Keeping it Real?

I've heard a lot of discussion and talk about different blogging styles lately, and I don't know, I wanted to blog about it and clear my head:-)
I hear people say that they don't like reading "fake" blogs; they're so peppy it's cheesy. I also hear people say that they don't like reading "real" blogs because they are always so down and a bummer to read.

So...I don't know. I know I don't want to have a "fake" blog, but I don't want to be a downer either. The truth is, I don't blog a ton about the crummy stuff that goes on, but my life is FAR from perfect.

I posted on Facebook how much I missed my boy when he started school, but I didn't mention how the next week I was counting down the days until he was healthy and could go BACK to school. I haven't ever mentioned on here that Buddy Boy has a meltdown EVERY SINGLE day, and that every other day I cry myself to sleep not knowing how to deal with some of his issues. I don't post about our financial struggles, and how UNfun being frugal is! I don't relive the days that Munchkin has an attitude with me or about the times that I struggle with my testimony. Why is that? Am I a fraud/fake?
(photo credit)

I'm thinking that this blog has two purposes: 1, to keep in touch with family and friends; 2, to be a "journal" of types for my family to remember things by. I want to remember the bad ONLY if I am able to see the good that is also there. I don't want to look back on my life and see only negative. Sure, negative exists, and I don't want to deny that, but I want to remember how I overcame negativity, triumphed over challenges, etc. Sooo...I'm gonna try harder to keep this blog "real", but the spotlight will be more on the positive.

Speaking of real, did y'all know I gained a bunch of weight after having my gall bladder out? (if you've seen me, you know) There. That's real. So I'm trying REAL hard to count my calories and lose the weight, and I worked out today. (spotlight on positive:-))

January Trip

We went to Bloomington ID, for the funeral of Evelyn's Grandpa. It was a very spiritual event. I will let her, if she wants to, go into more details about that, but with this post it will be more of the trip.
Buddy Boy loved the trip. He loves going places in the car and looking at all the new surroundings. Buddy Boy gets upset with us when we go short places because he wants to be in the car longer, so on this trip he had plenty of time in the car. Buddy Boy (and all of us) enjoyed meeting his cousins, aunts and uncles. Buddy Boy was very excited the entire time. He wanted to run around constantly to get that energy out.



The weather was so cold, a little foggy, but beautiful. The trees are covered in frost, and everything was frozen. (even Buddy Boy's wet wipes that were left in the car were completely frozen) The kids were so excited to be far away. To them it was a short vacation with a lot of people we knew and a bunch to get to know. It was wonderful to see all the family and the love generated to celebrate Grandpa.


Our family has enjoyed going up to Bloomington and visiting Grandpa, and Grandma. Hopefully we will still be able to go up to Bloomington in the future and have more good memories.

Grandpa Findlay

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to drive up to Idaho to visit my grandpa in the hospital. The weather was good for the drive, and I had forgotten how beautiful the canyon is with snow!


Anyway, he's not doing too well. We all have known this day was coming, but it's still emotional seeing him so weak. He was crying out for his sweet wife Monday night, Dr. Wolf said. He's pretty much out of it most the time. He would wake up when he was uncomfortable and try to let us know what he needed, then he'd fall right back asleep. His breathing is labored. We would give him water to help, but a lot of the time he would choke on it. He requested a cough drop at one point, but of course we couldn't give him one for fear of choking. He was hard to understand, but we understood enough, I think.


He had a LOT of visitors. It's easy to believe he touched so many lives, but to see SO many coming out to show support and getting emotional was very touching. Every person who came to visit told us the same thing: "He was so good to me; so good to my family." And I don't doubt it. Grandpa is that kind of guy. He's good to everyone, and really knows what it means to serve. Okay, there is one aspect of service he's not great at...receiving service and help! Even now he's still being stubborn and not wanting pain meds and things. He doesn't want anyone inconvenienced on his account, and that's why one thing that happened meant so much to me.

At one point he woke up and we could see he was uncomfortable but couldn't understand what he was saying. I picked up the word "massage" and my mom picked up that his feet were bothering him. We asked him if he would like his feet massaged and he said yes. This might sound silly, but that moment of taking my dear grandpa's foot, rubbing lotion on it and massaging it in meant SO much to me. Such a small act of service, but it was a very special, tender moment. I couldn't help but think of Christ washing his disciples' feet. It was a small, simple gesture, and yet it meant so much more. The ultimate show of respect, honor, and love. And my grandpa allowed me to do something similar for him. I'll never forget that sweet moment....never.

