Day 74

Evening!

Today was a bit of a lazy day for me, and a busy day all in one!  This morning I woke up and made breakfast for the family.  We had some really yummy cranberry/orange scones as well as eggs and juice.  Then we all showered and headed out to the car dealer to get our car washed and gassed up at the car dealer, and they also fixed our tire for free...really nice of them!

We drove home and I took quite a long nap.  My in-laws arrived and we headed to a really yummy restaurant in town!  I am so excited that they are here!  The boys are SO happy to have their grandmother here and they have been playing with her and snuggling with her almost non stop!

It was a really sleepy day for me today.  I have never had the fatigue symptom of rheumatoid arthritis before.  It really gave me empathy for all of my friends in my support group who have talked about being tired all of the time.  I told David I feel like a narcoleptic because all I want to do is sleep lol.  I am so thankful my husband and kiddos gave me time to sleep today because I am feeling better tonight.  I am excited to see what is going to get done with the house with the help of my in-laws!  David and his dad are excited to do some house projects and I can't wait to see how they turn out!  Have a blessed night all!

Day 73

Hello and happy Friday to everyone!  I am so beyond thankful that it is the end of the week and that a 3 day weekend is upon us!


Today was filled with lots of errands, cleaning, laundry, and fun.  This morning I took Ginger to her Doggie Day Care place.  She was so excited to go there!  When I told her we were going, she ran to the garage door and started leaping up in the air.  The whole ride there she was shoving her head in my hand and smiling at me with her eyes.  She has pretty much been asleep since she got home so I would say she had one fun filled day of play!

Today Connor got to meet his new pre-school teachers!  He was a little nervous at first, but they spent 15 minutes getting to know him and he really enjoyed all of the things in the classroom.  I hope he has a fun time this year!  They seem really nice but....they are both really short and when he went to hug them, he almost knocked them over!  This will for sure be Connor's last year of pre-school and then he will start Kindergarten next year and hopefully do well there too!

It was a pretty hot day today, so we drove to pick up Joel from school.  He was so grateful to be driven home in air conditioning!  We went to Wal-Mart to return some household stuff and ended up with a couple of really fun toys for the boys with some of Connor's birthday money.  Connor was so excited and hopefully it will keep them busy in the playroom!

Well, I am pretty tired these days.  Rheumatoid Arthritis is a weird disease....when my joints don't hurt, I am beyond tired and feverish.  I am so thankful to have a husband who totally gets it.  He came home, took one look at me, and made dinner for us tonight.  I had everything almost ready to go so he was happy to put it all together and it was delish!  Time to head up to bed early tonight.  Hopefully a weekend full of sleep will do my body some good so I can be ready to go for next week!  Have a wonderful weekend all!

Day 72

Happy Thursday!  Tomorrow is Friday again...the days just keep ticking onward don't they?

• Connor and I spent a lot of time with David at his work today.  We had to refinance our auto loan we just got and not only did we save 125 dollars a month on the loan, we got to have lunch with David and see where he worked!  Lots of happy moments there!
• I got to talk to my mom on the phone for quite a while today!  We talked about family and she got to talk to Joel.  On a VERY random side note, Joel was on the phone with my mom and told her that if I ever went to jail, Connor would be his side kick and he would come and bust me out...he had us laughing SO hard!  The story behind that is if children in Texas miss more than 10 days of school, they call the police on the parents and take them to court...so Joel keeps worrying about getting sick and missing school.  I told him they don't count that, but not sure if he really believed me lol
• Tonight was our Relief Society get together and I had such a great time meeting new people and getting to know people I am friends with even better!  They had some amazing salads there and I had my fill of socializing!
• We had a preschool meeting this evening and we had so much fun going around and talking about what we will do with the kids this coming year.  One of my new friends and favorite people, Lanay, played with my hair while we all talked.  For the first time in a WEEK I didn't feel nauseated!  SUCH a happy moment!  I am so thankful for meeting new friends here and finding happy moments with them!

I am really looking forward to this weekend when my in-laws will be in town and things around the house are going to get DONE!  My mother-in-law has an amazing amount of energy and she is such a big help!  I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together when they come!  Have a great night all!

