Inspired.

Every time I read a new post from patrickandashley.blogspot.com, I feel so inspired to write something. But every time I click on "New Post" my mind goes blank. I'm warning you all... it's a serious tear jerker. So for all of you who cry easily these days ( Tiff, Sunny, Brooke, Andrea, Kiley, Lexi, Jenni, Jessica, {holy cow, there's a lot of you!}) you have been warned!

Their story begins in early July... every time I read something new from them, I am amazed and in awe of how incredibly strong they are. Her most recent post is entitled "Gratitude" and in it she writes about a comment left on her blog that goes:

"Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future."
(Robert D. Hales)

I had to read this a few times to really grasp the meaning. But, holy cow, how inspired is this quote?! When I think about it, I think of the different periods in our lives when we've had extra money at the end of the month. And the times when we didn't have enough. Earlier this year, Joe was out of work for almost 3 months! At the time, it was really hard to look at ourselves and come up with things we were grateful for. Of course we had ourselves and our children... I can only imagine what it must mean to people like Ashley and Patrick who have lost a child.

My favorite post she's done is titled, "Answers" (September 11). The first thing she says in this post is, "Have you ever had something you love more than life, ripped out of your arms?" I assumed she was talking about her late daughter. And she was... to an extent. But she was also comparing HER loss to her little girl's loss of her binky and how taking away Preslee's binky was for her own good. For those of you not wanting to read the entire post, she says:

"To be given the opportunity to be Preslee's mother was my gift, it was my binky. I was able to experience it for 18 months. Then, she was ripped away from me. I was left in a state of unbelief and in a world of pain. And because of my limited knowledge here on earth I cannot truly understand why.
As I stood on a chair in the middle of the hallway clutching her binky I began to cry. Then I began to sob. I felt my Heavenly Father's love so strongly. I finally understood what He has been trying to tell me for weeks. It's time for me to grow. It's for my own good. It's not an easy way to learn the lessons I need to, but it's necessary for my future. His love for me became so overwhelming. I understood it hasn't been easy for Him to watch Pat and I struggle."

I can't really say much more, except I have a lot of work to do, spiritually. Wow.

Pictures for Joey!

Joe is working in Alaska for two weeks, so we decided he needed an easy way to see some pictures of us (you know... so he doesn't forget who we are ;)!When I came across this picture, it literally made my heart jump. The little round face in that blanket looks exactly like baby Haylie, to me. And it cracks me up how she ALWAYS has her little toes propped up on the tray. Always!







She loves her brother. Right?

Why?

Every day I get up, take a shower, get dressed. Then I get Haylie up, get her showered and dressed. I do her hair. I make her lunch. And I make her breakfast. THEN, I get Connor up. He goes to the bathroom, gets dressed and puts some shoes on. Then we all get Maggie up. I change her diaper and put her in her car seat. I hand Haylie her coat and backpack and we walk out to the car. I drive the mile down the road to drop her off. Every day. Always in the same order. And every day, when Haylie gets out of the car, she tells me, "I'm going to miss you ALL day!" Then she hugs me and runs off to play before the bell rings, but not without blowing me kisses all the way. Two weeks of school gone by and I still get a lump in my throat when she runs off. I can see her walking the length of the playground (about half of a football field) and she looks so small and vulnerable. It takes all that I have not to run to her and walk her all the way.

Happy Money Saver

I'm trying to win this brand new laptop!!!! This lady is giving away a free laptop to celebrate the start of her new website (formerly fistfulofcoupons.com)! Everyone should go and visit her new site: www.happymoneysaver.com to enter!

~six~

Six years ago today, I married you. My best friend. My love. The father of my children. And the best husband I could have ever imagined. I am so flattered that you chose me.

You are made up of so many great qualities and characteristics.
I love the dimple in your chin.
I love the white patches of hair on your head.
I love your belly button lint.
I love that you still find me attractive, even after 3 kids.
I LOVE your laugh.
I love the way you love your mom and dad, and the respect you show them.
I love your relationship with your brothers and sisters.
I LOVE the way you play with our children and the fact that you would rather play with them instead of watching t.v.
I love the way you always know what I want and/or need; the way you know me.
I love the way you know how to push my buttons just to tease me, even though I forget every time and always make a bigger deal out of it than necessary.
I LOVE that you still flirt with me.
I love love love that you always apologize first after an argument.
I LOVE that you're mine FOREVER.
I love that our children are ours.
I love that you are so outgoing because it has made me more outgoing.
I love that you always let me have my way, but I hate it at the same time.
I love how passionate you are.
I love your adventurous side.
I love that you aren't afraid to talk to strangers and find it hilarious that at the same time you have a little bit of social anxiety disorder. Yes. You do.
I love the way you hug me. It's so tight and makes me feel so safe and loved.
I love your humor. You always know how to make me laugh.
I love that you can never keep a straight face, even when we argue.
I love the way you pipe up and introduce yourself when I run into someone I know in town, clearly rubbing it in my face that I forgot to. I know. I am REALLY bad at that.
I LOVE that you have never mentioned how big of a baby hog I am, when all three of our kids were newborns.
I love holding your hand.
I love that you still want to hold my hand.
I love that you always include me in whatever you are doing, even if it is really "manly."
I love you. And only you.

