Expressing Gratitude - Day 6

I got home from work and checked the iTouch to see if there were any messages. My friend's due date was tomorrow and I had an inkling something might have happened over night. Unfortunately, there wasn't a message. I went back to sleep for a couple hours and woke up to a wonderful announcement!

"Lilly Joyce, 0625 this morning, 6 lbs 15 oz"

Doodlebug and I had to get new tires this morning which just so happened to be down the street from the hospital. After our appointment, we grabbed some pink roses (per Doodlebug), a card, and some treats and dropped them by for the new birthday girl and her family.

Is there anything more amazing than a fresh from heaven baby?

It made me think of my fresh from heaven babies and what a wonderful spirit they brought with them.

So pure, innocent, peaceful, angelic. An immense blessing I'm so grateful to have experienced in my own home and witnessed again this morning.

Expressing Gratitude - Day 5

The Lime has a mouth full of loose teeth.  On 10/26, he showed me how loose tooth F was and I was certain it would be out within the next 24 hours so I snapped one last picture with his two front baby teeth.

Of course, it didn't come out that day or the next or the next. He's been wiggling that sucker nonstop and we could even see the permanent tooth poking its way through the gum.

We Skyped with LaVor's parents tonight and The Lime was eager to show them how loose it was. Papa warned that if it still wasn't out by the time they get here, he'd yank it out with pliers.

So as soon as we finished chatting with them, I told The Lime we were getting it out TONIGHT.

Thanks to my mom's technique (as much as I hated it when it was being done to me), I grabbed a long string of dental floss, wrapped it around his tooth and pulled both ends until it snapped the tooth out.

The Lime hardly flinched and was more distraught over how weird it felt once it was out. I'm thankful for that brave boy who lets me inflict pain on him for his benefit.

I'm also thankful I snapped that one last photo of his cute little smile before his chompers come in. Because if his x-rays are any indication, he's going to inherit my huge teeth.

Expressing Gratitude - Day 4

I can't remember what initiated his interest but The Lime asked me who his great great grandfathers were yesterday. I happened to have my laptop close by so I opened up Family Search and I was able to not only show him names and birthdates of these men but pictures as well.

Great Great Grandpa Steenblik

Great Great Grandpa Phelps

Great Great Grandpa Neuenswander

Great Great Grandpa Evans

Great Great Grandpa Warmuth

Great Great Grandpa Siemsen

Great Great Grandpa Trimble

After I took my Christmas decorations down at the beginning of this year, I decided to redo a wall that I'd been feeling not so hot about. A couple of years ago, when I was making Primary visits with the president, we visited a home that had a wall dedicated to just old family photos. I thought it was awesome and wanted to do something similar in our home. I feel strongly about our boys knowing where they came from and recognizing the people who are rooting for them on the other side. So after Christmas, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to display our family photos.

What an amazing time we live in that we have easy access to valuable information, including priceless photos! When else have people had the opportunity to view century old documents with a click of a button?

I love walking by this wall and seeing the faces of those who worked hard, pushed through trials, immigrated to an unknown land, and built a legacy that I hope my family can continue.

Expressing Gratitude - Day 3

The Lime turns 8 in less than three months and isn't exactly thrilled to be baptized. We aren't sure of his reasoning so we jumped at the chance to attend our friend's baptism so he could see how awesome it is.

As I sat in my seat, listening to the boy's older sister give the talk on the Holy Ghost, this scripture came to my mind:

"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

What 11 year old girl can stand with such confidence and bare her testimony in front of a room full of adults? And what 8 year old boy can answer questions with confidence and recite Articles of Faith like the back of his hand?

Believers.

I'm thankful for examples of people who hold on tight to their faith, to the knowledge they know to be true, and who aren't afraid to share it.

I know I felt the Spirit on Saturday and I hope The Lime did, too.

Expressing Gratitude - Day 2

I logged into Facebook this morning and saw a post from Cost Plus World Market. They have a contest going on and were announcing clues for where you could find five golden llamas in their stores (near something round was the clue).

Golden llamas?!

An associate told me they might be transitioning from their elephant mascot to a llama but that's just a rumor.

I looked up when my local store would open (10:00) and made plans to be there right on time to ensure my odds of finding one of these golden llamas. Sure enough, we arrive at 10:02.

As soon as we walked in, the same associate notified me of their contest. "I saw it on Facebook this morning!" I squealed.

I casually tried to walk around the store, promising Doodlebug we'd look at the toys as soon as we found a llama. We headed to the baking section to look for something round. Nothing in the cake pans or plates, nothing in the cookie section, and nothing near the earrings. I thought there might be something round in the bath section but we were left llamaless.

That's when I turned the corner and saw this...

Something round!

And there it was...a golden llama hanging out underneath it. I might have felt like Charlie Bucket on Willy Wonka.

Doodlebug and I took the llama to the counter, exchanged it for a $50 gift certificate, and browsed the store for the next hour trying to find goodies we could bring home with us.

I'm grateful for simple things that make me happy; new dish towels, new ramekins, cupcake liners, a new pair of earrings, orange raffia, cookies, and a sign about pies.

