credit given to: http://www.wordle.net/.
This book was a collection of short stories of peoples lives, that told about 50 things that really mattered. I am going to take those 50 things and create my own stories to each one. That way I am using the authors incredibly awesome idea but my own very personal stories and creating my own 50 things that really matter… so my kids/friends/family can read about it and maybe respond with their stories to the 50 things. To each topic, think about a time in your life that the topic really stood out to you and affected you or changed you somehow. Leave me comments because I always love to read them!
NUMBER 1 —– WISDOM
Lessons tossed around effortlessly as seeds from a farmer’s hand. Those seeds took root, and I’m hearing my mothers wisdom as clearly as she heard my woes growing up.
Growing up, I brushed my mother off far too often. She would say things of great importance but I didn’t see it that way as a cranky kid or rebellious teenager or stubborn young adult. Now that my mother has passed away and I have 2 children of my own, I hear her words repeating in my head all day long, and sadly regret not listening more to her when she was here. She always told me that she wished I never had kids that acted like me and at the same time she would say someday I hope you have kids that are just like you so that you understand. I never understood how much she sacrificed for me until I had my own kids and loved them more than any words can ever express. I never understood how much I frusterated her and pushed her to her limits until I had children of my own and they made me feel so insane that I wanted to shut myself in the bathroom for 3 hours and not come out until they were in bed. I loved my mother and I’m glad she took the time to read to me, to teach me things, to make dinner for our family so we could sit down together and eat together. We may not have always wanted to eat together and we might have been cross with each other for something that day, but she made it manditory that we at least sat at the table together and tried to eat what she had served. I think back to the wisdom she gave me in her short time on earth and I am forever grateful. I get sad that I can not sit with her now and discuss things with her. I never got the opportunity to sit down with a cup of coffee and listen to her life long story and hear her complications and trivials and trials (I knew them because I saw them, but I did not HEAR them, she left us too soon). She left us well before I had the mentality to apperciate the things she had to say. I now know how valuable her words and lessons were and I tug at my memory to pull back the few things I do remember about her and what she said. The things she did get to teach me will stay with me and I will instill in my own children. I know the most important thing she would tell me is “I LOVE YOU” and I make it a point to tell my kids a couple dozen times a day that I love them and give hugs and kisses whenever they cross my path and aren’t on a mission or playing too busy to give me a hug back.
Thanks mom for teaching me that love is one of the most important things you can ever give your children.
This Thankful Thursday is presented in thanks from Sonya at : http://truth4thejourney.blogspot.com/
Thankful Thursday — mmmm I am thankful for my little boy. Thankful that he names things around him all the time. “that is clock” “that is cup” “that is tv” “that is snowman” “that is sink” “that is tractor in house” “that is big truck BRRUM” “that is peanut butter” “that is addy”…… etc. etc. etc. etc. All day long, he tells me what everything is.. and I love it. LOVE IT. love hearing him talk and watching him discover his surroundings and remembering things… like the neighbors garage has a tractor in it… and when he sees the garage he says “oh look tractor in house, it is fun”…. yes I understand it is a simple sentence but it’s more than that for me, being his mom… and having him formulate sentences for the first time is just awesome… and every day he’s putting things together more than the day before. MMMM I sure do love you little man….
In between selling our house and buying our 5th wheel, we were as most people consider ‘homeless’ but we had friends to stay with. So it didn’t really count. Caiden wanted to go outside all the time (typical caiden) so we went for a walk to see the sunset one night. GOSH I love that boy!!!
I think we got married & I think we are happy & I think I like orange & I think my dear husband agreed to have an orange wedding for me & I think every time I look at our wedding pictures I smile.
I think I love this man.
Some photos of our 5th wheel…. and how we have attempted to make it home for the winter (we are slightly insane) in upstate NY…. while we rebuild our house that was mostly lost in a house fire last year……
More pictures to come after I have some time to slow down and take them. Busy busy busy is our middle name right now.
Happy Birthday Miss Addison…. Formerly known as Addy.
Our little girl turned 1 a few weeks ago…. November 24, 2008 — Addison was born… so long ago yet it really only feels like yesterday.
I added a picture from Caiden’s first birthday party. These two kids are like night and day. He is by far my active, nonstop, move, go, run, explore, and destroy typical 2 year old boy… while she is a quaint, quiet, smiley, cuddle bug, attached to my leg, and give me love little girl….. For Caidens’ first birthday he devoured his cake, smearing it all over him, the chair, the floor, the walls… and on his friends…. Addy on the other hand peacefully picked up her piece and took bites off of it.. we tried to instigate some sort of mess for her but she really didn’t want much to do with it… she liked mashing it into the table but that was about the extent of her messiness. MMMM I love these kids, yes I do!
