not me monday: just call me macgyver

please join the fun on this not me monday with mckmama

it's NOT me who only has one thing to post today because i chose to make my humorous story from saturday a post that doesn't confuse everyone with the NOT me part.

and it's NOT you who should come back tomorrow to read my funny story.

okay on with my not me: at any point during this story, feel free to call me macgyver. seriously! you will be SO impressed.

it was NOT me who was squirting my saline solution into my contact case when after only one side was filled, it ran out.

and it was NOT me who keeps the spare in dane's room. it was NOT me who decided that i shouldn't go in there while he is sleeping.

it was NOT me who thought, "there's GOT to be SOME way to figure this out."

so it was NOT me that used my empty saline bottle as a syringe and sucked up ever so small a little bit and squirted it into the other side.

it did NOT take me like 10 tries to get ENOUGH saline in the container.

and it was NOT me who was so incredibly proud of herself to think so ingeniously! i do NOT have a pride issue!

like i said, just call me macgyver. i may not have used a swiss army knife, but man, i'm good!

the story of a boy

once upon a time, a little boy was born. (aka the best surprise ever or the bse)

without further ado, the bse:

the bse grew. and with growing came the growing pains. reflux pains to be exact. he was not a happy camper. but he did the best a little guy with a constant tummy ache can do.

as he grew (apparently his constant tummyache didn't prevent him from eating or growing), he started to develop this personality. his big eyes and his giggle made everyone happy.

at 6 months, the bse didn't care if he ate solids or if he nursed, he was just happy to eat. and then, WHOOP, out it came! his poor little tummy. but his big smile.

the bse got older and suddenly there were teeth (at 8 months--WAY before his sisters!)when he hit 9 months, his tummyache went away! praise!!!! after his tummyache went away, he started sleeping better and talking more and hanging out with his sisters (and bugging them!). and chewing on strings.

now bse is the happiest guy on the block (unless he gets a door shut on his face and he can't be with his sisters). he is learning to walk and has a very persistant nature. he knows what he wants and he's going to get it. right bse?

happy birthday, big guy. you make me hurry home on the days i work so i can cuddle you. your smile hugs my heart, and your playfulness is so fun to watch (or join in with--bad english, i know). your love for your sisters is so encouraging and i love seeing that you WANT to be with them. after a door has been shut on you, you just sit and cry because you want to be with your sisters. sweetness best describes you. you are the happiest only if you are with those you love.

you are an example of unconditional love, little man.

happy birthday. i love you!

friday fave five: highlighting my family

join me in my friday fave five hosted by susanne at living to tell the story.

1. dane's smile:

2. brin's dancing:

3. my husband enjoying his girls:

4. the fact that i am losing weight. this is such a nice rewarding feeling. and with dane hitting his 1 year mark, it's weird for me to not be pregnant. no feeling sick to my stomach, no feeling large, just energy that i can use for my kids...usually

5. sunshine. getting up to run in the morning is so much nicer when the sun is shining and it's 50 degrees! as opposed to being too hot (which i hate) or being too cold (which i hate). when the rain is falling, it's not that fun either. while i can manage a wet run, it is so NICE to run in the perfect conditions and for me in MN, it's today.

"you have no part in me"

John 13: 6-8

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

i was reading during my devotion time yesterday (which for a mom of crazy little ones, it's a fast 10 minutes before everyone gets up all the while praying, please impact my heart and help me to understand what you are saying as i am zooming through this reading), and this passage hit me.

wow.

this is intense.

unless we make it a daily habit to unload what we did that day and ask Jesus to forgive us, we can have no part in him?

wow.

i have been mulling this over for a little bit.

and i have decided that this makes sense!

following Jesus is not about doing a list and checking it off. it's about a relationship.

if i do something that chris hates or hurts him, i need to talk to him about it before we can grow in our relationship.

this is the same for Jesus. if i do something that He hates/ultimately hurts Him, i need to talk to Him about it. and that is what the washing of the feet symbolizes.

peter goes on to say, "then wash ALL of me!" and Jesus replies (paraphrased), "nope. you don't need that because you are all clean. you just need to wash a little bit each day." rid ourselves of the daily "oopses."

and that washing cleanses our hearts to be able to have an awesome friendship with Jesus!

i am making it a priority to talk to Jesus about my "oopses" because i want to be close with Him and have nothing in between us.