Day 71

Happy Wednesday!  This week is going by so fast!  As always, so much to do, so little time to do it, but I am really looking forward to this weekend and next week!

This morning was a fun walk to school with Joel and Connor.  Connor wore his sunglasses and was cracking Joel and me up with running ahead of us and sitting on people's porches with his legs crossed waiting for us to catch up.  He is such a character sometimes!  And it made me smile to see how much Joel and Connor love one another when they aren't driving each other crazy lol.

I worked out for the first time in quite a few months!  It was only for 40 minutes but I am so thankful I was able to keep going even that long!  With a broken toe when we first moved here as well as a pretty bad case of some sort of pneumonia, I am so thankful I am able to start back up and get rid of these love handles I have acquired since moving here!  I am hoping that if I get moving once more that my rheumatoid arthritis will calm down a bit as well.  Here is hoping!

I had a lot of fun playing with Connor and Ginger at home today.  We played dinosaurs, Star Wars, attack dog, and all kinds of silly fun.  I helped Connor learn to cut pieces of paper and work on writing letters.  It was really nice to spend a lot of quality time with him today.

Tonight I was pretty tired so we tried a new restaurant that we have not been to before.  It was pretty good!  We came home and all played some more and snuggled down for some Bubble Guppies on TV before bed.

I am so thankful for my little family and all of the giggles today.  I worry about my kids all of the time, but being able to put smiles on their faces is such a treasure and gives me so much joy!  Have a good night!

Day 70

Long day today...so ready for bed but first, some happy moments!

• walking Joel to school is so much fun!  I love watching him go in and tell me, "Mom I know where to go! Don't worry, I got this!" He is so independent and I love it.  I try really hard not to be a helicopter parent...but it is hard sometimes lol
• Connor and I had a fun day picking out soccer cleats at the store today!  He had practice tonight and he looked so darn adorable in his socks and shoes!
• The boys and and I had a lazy afternoon and then after dinner a lazy evening of hanging out on the couch watching TV.  I love my boys so much and it was so great to snuggle with them and watch them laugh and be with me.

I was pretty sick today so that is pretty much my day.  Hoping to feel a bit better tomorrow so I can get some house things accomplished.  Have a great evening all and catch ya tomorrow!

Day 69

Well, today was a busy day, but it is done and we are all ready for bed early!

We woke up and I packed Joel up and headed to school this morning!  He was so excited and nervous and I think I was equally nervous for him!  He looked so cute in his back to school outfit and I had made lunch (other than the main course part) for the next 5 days already so it was super easy to throw it all in his lunch box and head to school!

I gave him a kiss and a hug in class and off he went!  He said tonight that he really liked it and I am SO glad because he was having a hard time moving and scared of what the new school would be like. He had a good day and that makes me so happy!

I took Connor to the doctor for his 4 year check up today.  Well, he is still out pacing all the children his age in growth!  The doctor said, "If I had 100 kids all lined up with Connor he would STILL be the tallest one in the group!"  Hopefully he can use his height for something good someday!  He did a great job getting his shots and after it was done we grocery shopped and came home and played "Star Wars."  I guess it is the boy version of playing Barbies and since I have no girls, I guess Star Wars action figures to have adventures.

We walked to the back of the school and picked Joel up and it was a great day!  We had family dinner tonight and Joel got to tell us more about school.  Then we made chocolate chip cookies together and had Family Home Evening.  It was a really good first day of school for all and hopefully we can have our schedule down and get into waking up early and going to bed early pretty easily.  So with that, I am off to get a bath and head to bed!  Happy Monday!

Day 68

WOW!  2 years ago I started a blog and one year ago tonight I finished it!  That was quite the journey back then and we have had QUITE the journey now as well.  There has been so darn much that has happened since we have moved here to Dallas.  Tons of things missing from the moving van, us being homeless the day we left for Texas because the owners of our home didn't feel like selling it to us anymore, I broke my toe the first day we moved into the house, and it kinda goes on.  But through it all I have had this blog.  The best decision I ever made was to do a Sunshine blog for Dallas.  I look back on my insanely horrid days sometimes and the things I need to focus on for this blog are the happy moments.  Sometimes they are teeny tiny, but they are always there if you are willing to look!

