Fall Fun 2010 :)

Got snot????

I couldn't quite decide if I should title today's blog post - Tis the season, or Got Snot? Since we have a plethora - Got snot wins.....

It's Fall - let the sinus infections begin....

Yup - sinus infection number one of the school year - any of you in the betting mood to gamble on how many he will get this year???? I am hoping for less than 5, and maybe to miss less than 30 days of school - that would be a record..... and kind of nice....... just sayin'........

p.s. it isn't just Brady who has a sinus infection - I think I do too - these constant headaches of mine must be due to more than school misunderstandings - right????

I can't win.....

I am always in the doghouse with someone when I am advocating for my boy. I know I am a bit picky when it comes to things about him - I just think he deserves as good of an education as the rest of us 46 chromosomers. Sometimes that involves rocking the boat, and making value judgements. Sometimes people in charge don't like me to rock the boat or make value judgements. Me thinks this is one of those times.

Oh well - if it quacks like a duck.........

Busy busy busy!!!

ahhhh - things are crazy busy here right now! I seriously think there are at least 3 things scheduled every day, plus extra visits to the school, homework, church stuff etc... I'm going a little insane. And- the hubs was out of town this last week, so I was doing it solo. I am just not a very good single mom!!! I really thought it might be less busy with C out of the house - but - so far I haven't seen much of a difference - maybe it will ease up when J gets his license (if we could ever find time to take him driving to get his hours!!) and he can do some of the driving for me - although I'm not sure how much I trust him with the lives of my precious babies yet - I have to see what kind of a driver he is LOL I won't even get in the car with him til he has 15 hours under his belt - my nerves just can't take it ;)

September 11th - 9 years later......

I have been thinking a bit about September 11th this last week. I can't believe it's been nine years already. I can't believe how much people have forgotten over the last 9 years. I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, and how I was feeling that morning. I remember my alarm going off and the radio DJ talking about some loser that had flown his small plane into one of the towers. I absently thought, seriously - how could you miss something that big. But, out of curiosity I turned on the news. The news anchors were a bit more informed than my morning radio DJ. Not a small plane at all, not some random man committing suicide or lost in the midst of Manhattan at all - but a commercial jet, carrying hundreds of people. And - just then, the second plane it - right there - on my tv screen - in real life. And - I continued to watch, the smoke pouring out of the buildings, people horrified and traumatized. I got my kids ready for school, all the while thinking - is it safe for me to send them? By that time there was the pentagon and news of another missing plane, and it was confirmed as a suspected terrorist attack.

My hubby called - he was in Atlanta - on a business trip. They shut everything down. The whole country was brought to their knees - figuratively AND literally.

And - that is what I have been thinking about this week. A lot. As I read my scriptures daily, I see time and time again that Heavenly Father sends trials to try the faith of His people and turn their hearts to Him. It happens over and over again in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible. Forces of nature, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, fires, famines, droughts. I hear people say sometimes that if there was a God, He would not allow these kinds of things to happen. But, I firmly believe that God lets these things happen to bring us to Him.

And - just like in the scriptures, for a time people are more united, more faithful, more caring of one another, more committed to God - but it seems like they ALWAYS forget, and then go on with their lives, and become more self-absorbed. So, He allows more things to happen, and people remember again.

I saw that A LOT after 9-11. Cars and houses that flew American flags, people committed to helping each other, emotionally and financially. People turned to God - in prayer and in faith. People were united, together, no matter what their faith, as Americans, and committed to one another to keep each other safe and help each other through the crisis. The same thing happened with Hurricane Katrina, and with the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. The government was united - not all this partisan crap we are dealing with right now. We were all for each other - that was the good that came from an awful, terrible tragedy.

So - today I remember all those who lost their lives that day, and those who have lost them since as a result of what happened that morning. And - I remember and continue to hope and pray for the United States of America - may her people remember, and may God bless us all......

It was one of those days I wished I'd had a video camera....

well, folks - he did it. Well - actually he did "it" 140 - yes, you read correctly - ONE HUNDRED FORTY - times - on the potty that is :0)

And - what does that mean? Well - it means that Brady gets to go buy his most coveted Spongebob movie that he has been working towards all summer (and actually - this event happened a couple of weeks ago - so my brain might have lost some of the joy of the actual event in-between the stress of starting school etc....)

You have never seen a prouder, happier boy than mine, as we walked into Target, went down to the movie aisle and he perused the videos til he found the right one - the one in the ad, the one he has looked at every single day since July 6th :) The joy on his face as he found it and picked it up - the giggles that ensued, priceless - worth every second of potty training hell. Seriously - he couldn't contain his joy and happiness and just giggled and smiled and radiated pure joy and proudness all the way to the cash register - and then to the car - and then right into my room to watch Spongebob Triton's Revenge. What could be better than the look of pure bliss on your child's face. And really - Brady is so pure in his expressions of his emotions (pretty much you always know how my boy is feeling - he is pretty dang transparent ;) that you couldn't help but glimpse a little bit of heaven in that smile and giggle of pure, unadulterated happiness.

Oh that we could all feel that - I can only imagine what it feels like :) Of course, he doesn't feel it all the time, but this is twice in a couple of weeks that I've seen that look on his face - the other time - when he saw his bestest friend, S, at back to school night. Yup - it was better than Christmas ;)

I wish I had been able to catch that on video - and watch it over and over and over again - my boy feeling so confident and proud of his accomplishment and oh so very very VERY happy!!!

If you could think of just one word......

to sum up the way your life is going right now - what would it be?

Ours is - well - to be honest - S - T - R - E - S - S - in bold and double capitalized :(

Hoping that will change soon.......