Being Thankful

Writing about Thanksgiving is hard. I have to admit it is not my favorite holiday. I don't really care for sitting like a blob on the couch watching endless amounts of football just waiting to eat myself into a larger blob sitting on a couch watching football!!!

As I get older, the magic of the holidays seem to lose it's luster. Fortunately, witnessing it through Vanessa's eyes gives me a larger sense of what it all means. I can leave the turkey. I can leave the cold (I'm a lover of summer). And as someone with a huge sweet tooth, I can even leave the pies. Well, maybe I won't leave the pies. 

But understanding what the holidays mean to Vanessa, reinforces how important it is for me to help create these memories for her. I know that one day when she's older, she can look back and tell stories about her Thanksgivings the same way me and my brother were sharing ours this weekend - if you ever have a moment, I'll tell you the story when my dad threw our movie projector out on the street into a million pieces while the family watched in amazement from our living room window. 

Here are some of the new memories we made this weekend. 

This was our view during dinner. We went to my Aunt and Uncles trailer at Collins Lake and ate outside next to a warm fire, probably the most relaxing Thanksgiving we ever had. 

My brother, Aunt and Vanessa warming up to the fire. 

My cousin Aaron playing the guitar as we sat with full tummy's. 

The next night we drove to Grass Valley for their Cornish Christmas, something we did once with my dad and mom when Vanessa was a baby. We headed to this wonderful Italian restaurant, Cirino's. Our meal was so wonderful that my brother ended up sweating from all the pasta. The owner relates all his dishes to a family memory - What a wonderful way to appreciate your blessings. 

We always like to end the night sitting with a hot cocoa. Caroline's Coffee Roasters stays open late for this special night, leaving us much time to sit around the table laughing and sharing memories of the day. 

I am blessed for sure and I will always be grateful for what has been given to me. Even if Thanksgiving isn't my favorite holiday, it has definitely supplied me with many memories. Memories that will always be with me. 

Coeur d'Alene

We took the most amazing trip to visit family Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The pictures speak for themselves.

Yoga anywhere 

4th Popsicle of the day 

Time to light up the night 

On the Mudgey and Millie Trail 

Wake Up Call 

Nothing like S'mores and Fireworks 

Time for Hugs 

Fog Willow Farms

Another Year

Today was Vanessa's end of the year party.  I can't believe how much she learned. When we sat with the teacher, she showed us the progress she made in that short period of time and it was amazing.  I'm so proud of her.

She's made so many new friends. And I love to see her with all the kids. They seem to support each other and encourage each other already at this young age. 

What's even more surpising is I didn't realize as us moms would gather each afternoon waiting to pick our kids, we were developing the same kind of support and encouragement. And now the year is over and I feel like how I did in school - sad that I won't be sharing my day with these same people and apprehensive and lost looking ahead in the future - Not knowing what it was going to bring. 

I've cherished this year so much.  And Adventure Christian School has been a blessing for her and for me. I'm glad that we were able to part of something so special. And I look at her pictures of this year and at school and realize how all those tiny moments in our life have shaped us. 

Simplify

Spent some time soul searching lately. Trying to figure out things, and I decided how desperate I am to simplify my life. Overwhelmed by so much and all those needless things seems to only make it harder. We live in a world where everyone wants bigger houses, more technology, multiple cars, more more more.

With all those wants, people are suffering and they don’t even know it. We have households where both parents work long hours and having strangers watch their kids for 10 plus hours a day just so we can live in big houses or to buy expensive technology that quickly outdates itself, all at the expense of our children.

Now I understand that not every situation is perfect and sometimes there is only one parent and they will need to work to support their kids. These parents have the additional stress to be there for their kids and provide, and hopefully there are supportive people in their lives to help in giving their kids a well-rounded, loving environment. However, in trying to spend more precious time with their families, they can look to eliminate needless things that distract from what’s really important.

But in my quest to try and center and balance my life, I’ve looked at my role, my abilities, and mine and Vanessa’s needs, then I looked at what things have little meaning to our happiness. For example, I’ve noticed Vanessa has much less toys than most of her friends. My rule is, if it doesn’t fit in the closet, you have too much. Not once has she acted that she was underprivlidged or suffered because she had too little dolls. I needed to apply these kind of rules to my own life.

Do I need a brand new computer? No, it’s a want. A want that leads to having to work harder to spend a great deal of money for something that won’t give me lasting gratification. It will take my time away from Vanessa and my family, and for me, my time with them is the most important. At some point I will need to replace this computer for work reasons, but to constantly buy the product seems silly.

That goes with houses. I think having large homes is superficial if its at the expense of depleted energy, less time with family, and serving time in our community. Even if I had the money, I still wouldn’t buy a big house. More cleaning and money to maintain. But I digress, having a large home is a want with no real value. I want a small house. One even smaller than the one I’m living in.

I don’t mean to preach. If one can truly afford a large home without making those sacrifices like raising our children or our health, than I think that’s wonderful. But for most of us, we all have extended our wants to the point we believe they are a need. And there are only a couple needs I have in my life, and my time watching that grow and blossom is most important to me.

Birthday surprises

I'm sitting at Chuckee Cheese for another birthday party while Vanessa runs around with her friends. This is the 4th birthday party at Chuckee Cheese since January not including the times we take her on our own.  It's okay - free pizza!! 

She has two more birthdays to celebrate later today so she should be pretty worn out by the time she gets home. 

Anywho...my mom has been asking me if I finished any projects so I made this yesterday to make her happy. And Vanessa is loving it today.