101 things 2015

In the day to day chaos, I admittedly forget sometimes just how wonderful life really is.   I am lucky. I am blessed.  I am thankful.  So on this Thanksgiving Day, I share with you 101 things that I appreciate and am thankful for - some big, some small and in absolutely no particular order. 

1. Family
2. Public libraries - I have never been a library person except for studying in law school, but I have come to absolute love the Eagle public library

3. How snow makes everything in the world quieter.  I never really noticed it until adulthood
4. Sledding
5. Whipped cream from the can
6. Kids in sunglasses

7. My book club -even though I am the worst book chooser in history

8. My iPad. I joined the revolution this year (very late!) and won't turn back.

9. Real heroes and this video and song, saw it at church probably 10 years ago and consult it often

10. Bob Costas - I love his sports stories

11. Raise em Up by Keith Urban

12. Sprinkles

13. Morning hugs

14. Little kid jokes (How do you make a tissue dance?  You put a little boogie in it).

15. My adorable nieces and nephews

16. The joy of watching Bella fly off the dock

 

17. Seeing new territory in my great state

18. Grady and Mommy Trip to SF - so so so many great memories!

19. That Graham mostly sleeps through the night now - bout time boy!

20. Cross Fit - I am not a fanatic, but I can see why people are

21. Getting over the fear of trying something new and being a beginner, I am the absolutely worst in my morning workout classes and that would usually mean the end of something for me

22. Roasting marshmallows

23. Saturdays at Little Gym with my Graham

24. Skype/Facetime with family

25. That my sister and her family made it out to Idaho this year and met Graham

26. Beaches and 7 wonderful days in the Caribbean with my love

27. That  my boys have each other and will always have a brother to go on adventures with

28. Eagle Christian Preschool and Grady's absolutely wonderful teachers Mrs. Sue and Ms. Alyson

29. The fact that Grady and cousin Cameron get to attend preschool together, even if it means the occasional discipline problem for them 

30. Family pictures

31. Linder Farms Pumpkin Patch - a highlight of my year

32. Christmas cards

33. Hot air balloons

34. Our military and the sacrifices they make

35. Golf

36. Grady's spark

37. Graham's sweetness

38. That we survived, even if just barely, a year with an infant and a two year old

39. That temper tantrums will end

40. My 801 girls!

41. Becko's surprise birthday visit to Idaho!  THE BEST.

42. Grady's hysterical phone conversations - he loves chatting on the phone these days, feel free to call anytime if you need a pick me up

43. Days at the park

44. Summer hikes

 

45. That Chris is the best daddy I could ever imagine for my boys

46. Chris and Grady's days working in the yard.

47. Lobster - yum!

48. Idaho's mountains.

49. Time with the boys at Priest Lake

50. Time with Chris at Priest Lake

51. Grandma and Papa's willingness to watch our boys twice this year so that Chris and I could have time together

52. Being logged off for a week while we took vacation.

53. Cruising - I love it

54. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - saw it on a plane and had low expectations but was the best movie I saw all year.   Kind of Little Miss Sunshine style - just watch it.

55. Favorite kid books lately:  The Circus Ship, Miss Nelson is Missing, Let's Go for a Drive

56. Boise Discover Center

57. Boise Zoo

58. Boise's MK Nature Center

59. Living in my favorite city!

60. That Chris and I both have jobs and work with good people

61. Pea Coats

62. Little Boys in hats

63. Bathime with the boys

64. Mrs. Kayla and how much she loves our boys

65. Weekend breakfast with the family

66. Summer days spent swimming in the pool

67. Mrs. Darcey's swim lessons and that we have two water boys

68. Amazon - Prime and Audible are in my life almost daily

69. The privilege of living in the U.S. - easy to take for granted, but seeing some of the poverty in other countries is an easy way to remember just how lucky we are

70. Ziplining

71. Bearable kid programming: Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol (on the list of unbearable is Little Einsteins!)

72. My mom's utter devotion to our kids and willingness to watch them every week.

73. That our kid have 5 wonderful, amazing and loving grandparents who each offer them something special.

74. One very very special great grandma!

75. That we only have one kid in diapers,

76. Self serve frozen yogurt  and my dates with my little sugar loving Grady

77. Rembrants breakfast joint

78. An amazing dinner with my looooong time friends Beth and Emily, just one of those times when conversations were both deep and light and our spirits were connected in a special way

79. New family traditions - Sunday night movie night!

80. Real newspapers - picked one up for the first time while travelling recently and realized I love the real newspaper, the smell, the feel, the content, the fact that I am not starting at a screen.  I hope that they never go away.

81. Swinging on the porch with my boys

82. Seattle trip to see the Kehrlis - fun fun fun!

83. NBC nightly news.  Still a staple of my day

84.  Morning coffee.

85. Tulips in my yard

86. Target and Costco - even though I tend to bleed money when I go to both!

87. Favorite books of the year:  American Sniper, Girl on a Train, The Secret Keeper.

88. When my house is quiet and my kids are tucked in.

89. The rare occasion when I get to take a nap,   I have been a power napper my whole life, in movies, in cars, on couches.  That luxury disappeared mostly after becoming a mom

90. That having children was not hard for us.  Seeing folks struggle with infertility makes me appreciate even more the miracles that are our boys.

