Life Is Beautiful

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We will be hosting the big day over here again.  I can't remember if it's the 3rd or 4th year...but maybe it's the 4th because I do remember having to skip out and nurse a baby at least one year maybe two.  Let's see, we have lived here since 2007...but I wouldn't have hosted that year because Susan was born in June...maybe I did in 2008 or maybe not...Cameron was born in 2009, so yeah THAT was the baby I was remembering so this is the 4th year! Glad I figured that out. One thing that I do know is that I have a fitness tradition on Thanksgiving.  No, it's not a Turkey Trot or Gobble Waddle or any organized race like that, but it IS important.  I get up early and get the turkey in the roaster and then I excuse myself to the basement to do an hour of Yoga X.  It's nice to start out the day like that and by the time I'm done I can smell the turkey cooking! This year I will remember that it doesn't take quite as long...

Okay - I'm just a little irate today.  I have a decent blog in mind and just can't even seem to write it until I finish simmering over here. No details, but suffice it to say that it has to do with child care for our upcoming 86 mile relay race .  I'm sure it will all workout, though right now I'm on the edge of a nervous break down. SEVENTEEN DAYS. I'm ready to run.  Hubby's ready to run.  Our team is ready to run.  In fact, a nice run would help me blow of some steam RIGHT NOW. Also, have you ever made a mistake on your checking account?  No?  Yeah, me neither.  But I heard from my friend that if you make a gargantuan  teensy little error and it snow balls like the Yeti from Hell in overdraft fees, the pencil pushers down at your evil Ebeneezer money lender  local home town bank could care less. AND MY TODDLERS NAPPED FOR CRAP TODAY! I think I'll take my rolling pin and go beat the crap out of some throw pillows and hit t...

The cost of food is second only to the Mortgage in our household. It's quite difficult to buy healthy, nutritious foods and stay within a sensible budget. I would LOVE to buy all organic foods and never buy another thing that came in a box or a can. I suppose, that is possible for some - but for me, there are financial and time constraints that prevent an all inclusive, militant Natural Diet. Around the new year this past December, God started working on me about what I was buying and where I was shopping. Our family was spending over $800 per month at the grocery store. I was shopping at a premium grocery store and buying organic whenever possible. While I justified this as a health benefit - I was spending outside our means. Last night I went to the local discount grocery for milk, bread, cheese, cereal and fruit for the last time of the month. I came home and added up the receipts for the month of June and was pleased to find that my efforts got the food bill down to just...

My Dad and Mom's Engagement Photo 1973 My dad passed away in December 1998 after battling lung cancer for almost 2 years. Our oldest son was born that year, Dad saw him a few times but the cancer had spread to his brain by that time - so I'm not sure if he really saw him. Lately I've been having dreams about him. He's there, but he's not. I see him at a family function, but can't get to him to talk to him. I find "evidence" of him working on stuff at my house (he was a carpenter), but can't find him anywhere. Something is going on in my brain, and I s'pose I need to get this off my chest. So here it is... Dear Dad, I miss you. I wish you could meet our oldest son now, you would really like him. He is extraordinarily bright and would be able to talk Sci-Fi with you all day. He loves to read and is now playing baseball! Our oldest daughter would surly have had you all wrapped up. She is a little snarky and so very pretty - just the wa...

This little girl is very special to me. She is a bright, intelligent, kind soul. She has taught me most of what I know about gentleness and compassion. God put her in my life to train me. She would give her last lollipop to the next door neighbor or donate all of her allowance to the first person who knocks on the door with a collection plate. She is brave, resilient and joyful even in trial. And, as little girls often do, she has now grown up. In a few days, she will be getting married. I'm so proud of her and so humbled by her example of godly love. The only thanks I can give her for showing me patience and kindness to live a godly life myself. Grace is something we can't earn and can't repay. And so it is with my sister. My friend, my confidant. She knows it all and loves me anyway. May God richly bless Amy and Nat as they join in marriage on May 21st, 2011!

