November 8, 2011

I am sticking with my being behind theme; this is how my life feels right now so my blog should feel that way as well.

Yesterday, I was thankful for National Public Radio. NPR for short. I love my drive time with NPR. I love that it's not all death and gloom like the evening news. It's not all happy and cheerful either; it's a nice blend of the good and the bad.

On my way to work this morning I got to listen to Frank Deford's commentary. I just love my Wednesdays when I get to hear him talk about sports. Today's story was a good one. He proposed that Greece leave the EU and join the SEC to solve their debt problems. He also compared West Virginia's move to the Big 12 to ditching Michelle Bachmann's campaign and jumping on the Newt Ginghrich bandwagon. So funny.

I also got to hear a commercial for This American Life, I love when I am in my car to catch this show, but sadly it doesn't happen very often. This week's episode is about the head of the maintenance department in a New York school that, after 30 years, he starts messing with his fellow employees. I bet that'll be a good one.

I love NPR.

November 7, 2011

I am still playing catch up from the weekend, so this is actually yesterday's post. Pretend it's still Monday, will ya?

So yesterday I was thankful for all my nieces and nephews. A few are borrowed, but they still count.
This could possibly be the only picture of all of them together. It's from Jen and Jeff's wedding in May.

Starting with the front row left to right we have Guerin (he's one of the borrowed ones, but he's such a mess and so cute). Then Lanee, who is not showing her face, this is my brother Billy's stepdaughter and I would have killed for my girls to have her curly hair. Next is Hannah, one of Karen's daughters, Hurricane Hannah as we loving call her (she hates it), she leaves a path of destruction everywhere she goes. Next to her is Bella, she's my cousin Leah's daughter, also too cute. Rounding out the front row is Matt, Billy's step son; he has the cutest red hair.

Row two is Ryan, my brother's youngest, and he looks so serious in this picture. Then Zoey, in pink and Zach in the suit, Jeff's twins, they are quite a pair and fit in well with our clan. Next to Zach is Caeli, Jeff's niece and Guerin's sister, my girls love Caeli. Rounding out that row is Adam, Billy's oldest, he is going to be a heartbreaker one day.

Behind them are Carson, Hailey and Camy. Hailey is Hannah's big sister; she is almost exactly the same size as Carson even though there are about a year and a half apart in age.

Then there is Will, Billy's oldest stepson, he's a year behind my girls in school and should go to the same middle school at my girls next year. Paige is next. Ah, Paige, she was the first baby, the first baby that ever stayed at my house. There is this picture…

Finally in front of Jeff, sot of behind Camy and Caeli is Parker. He is four weeks younger than my girls, but you'd never think that to look at them. He is such a sweet kid and again my girls just love hanging out with him.

Last but not least is little Haden. He's our last baby, and we saved the best for last. There is not a sweeter or better baby anywhere. It's sad that he is getting so big that he doesn't want to just be held all the time.

November 6, 2011

Yesterday I was thankful for Dave Ramsey.

If you don't know who Dave Ramsey is, you are missing out. You should check out the website.

Josh ran across him about a year and a half ago, and he has definitely impacted our lives for the better. We now drive used BMW's that are paid off, and we got rid of our credit card debt this summer.

My hope is that my kids will never feel like they need a credit card. Josh and I got into trouble with them when we were in college and if I could go back and not get that first card I could have skipped through a lot of really hard times. But we are who we are because of what we have gone through, so maybe I wouldn't appreciate it as much as I do today if we hadn't gotten those credit cards.

Who knows? I do know that I am very happy to be debt free.

Really, if you don't know Dave, you should check him out. He will change your life…

November 5, 2011

I didn't keep track of my thankfulness this weekend, so I'm playing catch up today.

Day 5, I am struggling a bit already with this. My family is a given, but picking out the specific pieces of my life seems harder for me. Let's start with my crazy dogs, Rocky and Penny. I can include my Lucy in this too, even though she is not with us anymore.

I will never understand people that don't have dogs. I understand less people that insist on cats. I grew up with cats, and I thought they were fine pets until I got my first dog. The cat and dog worlds are so different, and I prefer the dog side.

Lucy was one of a kind, but Rocky and Penny keep our lives interesting. Penny was the accidental member of our family. We had only had Rocky for about a year, and for some reason we ended up with little Penny. It's so funny how different these dogs are, so let's break it down.

Rocky

• He was named after a Beatles song, can you guess which one?
  
• He is pretty much afraid of just about everything. Thunder, loud noises, Josh.
  
• He has two fleece blankets that he sucks on. Yep, he sucks on them. We think he was taken away from his mom too soon.
  
• He does not like to go outside when it's raining or cold, and he can hold it for days. (This has not been tested, usually we have to push him outside when it's been too long and he likes to use the patio as his bathroom.)
  
• He makes me believe that the red Boston Terrier is actually the result of poor breeding, but his huge non-Boston looking nose is so cute.
  

  
   

Penny

• She was also named after a Beatles song, can you see the theme we have going here?
  
• She is the most stubborn dog I've ever seen. I would have to say that she is still not house broken.
  
• If she is overfed she tends to have not so solid poo, usually inside our house.
  