wordful wednesday: the prettiest 4 year old ever

angie from seven clown circus invites us to join her in blabbing about our awesome pictures!

it is so hard to capture maya's beauty in a picture. i once said it was like trying to capture the sunset. she is so so pretty but it's hard to capture her essence. many of her pictures show her with a weird smile or huge eyes or saying "cheese" but not looking at the camera.

we got her in this one.

isn't she pretty?

tuesday tribute: to the one

angie at seven clown circus hosts this meme. head over to enjoy others' tributes

to the one

-who drives the car
-who lets me sleep when he gets up to go to work because he knows how much he would rather be sleeping
-who does the all grocery shopping, rarely calling me
-who encourages me to be the best i can be
-who is an advocate for his kids
-who said he loved me over 10 years ago and STILL does
-who can bike 6 miles to work, unload a semi truck, and bike 6 miles home and doesn't immediately ask me what is for supper
-who grew up a packer fan, converted his wife to be one, and still likes the twins and the timberwolves
-who does what he has to make his family thrive
-who has taught me perserverance
-who has shown me what it means to not complain (i haven't learned that one yet)
-who lets me run and scrapbook and blog
-who gags down my food when it's anything but good
-who lets me talk spiritually and puts it into practical terms
-who has an adventurous spirit and likes to travel
-who, if he could, would provide meals for his family by fishing each night for really truly fresh fish
-who is very understanding

i love you, chris!

not me monday: battling brin?

time once again for another installment of
not me monday
put on by our world renown friend, mckmama. head on over to her blog to find out what others have NOT done!

after dane's birthday party, it was NOT me who heard a little 2 year old voice call, "mommy?" when i went in to see what was needed, it was NOT me who heard, "i'm stuck." because my child had NOT wedged herself between her bed and the wall.

for church, it was NOT me who dressed my 2 year old in a beautiful seersucker purple and white dress. because it was NOT me who asked her what shoes she wanted to wear and she answered by putting on her pink and magenta winter slippers. it was NOT me who thought, "oh, well." and then loaded her up into the van with them STILL on. nope.

on that note, it was NOT me who let her wear her pink and magenta slippers on our bike ride and then to the park in the sand and on the equipment, climbing up the chain ladder.

it was NOT me who decided that some battles are not worth fighting over!

and it's definitely NOT me who thinks she has the cutest 2 year old EVER!

if superman lived at our house...

this is what he's eat...

this is how he would ride....

this is how he would fly....


this would be his smallville....

and this would be his metropolis....

happy early birthday, big guy! we love you! (more to come on his actual birthday....may 30)

finding, but not really: i am SO embarrassed

what has been lost has now been found.
well, not really.
kind of.
are you confused yet?
let me tell you what happened.

last wednesday, i brought my running shoes to work in case jeanelle and i wanted to walk. we didn't actually go for a walk that day (which is unfortunate because the case of the lost shoes would have been discovered MUCH sooner!).
when i went home that day, i realized that i didn't have my shoes. oh, well, they probably are at work. no big deal.
i went to work the next day and looked around jeanelle's desk, by christine's desk, and in my van. nothing.
i expected to find them somewhere at home. i never ran across them.
the following wednesday i came to work with more vigor to find my shoes. still didn't find them.
thursday, i decided that my co-worker, connie, MUST have stolen them and hid them. deb and connie and john do that kind of stuff randomly/occassionally/everytime i am by their desks someone has done something.
so i sent connie an email accusing her of stealing my shoes. jeanelle who sits next to connie was also sent a msg saying that i KNOW connie took my shoes. after a morning of accusing connie over email and jeanelle confirming that something fishy was a foot, i ran down to connie's desk and DEMANDED my shoes back.

she didn't have them. so once again, jeanelle and i crawled under her desk, under christine's desk. jeanelle looked in the "scary" messy closet and i searched our administrator's office, just to make sure.

nothing

today i sat in jeanelle's spot to schedule and connie was right there. occassionally, she would say that i really hurt her feeling accusing her of taking my shoes.
yeah, right!

this afternoon, the four of us in the business office were working quietly when suddenly lucy got my attention.