91. That I get to be a mom to two of the best boys ever

92. How very different our boys are.

93. Slippers

94. Autumn sunsets

95. That Graham's tear duct was fixed and that he did so well with the procedure

96. Bella Cuddles

97. Pixar movies

98. Cousins

99 A girls trip with my 801 girls!

100. Our 4 Santa Clara Degrees and that the chance to share SCU with Grady.

101 Getting at least one blog post up in a timely manner!  Go me!-  now it is time to eat some turkey!

One In and One Out

Grady wrapped up his two years of Little Gym earlier this year and Graham started on his new adventure at Little Gym  Wow - time flies!  I am so grateful for this little hidden gem and the experiences it has allowed me to have with my children.

Grady grew so much in his time at Little Gym.  It was the first place where he learned to interact with other kids, to listen to a teacher and try new things.   I got to see what he excels at (jumping of course!) and also what he could use a little more practice with (overcoming some shyness in groups). He grew leaps and bounds (literally!) in his couple years at Little Gym. Grady has always impressed me with his ability to jump off big things with no fear whatsoever.  I know he will be jumping off of lots of big things in his lifetime, and in some small way Little Gym has set the foundation to prepare him for that.  

I'd say that my and Graham's Saturday attendance hovers around 50% due to weekend travels and other things, but it is so wonderful to have an hour set aside for just Graham.  Graham is a pretty easy baby, doesn't typically demand a whole lot of attention, and is blessed with a great big brother who typically does require a lot of attention!  For these reasons, I feel really lucky to have an activity that I can do with just my baby.  It is his time, which is just as important for me as it is for him.   While Grady excelled at jumping, Graham excels at hanging.   These kids are so perfectly juxtaposed. Grady was a bit wild and crazy jumping off of all things and Graham will just sit there and hang from the bar with a huge grin on his face.

End of an Era

My dad decided that the end of this summer was the right time for him to retire.  After years of building a practice, working extremely hard, and seeing a whole heck of a lot of teeth, he passed his practice on to a very nice, young dentist.  I have grown up with my dad as my dentist and his hygienists and secretaries have been a regular part of my life, attending weddings, baby showers, and always welcoming me with a hug in the office.  When I realized that it was my dad's last week and my kids hadn't been in for their first official visit, I promptly arranged for an appointment for the boys so that they could see Grandpa in his element.  It was the perfect farewell to to such a huge part of my Dad's life.  Graham was eating up his visit and loved having his eight teeth examined.  Grady, was not too eager to get his teeth looked at, but loved seeing Grandpa as a dentist and loved even more getting to play dentist spraying water in the face of his "patient". 

Dad, we are so proud of of all that you have accomplished. Our boys will always have you as an example as someone who built a business from the ground up based on respect for all, hard work, and a lot of fun along the way.   You have a lot to be proud of!  I know you will be sorely missed by many including myself!   Now you get to enjoy your time in the mountains  and travelling the country in your R.V.  Love you!

  

HBD Grady!

Greatest achievement to date, sitting on the Target red balls.

As we get ready for another big birthday party in the family (eek!), I'd be remiss if I didn't get over my bad blogging habit lately and document Grady's third birthday.  We thought we were going to be out of town for Grady's birthday this year, but it turned out that we were in town so we threw together a relatively inpromtu b-day party complete with bowling, Paw Patrol and LOTS of cake.  Grady had the best time bowling at Big Al's with his cousins.  The kids were so cute, high fiivng with the roll of each ball down the ramp, completely devouring Grady's huge ice cream sundae and just generally being cute little cousins.  I decided that three is great because Grady can bowl almost completely independently.   He has arrived  into the word of a independence!  Watch out people!  I'm telling you, these kids were so fun to watch and to play with.  

We came home after bowling for some cake and ice cream.  Grady's favorite thing about his birthday was probably not the presents or the bowling, but the cake.  He LOVES cake.   He started his day by asking for cake and ended his day by asking for an extra slice in his bath.  We let him have some and were happy to do so after such a fun day with him.  As he sat there chowing down on his blue frosted cake in the bath he looked at me and said "Mom, this was the best birfday ever. Thank you for making my birday so much fun, I love you."  He melts my heart. I love that Graham will always be special because he is my baby and I love that Grady will always be special to me because he made me a mommy.  I am so thankful that he is ours.  

Awkward little kid high fives might be the cutest things ever.

 This little guy was quite the tropper.

Goofballs.

Dinner time!

Now that is a sundae!

When I asked if he had a good time, this was his reaction. . . do you think he enjoyed himself?

This face, I will always remember my Grady boy's sweet little face.  When he gets this subtle grin, I know his heart is happy.  He makes my heart happy.

Paw Patrol explosion.

It's party time people.

This was my little boy on his last day of being two while waiting for his swim teacher.  It just captures him so perfectly candy in hand and all. 

Grady has a love for decorations.  When we get birthday or holiday decorations out, it is as if he has won the lottery.  He squeals and dances and is just generally quite adorable.  The origin of this particular sign was Grady's stories that he tells us at night "I was swimming and got bit by a shark and said, Hey that hurt!"  

Miss Kayla knows her boy well and gave him his favorite Paw Patrol characters, probably a favorite gift.

He's growing up, enjoying big boy toys like remote control cars.

I know I already posted this picture, but I just love it.  I love this age.  I love our Grady.  He makes my heart explode with joy.