365 days of gratitude: February
Feb 1- Mer went to Lea's bday party @ the skate place. I had the chance to roller skate a little. It was fun! I also looked around for some more socks, for more sock monkeys. We were able to have Sydney Dragovich babysit so Curtis & I could go out. We had dinner @ Abuelo's & saw 'Saving Mr. Banks'. It was a rather bittersweet story. I'm grateful we were able to have a date night.
Feb 2- SNOW! ❄Church was cancelled. 😳👎😒However, I'm grateful for our nice warm home that keeps us protected from bad weather. -School has all ready been cancelled for tomorrow. In all honesty, we are all done with snow & cold weather. (SIGH) OH! We got to Skype with my parents today. It was good chatting with them. They got to see Nancy walk some. :) I'm grateful for that too! (That I could Skype with mom & dad)
Feb 3- Monday, I was so grateful that I had the chance to go grocery shopping. School was cancelled. Clara stayed home with Lizzy. Nancy and Mer went with me. Curtis worked from home a little while, then drove into Fayetteville. It was good to get out. Tho, shortly after getting home, Nancy got into some paint in E's room. As much fun as it was to clean paint off of children and clothes, I'm grateful that E was able to help. I'm also glad we have a shampooer for the carpet. It really helped to get MOST of the paint off the floor in E's room. We'll have Nick P come clean it sometime. The day started out really well. Trying to get paint out of the carpet and clothes rather wore me out. We watched a movie for FHE that night. I love my family and am so grateful for each of my girls and my husband.
Feb 4- Tuesday. School was cancelled AGAIN! However, I'm grateful that Kirsten Johnston was still offering to have preschool at her house. Curtis worked from home again. He had to rebook his flight to Cincinnati. I'm thankful that Clara got to go to pretty school. I took her a little late...but oh well. E &M have been relatively good during all this snow. As much as we (our Chandler fam in this house) are done with the snow, God blessed me to have this little insight about this winter. I'm so done with the snow. However, w/o snow and winter, how could one appreciate any other season? My sympathies go to seasonal/year round allergy sufferers. They may not enjoy any season. Oh well. In that case, I'm all that much more thankful for good health. (in general)
Feb 5- Wednesday. No school AGAIN. However, kids could have been in school. It was a good and productive day otherwise. I made a chore list for the girls. I also gave E the chance to make a treat. She pretty much made it all by herself. She did a good job. She made choc-choc chip cookies. I hope to get E and M to learn how to make/prepare more food. I'm grateful Maryanne was free. She came and watched 3 girls so I could go to Wendy's and work some more on sock monkeys. Clara came with me. When I came home, Maryanne, E and M helped to stuff and prep the sock monkeys that were cut. Yay! It was fun! I'm grateful that I had such good help. They were willing to help with this too. We got to talk to Curtis too. We did facetime for a little bit so the girls could see him. He also got to see N walking more. I'm grateful Nancy is starting to walk more. She's not walking 100% yet, but she's making progress at her own pace, and that's just fine.
Feb 6- Ah! Thursday! School was back in session. E & M went to school Thursday and Friday. Hooray! I'm thankful they could go back to school. I am also thankful that Clara could go to preschool. There was a really good RS activity that night. Curtis was out of town and I had no sitter. I left instructions with E and M and hoped and prayed that all would be well while I was gone. Fortunately, they did what they were supposed to. Sadly tho, b/c I was home later than expected, they were not able to have their bedtime routine. (oh well...sorry) During the day, I was able to help watch Tabitha for Wendy. I'm grateful I was home to do that.
Feb 7- Hooray for Karen Staten! She watched my littles on Fri morning so I could go to yoga at Yoga Story. I LOVE YOGA!! It makes me so happy. I'm grateful that I can be Amy Weir's helper so that I can attend yoga for free! Even better! I'm also grateful that Curtis could finally make it in from Cincinatti, even tho he came in around midnight. Things went fairly well while he was gone. God is TRULY watching out for me and blessing me accordingly and abundantly.
Feb 8- Sat, Curtis had the opportunity to get some extra rest. Saturday evening, as a family, we went to Jordan Petersens wedding reception in Webb City. He JUST got home from his mission. How sweet, he married his sweetheart from before his mission. I'm grateful we could all go and celebrate that time with him and see some of Diana's family as well. There is still plenty of ice and snow on the ground, but currently the roads are clear enough. As a society, we have so many great conveniences that I'm thankful for!
