More Thoughts from the Day

I did get a chance to go to church this morning while Paul stayed home with sicky sickerson, so that was nice. The message was on forgiveness and it really has me thinking today. I have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to forgiveness!!!:) Holding a grudge is quite common in my world and I know, I know...unacceptable. The part that stood out to me Jody also quoted on her blog, "Refusal to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting your enemy to die". In other words, all this anger and frustration hurts only me while my "enemy" is going on with life. It's a silly problem and one that I constantly struggle with. In the end, life it just too short. Period. There are a million other more important things in life than holding a grudge! So today I am working on that...like anyone cares. But I do think I have been forgiven more times that I probably deserve and I failed to learn from that. Our pastor quoted Augustine today during the service, "To love those who love you is human. To hate those who love you is demonic; but to love those who hate you is divine." So today I am practicing forgiveness and grace...so if you really want to piss me off...it might be a good time!!!:) Just kidding....

Rest

This photo may be somewhat disturbing seeing as how Nalani's lips are BLUE, but trust me....she is breathing. It has been a long weekend around here. We helped Jennie and Sean move and stayed the night on Friday at Chris and Brenda's. (I forgot my camera!:() Nalani started coughing on Friday and was not feeling well on Saturday so we decided to come on home. Our furnace went out AGAIN a couple of times and Lani woke up with a fever. My house is destroyed and the laundry is piled up. With my training this week Paul is going to have his hands full. I'm sure he'll be fine, but of course I am stressed. If all goes as planned today, the house will be in perfect order with laundry washed, folded and put away before I go to bed tonight!:) I may be pulling an all nighter... 

A New Baby?

Although I told Paul I could handle one more baby, he had other plans for our future...he bought a truck! He's in love. It's not new, it's not fancy, it's not expensive, it's just a well cared for older truck (1996) with a lot of miles that is nicer than any other car he has ever owned. I, personally, am in love with it because it means I no longer have to drive the giant van around town!!:) This is a good thing! I get my mini-van back!! So Paul picked up the truck last night and has been smiling ever since. It's perfect timing because we are going to help Jennie and Sean move this weekend. Also, it has a bench seat in the extended cab and so the kids can fit in it as well. Nalani said, "Daddy's truck FUN!" and "Daddy's truck pitty! (pretty)" We will all be driving in it this weekend to go help Jennie and Sean. (If you can't tell from the photo, it is a bluish green)

Missing Them....

I'm home for lunch, wishing the kids were here with me, fighting for my attention and spilling yogurt all over the kitchenette carpet! Getting them to daycare was not a problem this morning, thank goodness. Yesterday it was tough for Brigg to accept that he would be going 5 days a week for 9 hours a day! He cried and cried...but when I picked him up he was all smiles and had a great day with his "buddies". I think today was harder on me than it was on the kids. Interacting with the other kids is so good for them though. Nalani patiently waited by the door yesterday while I tried to get Brigg's shoes and coat on with him kicking and screaming and begging not to go. Nalani said, "Where we doe-ing?" I said, "Shawna's". She said, "O-tay." Typical Lani. She loves it there. She thinks it's preschool and she's a "big dirl". She's growing up before my very eyes. Thought this was a cute photo of her.... 

Nada...

I truly have nothing to say. My brain is not functioning and I am barely among the living. Many have asked how my first day went and it really did go fine. I just will be spending the next 2 weeks trying to figure out the exciting ins and outs of insurance so I can pass my test to get my personal lines license only to turn around and try to muster up a few more brain cells to retain the information regarding commercial lines! I know, I know, what you wouldn't give to know the ins and outs of insurance! Please try to hide your jealousy...I will loan you my book if you want! Ok, I'm off to bed. I will spend the next hour praying that I find a way to retain all the information I read about today! I'll try to have something more to say tomorrow, but as for tonight...i'm going to bed!

