71. not living in tornado central west tn
72. a plumbers bill that only totaled $75
73. a found reimbursement check from late December that we hadn't noticed was missing
74. new tv channels since the apartment switched to directtv
75. a nice 4 days with family
76. sleeping in my bed again after family leaves
77. my stockpile of dayquil/nyquil
78. being hit by a cold rather than the flu or stomach virus that's been making its rounds.
79. lots of leftovers in the fridge so that we shouldn't have to worry about cooking while I feel bad
80. friday's with nothing to do! :)

Blessings (us with Eli)

It's been 6 days since my last Blessings post! I vowed not to let a week go by... so here I go!

61. early spring days
62. outside picnics
63. goodnight kisses from Audrey that turn into makeout sessions b/c the child is doing everything she can to postpone falling asleep
64. cookie day at the apartment office every Friday
65. having family come down for a visit
66. Matt meeting our nephew, Eli!

Even Matt's willing to look silly in order to get smiles out of a baby!

67. seeing Julia so eager to hold her cousin

What a way to start the day!

68. seeing Audrey so eager to hold her cousin


She will hold him for 30 minutes at a time. Loves it!

69. lazy Saturdays with family
70. a coworker offering to work for me Monday so that I could spend a few extra hours with family - THANK YOU!

Valentine blessings

Small Mess:


51. leftover Macys gift card that Matt and I used to online order our valentine's presents
52. girls who want to make valentines for their friends/teachers/family
53. a husband who is willing to sit down and help his daughters prepare their valentines
54. the gift of early valentine hearts from my girls
55. smiles when the girls see little heart love notes I've put in their lunchboxes.
56. smiles when the girls see little heart love notes that Matt's put in their lunchboxes (yes, I encouraged him to do this!)

Bigger Mess:


57. getting small candies for the girls and my preschoolers for free/nearly free
58. a special couples night at church this weekend
59. TN family that is surely(??) to forgive me despite my forgetting to ever actually mail them their handmade valentine's. I'm sorry!
60. Valentine's Day #10 spent with Matt - Wow!

Clean up time!!!

Thinking positive

Let's look for the blessings that can be found even in the not so great stuff.

41. What a blessing to be able to set a good example to my kids by taking them with me (occasionally) to the gym while I run a couple of miles.

42. What a blessing to have them behave well as they exercise and watch me exercise.

43. What a blessing to be able to hold my tongue/not cry when my crazy old neighbor lady asked me if I was pregnant as I walked back from the gym with my girls... Sheesh!

44. What a blessing to have a friend respond to my text message about the crazy old lady's comments with a resounding "Curse her!" ;)

Moving on...

45. A silly blessing this week is my winning a small gift from one of the couponing websites I follow. 12 free Krispy Kremes!

46. I'm more blessed that the closest Krispy Kreme is somewhere up in Mobile and I'm not willing to drive 45 minutes for a doughnut. Calories stay away! Remember, I apparently look as if I'm with child. (btw - I'm not!)

47. Sometimes what a mother doesn't know or doesn't understand is a blessing. For instance, I was in the kitchen yesterday when Audrey came up to me smiling and said, "When I play I let Julia share." Aww, that's a good thing to do Audrey. She repeated it again but this time demonstrated it for me. The blessing of misunderstanding was gone when I realized that she actually had said, "When I play I lick Julia's chair."

48. What a blessing to run out of food at the dinner table earlier this week. That means people liked my food! Matt didn't get enough to eat, but how was I to know that Audrey would eat meat for the first time in ages and that Julia would eat thrice her usual amount?

49. What a blessing to have leftover chili in the refrigerator for a yummy (and EASY) addition to the above mentioned meal.

50. What a blessing to have all the ingredients still in my kitchen so that I can make the popular main dish again tonight. Who wants to bet that the girls won't touch it this time?

Happy Weekend!

I see Tinkerbell!

We've already added some flowers and butterflies to the girls bedroom walls, but last week we added a few more. Well, I should say that Matt was actually the one that was in charge of this project. I was grocery shopping.

Both the girls received a set of Tinkerbell wall decals for Christmas (Thanks Meme/Pop!), and we're just getting around to putting them up. Although, to be fair, I've only had my Christmas decorations up and furniture put back in place a little over 2 weeks so we're really not all that behind with the decals...

Julia was very specific on where she wanted her decals to go. The light fairy was placed next to her lamp.


The garden and animal fairies were placed in the "garden" that's now growing out of her baseboard.


And, naturally, the water fairy was placed next to a picture of her at the beach. I think a future in interior decorating may be in store for her.



Blessings:
31. little girls who giggle with excitement over a few new stickers on their walls!
32. time alone to go grocery shopping
33. a bright new scarf and gloves to bundle up in
34. a new raincoat thats been much used these last few weeks!
35. a little girl who is very proud of her schoolwork

btw - the drawers are out of the dresser b/c we had to move the dresser away from the wall. The apartments are updating something cable related...

36. a routine maintanance visit (the cable stuff) that forced me to clean up the house
And while we're on the clean up subject - let's include these major blessings:
37. dishwasher
38. washing machine

39. "up daddy home days" - Matt's days off work
40.. extended family who send the girls sweet little presents. - Thanks, Vickie and Mike!