Today is my son's 4th birthday.  That was quite the journey 4 years ago to get him here as well!  I shed tears of joy as my doctor pulled him out of my tummy because it was OVER and I didn't have to be pregnant anymore.  But I love that little gift!  He has turned into such an amazing kid and overcome a lot of communication difficulties.  There is so much to work on still, but I am grateful that with each prayer I send up to Heaven for help to know how to parent my lil guy, I do get answers and I feel like I am getting better each day at being his mom.

We had a fun birthday celebration for him today.  We went to church this morning and they sang "Happy Birthday" to him in class.  He was SO excited about going to church to get to hear them sing to him!

When we came home, I made mac and cheese for dinner and Connor got to say the prayer because it was his birthday...so cute.  We got to Skype with my parents who sang "Happy Birthday" to Connor...he was all smiles for that!  He also got to talk on the phone to David's family.  He has been one lucky little boy today!

When it came time for the cake, we couldn't locate the candle we had bought anywhere!  At that point, I wasn't even sure I knew where a lighter was.  So when our friends and neighbors came over to get some cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Connor...I guess that makes about time number 4 for that song today...what a coincidence!  Our neighbor had the app on his phone for a candle so he held that up over the cake and then Connor blew on it and my neighbor turned it off!  It was so cute and such a clever 21st century way to blow out the candles!

It was a really nice time this evening and I just feel so blessed that we have some amazing neighbors that live nearby.  I am so grateful for them and their willingness to come over and sing so we had more than just us to eat Connor's cake.

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school for Joel!  I couldn't find the camera battery anywhere for our camera and I didn't even know where to look!  David and I looked around for an hour and I said a prayer.  I felt very strongly that we would find it tonight....just a feeling of peace and calm and "no worries, you will get it in time for taking pictures of Joel."  So we kept looking around.  AND, I found it!  In a random back with items from David's work bench box.  So grateful for life's little blessings!  So onto my next day and I can't wait to hear what Joel's day is like!  Night all!

Day 67

Hello there!

•  Today I woke up and went to the store and picked up Connor's birthday cake.  So excited that he is going to be 4!  Not only that, but it will be exactly 2 years ago tomorrow that I started the first Happy Moment blog.  Holy Cow....2 years and 4 years.  You can't stop time from passing on.  It just keeps going!
• After getting the cake, we all piled into the car and headed to the Legoland Discovery Center in Grapevine.  It was a lot of fun and very clever!  Of course it was smaller than the Legoland in California, but we enjoyed the rides and activities and it was a great way to spend some family quality time together.  I am so thankful David was with us!  I got to stand in line while he took the boys to play....it just works so much better that way so YEA for Daddy being with us!
• After Legoland, we went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner.  Connor got to eat some crab again so I would call that a very successful pre-birthday dinner for him!  That kid cracks me up how much he loves sea food, but I am thankful for my sushi loving buddy!
• We came home and got the kids ready for bed and I was off to pick up some prescription meds.  When I got in the car, I had a text from my friend and old neighbor who now lives in Oregon.  I got to call her and talk on the phone with her for quite some time!  It has been so long since we actually talked so it was quite the treat and I am so thankful for my friendship with her!
• After that, I headed over to my neighbor's house to see if they were still coming for cake tomorrow.  A quick stop by turned into a 3 hour visit and we sat and ate chocolate, talked, and watched an episode of Cedar Cove.  I am so thankful for making friends and having fantastic neighbors here!  We are very blessed and I count those blessings every day!

Well, time to get ready for bed.  Church is early in the morning and I don't want us being too tired.  So grateful for this fun filled jam packed Saturday of ours.  Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow!  Night all.

Day 66

Good evening!

We had a fun filled day of running errands and go go going around in Daddy's car!  We dropped David off at work and then dropped Ginger off to get a bath...so happy she smells all nice and clean now and she is fluffier too!