Well, now I'm emotional, so I'll stop. Kind of a long ramble post, and I apologize. I love my grandpa so much, and I can only imagine the beautiful reunion he will have soon with so many loved ones.

*Grandpa passed away at about 7:15 pm Wednesday evening. We love you, Grandpa!

Kid "isms"...

I've gotta share these so that I don't forget. One of the "perfect" moments I enjoy as a mom is hearing the clever, wonderful things my kids say. Buddy Boy isn't talking a ton, but what he does say is adorable.

Buddy Boy

-Picks up a block, a purse, or a phone and says "Hewwo? Hey guys!"
-Started saying "Excellent!"
-Occasionally, out of nowhere, will look at me and with the greatest of influction will say "Of course!" (the of is said normally, but his voice rises at least an octave when he says "course")
-He now signs please when he wants me to sing the alphabet to him. He loves it when I sign it and sing. Laughs his head off EVERY time.

Munchkin

For her, I chose some recent quotes to share:
-"I just love eating; it's my responsibility."
-"I just love you, Mom. I'm so happy and lucky to have you and Dad and Brother in my family!"
-Do you know how much I love you? Guess! Infinity!!"
-"I love these circle crackers, I'm PASSIONATE about crackers!"

Sigh...I just love em!

Birthday Month!

This is our family's month for birthdays! Munchkin is turning 7, and Buddy Boy turns 3...

SO, to celebrate, we'll be doing a combined party with family for both of them. That's probably horrible, but they're young enough to not care. I swear, I'll make it up to them when they're older.

Yesterday we had the fun of throwing a party with friends for Munchkin.

It was awesome! And y'all know how I'm a frugal nerd. I calculated our cost, and it was $16. The kids, fortunately, had a blast! Here's what went down:

-We started the kids off with a craft. They decorated foam paper with glitter glue and foam stickers, and we made picture frames out of them. While they were decorating, I took a picture of each of them, and later printed them up on our computer so they'd have a framed picture to take home. SO cute!


-After that, we did "carnival" games. A bean bag toss, balloon volleyball, and cotton ball blowing races. Dad oversaw that while I did pictures, but I heard they had fun. We then opened presents and did cupcakes and ice cream. We bought a bunch of toppings from Winco's bulk food section and had the kids decorate their own cupcakes. Most of them put so much crap on that they couldn't eat the cupcakes. One kid said, "If I eat this whole thing I'm gonna puke."


-Then we did a treasure hunt with clues hidden around the house. While the kids ran around, I snuck into my room and dressed up as a clown. Once the treasure hunt was over and the gold coins were found, I came out with my makeup and balloons. A GLORIOUS friend of mine GAVE me a clown costume and taught me how to make balloon animals, so it was fun. Big shocker, the boys all wanted swords, and the girls wanted puppies and kittens and stuff. Each kid went home with 3 or 4 balloons, it was so funny watching them try to haul all of their stuff home!

Anywho, it was awesome. The kids had a blast, and I feel very grateful that Munchkin has such good friends. Buddy Boy even enjoyed himself, and was sad to see everyone go. And get this: He actually SMILED at the camera when I took his picture! Yes, he did. Need proof?

Afterwards Dad and I tried to take naps, but alas, the children were coked (sp?) up on sugar and yellow dye #2. We went to Wienerschnitzel for dinner too, just because it was a special day! We've never gone there (well, not since getting married), so it was fun!

There. I updated. Told you I would.:-)

Name Change

Okay, random post here (and after we've been so bad about posting):

We're henceforth changing our children's names. From this point forward, our oldest shall be known as Munchkin and our youngest as Buddy Boy, because I'm not creative with nicknames. I will simply be Mom, and well, there will also be Dad:-)

Random, I know, weird, perhaps....but I've had some weird people on my personal blog (where I don't use our names either) and people posting comments that are kinda creeping me out. And I've received negative feedback about going private, so I'm trying to avoid that.

And I swear, updates are coming!:-)