The Fall

Last night when we got home from church and supper, Paul and I were pulling the kids out of the car. I looked over and saw Paul slip while carrying Brigg and a bag of stuff and a glass. He caught his footing and I thought they were ok and when I looked back, I saw them crash to the ground. The ice in our driveway is like a layer of concrete! (Paul said it won't melt until June). Anyway, they fell and Brigg immediately shouts "I'm not hurt!" So I starting laughing and so was Paul. Well Brigg started crying a little and said he was just scared. We made it safely into the house and Brigg was kind of crying again. I said, "Brigg, why are you crying?" Brigg said, "I didn't get hurt, but I'm worried about Daddy." Paul said, "I'm FINE, why are you worried about me?" Brigg said, "Because you don't have any hair and the ice is harder than your head!" We got a good laugh out of that, but I have to beg to differ...Paul's head can be pretty darn hard!

Imitation

Brigg has been big on walking on the treadmill lately. I used to do it after the kids were in bed, but recently find it easier to get through if I do it while Nalani is napping. So Brigg has been watching me lately and loves walking on it after I get off. Today I was reading while I was walking and so he asked to read his Spiderman book while walking today. It was so cute. I would have really thought he was reading had I not known he is completely illiterate other than recognizing his name and the word "Hawkeye". This was a perfect example of the chapter I just finished up in Sacred Parenting entitled "Xerox R Us". Gary Thomas says "Even without specifically requesting that our children follow us, they will do so, at least to some degree. They may try to imitate us, or they may push away from us and rebel, but they WILL react to us and to our way of life." He goes on to finish the chapter by stating, "We can't avoid leaving ruts. To have a child is to influence another life, perhaps even several generations. The only question is, in what direction will our ruts carry our children?" What a responsibility we have as parents!!! I will continue to pray that all my ruts will not overpower some of my strengths in regard to influence on Brigg and Nalani's lives. 

COBRA Schmobra!

Insurance....necessary, but completely frustrating! I find it ironic that I am choosing to go into the insurance business contrary to my disgust by this area of life. I just spent the past HOUR on the phone with the insurance company trying to get our COBRA insurance worked out for the month of January. It is necessary for us to have constant coverage because of Nalani's "pre-existing condition". We cannot let it lapse for even one day or Paul's current insurance could choose not to pick us up. We have called probably 5 times in the past 2 months and each time we get sent through this maze of automated stuff only to be locked out, sent to a "representative" (which is where I wanted to be sent anyway), and told we will receive a new password in 7-10 business days. We have seriously had our password reset FIVE TIMES. I have no idea what the password even IS! AHHHH! So frustrating. I am blotchy and my blood pressure is high. I insisted (I'm sure nobody can begin to imagine me insisting on anything due to my calm nature!) that this be taken care of TODAY on the phone. They said I owed $2,873.61...so it was important that we get this figured out so I could get to a bank and take out a LOAN if necessary!:) Sooooo, after an hour of frustration we finally have it taken care of. Whew!!! I cannot believe my children allowed me to pay them no attention for that long. My phone was dead, so I was also attached to the wall the whole time. Not a good place for me to be. So after this passed, I went into the living to find my two beautiful children sitting on the floor, engrossed in a cartoon and surrounded by smashed sour cream and cheddar potato chips that I am sure I gave them during my moment of stress and didn't even realize I was doing it! They were SO CUTE though. I grabbed my camera, and my babies and took a photo of the three of us. My heart rate is back to normal, as is my blood pressure for the time being. They teach me patience and so so much more.... 

Ronnie and Friends

Another fun afternoon around here. We are taking full advantage of these last weekdays to hang out...plus we have just wanted to get out of the house and away from Paul's germs! Saturday it was Jungle Bungle, Monday McDonalds, Tuesday Happy Joes and this afternoon we went back for round 2 at McDonalds. We hit it at a good time though...at 3:00pm you are virtually the only ones there. I think Lani enjoyed being the only girl among 5 boys! And Brigg enjoyed being in the company of his "buddies". As always, I love hanging with Jody, so it makes for an enjoyable afternoon adventure. Due to all these outings, I have 6 lightbulbs that need replaced, a mattress laying on my bedroom floor that needs to be flipped and 4 pans in the sink that need to be washed. And you know what...it will wait until tomorrow (other than the mattress that I have to get on my boxspring!) Paul is feeling better and I'm hoping we have some time tonight to get caught up on the last 3 days events!

