365 days of Gratitude

     In trying new things this year, I felt impressed to start a 'gratitude' journal. So, the end of Feb is coming soon, and I'll post that. Here is what I was grateful for in January. Doing this so far really has been enlightening and uplifting for my mind,heart, and soul. (Perhaps someone will teach me how to add pics and links as a part of learning how to blog.) 

365 days of Gratitude: January 

Jan 1 - I'm grateful I could go ice skating with 2 really good friends. (Wendy Koster & Julia Bernards. <---she and her fam were visiting from UT) 

Jan 2-  I'm grateful that I could be home to see N stand up on her own. 

Jan 3- today, I'm so glad to know that this is the last official day of winter break from school. E & M go back to school on Monday! :)

Nancy is 16 months!

Jan 4 - Today I had the opportunity to take Eli & Anna back to Alma. I went to and from Alma on Fri & Sat in safety. :) And, I was able to finish listening to a really good audio book. This evening Curtis & I went to a movie. We saw, 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'. It was a super good movie. So sweet!

Jan 5- church was cancelled due to a snowstorm. I'm grateful we could be warm and safe in our home. 

Jan 6- school was cancelled today & tomorrow. However, I am grateful that I was able to go grocery shopping in safety. 

Jan 7- I'm grateful it was less cold yesterday. Monday it was 7 degrees. Yesterday it was 35 degrees. Much better. I'm also grateful I was able to see Dr. Bicak so I could get meds for this UTI. 

Jan 8- finally! Kids are back in school. Hooray! - Mer saw 4 deer in a field on our way to school. :)

Jan 9- I'm grateful that I went to the RS activity. It was better than I thought it would be. Plus, it was good to be out and see friends. And, Valerie Chandler invited me to a show at the WAC. I feel special. :)

Jan 10- yay for better weather and going out with friends. Since E & M were at school, I took C & N to playgroup. We went a little late, but it was still worth getting out. On my way home, I found that Bentonville has a Martin Greer's candy store. :) yummy! I stopped, bought some toffee & treats for the girls. Also had an interesting chat with Mr. Greer. His art work was used in some of Ray Stevens music videos. Cool! Later in the evening, I got to go to the Sound of Music sing-along at the WAC with Valerie, Roxanne, & Wendy. It was fun! 

Jan 11- was supposed to go to a baby shower, but Alyssa had her baby. The party will be rescheduled , I guess. Instead Jackie & I went shopping. She showed me this new store called Versona. It's like a better Charming Charlie's. I finally found a new pair of dress boots. Yay! Plus, the sun was out too. Jackie & I had a good time shopping. It was SO good to be out of the house! Especially after all the snow days...cabin fever for sure. Curtis & I let E &M babysit so we could go out to dinner. We went to a yummy Mediterranean place called Tazikis. After that we rented a movie from Redbox called, 'Mud'. It was just ok. Glad we watched it with Clearplay filters.  

Jan 12- today I'm grateful that I could take dinner to the Loden family. Joane is easy to like. They just had a new baby boy. Lincoln Tyler Jay Loden. Cute name!  

Jan 13- today I'm grateful I was able to make bread, cookies, & dinner for my family. 

Jan 14- Clara didn't get to go to pre-school, so I invited a friend over for her. Tabitha came & played. Got to chat with Wendy later. :)

Jan 15- Roxanne D & I got to go to scouts. We're helping them to be prepared to advance. Ephraim will be 9 in Feb. We'll also be getting new scouts in Feb. :) 

Jan 16- Clara got to go to 'pretty-school'. Yay! Jackie helped me sort through baby clothes. :)

Jan 17- Curtis & I went out to dinner with a group of friends. It was good food & good company. 

Jan 18- Jackie & I went to a baby shower for Alyssa Shepherd. She had a new baby girl. Later, Sharee Robinson, Jackie & I went to Broadway on Ice at the WAC. It was a fun show! Grateful for a good day! 