Feb 9- We got to go to church. Yay! Sadly, the Hilligrass family was ill and it wasn't safe for Doris to walk in her driveway. Curtis had to be at church early. The girls were fairly good about being ready for church. N is just under one month away from being official in nursery. yay! Since Jan, I've been going in nursery with her for he first hour, then Curtis gets her the next hour. So far, N is doing well in nursery. We'll see how it goes in March! We were able to have ward choir, which is good b/c we are supposed to sing next Sunday. And, the baptismal preview that was supposed to be last week was rescheduled to this Sunday (b/c church and all meetings were cancelled due to the snow) I went home long enough to have something to eat, put a scout shirt on, and go back to church. Roxanne Dragovich is a fantastic scout assistant. She is going to make a leader of me yet. I'm so grateful for all that she does for me and our Wolf scouts. Between Curtis and I, we had a marathon Sunday. I'm very grateful for when we can go to church. It really makes a difference. Finally, I started my blog. Now, for inspiration about what to put on it.
Feb 10- Mer is on intercession this week. E is in school. Provided the weather stays decent (or no more snow) Clara can have preschool this week. So far today, I was able to bsit Maddie for Joane, so she could go to her Dr's appt. Tomorrow is her b'day, so I put together a little "Domestic Goddess" care package for her with some P&G products. Last night I took my final dose of meds for this more recent UTI. Today, I had a chiro appt at Dr. Sands office. Afterwards, it was rather convenient for me to walk over to The Clinic, do a urinalysis (aka pee in a cup) and then go back to my car to go home. I hope and pray there will be no more UTI's. Again, I'm grateful the Lord is very aware of my needs and knows how to take care of me. It continues to amaze me at how blessed I am. My cup more than runneth over!
Feb 11- I'm grateful that Clara could go to pretty school and that Mer was able to have a playdate with Lea. We were also able to get some errands taken care of. Later that evening I had the opportunity to bsit the Hanberg kids and Caylene Hornick. It was a little chaotic, but it was ok. I'm thankful that Curtis could be there to help for part of the time. Tuesday was a rather busy day. Sometimes it's good to have a busy day.
Feb 12- Wednesday. I'm thankful that I was able to watch 2 of Amanda Hanbergs kids so she could go to a Dr's appt. Overall it was a good day. E & M were able to go to Activity girls with Hannah Hilligrass, while I went to Scouts. We got a new scout. We'll have another new one next week too. I'm grateful for Julie Lanshe and her vast knowledge of Scouting. She and Roxanne have been lifesavers. Perhaps I will get the hang of being a Wolf Scout Den Leader? I am grateful for this chance to spend time with these 8 yr old boys. Truly, for as long as I've wanted a boy, God really knew what I needed was more important. :)
Feb 13- Today, I'm grateful for beautiful sunshine! Mer took Chewy and Clara out for a little walk. Then I took some soup and no bake cookies to Jill Smallwood. I took Nancy, Clara and Princess with me. I've really missed the sunshine. Later, I took 3 of the girls for some playtime at Crystal Bridges. It was really good to get out and enjoy what the museum has to offer. Tonight, I'll go celebrate Janets bday! Hooray! Oh yeah! What a blessing this is. Just within this week, I've been able to help each of the sisters that I visit teach! :) Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am for yoga? It brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart. Currently, I have a goal to possibly train to be a yoga instructor next year. It would be great to do this year, but getting a motorcycle license and buying a motorbike are some rather big expenses. For now, I'll be grateful to attend a yoga class once a week over at Yoga Story. And one more thing to be grateful for. Elizabeth and Meredith are starting to be really good helpers for me when I need help with their little sisters.
Feb 14- Friday, Valentines day! Another great Friday. I'm thankful I was able to go to yoga in the AM and then go for a massage from my friend Charlotte. It was SO needed and much appreciated. Wendy was awesome for watching my girls that long. Mer went and played at Hannah's house. It all worked out. I'm also thankful that Curtis brought home some yummy BBQ for dinner.
Feb 15- Gratitude for Sat is as follows: I took E to her art lessons at Hobby Lobby. Afterwards, I took Mer & N out to do a little non-food shopping. After Curtis had a good nap, I got Sydney D so she could bsit for us. I'm grateful for Curtis bc he's so willing to do what it takes to help his crazy wife happy. For our date, I wanted to do something different. We went out for a night time stroll at Tanyard Creek in Bella Vista. It was kind of chilly. But, it was good to do something different, even if it was crazy. We were going to try a different restaurant, but the ones we wanted to try were closed or needed reservations. We ended up going to Tazikis. It was tasty!
Feb 16- Sunday! Doris Mathews was able to attend church with us, as did the Hilligrass girls. I'm thankful that my voice was decent enough to sing with the ward choir. I'm also grateful there were other altos to join me. At practice I was the lonely alto. We had Elder Reed & his brand new companion Elder Anderson over for dinner. Curtis did a good job with dinner. Doris also had dinner with us. While Curtis was taking Doris home & missionaries out, our HT-ers came over. They were very helpful. They helped me clear the table of dishes before Curtis got home. Bro Jared Stewart has been our HT-er for a while now. I'm so grateful for him & his family. He's so faithful and dedicated. Bro Todd Sanderson is his companion right now. We like him too, even if he is Canadian! Ha!