• With a little pumpkin in her food every day, and strict monitoring of her food we have solved the previous poo problem.
  
• She loves the laser pointer game.
  
• She barks, a lot. At the TV, the garage door, loud noises, when teased. It's weird because this is very different than Boston Terriers.
  

They are quite a pair. Lucky for me, Rocky has been sleeping with the girls for quite some time and this summer we got Penny to start sleeping with them too. I have a dog free bed for the first time in 16 years. Rocky sleeps in Carson's room with his fleece blankets and Penny sleeps in Camy's room with her million pillows on her bed.

Who doesn't want a dog? I'll give you one.

November 4, 2011

Day number four of my list of things I am thankful for would have to be my sisters.

It's a strange and wonderful relationship with sisters. I am extremely thankful for my sisters.

There have been lots of good times for the three of us, participating in the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk in Chicago in 2006 is one of the best. One of my favorites was loading up the three of us with Camy, Carson, Hailey and Paige and driving back to West Virginia in our old Ford Explorer. Who knew that traveling cross country with four little girls would be so fun? We started the trip with some puke and ended it with some puke, (both from my kids) and along the way we had a great time.

Jen and I got to be pregnant at the same time; and Karen gave us the last baby we'll have for a while earlier this year.

Some days I wish we had an even number. Three is a hard number, and there have been many times that it has felt like it was two against one on any number of issues. No matter how complicated our relationships have been over the years I don't know what I would do without my sisters. They have seen me at my worst and at my best and they accept me as I am.

The three of us are very different, and I wish that our interests overlapped more. I guess the great thing about sisters is that you can be very different but still be linked together.

I hope my girls will always be close, the is no other relationship quite like the one you have with your sisters.

November 3, 2011

Day three is all about Carson, my little monkey girl. Baby girl B in the hospital when they were born.

Carson, who thinks her name is a boy name and has decided she hates it. When she was born the reason they were in the NICU for sixteen days was because she had to be tube feed most of the time. I tell her she wouldn't eat from the start and that hasn't changed. She has gotten less sticky as she gets older, things used to just stick to her hands and feet when she was little.

She loves to text, even when we are at work, and more and more she prefers to hang out in her bedroom. I assume this is what we have to look forward to in the next few years.

I don't think we could have a more picky girl, she likes what she likes. Things are not as easy for her as they are for her sister and it is hard to see her struggle so much but I think it will make her stronger later.

She is so much smarter than she thinks she is. She is so different than her sister and it's so fun to see her change as she grows up.

November 2, 2011

So for day two I don't want to talk about my girls together I thought I would go one at a time. The problem is picking one to go first. I guess since I said yesterday this is in no particular order it doesn't really matter. I am thankful for both my girls.

I'll start with Camy since she was my baby girl A when they were born.

Camy is such a bright girl, she is very shy though. I wish she could be a little more outgoing but she will get there. I love that she has become quite the swimmer in the last year and a half. Maybe there is a competitive swim team in her future.

I almost hate that everything seems so easy for her,I worry that it will make life harder for her in the future. She is learning that not everything will be easy and sometimes it's hard to watch.

She seems to be growing up so fast and I wish I could just freeze time and keep her as innocent as she is today. She has already started borrowing clothes and she can even wear my shoes. I think we may have some arguments in our future.

For now she is my girl that aspires to run with me and she doesn't seem afraid to try new things. She does prefer to not go it alone, maybe it's the twin in her. She seems interested in church and I am glad that she has friends to do that with.

When she was little when she was upset she would throw herself on the floor like a limp noodle, she does some version of that when she gets upset now. A little less laying on the floor and crying but she still gets that point across.

I am very excited to see the woman she will grow into even of I want her to stay the little girl she hasn't been for a while now. I hope she will always be close with her sister and remember that she is her own person who just happens to be a twin. I am very thankful to have her in my like and can't imagine my life without her.

November 1, 2001

I thought it was a good idea to have 30 days of what I am thankful for, so here we go. This is in no particular order…

For this first day of November I am thankful for my husband. We have been married for 15 years, 5 months and 7 days. J It seems like only yesterday. In the 5,638 days since our wedding we have definitely had our ups and our downs, but three dogs and two kids later I think it just gets better and better.

We have lost a little; our dear Lucy, Papaw, Granny, Jason. We have gained a lot; Camy & Carson, Paige, Parker, Zach, Zoey, Hailey, Hannah, Haden, Adam, Ryan, Will, Matt, Lanee, Caeli. I never thought my family would have so many kiddos in it, but it has been wonderful watching them all grow up and we have many years ahead of us.

With the bad days there have been so many more good days. It has taken us 15 years but I think we have finally figured out the whole money thing. Thanks to Dave Ramsey.

Even though there are a few items in his wardrobe I really wish he would get rid of, there are so many great things he does for our family. He does homework (not sure if I should have hurt feelings that the girls prefer him to me for this), he takes out the trash, he mows the lawn, he cleans out the storm shelter each spring, he gets thing out of and puts things in the attic, and he pumps my gas.

I am a very lucky girl to have someone who loves me and supports me. If this list were in a particular order I think he would have to be at the top of the list…