40 days - day 2

 sick baby girl. on thanksgiving. big boy to sleep with no meds therefore, very unsure how long he 'll remain asleep. middle man feeling warm and 'itchy'... happy turkey day!!

precious face.... mostly cuddles today.  tylenol before bed, see how fever is tomorrow.

hate that she's sick, love all the cuddles

pardon the grainy iPhone in the dark pictures... 

Read a book, have to wait til 2013 for the next in this series... then realized that's not but a month and few weeks away. YIKES!!! 

no exercise... had my husband rescue a faux Gazelle from the curb... then return it 10 minutes later as it was pretty broken.  

making poor choices in the sleep department.  going to rectify that now.

xo

40 Days- 40 ways

Welcome back - a brand new challenge.  a brand new plan.... but for now I'm so stinking tired that it will have to wait til tomorrow to be unveiled.  Right now, please pray for Grant and his family.  Please remember them.  Remember every momma and daddy and gram and gramps and brother and sister that have lost a sweet, precious soul too soon.  

bloom where you're planted... working on it. 

dark hair- highlights gone (not gonna lie, from early October)

Thankful for people that take time out of their busy schedule to do for others- We received this poster from a young man who's wrestling at Northwestern... as you can see, my Bode was FIRED UP!!

Big Boy- taking in the skyline from the top of the parking garage today at  RUSH.  

drummer girl- singing and 'BIG CLAPS'  :-)

sweet babies.

Every day, for 40 days, I'll show up.  It might not be pretty or concise or full of wit and wisdom... but I'll be here, and I'm thankful for this blog and the stress relief and focus it gives me.  

happy almost thanksgiving.  see you tomorrow.  

12 Days- Day 12.

Yesterday I told myself/you/whomever to SHUT UP and be thankful... and I hope you understand what I meant.  But because I'm afraid those words could be taken the wrong way,  I want to clarify- I don't want you not to talk about your hurts and your tears and your struggles.  I want you to live in the light... even if it's uncomfortable and not the  socially acceptable 'chin up buckaroo' thing to do.  It's ok to  have heartaches and pains and little tiny experiences that steal your breath because it makes you think 'what if'. It's ok to acknowledge your scars and your broken spaces.  It's necessary-  Kept inside it will fester and burn and steal your joy.

 remember what you DO have.  remember to water your grass. remember to give thanks to God above for what is amazing. right. now. in whatever spot you may be.  Why do I write to 'you' when I really mean 'me'?

 Here's a pretty cool clip about being 'whole hearted' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0

1. workout- Butts and Guts at the Replex. Loved it.  Total Body Tuesday or some such business and my legs are shaking.


2.  I'm thankful that we don't just dance in the rain, we have a mental map of where the puddles are and we seek them out.  we run our fingers through them, stir them with sticks, let them pass the top of our boots and soak our socks.  We have grabbed this life for what it is and focused on making it our own. making it amazing.

3. outfit- thpfffttttt. nothing.  

just a reminder that what you DO, and Who you ARE is so much more important than what you Wear... 

xo.  happy challenge.  stay tuned for updates tomorrow.

12 Days- Day 11.

peeps  - right now all I can think about is this sweet little buddy Grant and his family.  He's 5 months old.  battling cancer... getting ready to leave his momma and daddy and sister and fly up, up, up to our Heavenly Father's arms.  Getting ready to roll without a pic line or port, ready to jabber and smile without an NG tube.  Lift him up in prayer.  Ask for God's peace and comfort for his family.

When you (I) start to whine or complain- SHUT UP. be thankful.  I'm not saying whatever it is you're going through is easy.  I'm not playing the pain game and I'm not comparing and contrasting scars and tears and pits that we've fallen into and crawled out of.  find something.  find one thing to be thankful for.  Remember that there is a momma out there who is Holding On, there is a daddy focusing on one day, one hour, one minute with his little buddy.

This is the back of our Euchre Tournament shirt-  I focus on the words- 'Life does not have to be Perfect to be WONDERFUL'... and Thank You.... find a little wonderful today.  Find a Thank you. Take your empty places and fill them with thanksgiving.

  

1. Today was Aquatic Physical therapy for Aurelia- and that was my workout.  We did fishy in the water and ring around the rosie and beach ball tag.  She loves it.  There are two inter-tubes on the wall, two big black O's... Aur says 'o, o- UUUUUU' - thanks to Word World we know that two O's make an UUUU :-)  we splash the water and say POOL!!! UUUUUU!!!  NOODLE!!!! UUUUUU!!! There's a senior citizen's water aerobics class right after the Therapeutic Class - Grandmas and Grandpas abound, and they repeat Aur's excited words and send waves of love and encouragement to all the differently abled swimmers.

Thanks to Picture Perfect Designs for the above photo.  

these pictures were taken exactly 1 year ago today.  Cherish your time here. Hold tight to the ones you love. 

2. I'm thankful for my subwoofer.  I'm amazed my car is still in one piece... somedays I turn the radio up so loud I think it may explode from the bass.  I turn it up loud enough so that my heart has no choice but to beat in time .    This, turn it up and listen.  Not what I typically boom, but I believe it may have been these Drum Corps International shows that first instilled the love of the beat in me- this is just a stand still- you can find a moving clip  with little effort, but the sound.... oo!!! love it. 