Happy Anniversary Love. 6 years have come and gone and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

I love you so much.
xxx

Women

Women have strengths that amaze men...

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
But they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream...
And sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy
And laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel,
And cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.
Women have vital things to say and everything to give...

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

exhausted

Joe is working in Alaska for two weeks, so this morning we had to get up really early to get him to the airport for his 6:15 flight. I wasn't too worried about Connor, since he isn't in school and I knew that he could come home and sleep if he wanted. Haylie on the other hand, fell asleep on the bus and almost missed her drop off. Anyway, Connor and I had an early lunch. He put in a movie and before the credits were over (around 11:45), I heard that deep, steady breathing, coming from the couch. I looked over and this is what I saw:Apparently he was a little tired...Needless to say, he took a very nice, long nap. And so did I. :)

**MIRACLES**

Yesterday, at approximately 6:45, my sister Kelli was driving down OIE from Benton City towards my mom's house north of Whitstran. A teen aged girl was also driving, but going the opposite direction. She wanted her passenger window down, but the window buttons didn't work on the driver side of her car. She reached over to manually roll it down, but while she was doing so, she didn't notice that her car was drifting into the oncoming lane. Kelli noticed the girl veering into her lane, laid on the horn and slammed on her breaks, but she didn't see my sister's car and so didn't have time to apply her own breaks. She hit her, head on, completely totalling Kelli's car, not to mention knocking her completely unconscious.

I was in my backyard yesterday, when I heard the ambulance(s). It didn't register until later that the ones that I heard were going to pick up my sister, just a mile down the road. Crazy, huh?

Kelli was taken to Kadlec where they took x-rays upon x-rays, CAT scans, and MRI's, etc. Their initial diagnosis was that she probably had a broken shoulder/collar bone because where the seat belt (Thank HEAVENS she was wearing it) held her in, was a pretty nasty cut and bruise. The doctor thought that her ankle might be broken as well because she was complaining about it. She has a pretty large bruise on her left ring finger/knuckle. He also said she probably had a pretty nasty concussion. He was asking her questions which really confused her, and when he'd ask the same question again a couple minutes later she answered them not only correctly, but in detail.

A few short hours later, Kelli was released from the hospital, sore and bruised, with a concussion but not a single broken bone. The other girl, as well, had a sore leg, but (we were told) probably walked out of the hospital the same night.

Now tell me... who gets in a head on collision and walks out unharmed?

My mom called me last night to tell me what had happened, but in all the chaos, left her house without her cell phone. She was calling me from Kelli's phone, so it took me a minute to realize that it wasn't Kelli's voice. She said, "Hey- we're with Kelli at Kadlec. She's been in a pretty severe car accident. SHE'S ALIVE but she's pretty beat up." Of course I initially panicked! She hadn't been able to get a hold of my dad, so I immediately started calling him. I had dialed 4 times with no answer when Joe said, "Let's have prayer." We all got down on our knees and prayed for the safety of Kelli and the other girl involved in the accident. And what a testimony builder this was for me.... as soon as we were done praying, I called my dad again and he answered. He had gone outside to check something in his pickup and saw he had a message on his phone, when I called him.I asked him if he'd talked to my mom- he hadn't- so I said, "Kelli's been in an accident. She's OK, but you should probably head over there." The next thing I thought about was that Corry was all alone at his house. He didn't have a phone there, so I was worried that he would be really upset when he found out about the accident. About a half hour later, Kelli's phone was calling me again, and it was Corry! I was SO relieved. He had been with my dad eating dinner, watching the BSU game at a restaurant.

This all sounds so silly when I go back and read it, but I was just so relieved that no one's feeling were hurt... everyone was at the hospital supporting a very "irritated" and confused Kelli, and mostly that Kelli walked out and is just fine!

Love, love, love my family. I appreciate them so much and have no doubts about how special they are to me, but it sucks that it takes something scary like this to really make the importance of family really clear.

LONGEST DAY OF OUR LIVES!

Here she is!!! Our little KINDERGARDENER!!!It's so crazy to think that my baby is in kindergarden. I didn't realize everything that comes with having kids in school... so many activities, and things that cost money. I now fully understand what people mean when they say, "Kids cost a lot of money." You think they're expensive when they're babies.... I can only imagine all of the things we will be spending our money on this year! :/

This picture kills me. She stood there, for the longest time, just STARING at all of the kids playing on the toys. I'm sure she was wishing, so hard, that someone would come up and ask her to join their little group or the game they were playing. And all I could do was stand and watch when every part of me wanted to take her hand and walk her around, to ask someone if she could join them.

Waiting patiently in line....
"Bye Daddy. I love you."
And there she goes... didn't even look back once. :(
YAY!!! SHE'S HOME!!!
We missed our Haylie so much yesterday! It's a good thing that she only went to school one day this week... Next week is going to be hard, with her going for 4 days in a row! But for now, we are just enjoying having her home for 3 days!! :D

CHUBS

This is totally blogworthy.


Maggie is BY FAR the chubbiest baby we've had and I LOVE IT!!!!