lucy: gianna, when did you lose your shoes? last week?
gianna: yep, wednesday.
lucy: were they athletic shoes? with the shoe laces tied together?
gianna: yeah!!!!!
lucy:because i was just struck by something that happened downstairs with our maintenance guy and jim the security guard. the maintenance guy was holding these shoes by their laces and said, "i don't know what to do with THESE. they were out in the bushes!"
gianna: oh, no! they HAD to be mine!
lucy: i can't believe i just thought of that now! how long have you been looking and talking about your shoes?
connie: and accusing me of stealing them? how did they get in the bushes?

so basically, off i ran down 5 flights of stairs to talk to jim.
i sheepishly walked up to him and said, "i think you have my tennis shoes."
he said he had had them up until a couple of days ago. then, they disappeared and he thought the rightful owner had claimed them.

nope.

the rightful owner would be me.

i was too late.

like rebecca from work said, at least now i know what happened to them.

but i am so embarrassed! my shoes in the bushes! how EMBARRASSING!

friday's fave five: let's try this again

since my first attempt was rather disheartening, i think i'm going to try this again. only this time i will try to get all fave five!
if you would like to participate, please head over to susanne (from canada)'s blog carnival. it's a lot of fun!

I still can't find her button to put on my blog, but i'm just computer dysfunctional.

1. since this didn't get posted last week, i thought i would start with my first fave five from last week. micah was born to my good friends andy and dacia and i got to be there. it was so FANTASTIC and i am so honored that she allowed me to be there! and like i said before, i think i was the first one to realize they had a little boy!

2. dane is starting to walk! today, i came home from work and he had the shopping cart and was pushing it over to me across the lawn! okay, so he can't do it by himself yet, but he's practically walking!

3. this news story about stellan and mckmama. i am so proud that i graduated from the same college as her in the same year. she was so so SO one of the cool pretty girls and i so so SO was not, but i am still super proud of her (and emotional over her son's struggle!)

4. so you think you can dance started tonight! oh yeah! oh oh yeah! i like nigel so much better than simon--which is probably why i don't watch american idol very often. simon is totally being as nasty as he can to get a reaction (you can't even believe him anymore because you don't know if he is just trying to shock you/them or being sincere) . nigel on the other hand is believable because it's not ALL about how absolutely awful you are (if you are bad) or mere insults. he has lots of constructive things to say as well! very cool guy.

5. my last favorite hasn't happened yet (i am totally anticipating it), but on saturday, chris is NOT scheduled to work. so as that is dane's birthday party day, we will be busy, but we both get to stay in bed in the morning for a while and get up slowly TOGETHER! oh, i am so excited i can't tell you!

take time to figure out your fave fives for the week. it's a nice positive spin on the week!

sometimes

sometimes i need help on my blog. i like a lot of different things but i don't really get it.
someone who is a blog master commented on my blog today and has simple tutorials for me to follow to figure how to get some of the looks i want on my blog! if you can, head on over to sneaky momma's for a look at her helpful directions. yeehaw

today, maya was whining on the way out of andrea's because she wanted to finish watching alvin and the chipmunks and instead of lecturing her, i sat down with her and explained she had 2 options: 1. could whine about not finishing it and then not get to watch it later or 2. she could say, "okay, mom" and get to watch it on friday. then we practiced saying okay until she was giggling. a MUCH better way of dealing with whinyness than lecturing her and cracking down hard on her until she obeyed! however, this takes a lot of patience and creativity. sometimes i don't have that at the end of the day. however, now that i think about it, sometimes i don't have it at the beginning of the day either!

we are potty training brin pretty intentionally now. for some reason, she likes stickers better than m&m's. (please don't tell her that the m&m's are better...i like having more of them to myself!) she has at least one accident a day which wouldn't be so bad except that she likes to take off her diaper and declare she is poopy.
sometimes she isn't.
sometimes she is.
sometimes i'm not right there to see that she is taking off her diaper.
sometimes she's poopy.
sometimes the poop is all over the floor before i realize that she is even up in the morning.
oh, joy!

growing up is hard to do. sometimes dane stays awake at lunch and dinner. sometimes he doesn't.

wordful wednesday; here he is!

welcome to wordful wednesday created by angie at seven clown circus .
and as i promised: here is micah!

pretty much right after he was born. and already he was blocking his eyes from the blinding glare. he is pretty advanced, wouldn't you say? don't andy and dacia look fantastic?

funny quotes: on the phone before i went over

gianna: what do you need me to do?

dacia: i don't know.

gianna: you've called andy to come home?

dacia: yes

gianna: what do you need me to do?