I went to my rheumatology appointment and discussed some new meds with the doc.  My happy moment is the thought of me being in remission once more some day.  It may take a while, but I am going to do what I can to get there!

I took the boys to a pizza place that has Chicago style pizza today.  It was so cute to watch Connor "mmm" his way through lunch and chow down on a dip dish pizza!

This evening I had my first Girl's Night Out!!!  I went to the LDS Temple in Dallas with my friend for our Ward Temple Night.  It is SO beautiful inside and SO much bigger than the Newport Beach Temple!  I was so thankful to get to spend some time reading scriptures and praying under the most beautiful, LARGE, chandelier this evening in the Celestial Room.  It was very peaceful and quiet and a really good way to end my week!  I had a wonderful time chatting with my friend to and from the temple and hopefully we can do it again sometime!

I came home and David was up, so we watched some TV and then caught the tiny lizard that has been roaming the halls of our home!  That's right, tiny little lizard!  It was running across the kitchen floor and my two cats and one dog just looked at it!  Aladdin went up and gave it a good strong sniff, but it was ME to the rescue to pick it up and get it out of the house...gee thanks guys! LOL

Friday is here and I am SO looking forward to tomorrow and all the happy moments that are on their way!  I pick up Connor's birthday cake at 9AM and then we are off to have a family adventure and kid play time!  I hope all of you are having a fabulous Friday.  Night all!

Day 65

Happy moments of the day bullet style:

• I got all of my x-rays taken for my rheumatology appointment accomplished and the boys did a great job of hanging out and playing nicely while radiation passed through me for 30 minutes!
• We went to a Safari play place and the boys got to play on jungle gyms, ride an indoor train, and run around for an hour and a half.  They were all smiles when we left and right after that we found a cool place to get David's car washed while we sat in the car.  The boys were given lollipops and laughed as the washcloths and water wooshed all over the car.   SUCH an amazing happy moment because Joel used to have complete and TOTAL melt downs any time we went near a car wash like that.  My little guy has come a long way!
• We went to "meet the teacher" night at Joel's school.  I was told from a friend he has an awesome teacher!  Also, one of the friends Joel has played with this summer is in his class.  I feel so blessed for that little gift for him.  His teacher was so nice and hugged him.  It was fun walking around the class and seeing things.  I can't wait for Joel to start!
• David and I got to watch some more funny TV together tonight after the boys went to bed.  It was nice to bond and talk and laugh together.
• One last thing.  Our bishop of our ward came over and we had a really nice time chatting and getting to know him and having him get to know us.  I feel more settled in this place now and I am so thankful for that!  

Today was full of many blessings showing me that God loves me and that he knows what I am afraid of and what I pray for.  I am so thankful for answered prayers, for the sun shining down on my little family as we make our way here in Texas.  Tomorrow is FRIDAY!  I think every Thursday night that I blog it is just such a happy moment to know that my next blog will happen on a Friday night!  Have a good night and see you at the week's end!

Day 64

Hello,

 Well today we were without a car so we spent the entire day at and around the house.  I did get lots of phone calls made and laundry done and boxes unpacked....AND...I made the enchiladas!!! YEA!!!

So I talked with my friend Kristen today.  We made plans to meet up in a couple of weeks once school starts for an adult only lunch...REALLY looking forward to that!  It is so nice to chat with her and we usually talk for about an hour at a time.  I have a friend in Texas....such a happy moment to realize that!

The boys got to watch TV and play outside from time to time.  I got to play Castle with Connor and Joel enjoyed every minute of helping me make the enchiladas tonight.  He was so cute, he would stop the DVR and wait until I was done with each step before pushing "play" again.  He even went back a couple of times so I wouldn't miss the step.  He stood and smelled the sauce the entire time I poured it into the dish.  I am so proud of my little culinary kid!

I was able to unpack some more of the play room today. I am really looking forward to being able to organize some more.  It is a long process of emptying boxes, but I am getting closer and closer to NO boxes and just little things here and there that need a home!

