Mischief Maker

Water Cutie!

Cutest Vampire Ever

October 2010

It's hard not to smile...

when I am surrounded by these wonderful people!

Words Are Confusing

Griffin suffers from eczema, and it can get pretty bad in the winter. Just the other day, his skin broke out really bad, and patches of his skin began to bleed.

Griffin was frustrated, so he asked Brandon, "Why does my skin do this, Dad?"

Brandon responded, "Your skin just gets irritated easily."

Griffin replied, "Earitated...but my ears are up here?"

Gotta love em!

Today, I Choose Joy

Right now, my brain is fried. My back and neck hurt from the accident, and Advil is becoming my best friend. I am swamped with homework because I am in the middle of TWO Bethel classes. I am exhausted because I am taking more and more work home from school because 7th grade essay writing is in full swing. My house is a disaster because my nights are so full that I feel like I might burst. Throw this all together, and I am one tired, cranky wife/mom who has done more yelling in the past two weeks than I care to admit.

But today. Today, I choose joy. I am choosing to focus on the positives:

• I just registered for the Minneapolis Half Marathon and only paid $30 instead of $60.
• Both of my little men are healthy... despite the fact that everyone else in day care was sick early last week.
• On this date last year, I had already used 6 sick days at school due to doctor's appointments and the endoscopy. So far I have only used one this year!
  
• Even though I am barely keeping myself together emotionally and am in a lot of pain, I am still running and meeting personal time goals. Just last night, I ran 4.15 miles in 35 minutes.
• In just two weeks, I will get to see my sister and watch Griffin play with Henry and Ella.
• On Friday, I am getting a massage.
• This week is spirit week at school, and you better believe I am going full out. Come back and see my "Pink Explosion" outfit for tomorrow.
• Although my doctoral program is A TON of work, I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.
  
• Grayson is becoming more and more verbal every day. I love the smile on his face when he successfully says a new word.
• Griffin is loving Caribou Preschool, and I am becoming more and more content with our decision to send him to Kindergarten next year.
  
• I am most likely getting a MINI-VAN!!!
• Jesus loves me no matter how many mistakes I make or how tired and cranky I become. He makes it so much easier to choose JOY!
  

So there you have it. Today, I choose Joy!

They will always be my babies...

Just a few minutes ago, as we were snuggling before bedtime, Griffin asked, "Can you sing the love you for always song?" So, of course, I began rocking my four year old and sang:

I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be.

After singing this about ten times, I kissed my oldest baby goodnight and left the room fighting back tears.

Thank you, Robert Munsch, for putting my feelings into a book I hope my kids will love and remember forever.