31 THINGS | DAY FIFTEEN

9:15 am

It’s Thursday, the last day of May. I am at work.
I’m wearing my black flip-flops, my favorite jeans, tank top with a black t-shirt, a purple cardigan, my bracelet from Josh and my wedding ring. I didn’t really do anything with makeup or hair today. It’s a typical outfit for me, comfortable.

I’m listening to a book on my iPhone, The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. He is a new author to me. This is the second book of his that I have read. I’m half way through and loving it. The office is quiet this morning.

I just turned on my Scentsy that I keep here at the office. I have ‘Eskimo Kiss’ melting. It’s one of my favorites. That also reminds me that I need to call my Scentsy girl and know when the next Bring Back My Bar is. it’s a small addiction that I have. They have such great smells though. BIG fan.

I’m sitting at my Cloroxed wiped desk, working at my computer with Geninne’s desktop art. I recently found this artist’s blog on CraftGawker. I LOVE her work. It just makes me smile.

I’m putting together a ticket for one of our technicians to work on. Making sure that I have all the details down that the customer gave us. I need to check in with all our technicians in about 15 minutes.

Outside is so dreary looking. We need the rain and a cool day, we’ve been in the upper 8os this week. It makes me miss my hubby and the boys though. It’s the perfect kind of day to cuddle up and sip hot chocolate. I love that kind of weather. It’s like being back home in Oregon.

MORE COFFEE IS NEEDED.

I find myself wondering what my husband and boys are all doing right now. Is Rian playing outside? Is Louis watching Word World with his Kindergarten class? Is Samual playing in the gym? I miss Josh. I won’t get to talk to him until lunch.

I have a flood of thoughts come in. I wish I would have packed a lunch because I want to snack on something. I need to make sure that I have the current shot records for the boys. When is the new book of JK Rollings coming out? Jared’s birthday is coming up. I need to make sure I get dog food on the way home. I have so much paperwork that I need to get caught up for the end of the month. This chair is very uncomfortable. How much longer can I wait before I really have to go to the bathroom?

The phone rings, the doctor’s office wants another biopsy done.

I pray.

31 THINGS | DAY NINE

Purchase

Josh and I are a young couple with three boys so finances can be tight. We started a family and are working at bettering our finances. We wouldn't change this; it's just the way it worked out :)

If we could spend money on anything...

-Josh would go to a sports store (hunting, fishing, and camping)

-Samual would go to the zoo

-Louis would go to Target

-Rian would go to Toys R Us

-I would go to a craft store.

. We use a few different ways of "budgeting". We always put a certain amount from out pay into savings. We pay our bills and what is left is either play money or money for next month. I do a lot of online banking. A great utility! The ability to check our account and transfer money is spectacular! We do get to splurge every now and then but for the most part we like to save for rainy days. Having the bills paid and trying to get ahead for the next month is something that we are always working on

Josh and I are trying to instill good financial habits in the boys, something that we all need a reminder about every now and then.

31 THINGS | DAY FOURTEEN

View

Every morning I watch three little boys stubble out of their beds. Sometimes they wake up with smiles because they have a special day ahead of them. Other days you feel like begging them to go back to bed. I wish that our mornings didn’t begin so early, but they do, and our boys don’t complain about that. No, sometimes they do, very rarely.

The view that I take in, are our three brave little men growing up each day. They learn new things each and every day. They can bring out every emotion in a person in one day. They are learning who they are. They are growing into them.

I see Samual learning how to tie his shoes. The joy his face shows in the accomplishment. He is learning how to help others. Samual is moving up to first grade and putting his kindergarten learning to work. His reading, math and science skills are really developing.

I see Louis learning how school works, the fear in new things but over coming them. Louis is learning how to play different sports and trying not to be distracted by playing in the dirt.

I see Rian learning how to put sentences together. He is learning to be gentle with babies and his friends, understanding that not all people want to wrestle. He is learning to use manners at the table, how to bless a meal.

The view of taking in our growing boys baffles me every day. There is not a day that goes by that this view that I am so blessed with, doesn’t surprise me. It is ever changing, every season, every holiday, every birthday the view is beautiful.

31 THINGS | DAY THIRTEEN

Chores

Cooper our five year old dog, Samual our 6yr old son, Louis our 5yr old son, Rian our 2yr old son, Josh and myself. On a normal day I sometimes feel out numbered. When it comes to cleaning and chores… let’s just say it’s like me against a whole football team.

The evenings are usually the best time to get any chores done. We constantly have a load of laundry going. The dish washer is runs every other day. The floor is always being swept. We are always finding things to pick up and put away. The best feeling is to wake up to a clean house.

For me everything has a place that it needs to be. When it’s not there I get very overwhelmed. Clutter causes anxiety attacks for me. I know that this is not something normal.