3.  Outfit.  

look! It's a picture- from now!! I love my jean jacket- from Gap, 11 years ago- bought it to wear to our first wedding shower... wowza :-)  Black and White sleeveless top- Gap outlet this summer. Black column skirt from Target.  Silver flipflops post swimming.   Dog peeking out from behind me, for sure! More pumpkins than you can shake a stick at? yes and yes again.  

12 Days- Day 10.

down and dirty

1. workout- walking... and I ate my entire day's allotment of calories at lunch time ... not sweaty enough but done.

2. I'm thankful for every single encouraging post and quote and saying that runs through my head - love  em, love em, love em. 

for real. 

yep.

And I'm also thankful for family far and near- below are some of my Maslan cousins.  Miss them. 

I'm thankful beyond measure for  the realization that  no one has to be 'normal'...

sweet baby took her xylophone and firman's hat to bed. Something different every night... whatever makes her happy *right now*... and I love that about her.  

3. Outfit- shocking, no picture.  

so here i am with the amazing Lacey, of Lacey Howard Photography.  She took our family pictures, which are awesome, and I'll share some here as soon as I get my act in gear and pick out my favorites. Click on her name to check out her blog.  

2 more days- changing it up!

12 Days- Day 9.

just barely under the wire!! fun, busy day with Soccer, Soma, Target, Thai House, friends, cards and FOOOOOOOOD!!! Oh. my. goodness.  my belly is about to burst!! I made these fantastic nutter butter balls, ate roasted hotdogs, 'That Darn Dip', deer sausage, and roasted GIGANTIC MARSHMALLOWS!! so yeah... that leads us right to

This is me... feeling all empowered by my exercise... or, pumping myself to be quickly eliminated from the Fragile X bags tournament.... whichever.  

1. Workout- jalking.  I'm just giving myself the 'j' since I would run 3 walk 1.5 and so on... maybe next week it will be 'jolking' :-) It was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed the exercise... what?? enjoyed it??? yes.  I think this challenge is HELPiNg me ENJOY the sweat :-)


2. Why didn't I remember that we own Native American Costumes??? For the Native American Museum YESTERDAY????  still  a gorgeous boy today :-)

and my sweet owl who likes to carry her momma's historical romance novels all around the neighborhood... 

faithful friends- no costumes, please and thank you, says Abe, beautiful all on his own! 

perfect.  

Thankful for the reminder these three give me to LIVE IN THE PRESENT!!! make it good!!!

3. Outfit-... once again- hair done, heels on, all put together... NO PICTURE!!! so I'm sharing another from our amazing Portlandia Adventure- though we are NOT in Portland here, we are at  Cannon Beach!

Goodnight, bloggity bloggers.  Hope you have a wonderful Sunday! 

12 Days- Day 8.

*shhhhhhh* this is a quiet post as I finally, finally, finally got our sweet big kid to sleep... precious son. Today was a busy day, and I think some of the changes and anxiety and whoknowswhat carried over and made it hard for his brain to relax and his body to sleep.  His face is chapped from chewing on his shirts- another sign that we are either cutting molars, have a cavity, or stresssssseeeddddddd.  so we wrestled and sang and 'higgledy piggeldy' ed all evening long.

1. Workout- Jillian kicked my booty.  This dvd starts out nice and easy, and by the last go-round I'm sweating and panting and watching the seconds on the count down timer... ug.  It is NOT fun... but I think it's effective and therefore it's a staple in my rotation.


2. Thankfulness abounds today- Bodie boo had his American Indian Museum presentation at school today- sweet baby :-)  his Bow and Arrow were on display, he sang all the songs we've heard him practicing (on the toilet, in the tub... should have recorded for future bribery :-)) and had a great afternoon.

I wear my hat over my ears, Bo, apparently, decided to pull his down to rest on TOP of his ears :-) 

He's showing me the 'arrowhead' he found on the playground... don't be thinking it's only concrete/rock/mud because it is CLEARLY an arrowhead!! We found about 20 more in our back yard- crazy to think these relics have just been LAYING around out there :-) no more! they are sorted and explained! 

excuse the iphone pic from far away, cropped down to 1/17th the original size- isn't he amazing?? Bo wears his head gear and singlet to every single youth wrestling practice (we believe in dressing for the occasion!) and he has had a BLAST!! 

He's been dreaming of 'really wrestling' since he was just over 2 years old- he wrestles himself, his pillows, his pillow pets, his brother and sister, his dog... you understand.  This is his dream come true, and I love that he loves it! 

3. Outfit- 

Once again, leoparding life up a little bit with my friends- This was taken at work by my friend Aimee- at one time there was an Amy R. an Aimee B, and me ----> Amy Z. all in our rehabilitation department.  Now there are only 2 of us. Wait, what was I talking about?  

1, Cardigan, Maurices, sale rack + 50% off $15.99

2. Leopard print top- target, on sale $9.99

3. Belt, too big, from TJ $8.99 :-)  gonna make it work because I LOVE the color and texture but need it about an inch shorter!!

4. Trousers, dark denim from Loft- sale + coupon, $17.99

5.  BOOTS!!- $12.00

look at this gorgeous chicly! stylin' and profilin'!  'WHOA GIRL!!! GLASSES!!'

That's it for today- our family spent 40 minutes at Wreck it Ralph... I've decided I'm not crazy for only taking my children to G rated movies- this was cute but way too loud and scary for us!! Made chili <----- true sign of fall :-) happy FRIDAY!!!!