Thankful for the basics

     Sometimes I forget.  I try not to, but it happens.  I am the type of person to really be thankful for my car running, heat in my house, clothes to wear, etc. but sometimes I get wrapped up in what I don't have.

    Today we got our heat fixed.  It was working, but not really.  Oh, once it was back on and I was finally warm in my house I was so grateful.

    I do have a privileged life.  I have a garage door opener!  I know that sounds silly to some, but what a luxury to press a button and then be inside to unload everything.  And there is so much more.

   For example, last year we had decided to give up on our van.  We pronounced it dead as it would be too much to fix it.  A loving family was friends with a mechanic so they made arrangements to have our van fixed.  I remember when I got it back and we had two vehicles again.  I felt like a millionaire in a bmw or something.  It was so nice to have it back and not coordinate everything with David.  (By the way we wouldn't have the van at all if David's parents hadn't given it to us!)

    Over the past weeks I knew the boys pants were too small, but I tried to make it work.  Then I came out of denial and went to Wal-Mart to buy them some pants.  Thanks to some wonderful people from TRF they gave us money to buy some groceries and we were able to use the money we saved to get some much needed pants that fit!  

     And of course our most luxurious thing we have this Christmas is our house which we own.  A year ago if you would have told me I would own a house I would have laughed.  I really would have.  What a miracle from the Lord and not to be taken lightly as two close friends of mine have recently lost their house.  Without my parents it wouldn't have been possible.

     I am glad to remember how nice it is to have the things we use daily.  It is also good to remember that even if I had no earthly things that I have the Lord and my amazing family.  The Lord gives me all that I have and most of what I have the Lord gave me through people I know.  Humbling and just makes me grateful.

HELPING OUT THE PERSON ON THE STREET

So yesterday I was going to Wal-Mart to check out those kids connection toy sets to see if we would get one for the kids.  When I went in I saw a father and a son holding a sign, which said "stranded" and something else I can't remember.  I instantly thought it was strange.  I have seen many a person on the corner with a sign being from a big city, but you rarely see a family.  I want to help each person I see on the corner, except the one that says I won't lie I just want beer.  I always have a hard time knowing what to do.

As I was leaving I saw a woman with the same sign the father and the son had.  At this point I called David.  I could tell this was new for them.  I asked her what was going on and how much they needed.  She told me $100-200 and that a friend was going to fix it for them.  The truck was running, but smoking and they didn't think it would make it back to Bakersfield, California.  They had come up to get a family member who didn't want to be here anymore.  She jokingly told me then that they should have just bought a greyhound ticket for the person.  I doubted she was lying and so David and I gave her the money.  My only worry is this friend is well meaning, but may not fix it correctly with just $100.  David just said I guess this one just requires some faith.  So whoever you are family I sure hope it got fixed and you are all on your way home.  I hope we actually helped and that it made some kind of difference.

What would you have done?

TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP

Last night I went to the annual table rock fellowship staff party.  I always look forward to this as it is a great church, and the staff is the best.  I got to impress everyone with my white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.  Lou had two slices and since he is a great cook I decided I now have achieved cooking bliss.

You might not know this but the staff at table rock has a lot of fun.  Maybe too much fun.  During the day I hear of all sorts of going-ons and last night we did a white elephant gift exchange.  The laughs reverberated around the room during this hilarious time.  I must say I love the noise of everyone laughing and everyone talking.  I grew up with that noise at family functions.  It is such a blessing for David to have the best job and people to work with.  It is definitely a special place.

Getting my boys to sleep

I think the whole sleep issue may be over.  I don't know if it ever is over completely, but the main big battle seems to have past.  For anyone out there who may be struggling with this here are some of the things I tried that worked.

• Reading more books before bed and  making sure they were calm and still during story time.  This is a very important winding down time, especially for my boys who never stop moving.

• I got some children's books from the library about sleep to help educate them about sleep.  Tiger can't sleep and Sleep is for everyone have been the two books we read before nap and bedtime.  It takes a bit, but eventually they were telling me certain parts and understanding why sleep is good.  This was a huge part of ending the battle.

• Making sure the day has been active.  Sometimes my boys exercise on their own and sometimes they are less active.  On those less active days I need to make sure to have them exercise.  We do this by walking (even in a store when it rains) or I turn on some music and we make up our own exercise routine.

• For me every night is a slumber party.  Sometimes my boys get into phases of talking/playing for a half hour, hour or even more.  When this happens I tell them when I put them down no talking and go to sleep or their will be a consequence.  Then I wait outside the door, if a rule is broken there is a consequence right away.  This is rather harsh, but if I don't do it that way I will be fighting them for hours.  So I do it right away and in the first few minutes we are done and they will be asleep in no time.  Eventually they can talk and realize that they need to then go to sleep so they get to talk some before bed.

• Also addressing the issue that they aren't missing out on anything.  You are sleeping, their toys are sleeping, there is nothing happening.  The books help with this, but it is definitely a point to cover.

• Prayer.  Most of the time I had no idea what to do and couldn't figure it out.  In the end I may have made some steps to help, but God directed my steps and then changed my boys' hearts.  Thanks Lord for bringing me through another phase.

GOODBYE: A TOO OFTEN WORD SPOKEN IN OUR HOUSE

I don't understand why we don't have those very special people living close.  We are of course blessed to have very special people in our life, but it is so hard to say goodbye so often.  We were blessed to see many of our most precious people this Thanksgiving weekend.  

Our good friends Lee and Kristen came over Saturday night and we laughed and just hung out.  It is a rare thing to have friends you haven't seen in over a year, but you can pick up right where you left off.  The memories we have with them are precious and I know there will be more.  But why do they have to be in Bend?  It seems the time we got to be near them was very short.  Kristen will be having a boy and I wish I could come and hold him and help her through the crazy boy stage.  I will to some extent but from a distance.

Then there is Michael and Alina.  We are so blessed to have lived with them and then been so close to them for 6 months.  But, then they too had to leave.  Oh what special people they are and what fun we have.  The laughs we have are loud enough to wake soundly sleeping children.  The boys love them so much.  Judah and Alina have some special thing I cannot describe that is priceless to see.  Oh why can't Reno be 10 minutes away?

Not least my parents, sister and entire extended family all live in Phoenix, Arizona.  We are all very close.  I get to go there for a four day weekend in December.  My parents realized it has been 8 years since I spent Christmas with them!  Wow!  I can't believe it.  I once had to go two years without seeing them.  That was horrible.  Why can't Phoenix, Oregon be Phoenix, Arizona?!!

Christina.  Oh Christina.  She is our most precious little girl, who just turned 9!  She lives in Portland with her mom.  We get to see her each month and for extended time on holidays.  We all cry every time she leaves.  The boys now are old enough to share in the saddness saying for days after she has left, "I miss sis."  It never gets easier, it actually gets harder to say goodbye.

Even David's parents and sister are in Eugene.  I don't understand why all the precious people in our life have to live far away.  Like I said we are blessed to have people like this as not everyone has that at all, but still I wish...