Jan 19- We went to church. It was a lovely sunny day. The RS lesson was spiritually filling. :) And, I'm grateful for excellent home teachers.

Jan 20- We went to E's TREC showcase for FHE. We had a treat at Kikiberry. I felt it was a good evening. Grateful for that. 

Jan 21- I'm grateful that my family (& I) can be healthy, thus far. Glad I could have preschool at our house. 

Jan 22- I'm grateful for the wonderful help that Roxanne D is for me in scouting. E & M were able to attend Activity days. 

Jan 23- preschool was fun. I had a busy day & was happy to go to book group at Mardee's house. 

Jan 24- We had dinner groups at the Sperry's home in Bella Vista. It was us, the missionaries, and the Blakes. We had a good time. I'm thankful we have the chance to get to know others in our new ward family.  

Jan 25- Saturday, I was able to organize our medicine cabinet. It seems I've been bitten by an organizing bug. For me, that's rather different, but good. Doris Mathews invited some friends over for dinner. She's such a sweet lonely lady. It was nice of her to have us, the missionaries, and the Dragovich's over for dinner.

Jan 26- Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. It was busy for Curtis. However, I'm grateful that N was better in sacrament meeting. I was able to hear most of it. Ward choir started back. :) I enjoy singing in choir. I'm thankful for music and how uplifting it can be.

Jan 27- The first part of the day, I took the time to organize some kitchen cabinets. Mostly the one, but it has many shelves. I'm grateful too that my kidney pains were not worse than they were. This will be my 2nd UTI this month. I'm grateful that I only had to provide a urinalysis and an Rx could be called in. My hope this year was to see the Dr. less. I'd like to be in better health. Hopefully and prayerfully, there will be no more UTI's. Curtis was busy at work again. I'm grateful I was able to have an informal FHE with the girls. We played connect 4 afterwards. Mer played very well.

Jan 28- yay! Clara got to go to pretty school @ Eden's house. I was able to get some things taken care of at home. 

Jan 29- I'm grateful for Roxanne Dragovich. Thus far, she has been such a great assistant for me with the cub scouts. I appreciate all she does to help me. Wednesday night for scouts, we had a pack meeting. It's fun to spend some time with boys. They are just such different creatures than girls. - on my way out, I was able to get some pics of Elder Reed & Elder Powers. Elder Powers was just transferred to Springfield, MO. What a great missionary! I think of him & Elder Reed as younger brothers. Bless them both! 

Jan 30- Clara didn't go to pretty school bc she had a cough & runny nose. Mardee & Aj came to visit. (They are my VT-ers) We had a good visit. I love my visiting teachers! I love visiting with other sisters too. But between people being sick/sick kids, it's been tricky to go out. In general, I'm grateful for Visiting Teaching! 

Jan 31- what a great day!! Wendy was able to watch C & N so I could go to a yoga class at Yoga Story. I attended a class that Amy Weir teaches. It was SO needed! I really love yoga. It makes such a difference. It's more fun to do in a group too. Amy said if I help clean up after class, I could attend her class at no charge. Ok! Yay! After class, I got C & N from Wendy's. I made a quick trip to Helping Hands & Goodwill. In looking for socks, I found a cute hat! While I was out, Nathan Harrington texted me & asked if I could take Jenny out. After talking to Curtis, I was able to make arrangements with Jackie & Wendy to join me for this girls night out. Nathan gave me his credit card to pay for dinner for me & Jenny. That was so good of him. :) We had a yummy dinner @ Tazikis & frozen yogurt @ Kikiberry. It was such a good night!  Since Jenny really could use some more social scenes, I told her about playgroup & book group. It would be fun for her to come to either or both of those. 

