Thoughts....

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." Elizabeth Stone


I absolutely LOVE that quote. I recently ran across it again and thought to myself as I always do how true that is. I remember back to before I had children (yes, I can remember that far, for now anyway) and think about times when my feeling we're hurt by something someone did or said to me. I remember that sad feeling and wishing I wasn't so sensitive. I remember telling myself to toughen up and not to let things that people said bother me. I remembered that time is really the only thing that makes it better (except for maybe an apology from said party lol) and that it always got better.

Then I had kids......

Now, I am 50 times more sensitive than I ever was when it comes to them.
Now, no matter how many times I tell them to toughen up and not be so sensitive I am still fuming inside that someone hurt them.
Now, long after my kids have forgotten an incident and have totally moved on I find myself still thinking about it, still holding on.

So while this SUCKS... Yes it really does, it is also a learning experience. (As all things are if you think about it)

Because I know how sensitive I am when it comes to my children, I am always so careful when I talk to other Moms. (Being a daycare provider I have to do this a lot)

I always try to teach my girls to give people the benefit of the doubt and yes sometimes they are better at this then I am when it comes to their feelings.

And above all I remind them that time heals (or helps a whole lot) all wounds because this I believe with all my heart.

Growing up there were two things that my Mom told me over and over again.

The first was "will this bother you in ten years?" and if it wouldn't then don't let it bother you now.

The second was "Remember, if they are talking about you they are leaving someone else alone."

I have found myself on more than one occasion sharing this wisdom with my girls.

My hope is to raise confident, compassionate, and loving children who possess empathy for others.

Children who when the time comes (and I hope to be blessed with lots of little ones's) are able to have their hearts walk around outside of their body even better than their Mom did.....

More Bullet Points

Just can't seem to find time for a proper post so here you go....

1. Soccer Girl got her acceptance letter to UCF so looks like she is a "KNIGHT" she is very excited and so are we...

2. Soccer Girl had her very last high school swim banquet Friday night. She was awarded "most valuable swimmer" so proud of my girl....

3. This weekend was fall clean out and it felt so good. The Englishman and I (mostly him) cleaned out the garage and our closet. The girls and I went through their rooms and it feels so good to be organized.. (You know for like a day or two lol)

4. Our weather is gorgeous and our windows are open.

5. Thanksgiving will be held at our house this year and we should have a big crowd, looking forward to it.

6. This is the first year in awhile that I haven't had next week off. Kind of bummed but planning on taking all the kids to Busch Gardens one day should be an adventure.

7. I lost 5 lbs in one week last week at weight watchers and I am THRILLED. This makes a grand total of 13 lbs...Yay!!!

That's all I got today, have a great week!!!!!!

Pictures from Halloween

10 Updates Hopefully.....

1. I had my surgery yesterday and it went well. I was in and out in no time and I am feeling great. Did I mention I LOVE my Dr.

2. Soccer Girl got her acceptance letter to USF and we were pretty excited. Of course she really wants to go to UCF and she should be hearing from them soon but now we have a back up plan.

3. Our Halloween was a lot of fun I will post pictures but on a separate post (yes, I still haven't mastered text and photos and I just don't want to mess with it today.

4. Cool weather has arrived in Florida for the weekend anyway and we are all excited. My Aunt and Uncle are visiting so we will be spending some time with them this weekend.

5. We booked our spring break vacation and are heading to Myrtle Beach. We've never been before but have heard wonderful things. Can't wait....

6. Still going strong on Weight Watchers and really liking it, although I will admit this is my 5th week and for some reason it was the hardest. I've learned that the key to this is planning and this week was so crazy busy it was really hard to be prepared. However, I've also learned that it's OK you just have to keep going and plan better next week.

7. My Grandmother arrived from Michigan on Halloween night for her six months in Florida (she does the six and six thing ) She's such a trooper she went with me to Walmart on Wednesday with three kids and I couldn't have done it without her. I love to get my grocery shopping done during the week days but with three little guys all day it's next to impossible so having her help me was awesome. Thanks Grandma...

8. My BFF just got offered a great job making more money than the one she is getting laid off from next month and I'm so proud of her they are very lucky to get her. YOU GO GIRL!!!