Memories from 48 hours ago....

The kids seem to be bouncing off the walls, Paul is still home from work sick (day 3), I am still in my pj's and see no reason to remove them with the weather being the way it is. I was finally able to put Nalani down for her nap and Brigg had uncontrollable giggles, so I put him on the treadmill for a bit. He gets very serious about "exercising". He even prepares for it by stretching. He said, "faster Mom, faster!" He even fell on it and popped back up to his feet before he actually rolled right off the back which brought him full circle, back to out of control giggling. I am longing for spring! All I have is my memories from that beautiful day a mere 48 hours ago. I am trying to remember that I will be missing this come next week, but for the time being I am thinking they are ready to get back to daycare. I don't think I can keep them entertained enough to get through the days anymore! Hope everyone is enjoying their snow day today.... 

Spring in February

What a beautiful day! The kids were in heaven! I got absolutely NOTHING done today and I don't care one single bit. I have a serious case of spring fever after today's temperatures. As you can see from the photos, we crammed in as many activities as we possibly could. Brigg rediscovered his passions...GOLF and baseball. I can honestly say, without a doubt, this is the happiest I have seen him in months. This 4 1/2 year old little man is in love with golf. I already feel so sorry for his future wife. She doesn't stand a chance against this passion. He was "teeing it up", chipping, "getting out my sand wedge", and putting. He pulled out this marker thing and I said, "Brigg, what is that? Don't mark on your ball!" He said, "But Mom, this is the best way to tell whose ball is whose. That's what this marker is for!" DUH! What was I thinking? I know nothing. Nalani found a way to incorporate golf, biking and baseball into one crazy sport. She wore the biking helmet as a baseball helmet and used the baseball bat and ball as a golf club and ball. She was perfectly happy with her unique little sport. I have to say, it was an incredible day. I just love these little people more and more each day! Is that even possible?!? I feel a shift in the phase of our lives. They are growing up and moving completely out of that baby stage and onto a new and even better stage. They are starting to enjoy eachother more and interact more than they ever have. I love it! Although Paul was down and out today with a high fever and aches and pains, it turned out to be a great Valentine's Day. I only wish I had a way to hold on to these memories in this distinct form in my mind forever. Thanking God over and over again tonight for these amazing little beings.....

It's a Jungle Out There!

I decided to take the kids to McDonalds for lunch today. It is their favorite place to go and I figured since this was my last week home with them, it would be fun. They were being so cute together and getting along so well. Brigg was helping Nalani climb up this net ladder thingy. There are holes you climb up into to get to the next level and Lani is a little short to get up them, so Brigg was helping her. All the sudden this psycho kid comes climbing up behind them just as Lani is making it to the top level (this is a major accomplishment for her!) He grabs Lani by the hood and pulls her back down to the previous level. She is a little surprised and Brigg is kind of freaking. I go around and yell up at the child to "Please let go of her hood so she can climb up." He proceed to lean down toward me and SCREAM at me "NO!" He begins to twist her hood and keep twisting it so it is getting tighter and tighter around her neck. Mother instict begins to kick in and I am getting very frustrated. I aske him to stop again, PLEASE. He screams at me again, "NO!" He truly sounds like the devil here. So here I go, climbing up this thing which was created for 5 year-old children....no old, stiff women! I pull Lani's hood out of his hand and Lani lunges into my arms. By this point Brigg is seriously trembling. Another little girl tries to sneak by and this boy grabs her hair and pulls it will all his might. The girl screams and her mom yells up for her to come on down. I grab her and help her down one level and the boy KICKS me in the head!!! Brigg is like, "Mommy, are you OK?" I want to scream, "NO!" , but I don't. I get the children down to our table safe and sound and the other little girls mom says to me, "It's a jungle in there!" Brigg says, "That boy was bad!" I said, "He was just making bad choices." Brigg says, "Well Santa, Jesus, God and Lord are watching him!" HA!! Love how he puts Santa first. So we continue to eat our lunch and I decided to let them venture in and try to play again while watching them closely. This boy was with his dad who was sitting on his duff, completely oblivious to anything. Things are going pretty well and then I see this boy grab another child and try to tackle him. Brigg is close by and he screams VERY loud, "MOOOOOOM! HE'S MAKING BAD CHOICED AGAAAAIIIIIINNNNNN!" I guess this got his dad's attention, so he came over and threatened to take him home for like the 6th time in a half hour. Luckily it was time for us to leave and get Lani to bed. I often wish that Brigg was tougher, but after witnessing this today, I am so glad he is the sweet little sensitive boy that he is. Because I was feeling so touched by their kind nature, I decided to get my babies some ice cream cones...plus, I had two free coupons!:) It IS a jungle out there!
"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1 Samuel 16:7