I'm also grateful for anticipation, excitement, and being able to share that with others. I had a friend call me and say she was going first thing in the morning to try and find a golden llama. I can't wait to hear if she found one or not!

Expressing Gratitude - Day 1

13 years ago today, I went as far away from my comfort zone as I could imagine and started culinary school.

My entire life, I did what was comfortable. After high school, I attended community college because it's what I already knew and it was close to home. All of my jobs came about because someone in my family already worked there. Life was simple and that's what I liked.

But then this idea of culinary school came about and I was intrigued. After tours of the campus and interviews of acceptance, I decided to jump right in and embark on a new, and different, chapter.

The first day was a basic orientation. Chef Steve went over all the courses, distributed supplies and uniforms, and we were ready for our official first day on November 2nd.

Well, everyone else was ready. I went home and doubted my decision. I was scared, nervous, unsure, lacked confidence of my abilities, and wasn't sure I'd be returning to class. My mom said, "Nope! No way am I letting you pass up this opportunity!" and she made me go back the second day.

And I'm so grateful I did.

That experience finally made me feel like a big kid, despite being an "adult" for two years. I learned so much, and not just about baking but about myself. I realized I could do things that I thought were hard. I also made so many memories and friends and look back on the experience with fondness (minus the student loans).

OMGoodness

Seriously, Kimberly? No posting for the last 6 weeks? Yikes!

If I'm being honest, there really isn't much going on in our lives that I feel needs to be documented (or that anyone would want to read about). Also, life is steadily crazy that I haven't had time to catch up on my recorded shows, let alone blogging.

But Doodlebug is sleeping, my baking is done for the day (but I just remembered I need to buy candy for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat tonight), and I don't need to pick The Lime up for another hour. So how about an update?

I'm six months late in announcing I am back in the workforce, if you can really call it that. I wake up in the 2 o'clock hour every morning to go fold and deliver newspapers. I'm crazy, I know. But I needed something that would allow me to stay home with Doodlebug, volunteer in The Lime's classroom, attend mutual every week, etc. It's definitely a different world in the middle of the night but I'm grateful for the opportunity to help my family financially while still being a full-time mom.

The Lime is winding down his season of Fall Ball. Although he's on a Farm team, I don't think there are any T-ball teams so he has some kiddos playing with him that have never played before. It's been really fun to see all the progress the team has made but I'm especially fond of cheering The Lime on. He's been on fire and would love to move up to AA in the spring but we're still talking about it.

LaVor works his tail off at work and then comes home and does the exact same thing. He ripped out our summer garden and has all the fall/winter product planted. We're going to have endless amounts of broccoli, kale, lettuce, beets, carrots, herbs, and more. We can hardly wait!

Doodlebug is a little firecracker, that kid. He cries a lot, just like he has his whole life, because he knows nobody wants to listen to that sound so we give in. But the kid is almost three and a half. This crap has gotta stop. Throwing large rocks at his brother's head is not okay and it will result in consequences. But then he does stuff like slaps my bum while singing, "Spanky spanky spank your butt, doo daa, doo daa" and I have to just eat him up. He's so funny! Soooo funny! He had all three of us laughing hysterically in the car last weekend with his creative facial expressions.

He loves riding his scooter to The Lime's school every morning and usually eats it at least once. He and The Lime race and he gets a little too wobbly, ends up flying through the air (or rolling) and crashes to the ground. But he's a tough cookie and gets up and continues on. Big, brave, tough boys is what we like to call them.

I suppose I should write down how amazing the Coldplay concert was! I drove to my sister's on 10/4, ran inside to brush my teeth, and then we got back in the car to drive to the concert. Someone recommended to her that we take public transportation rather than forking out $50 to park at the stadium. It was a brilliant idea so we followed his directions only to find that the trains weren't running as frequently at 8:00 at night. After debating on whether or not we should wait for the train or start walking, we decided to start walking. It ended up being over 3 miles but we did it because we wanted to see Coldplay, gosh darnit.

I should back up and inform you that when I bought our tickets a year prior, I purchased two sets. When we went to the concert last year, the gentleman sitting behind us told us he paid double what we did for tickets because he waited until the last minute. So when I bought this year's tickets, I thought I could make a buck or two. Nope, I didn't. In fact, I was out hundreds of dollars. I ended up not being able to sell the extra tickets which, financially, sucked BUT it meant my sister and I got to sit on the field! Good golly, was that a neat experience.

We arrived to the stadium during their second song and it was a magical two hours of singing, dancing, laughing, and crying. They put on an electric show. So much so, you can just feel the love and joy everyone around you is experiencing. I'm certain the band is tired from touring but I can't wait until they come back.

The most current news is that we have a mouse somewhere in this house and it's literally driving my crazy. I'm a paranoid wreck that can't keep my eyes off the ground, looking for evidence of where the little bugger might be. In the 11+ years we've been married, this is the first mouse we've dealt with. And while I know it won't be the last, I can hope.

And just like that, I've come to the end of my free time.

I certainly hope the next two months are a little more blog worthy than the last two.