Race for Grace - Grand Island NE - 10K + (6.65mi) We went up to my Mom's last night and she graciously allowed us to descend on her house and proceed to totally mess up her basement with all of our junk. :) We slept as well as anyone can with 4 children who are out of their element can. Our older children did well, but our 3yo tossed and turned and bothered our 9yo. For like and hour or more. I think we all fell asleep around midnight, and were all up at 7. So, not terrible, just not right. The race didn't start until 9am, so we had plenty of time to get ready, get the kids something to eat, and get there. The race was in a smaller town, so parking was a breeze. It was a nicely laid out event, with a pretty nice goody bag along with our t-shirts. Coupons for local businesses, a nice water bottle, and even some post-race snacks! Our race course was completely closed. The miles were all marked and we had water and potties at the 2 and 4 mile marks. I enjoyed the weathe...

What could I (a 34yr old woman) possibly have in common with an 18yr old young man? Well other than the same Mom and Dad...not much. My youngest sibling is a great kid, athletic, intelligent and good hearted. Okay - maybe we have more in common than I thought... ;) Recently he told me he would like to run the Lincoln Marathon with Dave and me in May of next year. I am SO excited to hear that he has an interest in running! With the marathon being 10 months away, I'm very confident that he will be able to train for and run the whole thing...it's me that I'm worried about! I found a 5k in his city on Labor Day weekend and downloaded Hal Higdon's 5k Training Schedule to give to him. He's a football player, so he is good at following a nutrition and training schedule. Last night we did some texting back and forth to talk about how our training is going. Mine - at a standstill right now - but his is coming right along! I guess I'm just stoked to have somet...

When setting out to lose 88lbs, there were some things I did not do. For one thing, I diminished the amount I needed to loose. I never told anybody the real number when I started, but only began to share my journey when I was about 20lbs down. There was one thing I did do. I set smaller goals to make it not seem like such a big job. My first goal was getting under 200lbs. The next goal was making it halfway. Next up was 50lbs down. My next goal in sight is 15lbs away and is "Wedding Weight." Sometimes things get stale and I cut out any treats until I break the next decade of numbers. Little rewards have come with my Mini-Goals. A hair cut, some new workout clothes, a DVD. But here I am at well over the 50lbs lost marker, and I'm actually afraid of the reward I set for myself. A few sessions with a personal trainer. Why? Well, the main thing is the time it will take away from my family. Fitness endeavors take time. I get up at 5:30 to workout, so I don't ...

Back from vacation - what a fantastic journey! Drove 2,500mi round trip and not so much as a flat tire. Thank you Lord! Here's a link to the pictures I took. Summer Vacation 2010 My goal was to continue on my exercise regime and track my calories and LOSE weight on vacation. Well, life has different plans sometimes. I ended up getting a terrible cold and losing my voice for much of the trip. I didn't feel especially ill, but couldn't talk, coughed a lot and had a hard time catching my breath. Combine that with some pasta and 2 nights of ice cream and there you have it...up half a pound. Fortunately, this week is a test of my endurance and will likely help me to counter last week. Our church's Vacation Bible School is this week. I am playing a costumed character in a couple of skits and have also decided that I should hang out in the music room. They are doing some neat moves along with the singing that looks nearly like an aerobics class. Can you say calorie...

I'm finally reaping the rewards of my stick-to-it-iv-ism with nap time here at the Morton Crazy Daycare. I've been working on it for 6 months - ever since the babies were about 6 months old. At that point, I decided to try to get them on the schedule of everyone else. I knew it would take time - but good grief. This week, I have sang the songs, tucked the blankies , kissed the foreheads, and said nighty -night. I didn't hear a thing and all slept for almost 2 hours! Normally, I lie on the couch and close my eyes for the glorious few moments that all 4 of them are asleep at the same time. Well, after we finish Math and Science, that is. Today I actually fell ASLEEP on the couch and had a dream!! Sigh...it's the little things. :o) Went to the Y with the fam and got my miles in. I was having a hard time and couldn't really understand what was going on. After we were done, my husband said the same thing - noting that it was especially hot in there. Pretty su...