The House of Drama

     Being the mother of 4 girls has really been...something. My older girls are 10 and 8. The younger girls are 17 months and almost 4. They each take their turns being dramatic about whatever they should feel like it. Sometimes, they don't take turns. It could be that up to 3 of them are being dramatic all at once. There are times when that happens, my husband and I will refer to it as, "the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth". We might also call it the wailing wall.
     I'm not sure how mothers of any MORE than 4 girls manage. My husband is a great support! I have girl friends who are great for various kinds of help.
     Why do girls save all the drama for the mama? It gets really bad sometimes. There's so much drama being thrown at me, that by the time my husband gets home, I'm more than ready to not only share the drama, but give it all to him. He's so calm. More often than not, he doesn't seem to let it phase him.
     How 'fortunate' we are to be so hormonal! haha! Probably the hardest part is for me to NOT react to the drama. It is so hard! You want drama?! You want whining? You want yelling??!! No, I don't like yelling, despite my childrens belief. There are times that I'll mimic the way my 8 yo is acting to show her what it's like. It has its effectiveness. Truly, this drama wears me out! It is SO draining. It's a wonder I need to sleep so much. But then its no good if that drama seeps into my dreams and keeps me from feeling rested even after plenty of sleep.
      As an example, last night my dreams were highly charged with plenty of negative emotions. First, being a vivid dreamer isn't helpful. Second, reading a book that is filled with emotional turmoil is also probably not a good idea for me. Third, events that COULD happen with my girls in a day, there is no telling what dreams may come. They are not necessarily nightmares. They just certainly are not good dreams, they can be frustrating to be sure. With these ingredients combined, we have a recipe for feeling yucky and frustrated in the morning. I do what I can to remind me that they were all just dreams....horribly, emotionally frustrating dreams, but dreams nonetheless.
     Please don't think that all I do is complain about my house of drama. It's not dramatic ALL the time. At least not when all the girls are here. :) I truly do love my girls. I feel that we are learning and growing together. Hopefully, when they have their own kids, they'll be somewhat understanding. Isn't that what moms have been threating/thinking for centuries? 'One day, when you have your own kids, you'll see....' That mantra has made its way into my thoughts lately. And of course, it also opens my eyes of understanding for things that my mom went through with us when we were kids.
    At times it can be rather painful for me. My parents seem to have led me to believe that I was this fantastic angel child. By comparison to my siblings, I'll admit that I was not quite the trouble they were. However, my children inadvertently remind me of how I was in younger days. It makes me cringe inside. My heart breaks for them and I want to apologize. (SIGH) There are times as well that I want to give them that look of shock/disbelief and say, "Where is your mother?"
    Currently, when referring to said girls that give me SO much drama, it's usually the 10 yo or the 8 yo. The almost 4 yo is catching up. She is starting to have her fits of drama. Most of the time, she is such a happy and enthusiastic girl. I like to say that my younger 2 girls are the balance to the older 2 girls. Yin & yeng. Laman & Lemual to Nephi and Sam, but really only as a comparison for personality, not so much in righteousness. They are good girls. The older 2 have not yet tied up their little sisters, thank heavens! :)
   

My first Blog post.....

     Wow! Here it is. For a few months now, I've felt compelled to start a blog. Now that I'm actually starting it...I'm not really sure where to begin. There have been various friends who have blogs. I've read some random LDS bloggers posts. It's inspiring to me to see what people write about and what they share. I honestly feel that my head has been gathering ideas, and these ideas, thoughts, revelations, musings, etc. need to go somewhere. Why not a blog?
    Every now and then I'll email my husband a whole slew of random brain vomit. (gross!) It happens when several thoughts come to mind at once and I don't want to forget, so I write it down and send it to him all at once. It bothers him because he doesn't know quite how to answer it. There's no order to it. That's just how I am. Random!
    Here's a little trivia for you. My blog profile name is inspired by a good friend. She and her husband kind of created a creature that was a conglomerate of their kids names. That's what my profile name is. Elmer is the mash-up of our first 2 girls. Clancy is the mash-up of the second 2 girls. Parler is part my maiden name and my married name. Yes, I have given this plenty of thought. I'm quite happy about it, thank you!
     It's late Sunday night. My brain can't think of anything else to share at the moment. Perhaps my blog posts will get better? Oh! The plans we have this year, the things I can share! I'm excited!