Blessings 21-30

21. A sweet sister-in-law who reminds me to count my blessings...
22. Pre-k and church teachers my girls love
23. A part time job
24. Being able to bring my kids with me to my part time job
25. 4 times a week socialization that is outside of church services
26. a coteacher I enjoy working with
27. sweet little children to work with


even if they get in trouble sometimes! :)


28. Working in the same building as Matt. He loves it too. I'm sure he loves bringing forgotten gloves for the girls, printing newsletters off for me, and having us visit him (occasionally) on our way home.
28. a low stress job. This mama really doesn't handle stress well at all!
29. a library thats on the way home from church/school. free books and movies!
30. a husband who's snuggling with the girls RIGHT NOW and reading them their new library books

today's blessings

11. A noisy home

12. social interaction via facebook

13. social interaction via blogger

14. quick to fix Sunday lunches (chicken nuggets, leftover mac&cheese, fruit, and "banana pudding")

15. a husband who has already made chili for dinner

16. children entertained by polly pockets

17. lots of craft supplies on hand- perfect for homemade valentines!

18. comfy robe

19. lazy Sunday afternoon

20. Audrey talking about "doing her best"

Phil. 4:6

I worry about what people think of me. I worry about people misinterrpreting things I've said. I worry about offending others. I worry about why others offend me. I worry that we'll never live close to family again. I worry about my girls' watching too much TV. I worry that I don't cook enough with my children. I worry that my girls won't be close as they get older. I worry about my girls' everything! I worry about what the future holds for our family. I worry about money. I worry about health problems I don't have. I worry about getting older. I worry about our marriage (BTW, we're great! But that doesn't mean I don't still worry about it!) I worry that we'll have to retire to Phenix City because our stupid house will never sell.

I worry.

Alot.

In high school, I worried that I'd become an old maid. That worry ended when I married at age 21. Unfortunately, most of my worries don't go away. They occasionally just take a short pause for awhile while I sleep. So, I just read a quote about worry that bothers me. Perhaps you could say it makes me worry that I'm worrying too much.

"Worry is a focus on fear, which leads to tension, anxiety, anger, and exhaustion."

Focus on fear. Hmmm... I fear that people will dislike me. I fear that something bad will happen to myself and/or my family. Ok, I agree that worry focuses on fear.

Does that lead to tension, anxiety, anger, and exhaustion? I'm not too sure of the difference between tension and anxiety, but I would agree wholeheartedly that I'm prone to anxiousness. I would also agree that the anxiety I feel leads to anger and then exhaustion... mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion!

Now, what to do about it...

Any suggestions?

I could talk to a therapist (don't think Matt hasn't made that suggestion before!)

I could write my worries down. Theoretically, I believe this is supposed to make them seem a little less daunting. I think it would just make me worry more.

What I'm going to do is take a note from other blogs I've seen. Let's call it a belated New Year's Resolution if you will. I'm going to list 1,000 blessings. I'm going to write NO LESS than 10 blessings a week for however long it takes me to reach 1,000. Instead of focusing on the negative like I'm so prone to do, I'm going to take a few moments a week to publicly proclaim the positive!

Here we go... my blessings (in no particular order!)
1) seeing Julia's look of pride when she does something considered "big"
2) lots of Audrey hugs and kisses at bedtime
3) a husband who does all our family's ironing
4) "Everybody Loves Raymond" reruns to enjoy
5) time alone to hit the treadmill
6) gift cards for macys.com
7) a freezer, refrigerator, and pantry that are STUFFED FULL
8) electric blanket
9) little girls that still crawl in the bed at some point every night for comfort and snuggles
10) a king size bed

Hello, Dentist!

The American Dental Association website states "It is advantageous for the first visit to occur within six months of eruption of the first tooth and no later than 12 months of age"

Umm, yeah. I didn't follow that recommendation. Julia will be 5 years old next month (oh, the tears) and she just had her first trip to the Dentist yesterday. I had noticed a spot on both of her upper back molars and had to get them checked out. Since I had a coupon (yes - this coupon mama even has a coupon for the dentist!) I took her to get an exam and x-ray... for free.

Is it weird for me to admit that before her visit I was extremely nervous? I kind of felt like if my fears of her having cavities were confirmed then that meant I was a bad mother. I was scared that they'd take her x-rays, discover that she had like... 8 cavities, and instantly turn at me with glaring looks of disdain.

Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to the visit.

Fortunately, the moment we stepped inside I caught sight of a familiar face. One of the ladies at the front desk turned out to be someone from my Sunday School class. Wonderful! She took our paperwork and soon brought Julia a little gift bag that included toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a t-shirt.

When we were called back, Julia did great. She was very willing to do whatever was asked of her. The only look of apprehension I saw on her came as the Dentist moved her chair to where Jules was laying all the way back and very close to the floor. I think she felt rather overwhelmed with having 2 adults (dentist and asst) looming over her like that, but her smile returned quickly when Dr. Dentist said, "Ooooh, do you have princess teeth?" She thought that comment was giggle worthy, and was very willing to let him poke around in her mouth. Great job, Julia!

Unfortunately, my fears (not the overly dramatic ones) were confirmed. Those back 2 molars are beginning cavities. :( We were referred to a pediatric dentist, and I don't have a coupon for that!