dacia: i don't know.

gianna: do you have someone planned out for the girls?

dacia: yes.

gianna: what do you need me to do?

dacia: i don't know.

chris: just tell her what to do.

gianna: okay, dacia, this is what you need to do.....

in the van on the way to the hospital: andy is driving and i was in the back seat coaching. after a contraction had just passed

gianna: good! good! you got through that one. take a breath. relax. what do you need?

dacia: i need to NOT have this baby in the van!

since we didn't get a picture of me holding him the night he was born, we made sure to get one the next day (well, technically it was the same day, but you know what i mean. when you are born at 12:19 am, it's the middle of the night!) so i think i was the first to realize that he was a boy. i had the best view while everyone was looking from the top, i was at the foot of the bed and saw from underneath. as soon as i saw that micah was a boy, i started sobbing uncontrollably. that was pretty cool.

dane is 50 weeks TO THE DAY older than micah, just like big sisters abby and maya (only this time abby is older than maya) and chris is 50 weeks older than dacia. lydia and brin are not 50 weeks apart, BUT dacia's due date with lydia was exactly 20 weeks before mine and we actually had lydia and brin in the same birthing room! i know! i'm crazy!

unfortunately, brin wasn't there. she had a cough and had said that she didn't WANT to see the baby until right before we left to go to the hospital. so went on some errands with daddy! even so, this picture is pretty hilarious! now just imagine another squiggly 2 year old trying to fit on this bed!

tuesday's tribute

i was going to post a tribute about micah, my "sister"-friend dacia's new babe!
i was also going to post pictures for you of him. well, i just discovered why i can't download the pictures to my computer and then upload them to my blog--(in case you are computer illiterate like me) it's because we have to install the program on which to do that. (i think. maybe we could use the program we already have, but i am afraid to try it without my fully capable and functioning husband here to do it!)

anyway, on with my tribute which will not be about micah. maybe tomorrow, on my wordful wednesday post, you will get to see the little cutie who is 50 weeks younger than dane and who caused me to sob uncontrollably for 10 minutes.

but i digress: my tribute to my neighbors: let's give them a round of applause! jacque, davina, nancy, ziffko (my bulgarian neighbor), renee

i grew up in the country. we moved a lot but most often we lived in the country so i don't really know how to be a neighbor. but i have some great neighbors who are teaching me a lot!

jacque lives behind us. she loves my kids! she is super sweet and always wants to hang out and go for walks. she loves it when we just stop by (which means cutting through the bushes--for me it's not too bad, but when the bushes are taller than you are as a 2 year old, it's quite a feat to get through them!). she has baby-sat and was even willing to be on call around the time dacia had her baby so i could leave my kids with her and go to the hospital.
renee was one of my first friendly neighbors when we moved in. she has 4 kids. her youngest son is maya's age and her little girl is just a few months younger than dane. she is an incredible mom and is always welcoming us over to play in the backyard. it's really fun! her youngest son has told her that he is marrying maya! so cute! we'll have to see about that one, but SO cute!
davina married our neighbor across the street only i didn't know him because he wasn't home very often. suddenly we saw the blue shutters were an olivey type green and the red door was a light lime green. i'm really not sure how we met except that maybe it was after they had their baby who was born 4 months before dane. i don't know, but they are super fun to have around and super nice! they always have some kind of home improvement project going on. and they are so real! last night for supper they admitted they were having hot dogs (on the grill) wrapped in bread because they didn't have any buns and canned corn because they didn't have any baked beans! i LOVE it!
nancy is our neighbor behind us and across the street! she used to be a youth pastor and is now in real estate and doing quite well even in this market! she and her husband are super generous and welcoming and kind! they love our kids and are thrilled to have maya come over and give them flowers all the time! brin and maya go back and forth between the nancy and jacque ringing their door bells (sometimes if i know they aren't there, we go BACK to the other neighbor's house so that the other girl can ring the bell....i know! that has NOT ME MONDAY written all over it, doesn't it?)
last but not least comes ziffko. he loves the fact that his 2 year old and 4 year old neighbors can say his name perfectly, but grown men mispronounce it! he has a 2 year old granddaughter who lives in florida but is visiting right now (with his daughter and 2 month old grandson). she and brin play so well together. i have never seen 2 year olds play so WELL together. it is amazing! i love it! ziffko gives us so many tomatoes and cucumbers that it's like we planted our own garden full of them. i think he is actually giving me a taste for plain raw tomatoes.