After dinner, David and I watched a show and it was so nice to hang out together.  Joel came down because he couldn't sleep a few times and the final time he came down and I caught him he says, "OK I need to tell you something....I....am NOT normal!"  He was cracking us up!  Bless his little heart.  He sat with David and watched the show then headed back to bed.  Such a cutie pie sometimes!

So there are my happy moments of the day!  Hoping to accomplish all that I need to in order to get us ready for school on Monday!  I can't believe it is here already!  Hopefully everyone is getting ready for the weekend as well!  Friday is ALMOST here!  Have a good night! 

Day 63

Good evening!

Today was a very long day with lots of twists and turns lol.  What is that saying?  "Life happens when you are making plans."  I totally agree.

I dropped my car off to get the hood and other pieces repaired today.  We bought the car with severe hail damage and the hood needs a replacement very badly.  Looking forward to seeing the new one!

The boys and I spent most of our day out and about shopping and getting things to organize the home. I even emptied 3 boxes today!  I have been so tired lately so I am thankful I was able to do that much.

I was able to visit with a friend for a few minutes this afternoon and that gave me the strength to keep going the rest of the day, and boy what a busy rest of the day it was!

I had to get Joel vaccinated today or he would not be assigned a teacher tomorrow.  I KNOW it was only through the grace of God and prayers being sent up every 5 minutes, that I was able to accomplish the almost impossible and get Joel his vaccine in a timely manner and get it faxed off to his new school!  YEA!

After all of that, we picked David up from work and drove to our local taco joint for Taco Tuesday with our neighbors.  They are just some of the best people I know and I am so grateful for them all!  We had so much fun talking and listening to stories about baseball.  I feel truly blessed to have these great neighbors in our lives!  We talked for almost 2 hours before heading back home and it was really nice to get to know our other neighbor who was not there for last week's Taco Tuesday.

Well, it is time for bed!  I WILL....so help me I WILL make those darn enchiladas tomorrow LOL!  David is taking the car to work so we are here and hopefully will get house work, laundry and DINNER all done tomorrow.  Looking forward to being home!  Blessings to all!

Day 62

Happy Monday!

So today was full of errands and some lazy times.  After go go going yesterday in this house, my body was DONE doing too much today.

I had our first cleaning ladies come (they will not be coming back again so the search for some good ones will continue) and the house got cleaner that it was so YEA for that!  It looks so nice now (dining room and play room excluded) and I can see what the rest of the house will look like in time with fixing my hutch and organizing and emptying more boxes!

We headed out and did play time at the local splash park with my new MOPS group today.  It was a great time and I had so much fun meeting the MOPS coordinator, publicity person, table leader coordinator and other people.  I can't wait for my MOPS mornings to begin again!  Joel even made a friend and he was SO cute...the boys were begging for a play date by the end of the play time so hopefully we can do that for them some time really soon.  It was just such a lovely time and it was really good to get together with women and LAUGH....love it!

So the boys and I had lunch at Arby's today.  I haven't eaten there in years and Joel just loved it.  Their roast beef sandwiches really are soft and tasty.

So we came home and the boys settled down with a movie and I literally passed out on my bed.  I was so tired and it felt so good to sleep!
When I woke up, David told me he would run over to the local Papa Murphy's and pick up some pizza for dinner.  I love that man!  While he did that, I went to Joel's school and got him registered for the fall.  So that is done and dinner was done!

We had a great Family Home Evening (meaning the kids listened, participated, and actually sat there for the whole 20 minutes of lesson time!) It was so great and I am thankful that we could learn about keeping God's commandments tonight.

They have some great radio stations here in the Dallas area that play Christian sermons on the Bible.  I just LOVE them!  I learn so much about Bible stories while driving and the boys listen too!  I am grateful for where we live.

So today has come and gone and now it is bed time and we will most likely get to bed before 10!  SUCH a happy moment!  Have a wonderful evening and maybe tomorrow I can finally make those enchiladas.....no really I gotta make them!