Chad and I say —
“We hope she retains the happiness that she has now… the bouncy personality, the easy going, happy, smiley, laughing, drooling, dancing, loveable little person that she is now…. We hope she keeps that for the rest of her life.”
Pictures of the house that we just said goodbye to. To fully understand the deep connection we have to this house, you need to see some photos. AND NOTE —- we lost the first 6 months of photos of the work that we did on this piece of junk house (such as jacking up the 12 inch sag, demo overload and clean up crews) because they were on a computer that was in the house fire last year and we could not get them back 
So we will never again see how HORRIBLE this house REALLY was when it started out.
ALSO NOT —- these pictures do not do the amount of work done on this house justice…. or the overwhelming smell from the 15 cats living in the house when we bought it… and the smell of their lovely cat urine & mold & rot & dirt & the leaks from the fallen tree on the back of the house & the leak from the roof caving in…….. But, here ya go. A collection of photos that I do have from the JOURNEY of one of our project houses.
I cant believe that we are about to start all over again with rebuilding a house. The excitement is overwhelming. {I am not sure if I mean that sarcastic or not}
I used to do ‘not me monday’
However, since I’m not my normal self right now and we are not in our normal home and we are not able to have any free time to spend creating something worth thinking about to write about… I will simply tell you about what my NOT ME’s in the past few weeks…
I have not===
Stopped running around like a lunatic in all attempts to make life normal for me and mine.
Checked my blog once, not ONCE. (email & facebook got a quick glance once though)
Slept a full night of sleep in the past 3 weeks (since 11-20)
Taken a shower more frequently than every 4 days due to no shower in 5th wheel, being in between places
Regretted our decision to live in a trailer on wheels for the next 3 months, not once.
Gotten back to any routine of any sort and am still up in the air with just about everything.
Found any results for my heart/thyroid even though I went through a battery of tests the week of turkey day.
I have ===
not missed not having the internet as muchh as I had first thought I would. Kind of nice being dis-connected from the world.
Enjoyed countless hours watching my kids be my kids.
Weaned through all of our clothes to decide what we REALLY need and what I just WANT to keep because it’s pretty.
Had arguments with Mr. Fix It on a daily basis due to overwhelming stress and then enjoyed a couple sessions of make up cuddle time with Mr. Fix It after said arguments
Learned how to cook a full dinner & breakfast on a teeny tiny 5th wheel stove.
Decorated the entire 5th wheel so it feels like ‘home’ as much as possible.
Watched Little Bit (Addy) learn how to walk in the 5 days we spent living in a friends basement… She did not walk when we moved out of the house but did walk by the time we moved into the 5th wheel.
Sang at least 300 hours of Christmas songs to my kids and to myself.
Watched Milo & Otis approximately 90 times in 6 days.
Thanks for checking in,
I’ll post more frequently again soon. I promise.
We have the internet.
I have no posts ready.
This is the first time I have had the computer on in almost 3 weeks.
I am glad to have the internet but sad that my ‘free’ time is over. I am assuming that I will be consumed with internet type things for the next few days until the ‘rush’ is over within my brain.
We have our ‘new’ 5th wheel & truck. We have spent endless hours decorating it and making it ‘home’. I have made curtains for the kids room (bunk room)… BRIGHT orange for him and BRIGHT LIME green for her. whew, it’s like a sunny day in there now.
The christmas lights are caidens’ most favorite thing this week. Every time we go out in the car he says “CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, Fine mum” (find them). and he sees the lights and YELLS… not just says loudly.. but YELLS “CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!” and we as his parents smile with joy of the little things that can bring him so much joy. He thinks they are pretty and tells us often ‘ooo pretty christmas lights”. We have some up in his ‘room’ and he has to have them on as soon as he wakes up. The smile across that boys face once the colors light up is like no other. I am glad he gets so happy.
I’ll have more to post sometime later this week or next week. We have a lot of insulation to do and prep to do on this fifth wheel to make it safe for the winter. It has already been 10 degrees at night and yes it does get quite chilly in here. To help give the furnace a break, we bought a little space heater that is on constantly and we are comfortable in here while it is about 65 degrees in the main living part. We have a curtain up between that and our bedroom/bath/shower area…. and it is usually only 40-45 in there. WOW… a sheet really can hold back quite a bit…. Next week we’ll have the whole fifth wheel insulated underneith and we can sleep in our bed again (we slept there for the first week but it got too cold and now we sleep on the couch fold out)…..
AHHH life. 
it sure is great isn’t it?