My New Job

I accepted the job. I start at Lee on February 20. I am excited to have a stable paycheck and a permanant place of employment! That's all I really have. Nothing too crazy this weekend. Hope everyone had a good one!

Saturday's Morning Trip

We did it...we went to Jungle Bungle for the first time today. Overall, a very good trip. Did I say TRIP? That is very appropriate considering on the way to the car after a fun morning, the kids and I tripped in the parking lot and landed flat on our faces and knees. Brigg's nose bled for a bit and he freaked out at the sight of the blood, but all he is left with is a red bump on his forehead. I'm not sure what Lani was doing during all the craziness, thanks to Jody!! She swooped her up and made sure she was ok while I nursed Brigg and my own wounds. I am hoping Brigg does not associate breaking his nose with Jungle Bungle because we really had a fun time and I am looking forward to going back again...maybe during the week when it's not so busy and not snowing and slippery in the parking lot! Jody thinks I have issues with staying upright....where would she come up with that?

HOORAY!!! I figured out how to post 2 photos at once! HA! I'm not very smart, ya know! My children are going to look back at their childhood and think, "Wow! My dad was around so much!! Where the heck was my mom?" They will have 10's of thousands of photos of themselves and their dad and a couple of mom. Oh well...I hate to get my picture taken anyway.

The Job Situation

Well, I had interview #2 at Lee Insurance today....they offered me a job! Now this is good news, I know. I still haven't heard anything from Allsteel and I was hoping to be able to choose after I heard what they had to offer. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place! I told the people at Lee that I would give them an answer on Monday. If I don't hear from Allsteel by then, then I think it's just not meant to be. I know many of you were wondering what the latest was, so there you go. Pray for wisdom for me...I have to make a decision soon. Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Lani and her "T"'s

For some reason Lani and Brigg are getting along GREAT today. They have been playing and playing all day. I kept trying to put Nalani down for her nap and Brigg would say, "No Mom, I don't want my little sister to go to bed. We are playing so good together." I guess it was even obvious and rare to him, too. They requested to put on their matching orange Gap hooded sweatshirts, so we got them out and put them on. Brigg said, "Oooo, this is nice and cozy!" Lani replied with, "Yeah, I tozy, too." She has a tendancy to use the letter T very often in place of other letters. It can get to be quite humorous at time. She loves0 Hello Kitty and had Hello Kitty panties. (Do you see where I'm going with this?) She will open her drawer and say, "I want to were hello titty!" The other day we were at Coralville and they have a new pet store there. Mom, Brigg, Lani and I were looking at the cats through the window. There were a bunch of fully grown cats and 2 bunnies. Lani says quite loud, "Dose are some big titties!" I can't stop thinking about her saying that now. I laughed pretty hard! 

Supper

Mom and dad had us over for supper. Roast, potatoes and gravy, veggies, the works. We were finishing up eating and Mom said, "Make sure to save room for German Chocolate Cake!" Brigg's eyes bulged and he yelled, "YEAH! I want germs of chocolate cake, too!!!" Too cute...

