape of the diamond.

Meanwhile Cooper is NOT cooperating and that is where this little picture below comes from. I could barely compose myself. He was freaking out, I think the last time at the office, they accidentally pushed it farther down. So it was then off the ENT. Went back to see the doctor and by this time, Cooper was hysterical, like I have never seen. We just tried to explain we were just going to look, he would let us look and then start freaking out like we were going to kill him. At one point he grabbed the doctors hands and scratched him.......OH MY GOSH!!!!! I wanted to die!!!

Basically if he would have cooperated he may have been able to get it out, YES it would have been uncomfortable and painful but the alternative was CRAZY!!

Well as you can see, we had to do the alternative, take him to IMC at 1115am. Wait for 2 hours and 15 min to get back into the OR, they gave him some versed to calm him down, finally some anxiety relief for Cooper. It was a fast 20 min procedure, they gave is some "gas laugh" is what he calling it. No IV, or breathing tube THANK GOODNESS!!! Recovery for 20 min and then another 40 min recovery with me sitting next to him.

He wanted to see the diamond in his ear, I tried to take a picture by then it was too deep.

Convincing me that he just wanted to go home and that the diamond would fall out!! If it were that easy???

All said and done, it was the safest and best thing to do to get the diamond out was giving him something to 

relax. Against my better judgment I agree now, maybe not then. When I was talking to the doctor he asked me if I was ok holding him down and trying to get it out, and I was ok then, but looking back now I should have spared myself and Cooper all the trauma, pain, anxiety, anger, frustration and just slowed down and thought what was best . I just wanted to do what was the easiest and cheapest. 

My crazy boys are pretty good at their chores, clean their room, unload and load the dishwasher, sweep and mop floors, clean bathrooms, dust, vacuum. One day when I was helping them clean their room  we made it spotless......it was beautiful, it was pristine, it was heavenly, it was what ever mother wants a clean kids room. I came back from work the next morning (seriously 12 hours later and 10 of them they were sleeping) and walked past their room and saw this chaos!!! I actually had this moment where I thought maybe I had dreamed the clean room and had to stop and really think about if we did clean their room the day before.

As mad as I wanted to be, I was thankful, I know my life won't always be like this, I don't ever want to wish the days away, even the crazy rooms, diamond debacles. They are all good memories for me. I need to stay more aware and keep trying to make good memories for them too!

Thanksgiving was Fab!! I like my version of Thanksgiving way better than the version I remember growing up. Growing up it was stressful, everything had to be PERFECT, the cranberry salad with chopped pecans, the potatoes and gravy, the rolls, the turkey, the table setting all had to be perfect nothing could be done out of order. I get that my Mom was just trying to hard and had a lot of guilt working as much as she did, so she wanted to do something special for us. But what we/I really needed was a happy, calm, fun mom to be around.

I have made that my mission with holidays. 

We had Ham (from Costco) {not a turkey fan}

Funeral potatoes

A vegetable and fruit tray (Costco)

Jello salad

Pumpkin Pie (Costco)

Rolls

Lemon pie (Kneaders) not that good actually

Sparkling grape juice

It was such a nice day, we played and laughed and I only prepared in the kitchen for about an hour. I will admit I am not the best cook, lack the "training" and the desire {truly}. What I want to remember is not the food, but the feeling of the day, I don't want my kids feeling like they are walking on eggshells while I am trying to create this perfect day......I will admit though I missed the mash potatoes and gravy, but I will make them another day and be just as thankful for them that day too!

Grey Thursday and Black Friday!

I had a great time spending some time with some good friends of mine. I got to hang out with my Jamie's.

We met at Sandy Target, stood in line, laughed, teased people standing by us, had a great time. I am so thankful for friends who love me for me. Put effort forth to be my friend. I am truly thankful!!

Scored some major deals that I was planning on, and scored some deals that I wasn't necessarily planning on:) 

Ben and his team rocked it, his store looked great everything went perfect, no one got got trampled (uh hem Walmart) When we were rounding the corner into the store we saw Ben standing there I gave him this awesome high five, he had the cutest smile on his face that is forever engraved in my heart!!!

So thankful for my blessings this year, and blessings to come. So thankful to serve the Lord as a mother and in YW, I sometimes I fall short but my desire is deep and I am thankful for the opportunity. I am thankful to be able to write down the messages that are sent just for me, since I started doing it I have realized that most are them are very private and so I write most of them elsewhere.

So much to be thankful for!! I never ever want to take for granted for my many blessings!

