It's Snowing and I can Breathe

Outside it is cold and wet, and a little slick, but it is snowing. It hasn't snowed a whole lot for three weeks or so. I mean really snowed more than an inch or so and it has been so hard to breathe. I am so glad it is snowing because I can breathe again and it feels so good.

It Could Be Worse.....

We are having one of those weeks . . . . I mean days . . . . I mean weeks at our house. You know, one where it starts with one kid getting sick, then another one, then the mom, then the last one (well, we aren't quite there yet.) The weather outside is horribly cold and the air quality is so bad it is hard to breathe. And, while I am not feeling well the two year old who is feeling well runs around the house tearing everything I am able to get done apart. Yeah, it has been like that in our family since Sunday (we threw a six hour drive with moaning sick kids and the fire alarms in our house going off while we were out of town into the mix as well.) I'm not complaining, yet, just talking about what is going on to give perspective for the rest of the post.

Today I was reading everyone else's posts about the freezing rain, and slipping and falling on the black ice that is everywhere and I kept having the the thought that some of these posts were coming from a "it could be worse" perspective. Not that they were bemoaning the situation. It was more of a I'm grateful it is not worse positive spin on things. After reading this all day, I decided it is okay for me to talk about how my situation "could be worse" but it is not okay for someone else to point out that to me. Meaning, if I am feeling bad or down about something I don't need another person to tell me why I should be grateful for the situation because "it could be worse" because it is not someone else's place to change my perspective on my current situation. If I can tell myself it is okay to feel frustrated or disheartened when tough things happen, and decide for myself that those things aren't going to last forever I can recover faster than if I am told I cannot feel upset about anything. I'm only human, and to expect otherwise is unrealistic. Something I am still learning.

But anyway, given how rough the last few days have been I have lived through worse and I can make through this too. It could be worse by

• having a broken elbow and not being able to change diapers
• being pregnant and on mostly bed rest because of chronic pain
• having the stomach flu
• having no heat because the furnace is not working
• being in the hospital because of RSV
• passing a kidney stone
• having to go to work because I have no more sick leave
• the house actual burning down while we were out of town instead of just having a faulty smoke detector going off
• kids throwing up in the car on the way home instead of getting over it before we drove home

....and a number of other things we have lived through. It's rough but it will be over some day soon. After all, "it could worse."

Learning to Sew

Not me, but the cute girl I teach. I found a pattern for this cloak online and we altered it to be a knee length cape instead of elbow length. I started teaching her in July or August and she made this in October so she could be Red Riding Hood for Halloween. She is catching on fast and has been lots of fun to teach!

Foggy

It's foggy outside. I'm not being metaphorical here, it's just foggy outside. The other day I was wondering what the purpose of having fog lights on my car was when I don't use them except for about two days a year, and that is only if I decide to leave the house after seeing it is foggy outside. Well, today I used them and I am sure glad I don't live where there is fog all of the time. Scary!

Driving in the fog today also remind of learning to drive on the freeway. The first time I drove on the freeway (there weren't any within an hour of where we lived when I learned to drive) the weather decided to become very foggy. Not normal for that part of the country at that time of year, but none the less it was foggy. I did not like see all of the cars and semi trucks close together, but I survived and after that driving on the freeway wasn't so bad. Anyway, it's foggy today and I hope it burns off soon.

Crazy Hair Day

The longer my kiddos are in school, the more creative I find myself becoming to help them enjoy school activities. We used water color paint and rubber bands to create these crazy hair-dos for red ribbon week's crazy hair day.

Making Monsters

One of our Family Home Evening activities in October was to make monsters from empty, cleaned, fruit cans. It was fun!

Library Friends

This is Ryan's friend at the school library. Our librarian was so sweet to let him touch Clifford every time we visited the library this summer.

Quiet as a Church Mouse

I don't know why we say that. Mice in churches still make messes and are gross. But anyway, I have laryngitis and one day it was so bad I couldn't do much more than whisper. The children started whispering back and I had to keep telling them it was okay to talk in a normal voice. I was just talking softly because I couldn't talk louder and it hurt to try. Our house was very quiet that day.

Resolutions for 2013

We are going to keep it simple this year.

• Potty train Ryan.
• Help Bekah improve her reading skills and adjust to all day school.
• Find more positive ways for Benjamin to express his abundance of energy.

Yep, that should do it. Along with continuing the positive habits I have developed over the last few years. That should keep me plenty busy.

2012 Resolutions in Review

I posted a set of resolutions here, and I kept another set elsewhere. Some I completed, some I made good progress on. As a result, I will be only making a couple of resolutions this year because I took on too much last year. All were good goals, just a little too much to try to accomplish in one year. But, back to reviewing what I did list here.

• Create 365 posts for this blog.....I made it to 157.
• Index 75,0000 records using Family Search.....I indexed 75,042 records, learned how to arbitrate, and arbitrated 7,889 records.
• Read ... books in my house I haven't read.....We read the first four Harry Potter books as a family, I read all of the book club books for our neighborhood book club, and I spent most of my time read the standard works. Still have more books I need to read in our house.
• Finish projects and don't start new ones.....I didn't start any big projects, and I finished several unfinished ones, but I did do several small projects using supplies I already had on hand.
• Help Ryan learn English......We are still working on this one, but we are making tons of progress in this regard. We have also graduated from grunting to whining, but most of the time he is a good little talker and I can understand him.
• Help Bekah start Kindergarten.....Bekah loves Kindergarten! She has learned how to read lots of words and simple books as well as simple addition and patterns in math.
• Help Benjamin improve his piano skills.....Benjamin switched piano teachers twice this year and adjusted well to both. I purchased a book of Christmas songs on his current level and his piano playing as taken off. I am fairly certain he plays better than I do now.
• I did find time to laugh, smile, and serve others. It helped make this year better in every way, and helped me grow in ways I couldn't have known.
• I also completed a couple of triathlons, and all of the training that went with preparing for those events.
• Lastly, I took on another student and am now teaching sewing lessons in addition to crocheting lessons.

It has been a busy and full year. Now, on to another year of growth and development.

Still Here and Planning to Stay

Google fixed their picture limit thing. I can now upload pictures again, so no new blog address for us.