Day 61

• So today we unpacked a TON of stuff! The cleaners are coming in the morning and we needed to get this place ready for them to be able to clean something!  We didn't get everything picked up, but enough to have a good first cleaning
• We had to take Connor to the urgent care because he fell on a glass and shattered it and it cut his head....not so happy...but happy that he is alright, no stitches needed and that he didn't hurt himself worse.  He is sleeping tight upstairs and I am SO thankful he is going to be alright!
• The house is looking so much better after picking more up and unpacking.  We are slowly but surely making our house a home!

That is pretty much it for the day!  We worked so hard today.  Today was not exactly a day of rest and I feel badly about that.  I didn't get to make my homemade enchiladas with Joel, but we are doing it tomorrow evening.  Sometimes things happen that you have to stop and give attention to.  I am so thankful my kiddos are ok and healthy and that Connor wasn't hurt any worse than he was.  He was so sweet at the doctor's office and even got a Jake and the Neverland Pirate show sticker for being so brave...made his night!  We got to Skype with my parents and he showed them his owie...so cute.  Have a good night all and here's to a new week of fun before school starts!

Day 60

Happy 2 months all!

Wow, we have lived here for 2 months now!  The house is coming along and by tomorrow, we should have almost all of the boxes that we CAN unpack, unpacked!  My china hutch has a huge crack and shatter spot in the back of the mirror and it needs to be re-stained, so until the mirror in the back gets fixed and it gets stained, the boxes in the dining room will stay where they are...but oh how happy I will be when it is replaced!

So today we unpacked a bunch!  We started out our morning with breakfast made by me.  I am LOVING my kitchen every bit as much as I thought I would!  Cooking for the family and sitting down and eating is just fabulous.  I love that we can sit and talk and that we discuss things.  It is a great time for some good family bonding.

Joel and David were off to a pool party for Joel's primary class and I stayed home and unpacked some more.  I made lists of things I NEED from certain stores (shopping in my head is a happy moment and then actually getting the stuff...bonus!)

This evening we had our neighbor come over and babysit the boys and David and I went on our first date in 3 months!!  It was fantastic and we got to go to a Steakhouse in the Dallas area thanks to my friends back in California who gave me a gift card to the place before I left.  It was a beautiful restaurant and David and I really enjoyed the food!  After the restaurant, we went and saw The Butler at a theater in Dallas.  We felt so blessed to be able to get out tonight and just be the two of us!  It has been so long and we loved talking and eating HOT food!

We are home and now it is time for bed.  I am thankful for the wonderful things of the day.  It feels good to have things hung up on walls and more boxes emptying out of this place!  I am thankful for all the fun family time I had.  It was a blessed Saturday and now I am off to bed!  I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Day 59

Good evening!

Happy Friday to one and all!  This week has been so productive!  We got lots unpacked and were able to have each boy bedroom pretty much put away!

Today was a lazy day.  Connor and I snuggled on the couch almost all morning watching Disney Jr.  Sometimes you just gotta have a day OFF!  After Disney Jr., I got slightly more productive and cleaned up the kitchen and then made a bit of a mess again by finishing making my Italian meatballs.

After Joel and David came home from work and camp, I made homemade meatball sandwiches with salad and green beans.  Everyone enjoyed dinner and the kids love eating the salad and David and I really enjoyed the sandwiches.  The boys did eat the sandwiches so I guess I should take that as a happy moment.  I love making this salad with organic lettuce and then organic broccoli and carrot slaw over the top.  The kids top the salad with dressing and munch all of it right down!  Who says kids don't like eating broccoli?!

I took Ginger on a nice, long, walk tonight.  I got to stop and talk to a couple of neighbors, and I was finally able to meet our one and only next door neighbor (the other house is foreclosed or will be soon we think).  So Ginger and I both got some nice exercise after dinner and we came home and put the boys to bed together.  I love reading each of the kiddos a bed time story.  It is really fun to read them stories that I have already read as a kid and remember the excitement I had back then.  I hope reading to my boys gets them excited about reading on their own!

David and Igot a bit of a date night tonight.  We sat down for an hour and watched a TV show we had DVRd a while back.  It was nice to sit peacefully with him and enjoy the show!