Thanksgiving Update

There has been so much going on, that I haven't had a lot of time to think let alone sit down and blog, my intentions are always so much greater than my actions in many area's of my life.

a quick list of happenings around here lately

Cooper got a fake diamond stuck in his ear
Ben and I cracking up at him smacking the side of his head so he didn't have to go to the doctor
The gate was left open on the side of the house and you can guess who took off, but the first time ever he came back by himself (true tender mercy) I think I would have had a mental break down if we wouldn't have been able to find him.
Christmas is up and it is very festive at our house.
Having a Thanksgiving feast Whidden style, low key, non-stressful, relaxed, no expectations just enjoying the day!
Excited to get some Christmas shopping done. Actually I would rather take the kids somewhere than buy presents this year, maybe next Christmas:)
SkyWest is changing the part time rules ONCE again, life should get interesting in January for all of us Flight Attendants.

Switzerland

I was working the other night and I was just finishing the beverage service and saw this young women crying and so what I usually do is just grab some tissues out of the bathroom and hand them to person. So I grabbed my tissues walked back up to her, handed her the tissues and asked her if everything was ok, which I don't normally do, she said no I am not ok and I really need a neutral party to talk to.......can you stay and talk to me for a minute she asked. I told her I would be right back I needed to help the other flight attendant get the cart back up to the galley.
When I got back to her, I commented I was her Switzerland and to lay it on me. She gave me a long story about her and her boyfriend, together for 5 years, they were only 22, he asked her to marry her a year ago and wants to set a date now for this upcoming year. She then told me how she really doesn't want to marry him, she loves him but doesn't want to get married and that she felt trapped.
I was stunned, I wasn't expecting that, i'm not sure what I was expecting but not that. We had a really good talk about marriage and what her version of a good marriage was and my version of a good marriage. It reaffirmed my testimony of an Eternal Marriage~

I don't know what she will do, I do know it left me very thankful for the person I married. I know all of us married to amazing people, I appreciate all the great examples of good marriages that I have seen. I am also thankful for some of the bad marriages that I have seen, to learn and grow from.

Ben and I are so opposite in many ways, but what I didn't know when I married him, is how a like we are in so many ways as well. He is an amazing person, and I don't know if anyone will ever see the Ben I see or will take the time to see. He is a natural leader, has a tender heart and of course an amazing father. I am so thankful for his help and support. He is my organizer, my even keel thought processor, sleeps through my restless legs, laughs when I show him a video of him sleeping, we were running some errands the other day and talked about all the places we wanted to go to and the ones we didn't, I was truly shocked that we were thinking so similar, the only one we didn't agree, he said he doesn't have the desire to go to Japan and I think Japan would be worth the trip. Oh WELL girls trip!!! :)

So blessed we get to do what we love together! Right now that is trying to be good parents!

Ps. We started a YouTube channel to put all of our family videos on, some are too big to load on Facebook or Blogger. If you want to take I peek, I will let you know when we have it up and running!

Thankful to get my trash kicked!!

I have lacked motivation lately, which fall usually is a perfect time to get out an exercise. I don't want to give any excuses but I did start a new medicine for my lady parts that has made me feel....blahhh!! However it was only a 2 week trial and I have been off it for a few days and I am getting back to my own self!! SO, I pushed away my lack of motivation last night and went down to this new exercise group (they are offering a few free classes) to jump start my motivation again, I went to a rowing class last night.....and loved IT!! Then to keep my 1 day streak going I went to a spin class today and got my trash kicked!! I thought I was going to die! no really, about  10 minutes into the workout I was getting sick and kind of dizzy so I had to slow down a lot (this class was 55 min long, how was I going to make another 45 min?) I was afraid/embarrassed I wouldn't make it, I thought I few times I should get down and just get off and so I stopped for about 1 min and just sat there but didn't get down and had this thought come to mind...{just peddle, you can peddle}I started peddling again and finally got a hold of myself, after the instructor asked if I was ok....I just kept peddling even though she was saying to increase the resistance I just kept peddling, when she said stand, I could stand and peddle...we she said peddle fast I peddled a little bit faster. I realized today once again,      I can do hard things. 

This is the lyrics to one of my most recent fav songs

It's called Honey, by Mindy Gledhill

When you're blue, buried deep
60,000 leagues under the bottom of the sea
I will swim to you to set you free
I will swim to you to set you free

Honey, when you feel worn out
When the mirror lies and turns on you
When the choruses of doubt are singing way too loud
Honey, I will chase them down
Honey, that's what love's about
Well, your world once revolved
A thousand miles per hour, now you watch it as it falls
And fizzles at a slow dissolve
Fizzles at a slow dissolve

And I hope you know you are
More beautiful than you dream you are
And maybe all things must pass
But now you're still wading through the ash
While the fire lasts

Honey, when you feel worn out
When the mirror lies and turns on you
When the choruses of doubt are singing way too loud
Honey, I will chase them down
Honey, that's what love's about

Lou

Little Livi Lou, or just Lou these days.

She is one spicy little chica, it is total payback for my saucy mouth when I was younger but as she gets older, the better heart to heart talks we have.