to say the least, i LOVE our neighbors! here's to you!

not me monday: this is why i hardly ever rearrange the house

it's time once again for my favorite post created for us by mckmama:

there is absolutely NO WAY that i tried to carry our overstuffed armchair up our basement steps BY MYSELF to get it into our dining room.

it was NOT me to could only lift it up the first step and once it was balanced there, crawled under it to push it up the rest of the 14 steps on my back only to realize that this was NOT happening.

it was NOT me who stayed that way for a minute trying to figure out how to get out from underneath the chair without killing myself. NO way!

it was NOT me who told my husband what i tried to do and then hear him say, "i don't think I could even move it by myself." and it was NOT me who heard him say in that comment, "i'll help you out," when he didn't even say that!

it was NOT me who convinced him that since our girls were outside playing with the neighbor's granddaughter and dane was safely strapped into his booster chair, it would be the perfect time to move that chair together.

it was NOT me who kept getting stuck under the chair as we were pulling and pushing and shoving and balancing the chair up the stairs. it was NOT my foot and then my leg and THEN my ENTIRE body! No way!

it was NOT me who had a great idea in putting the chair upstairs so that we have a cozy place to read to our kids!

on a side note not related to the chair:

1. it was NOT ME who tried to participate in friday fave five and only have 2 entries one of which was not even finished.

2. it was NOT ME who didn't know this and thought you all knew about my friend's new baby that i got to be a part of the delivery.

3. it was NOT ME who promised pictures of micah on the next post without realizing that you guys didn't even know about him. sorry, it wasn't me!

but now i will promise pictures of micah in my next post--i think as long as i remember to teach myself to download them to our computer!

lost

i will be posting pictures of micah later, but i have to figure out my camera first. i haven't done that yet and i need to learn how. so they are coming. i promise.

but first, i want to talk about losing.

not losing in a team sport. not losing at a board game. not having a losing attitude. no. i actually want to talk about when you lose something that you should have.

like your running shoes.

my mom thinks i am organized.
i don't think that matters. i am a chronic "loser."
in the past month, i have lost my parking card for the parking ramp at work (i had to pay $10 to get a replacement....but then i found it in a diaper bag that i NEVER use during the week. i'm so glad that i didn't actually throw it out the window like i was afraid i had!) and my running shoes.

how does someone lose their running shoes?

let me tell you.
i don't know.
all i know is that on wednesday, i had them tied together and took them to work so that i could walk during lunch. then, i couldn't find them at either of the 2 desks i sat at that day. i couldn't find them in the van. AND i couldn't find them at home.

they were starting to wear out but i still had another summer in them.

augh! where are they?

my friday fave five: first time for everything

here i go participating in a new meme. you can visit susanne to learn more about this carnival.



i'm still trying to figure out her button, but once i do, i will get it on my post.

nevertheless, here are my friday fave five:



1. a deep conversation with my husband. we don't get to have these very often because we are too busy to bare our hearts, but any time we get to go a little deeper in our struggles, triumphs, joys, or sorrows is so wonderful!



2. brin's breakfast prayer: my little 2 year old was left at the table by herself to eat her breakfast cereal while i ran around the house pulling the day together to get moving. when i remembered to pray with her, i came back to the table and saw her head bowed, her hands folded

herself the elf

have you ever felt alone? completely alone?
in junior high, i thought i did, but then now i realize that i was too oblivious to feel as alone as i should have at that moment. in eighth grade i got a real hate note shoved into my locker so that when i opened my locker, out came this note mocking everything i that made me a little bit crazy (like the way i wore my socks). my "friends" who sent it to me ended up feeling really bad and so they apologized the same day i got the note. in my stunned stupor, i forgave them without so much as a second thought.
which is the way jesus wants us to forgive.
what i didn't do was think about how it made me feel. i just wanted everything to go back to being okay.

that is kind of the story of my life. i just want everything to go back to being okay.

in college, i met this beautiful girl, emilie. we were kind of forced together since nwc put us together as roommates my sophomore year and her freshman year. she is one of my dearest friends. i can be myself and cry and laugh and dance and drink hot chocolate and watch movies and NOT talk. we haven't done this for a long time (since college, probably) and in fact we don't talk very often anymore but she is the kind of friend that you just pick up right where you left off!