Well, that is all for this Friday.  I am looking forward to the weekend and the happy moments to come.  Chicken Enchiladas from The Pioneer Woman television show for dinner on Sunday!  Joel was watching it and asked if we could make it so I got all of the ingredients and I am really looking forward to cooking with him!  Have a great night all!

Day 58

Happy Thursday!

Friday is almost here.  This week has just zoomed on by.  We started out taking Joel to camp today.  I am sad that tomorrow is his last day, but he has enjoyed it SO much and I am so thankful for the 9-4 break I have had.  I love my kiddos, but sometimes when they get a break from me, I am a better mommy for it.  Connor has had some much needed one on one time and I have been able to play with him, go shopping, and snuggle with him in a fight-free environment....happy moments!

So Connor and I headed upstairs to play this afternoon and he had me looking for some of his pirate toys in my room.  Well, I moved a laundry basket and the tiniest lizard ran out from under it and under my bed!  NOT a happy moment, but Connor and I did have a fun adventure with flashlights trying to find the darn thing.  We did find it at one point, but it was so quick we couldn't find it again!  So help me, if there is a lizard crawling on my at night, I am going to LOSE it!  So happy moment for all of you out there thinking of me screaming my head off at one in the morning because a lizard found a warm spot to hide...my mouth (just picturing that makes me want to scream lol).

Connor and I tried a new grocery store today and we LOVED it!  This place has it all!  They have a salad bar, sandwiches, pizza, coffee store, and bakery all in one area.  The rest of the store is really nice with lots of organic foods!  They also WALKED me out of the store and unloaded the groceries into my car!  By the time I got Connor in the car and buckled, the girl was done loading and off she went with my cart....they do it every time!  How I wish I would have had that service when I had my broken arm!  I used to ask for help on my bad days, but I always felt bad putting someone out by asking for help...this is just part of the job so it isn't anything extra!

So I was SO beat from the day of unpacking more and putting away, we went out to eat tonight.  It was a nice Mexican restaurant on the other side of town and we all enjoyed trying the new place.  The neat thing was the dessert that was a sizzling hot brownie with some vanilla icing/glaze poured over that boiled and bubbled on the hot plate and then vanilla ice cream on top!  The boys loved digging in and trying it.

Well, sleepy time is here so I had better head upstairs and get ready for bed.  I hope everyone has a great Friday and a fun weekend!  We found a babysitter and are going OUT for the night on Saturday night!  We are so excited!  Take care all and have a wonderful evening!

Day 57

Hello out there!

Today was a fantastic day!  It was cooler outside, it rained, and we were outdoors for most of the day so yea for all the wind and cooler weather on the day we were out and about!

We dropped Joel off at his camp today and then headed to the pool for the weekly meet up with church friends.  It was a great day and we had a fun time swimming around and I was so proud of Connor for how far he has come in his swimming!  He jumped into the pool, came up floating, turned around, and swam back to the side all by himself!  It was amazing!  I was right there the whole time of course, but it was so great to see him accomplish that feat all by himself!

After swimming, we came back for lunch and I actually made myself a MEAL for lunch.  I am back on the "I really need to lose weight" wagon and this afternoon I had a meal of red beans and rice and corn bread ALL within my calorie range...it was fantastic!

After lunch, Connor and I took naps!  I got a nap in the middle of the week...that hasn't happen in who knows when and it felt so good to get an hour of blissful sleep!

Tonight we went to a baseball game, our first minor league experience.  Our neighbors, whom we met last night at Taco Tuesday, were there and they invited us to join them in their private seating area.  What a night it was!! We had so much fun getting to know one another and laughing and the boys had an entire area where they could round around.  The boys were each given a ball and they had SO much fun talking to our neighbors and Connor had so much fun lap-hopping from person to person lol.  It was a BEAUTIFUL night outside and we enjoyed the watching the entire game.  So sleepy now but so worth hanging out with our wonderful neighbors and watching a great game!  AMAZING happy moments!
We feel so blessed for meeting some wonderful people who we hope will become good friends.  Looking forward to another fun day tomorrow full of happy moments and Texas memories!

Day 56

Presenting happy moments in bullet form tonight....