Some of our talks lately....

Her cousin, her age has to start wearing a bra:)

Why she has a hard time getting her homework done.

Why she can't fall asleep at night in a timely manner.

Why some friends don't get along with other friends and no matter what we try to be nice to everyone.

Having her feelings hurt because someone said she was ugly.

Having a very lengthy discussion about how to keep those thoughts from affecting they way you feel about yourself.

She asked me if someone said something rude about someone, should you go and tell them....another long conversation.

She is growing up, she knows right from wrong, she can tell when someone has a low self esteem and tries to make them feel better about themselves.

She has an awesome sense of humor!
An she loves Instagram!

Kessles (Ben's nick name for Kessler)

Today was a pretty lame day, I had a really hard time going to sleep last night and took 2 tylenol pm around 9ish. My mind wouldn't shut off for one I felt bad for saying no to crew support (SkyWest schedulers) for a stand up they were trying to cover desperately,  but I had a massive headache. 

But it worked out for the best I felt good this morning except for Tylenol pm hangover, I ended up taking a 3rd pill around midnight because I couldn't sleep.

ANYWAY, I got up got my YW stuff going, that was also keeping me awake last night thinking about as well, I just had to make a program but since we got this new computer I haven't organized any of my diggi scrap stuff so it took me a little longer than usual.

What I wanted to blog about today, is that Kessler came to me, Bauer's friend came over to play and Bauer and Kessler are kind of a combo pack these days, and Kessler was so EXCITED to go he came running in for me to help him put his shoes on, he doesn't know how to tie them yet, so he sat down and said "Mommy will you help me learn how to tie my shoes" ...."Yess Kessy of course"  he then said "will you help me everyday until I know how to do it" (in the sweetest voice ever) 

Since I am trying to recognize messages from God that are sent just for me, that was it. I was so happy in that exact moment to be a mom, and so honored that he wanted me to help him and it made me even more grateful to have these opportunities. I will be so sad when they are gone (as I am sitting on a beach in Hawaii, watching other peoples children play in the waves:)

But seriously, there is nothing I would rather do.

 I would never change any of it for anything, I would do it all over again, even at 36 years old, I would have 4 more if I could......blessed beyond words.

O Remember, Remember!

I LOVE this quote!! I especially love the part that says, "move at a pace that is comfortable for us" and "have the maturity to stop trying to prove something!"

So since I am few days behind I am moving at a pace that is comfortable for me. I will sum of some of my thoughts lately!

In YW a few weeks ago, we taught a lesson on this talk, I remember very clearly hearing this in conference a few years back and wondering how I can apply it to my life back then and re-reading the talk recently I felt very strongly to follow through with the way I felt back then as I did reading it again, so I thought I would start January 1st, 2014 but since for the month of November in the past I have tried to blog everyday about what I am grateful for, I think I am going to try and start
"to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness."

I am going to ask myself every time I blog for the next year,
"Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him."
I know I was shown God's kindness earlier this week, we lost the dog {again} and at first I was frustrated and thinking "why me? "what is wrong with THAT DOG! I quickly changed my thoughts and said a prayer in hopes that we would be able to figure this out being so far away. I wasn't very positive that my prayers would be heard and that it would be like last time 200$ later and "free"dog that has cost me more than those designer hybrid dogs!! I even thought I am done with this dog, we were sitting in a mall in Honolulu eating lunch and the kids asked about him, I told them that our neighbor couldn't find him, I hadn't mentioned anything not wanting to upset them, but I didn't want them to get home and not know what was going on.

Alivia's eyes welled up with tears and so did Bauer's, Kessler's lip started to quiver, Livi then let out this huge sigh trying not to cry. We talked about how much money it would be, and that would mean less of a Christmas. They all banned together saying they wanted their dog back, they wanted to find him, Christmas was important but so was the dog.

We made it home and made and as I was unloading some stuff from the suburban while the kids were at school and I saw the animal control officer start to drive down our street, I stopped him and asked him about any reports this last weekend. Well I was pretty sure that was him, so I drove down to the shelter and they walked me through like I have done before and there he was whimpering when he saw me. 

One of the blessings was is that I didn't get a ticket this time. The officer just dropped him off. I knew I was blessed for having the faith, even with a bad attitude to ask for help.

Another was the happiness and appreciation the kids showed having him back.

And lastly, it is always hard to come home from being gone to a not so clean house, well an amazing friend of mine came over and cleaned my house for me, It was such a blessing!! I am so thankful for the time and effort it took out of her busy life!! I am thankful for the kindness that I have been shown!!

As I take on this challenge I will go at a pace that is comfortable for me, I am looking forward to trying to see more of God's kindness in my life and writing down some of those experiences.  

If any of you would like to join me I would love it, I truly am uplifted an inspired from those I love, I would to hear your thoughts as well!!