this brings me to my point. right now i feel utterly alone. i know i have my family and i know i have my friends, but i made a decision a while back (that i don't want to go into) that has me completely trusting in God. no one else can walk with me on this one except God.
emilie has walked her entire life like this!
i don't really like it. i am really lonely. i want everything to go back to the way it was.
but i know this is where i'm supposed to be.
and i know that emilie is praying for me.

wordful wednesday: smiling moms

another wordful wednesday!
don't forget to hop over to angie's blog to check out her post and other's!

i am so blessed to have good friends. and apparently we all love purple!

dacia is due any day and we are waiting on pins and needles for the arrival of her third! i get to be there!

andrea and i have such a great time together--with or without our kids! she watches my kids 2 or 3 times a week when i have to work, so she is quite used to my kids (and likes them!). but we love to hang out on our own, too!

a toast, but not with jelly

i am starting to participate in some blog carnivals
(i think they may be called "memes"--maybe, i really don't know).

this carnival has been created by angie at seven clown circus. check out her blog to see what else she has to say. it's a pretty fun blog. i don't think you will be disappointed.

my tuesday tribute goes out to: my mom and dad.

today is their 36th wedding anniversary. honestly, my parents are not old enough to have been married for 36 years. but apparently i am wrong.

my mom: extraordinary, eccentric, enthusiastic, energetic

my dad: a smart man, a putterer, a jimmy-rigger, a softie (i couldn't alliterate his)

my parents: loyal past what is good for their health, hardworking past what is good for their health, risk-takers (you thought i would say it, didn't you), humble, and perfect for each other.

happy anniversary, mom and dad! we all love you (in "we all" i am talking about my family....not necessarily you, you might not know them!)

not me monday: a tribute to moms everywhere

mckmama has provided us a way to enjoy our mishaps together. i am not the only one around here who has had a NOT ME moment. on behalf of my friend jeanelle: "it was NOT ME who washed a sweet potato, poked holes in it, put it into the pampered chef microcooker, and waited for it to cook. just like it was NOT ME who realized that 5 minutes went by and it should be done but i couldn't smell it or FIND it. it was NOT ME who looked all over my kitchen for it only to find it back in my LOCKED cupboard." on behalf of my friend kaydee:"it was NOT ME who heard my daughter tell her dad that he looked like the cats!" on behalf of my friend dacia: "it is NOT ME who had all my babies early and now as i'm waiting for my 3rd to be born expecting it at any moment because every sign means something and nothing means everything." (those of you who have had babies know exactly what she is talking about!) on behalf of my friend jenny: "it was NOT ME who just finished my master's degree and had my 3 year old hood me at the ceremony!" on behalf of my friend megan: "it is NOT ME who is the mother of 5 children and all the drama that is associated with that!" on behalf of my friend andrea: "it was NOT ME who was SOOOO excited to go shopping all BY myself FOR myself on saturday." (i was excited for her, can you tell?) on behalf of my mom: "it is NOT ME who LOVES to spend time with her grandchildren even if everytime i come i can't figure out the dvd player." on behalf of my mother-in-law: "last year, it was NOT ME who was willing to drive to MN (5 hour drive) twice in one week just because i promised my son and daughter-in-law that i would be at the hospital to see their new baby boy, dane." okay, okay on behalf of me: it is NOT ME who works for a pediatric pulmonologist (kid's lung doctor) and when her daughter is coughing still has to call in and ask if i should give her a neb. none of this happened to ANYONE! happy mother's day!

best mother's day EVER

i am having the best mother's day WEEKEND ever!

my parents came down and watched the kids for over 12 hours last yesterday.

this is what i got to do:

1. go for a run and do my ab work out and my arm work out all together as opposed to spreading it out throughout the day!

2. take a shower without frantically washing my hair and HOPING that nothing bad was happening.

3. take a QUIET shower

4. go to target without feeling guilty about buying things for myself (i had a gift card)

5. bought pink shoes (a bit out of my comfort zone. white. pink. white. pink. white. yes, white. oh get out of your rut! get the pink!)

6. pick up andrea and go to kohl's to buy a wedding shower gift together.