I was so appalled with the price of bread today at the grocery store, that I just had to snap a picture. Wow. And this was at a warehouse super store where I have to forage and haul my own purchase. I want to feed my family well, but with $3/gallon and higher milk (which translates to uber -expensive cheese and yogurt) and $2/lb apples in my cart, I left the bread. I admit it, I grabbed the store brand psuedo -wheat bread. We'll slap some lean meat and lite mayo on it and figure two out of three ain't bad.

Sometimes I get pretty cocky. My life goes along real good, I'm blessed beyond anything I deserve, and I get to thinking that I know what's up. That's when The Big Guy puts the smack down on me. This weekend we went to see the fam. We did the tour – my Mom's on Saturday, his family on Sunday. We got home last night around 6, so it wasn't bad. I always get so grumpy because nothing is where it's supposed to be when you get back and the place is just a mess – suitcases, crap we drug home from grandmas… Not to mention that there is nothing clean to wear to work on Monday and nothing to take in my lunch because we were gone all weekend and didn't go shopping or wash clothes. But I digress. My mom took care of the kids while we went out for ice cream on Saturday night. Before we left I had made a grand proclamation of this: "Well, at least we don't have to worry about running into The Kids' Bio Dad this trip. He moved and is working on a road...

Tonight will be different when I get home. Used to be that David was off on Fridays and I looked forward to getting off work and going home to him. ***Sigh*** Tonight it will be just like every other weekday. Me: Hi. When did Susan go down? Him: Hi honey, oh about 20 minutes ago. Me: Great, how was your day? Him: Pretty good, tired though. Me: Oh man, I know babe - me to. (Big hugs, nice smoochy smoochy) Him: Have a good night. Me: You too, honey - I love you! Sad looks all the way around and waves bye-bye. And that's it for the whole day. Wash, rinse, repeat. Until tomorrow when I get to TALK to my husband! And I'm so excited too! We are driving back to his families' neck of the woods for a visit. And I would gladly give up Friday night for Sunday all day! Woo hoo! It will be so nice to get out of town and have some drive time and talk time. Tonight I'm trying to get creative...methinks it's time for the girls and I to break out the hot rollers a...

Where has this week gone already? I haven't even written anything in my blogs for a couple of days, and my email support group is talking without me! I love that group of ladies, they support each other with love and guidance and most of them have never met! If you are interested in a daily email about health and fitness and the struggles of all that, email me and I will add you. You don't need to participate, but it's fun to read the discussions. mortonpixie@yahoo.com I have been very busy and very successful in my home business this week. When it rains it pours, right? I have started training others to do what I do and it has been so rewarding helping others. Not only do I get to educate women about safer, healthier, less expensive alternatives for thier homes, but I get to help them build a solid income for thier families to! I don't have to sell anything or have any of THOSE parties, either. Been there with the candle thing. I can't believe it! Honestly, when I ...

I heard a pastor teaching on cheating yesterday. Not marital unfaithfulness or cheating on your taxes, but about cheating your time at work and devoting more of it at home. This is a topic that is of constant concern to me. Being a mother of three children that works full time outside the home, it's always a challange to "balance" things. I have long felt that any effort to "balance" your life between carreer and family is a thinly vield attempt to "have it all" on your terms and disregard what God has to say about your responsablities to your family. It's clear from the teachings of the Bible that a woman's first priority is to her home (ie. her husband and/or children). It's also clearly necessary in this economy for the woman of the house to sometimes have a job that takes her away from that. So the natural thing to do would be to try to make an even split and balance the two, right? No. My first priorty is to my family - Husband first a...

Bright and early at 6:30 this morning, I heard my pretty little baby singing to her teddy bear and kicking the bars of her crib. She was awake and ready to get up. When you're eleven months old, it doesn't matter what else only that you're awake and it's light outside. It's Sunday and I wish I'd had more sleep. But since it is Sunday and I should make something yummy like pancakes since my sister is here from KC I guess I better get up. Just like every other Sunday on record, I was the last one ready today. Seems like there's always somebody else in there or a baby that needs to be fed, or something going on. I didn't get in the shower till 30 minutes before we had to leave for church. Needless to say - we were late again. My Mom was already there at the church. She had driven 100 miles to join us for worship today to see our youngest dedicated. We slid in there just in time. The dedication was nice and our Pastor delivered a really great mess...