I know that I learned a lot of my cleaning habits from my Grandma and Gramps. The boys are at the age where they can learn to help do their part. Samual and Louis know how to fold and put away their clothes. Rian is learning how to put his toys away. Samual is learning how to do the dishes. I think the water is winning at this point though.

Even though we are picking up, doing laundry and the dishes throughout the week, there is always more to be done. This usually takes place on the weekends. Having all the chores done and caught up on Sunday, before the hustle of the week begins, is a must. It just makes the new week feel like it’s off to the right start.

Even though we have the cleaning under control a small part of me always wonders what it would be like to have someone come in to take care of all the clean-up. Josh and I work full time. To come home and to not have to worry about chores… I wonder what that would be like.

31 THINGS | DAY TWELVE

Watch

I watch TV with my husband and children. We all have a wide range of what we like to watch. Sometimes I like to just sit back and watch the expressions that they all have on their faces. It’s like a window into who they are. A common pick between them is Planet Earth, a tv show that takes you through the circle of life.

I watch my Nook and iPhone download new books. I love to use the Nook and read different types of books.

I watch Josh strive every day to be guided by our Heavenly Father.

I watch Samual learn how to read books.

I watch Louis learn how to write his name.

I watch Rian talk to his toys.

I watch our boys grow every day. Our parents really weren’t joking when they told us it goes by so fast.

I watch Cooper our dog put up with three little boys and their gentle hugs.

I watch baseball. Gramps was drafted to play for the St. Louis cardinals out of high school. Instead of playing ball he went into the Navy. Baseball is a very big part of our families’ life. I fell so close to home and family when I watch baseball even though I’m so very far away.

I watch the ocean as it cleanses my heart.

I watch the moon, the stars and the sun.

I watch the seasons and holidays roll by. The planning that is put into every holiday to make so special for the kids, all the little traditions that we pass along the generations.

I watch the end of one day and the beginning of another one.

31 THINGS | DAY ELEVEN

Nourish

1. I’m more of a snack eater than a meal eater. I love to snack on finger foods.


2. I am not a good make it up as I go cooker. I need a recipe and directions. If it sounds crazy complicated, I probably won’t try it.

3. I do not like to cook during the week. I feel like I need to hurry things along and then just get too frustrated to make a big meal. So yes we have sandwiches for dinner sometimes.

4. I love that we have to bribe our kids to eat pizza with salad.

“If you eat your pizza you can have some salad!”

5. Italian foods are my favorite. You know those Italian family old school pictures that are taken in Italy; I want to have a dinner like that someday, in Italy.

6. German, Irish meals are the only things that I really know how to cook.

7. I don’t like the way that buffets make me feel. I feel like when I go to a buffet everyone is watching what I get or if that was my first trip up there.

8. I very much so have a love hate relationship with food.

9. I wish I was a better cook so that I could cook with Josh.

10. COFFEE. I love coffee. We grew up always having a fresh pot of coffee brewing. It’s something that that my Grandparents and my Mom drank all day.

11. I wish that I would have paid more attention to my Mom and Grandma when they were showing me the different dishes that they made. One of the meals that they taught me to cook was Bubble and Squeak.

12. Crackers, Cheese, Summer Sausage. Thanks.

31 THINGS | DAY TEN

Evening

Getting the family home from work and school and hearing what everyone did can be very hectic at the end of the day. Typically we all sit down to dinner as a family to eat dinner. This is something that both Josh and my family did growing up, something that I hope our children continue with their families.

Many evenings we have some kind of activity after dinner. That can range from basketball, soccer, t-ball, Zumba, returning library books or a school activity. If we don’t have an activity going on we like to hang out as a family. You can find us snuggled up on the couch and relaxing or play board games. As the boys get older we will have to add in homework time to our evening schedule. Something that we have been working on in the evenings with the boys is reading. Our trips to the library have been more frequent.

The boys have to be in bed at 8pm. That means we have to start showers by 7:30 to get all three through and into PJs. Sam enjoys the showers. Louis enjoys bath/showers. Rian despises showers, so sometimes he will get in the shower with Samual. The days of all three boys in the bath are very few and far between. It can be a bit of a circus when they are all in there together.

Samual and Louis get to have pillow talk with Mom and Dad. We have one question that we ask them to answer to sort of wind down the day. Rian likes to tell us about why he should not have to go to sleep, while he rubs his eyes.

With the boys clean and in bed, Josh and I have the evening. Sometimes we are beat and fall asleep. Josh has started working on re-loading equipment in the evening. I have always loved reading so I try to get some in before bed. There is always house work to be done and this is something that often wins the evening, but we all know that if it doesn’t get done it’ll still be there in the morning for us to do.