Feb 17- hooray! Mer is back in school. I got E & M ready for school. Hooray for the weather getting better! It was Presidents' Day, so Curtis was home from work and I didn't have to take any littles grocery shopping! It was nice to go by myself. Curtis finished the taxes! Hooray!! We're getting closer to be able to schedule a weekend for the MSF class in Ft. Smith. :)
Feb 18- Clara went to 'pretty school' at Henry's new house. The Bennett's home in Kingsbury was just finished. It's a lovely home. I'm grateful I was able to go VT-ing. I saw Amanda H & Joane L. It was so nice & uplifting to get to see both of them. More often than not, I feel like I may have benefited more than they did. Tho I hope it was uplifting & helpful for them as well. I do love VT-ing.
Feb 19- The weather was great today! After my shower, I put N down for a nap, laid out on the hammock & read for a bit. Then, after N's nap, Clara rode her trike & I walked N in the stroller. It was great bc we were able to be out AND I was able to talk to my good friend Lindy VanKomen. We talked about home schooling, the whys, how's, etc. Have I mentioned recently how my testimony of the Lords awareness of us has increased? I know He truly is aware of what we need & when we need it. What a fantastic Father in Heaven. I hope & pray that my heart is such that I can be the kind of Mother He wants me to be. Bc I'm sure that will help me have a better relationship with my daughters. (All 4, not just the littles.)
Feb 20- I am so grateful for good, kind neighbors who are willing to tweak their own schedule to watch my 2 littles so I could go to yet another Dr's appt. Its strange. For the past couple Thursdays, Clara hasn't wanted to go to pre-school. I'm also thankful to finally be back to full health. Hopefully there will be no further infections of any sort.
Feb 21- Again, I'm grateful that Wendy was able to watch my 2 littles so I could go do yoga. Yoga helps me feel so much better. I'm grateful that Curtis & I were able to go to Fayetteville and watch the Lady gym-backs compete. It was fun watching the gymnasts. Afterwards, Curtis took me to Hammontree's restaurant for dinner. It's a gourmet grilled cheese place. It was yummy! I'm so thankful for my good and thoughtful husband!
Feb 22- Curtis was able to go out Sat evening and have dinner & a movie with some guy friends. Good for him for going to guys night out! My day was rather productive, which I'm thankful for. I took E to her art lessons at Hobby Lobby. I finished reading 'Blackmoore' for book group AND, I finished making a sock monkey for one of Curtis' coworkers! Hooray for setting & obtaining goals!
Feb 23- We all (Doris M & the 2 Hilligrass girls) went to church. The weather has been nicer, aside from the wind. It was a good Sunday. I was able to help fill in during nursery. Our ward just split our nursery. Next week N will officially be in nursery! Hooray! Curtis is such a great husband & daddy. N did NOT want to sit in sacrament mtg. Curtis was excellent & sat in the lobby with her during sacrament. :) I'll be thankful when our meeting time changes. Hopefully it'll be a more ideal time? Ah well. We can survive until then. After church I took some time to post on my new blog. Curtis had a marathon Sat & Sunday. He taught a scout class part of Sat, then he helped the missionaries. Sunday he had his mtgs before church. I went HT with him to see the Clives. Overall, it was a good Sunday.
Feb 24- I'm grateful Monday was a good day as well. We had the missionaries here for dinner. Their being with us on a Monday evening made up our FHE. :) Bless Elder Anderson! He's new to this area strait from the MTC, and all ready I can tell he's an amazing missionary. These Elders are on fire! (With the Spirit of God)
Feb 25- We had 'pretty school' at our house. We learned about the letter U & U words. It was nice having preschool here. The weather was just nice enough so the kids could play outside too. :) Tuesday evening, while Curtis was at his Bishopric mtg, I finished making another sock monkey! Yay!
Feb 26- God is really blessing me. Especially when it comes to E & M. I don't lose patience with them like I used to. Of course, I do get frustrated that Mer moves in reverse in the AM. (If that's possible) However, I feel blessed that God has been teaching me to accept certain actions/character traits from E & M. Clara is a lovely & lively little ray of sunshine that cheers my heart! (Most of the time) I'm sure happy to have her. She loves her sisters. I think she helps me to be kinder too.
Feb 27- preschool was cancelled due to other kids being sick. Bummer! However, Tabs Koster did come and play with Clara. AND, I went to book group at Joane's house. It was fun! I'm grateful my husband could be home so I could go to book group. :)
Feb 28- Friday!! Hooray for fun Friday! Amanda H. watched my girls so I could go to yoga. I still love yoga! Afterwards I came home and eventually got ready to go to the P&G annual recognition event. They had dueling pianos there & a photo booth. I think we had a good time. :)