9. Might Mouth and Miss Priss are going on a field trip to our local Folk Fair that comes once a year here. I think it is kind of cool because I remember taking field trips to this same FolK Fair when I was a kid.

10. Wow, I got to ten but actually don't really have anymore news. So have a fantastic weekend!!

Consistently Thankful

Ok, remember when I said I was going to post everyday with something I was Thankful for. Yeah, um you see how well that went. I have such a hard time with "consistently blogging" although in my heart I am "consistently thankful." I decided to write another list to make up for days I missed. Remember, these are little things that effect more of my day to day life in addition to the big one's (health, home, overall happiness) that I am forever thankful for.

1. I am Thankful that the Englishman managed to get off the same week the kids have off for Spring Break. Since he is at the bottom of his works totem pole this was really great. We have plans to visit Myrtle beach.

2. I am Thankful I have been going to Weight Watchers for three weeks now and have lost a total of 7.2 lbs. Just a little sand off the beach but a great start that I am very proud of.

3. I am Thankful that after working on it for roughly 3 hours I finally figured out how to load audiobooks to my Ipod from our local library website for FREE. I love listening to books when I walk. My goal for this week is 10 miles.

4. I am Thankful that the Englishman and I had a date night on Saturday night and went to dinner. It was a lot of fun. I also stayed on program (weight watchers) so that was even better.

5. I am Thankful that we are having friends and family coming over for a pumpkin carving party on Sunday for Halloween. It should be a lot of fun and I am really looking forward to it.

There that made up for 5 days right? LOL Have a great week...

P.S Pet count is back up to 9

1 dog, 2 cats, 2 bunnies, 2 fish, (can you believe that Freddy the carnival fish is still going strong?)1 hermit crab and 1 hamster.

Miss Priss got another Hamster this weekend. A little Siberian Dwarf she named Bella, a cute little ball of fur.

Oh yeah, Thankful the Englishman didn't throw to much of a fit.

(we lost the bird and the other hermit crab over the summer, not sure if I mentioned. RIP Crabby and Blue Bird)

Another year, another three pumpkins...

I decided to get my grocery shopping over with tonight instead of tomorrow or Sunday. I did this because for once I didn't have that big of a list. Because I am a coupon shopper I tend to stock up when things are on sale. Because of this I have about one week a month where I don't have to buy much at all, this was that week. So because I didn't have much in the cart (normally it is like a workout just pushing my completely loaded cart around the store) I decided to go ahead and get the girls their pumpkins for carving. As I was lifting them and trying to get ALL THREE in the cart, because anyone with more than one kid knows they HAVE TO HAVE THEIR OWN. I was thinking maybe this would be the last year that I would have to do this. Maybe next year they will out grow the whole pumpkin carving thing.

Then I bit my tongue. Hypothetically of course because this conversation was going on in my head, you know so the other Walmart shoppers didn't think I was nuts. Although, in our Walmart talking to yourself isn't really that unusual. I remembered that next year Soccer Girl probably won't come home for Halloween because lets face it there will probably be some cool college Halloween party that she will want to go to. Will my other two girl's want to carve pumpkins if their sister is not there to do it with them? You see that's the thing that kind of stinks. I feel like my younger two miss out on some stuff because when Soccer Girl gets to old they feel like they are to old too. If I am honest I contribute to this a little. (ex: this year I kind of encouraged Mighty Mouth to skip having a B-day party and just have the money that I would spend to buy something she wanted.)

Sometimes, I rush Mighty Mouth through things because I have "been there, done that" but I need to remember that she is only eleven. I need to remember and encourage her to be a kid and enjoy all the things that being a kid entitles her to. Because I know from experience that she too will grow up fast and I will be wishing for someone to carve pumpkins with, bake Christmas cookies, and color Easter eggs. So I guess that's why I am writing this post. To remind myself to enjoy and treasure my girls and to make the most of our family time.....

Homecoming 2010

Soccer Girls Homecoming was last night. It was a beautiful evening in Florida. It was cool but not cold and all the kids looked wonderful. A group of her friends came over ahead for snacks and pictures and off they went. She looked beautiful but of course I am VERY prejudice...