7. go to a wedding shower for a friend i haven't seen for a year 8. spend 3 hours at the shower

9. eat cake

10. take pictures

11. talk with friends without being interrupted

12. went out on a date with chris to tgifridays (haven't been there forever! since before maya was born i think) (okay so i guess that's not forever)

13. get free pie from baker's square and eat it at home while watching the nascar race

14. go to sleep before 11:00 pm

15. sleep all night (yes!)

and on top of all of this, my mom finished my laundry and started folding it and bathed the kids!

then on sunday, i got to spend the day with my kids:

1. watched maya sing in church with her sunday school class (all 3 times!)--she also made me some cute cards!

2. played in the nursery with dane

3. received flowers from chris see up at the top (aren't they pretty?)

4. snuggled with brin

honestly! mother's day should be spent with your kids, but the gift of a day for myself was super fun!

happy mother's day to everyone who has touched a child's life (and happens to be female!)

my object lesson

on tuesday, i got a fantastic and unexpected treat!

my friend, jenny, and her 2 adorable kids came down from brainerd with her husband, brad.

they stayed monday night with mutual friends, and then on tuesday, brad had meetings to attend in the morning and errands to run in the afternoon.

so jenny came!

it was so fun!

after a mass chaotic morning of 5 children running around our tiny house (or in the case of dane, crawling around), we decided to go for a walk to the playground which was fine. playing was great at the playground and having our complimentary cookies from the grocery store was spectacular.

then, we progressed home. this time, instead of sammy being in the stroller, she mostly wanted to walk. more correctly, run! sheis not used to our busy streets and would run down the sidewalk way ahead of us with wild abandonment to the point of jenny and me getting really REALLY nervous. at times maya made us nervous, too. and maya should know better.

my reaction was to snap. i would give directions with a snippy tone. i snapped at maya. i even snapped at sammy. i wouldn't take the time to explain what line i was talking about. i just expected them to understand.

jenny's reaction was to pull sammy close to her and explain the danger and practice obeying. after the 2nd or 3rd time of her almost running into the road, jenny told her calmly that she now needed to sit in the stroller because she was having a hard time obeying.

the way she showed her children love, always keeping an even tone and calling them by their names and being so very nt with each command given. i know i am supposed to cherish this time with my kids and really build into them. i KNOW that, but until tuesday, i didn't know what it looked like. i didn't know how to do it.

patience.

i don't have it yet. i need to get me some of that.

jenny, thank you for teaching me how you teach your children. already God is using this object lesson, and i can tell you i am much more aware of how i am treating my children. i can't express my gratitude to you for being patient with your children and encouraging me!

one beautiful morning in may

cf walk:

what could that be?

it's like any other "walk." you walk 3 to 5 miles for a cause like breast cancer or the humane society or multiple sclerosis. this one just happens to be for cf.

cf stands for cystic fibrosis which is a genetic disorder. both parents must be carriers of the mutations and even then there is only a 25% chance your child will have it. this genetic disorder affects the respiratory system and the digestive system.

to put it very very simply the genetic mutation creates mucous that affects the lungs and the digestive tract (and creates a pancreatic deficiancy). so the people with this disease have their lungs fill up with mucous (which is why they have to do a vest treatment that shakes them violently to release the mucous) ,and their bodies don't absorb nutrients. so unless they take lots of enzymes, they could suffer from malnutrition.

the clinic i work for is a cf center so i know a LOT of cf patients. i LOVE our cf patients.

so we participated in the cf walk on saturday. we included dane, brin, maya, me and ELIZABETH! aka the best nanny EVER! we haven't seen her for a while so it was really nice to spend time walking 3 miles around a lake and catching up with her.

this was my favorite part of the walk:

we had 1/2 mile left, but we were getting behind a lot of slow people. elizabeth is quite tall and has long legs, and my legs tend to be a little longer than i think sometimes, so we wanted a little bit more room (look at that run on sentence!)

at one point, we decided to start running weaving in and out of other walkers (we weren't being obnoxious--elizabeth is NOT an obnoxious person. i may be, but SHE is not). we decided to go down a path down the hill that we thought was parallel to the the sidewalk where the majority of the walkers were. suddenly halfway down the hill i noticed the path curved and went UNDER a bridge that the walkers were crossing over!

"gotta turn! gotta turn!" we were pushing the strollers and running, so abruptly we turned and off roaded it over the grass to get back to the correct sidewalk. it was so funny!

when we got back to the start, we had lunch that was provided for us and enjoyed our lunch and another playground.

here's some pictures of the fun we had!