WARMTH!

For all those who were wondering, WE HAVE HEAT! It was a mere $40 part and Paul's labor and we were good to go. When we walked in the house Brigg starting chanting, "OH YEAH...warm house...OH OH YEAH...warm house!" I do think my peace lily might be dead though. It was extremely cold in here and had been for a few days. I attached a photo of Nalani and Macy being goofy in the hotel room over the weekend. Each time we get together they interact more. It's so fun to watch them!
I had an interview today with a company called Lee Insurance. It went very well and I am anxious to hear back from them. They said they would get back to me this week sometime. I am hoping they are more true to their word than Allsteel! I still haven't heard anything from them. I called last Friday and they had not made a decision yet. Hmmm, some of us need a paycheck! Lee Insurance would be a great place to work. There are only 18 employees and virually no turnover. Everyone seems to love it. It seems like a very supportive environment. I'm sure that whatever is meant to be will be. I just need to work on this issue of patience!

Out in the Cold!

Well, we had a fun weekend. Went to the Go Fish Kids concert, swam at a hotel, bowled, ate and ate and ate....tons of fun! We came home to a VERY cold house. Our furnace seems to be on the fritz. Of course Sunday evening is not the best time to try and get it fixed. So the kids and I are bunking at mom and dad's tonight. Our furnace on the 2nd floor is still working, so Paul decided to stay at home and get a good night's sleep. But it would be somewhat difficult to get the kids up, fed and ready tomorrow with no heat. Hoping that tomorrow brings warmth. Missing my cozy, warm bed and husband tonight....

Thoughts from a 4 year-old

We are going to visit Lisa, Tony and Macy this weekend and Lisa had me warn Brigg that their dog was not going to be there because he was being put down today. UGH! Brigg loves Sano and I struggled with how to tell him. So on the way home from Iowa City today I broke the news that Sano had to go to heaven. Brigg got really sad eyes and asked why. This is where I'm at a loss. I told him because Sano was very sick. (But I'm not sure that's the right answer. I dont want him to think that if we get sick we are going to die!) Anyway, he asked "When am I going to die and go to heaven and be with Sano and Pebbles?" My mind is spinning and I don't know what to say. All I could tell him was, "Hopefully not for a very long time!" He said, "Mom, I'm sad. I'm about to cry." I explained that Sano was happy now and he and Pebbles were probably playing together in heaven. Then Lani did something funny that made Brigg laugh and broke the ice. He moved on and thoughts of doggy heaven vanished. So another deep conversation with a 4 year-old avoided for the time being. I'm sure I'll be faced with another hurdle much sooner than I hope. 

Mutant Ninja Children

The kids have become obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The neighbor's grandson has been spending a lot of time over here and they have a little routine. Even as I type, they are playing "Turtles". Nalani and Brigg like to put their $1.88 swords from Wal-Mart down the back of their shirts like they have a sword holder on their backs. It just hours of entertainment for them. It's been nice to have the day off today. At lunch Brigg said, "Ok potato chips, you may be tasty, but you are NOT good for our body!" Then he promptly popped it in his mouth. Another bad trait he gets from his mother....he's knows the difference between good and bad foods and he just doesn't care! 

A Mistake

Well, I guess I shouldn't have gotten her up. Yes, she is SHAKING her fist at me. Mother of the year...I laughed at her and took a photo to capture this precious moment. Half hour til bedtime....

Nap Time?

I put Lani down for a late nap this afternoon. I got off work early and it was my very last day, so I took them to McDonalds for lunch and playtime. Lani has now been in bed for about 45 minutes and I wish you were all here to listen to her right now. Brigg and I were playing upstairs and I have the monitor on. She has been singing and reading and playing with her dolly and just now she started counting. She slowly counted from 1-9 and then went on...14, 16, 19 and then SCREAMED "TWENTY!!!" She was so proud of herself! I can't leave her in there another second. She truly believes she is a prodigy 2 year-old who is potty trained and can count to twenty like nothing. We have our hands full...