• Took Joel to day two of camp and he showed us around and taught Connor some of the fun stuff he had been doing the day before...brotherly bonding...totally adorable!
• Shopped at Target...the whole thing is just one big happy moment for me folks....AND Connor didn't have a melt down and behaved the entire time so BONUS happy moment there!
• Went to my first appointment with my new Rheumatologist.  Now, when I left my previoius one, I cried my eyes out and we hugged, so this person was going to have a VERY tough act to follow!  But she was amazing and sweet and had the same exact ideas about my treatment plan as I did...AND they were able to draw my blood IN the office instead of me heading to a lab, so I feel SO SO blessed to have found this doctor!  Connor was with me and asking questions and telling people "My poor mommy is here because she is sick!" Bless his little heart, it is so hard to describe something that you can't see and is such an abstract disease.  So when I told him Mommy had to go to the doctor he asked, "Are you sick or do you have to just get some shots?" I told him, "Mommy is sick all the time but this doctor helps me be happy and be able to play with you guys." Good enough for a 3 yr old to grasp I hope!  So YEA for finding a very nice replacement for a doctor that I will need for the rest of my life!
• We went out to dinner and did Taco Tuesday with some neighbors and their grown up children tonight.  Joel and Connor had a lot of fun playing on other people's phones and we enjoyed adult conversation.  We are hoping to do it next week as well...such nice people and good food!

Hope all of you are enjoying your week wherever you are and whatever you may be doing.  I want you to know that my life isn't all roses and sunshine.  I feel weird posting happy moments sometimes when the world is falling down all around me.  Some days almost EVERYTHING the entire day goes bad, or I feel so yucky I just don't want to do anything at all but get in bed and never come out.  BUT, I blog the happy moments of my life HERE so I can keep moving forward with a smile and knowing that there were joyful things about my day.  Finding the positive, even in the gloomiest of days (which wasn't today...today was a pretty good day lol) is really important to me.  But I just wanted to share that I DO have really rough moments, I HAVE had some truly horrid things happen since I have moved here, but I cling to the good and get in bed and what do you know? I made it to the next day, and maybe that one isn't as bad as the previous one!  So if you are having a difficult day, or a hard night...just...Find the Joy.  It IS there, I promise :)  Night all!

Day 55

Well, another day is done in the Dallas area and the closets have been installed and they are looking good!

I was able to unpack almost all of my clothes that were still hanging in boxes and put them in their new spots in the closet.  It feels so good to KNOW where my clothes are!  Hunting and pecking for this shirt or those shoes has been INSANE for a month!  I was so happy to be in California because it was all in one room!  Now I have all of my clothes in one room again and in a closet no less...so wonderful!

I was able to put up Joel's pirate decals on his wall in his room and that place is looking SO adorable!  I can't wait to hang up his painting, hang his clothes up, and add the finishing touches.  Then we will officially be ONE room done in this place!

Joel went to science camp today and he did learn about super heroes as well as scientific facts about humans.  He had fun but I know he was a bit disappointed that they will NOT be teaching him to fly.  It makes me so happy he had that big of an imagination.  I told him maybe one day he will get to learn, as an airline pilot...he really liked that idea so kid crisis averted!

It was nice spending the day with just ONE kiddo today and Connor had so much fun playing in the backyard, playing pirates, watching Snow White, eating a McDonald's lunch, and playing with his current favorite toy.  It was nice to have the time to sit down and play and watch with him.  His face absolutely lit up when I pretended to be the bad guy that he beat with his powers....he even does a pretty darn good evil laugh that he wanted me to try.  I am going to enjoy these last weeks of having him to myself and not at preschool.  There is still so much he has to learn, but it sure if fun to just PLAY sometimes!

Tonight we did Family Home Evening on Baptism.  Joel is coming up in just under a year now and we have been talking about it a lot.  It is so great to hear his excitement and be able to answer the questions he has.  I am so proud of his determination and love of Christ.
After Family Home Evening we put on The Princess Bride...it was Joel's first time watching it and Connor went up to bed.  Joel loved it and I am so excited to hear what quotes are going to come out of his mouth from the movie in the coming weeks!  He laughed at the parts that I used to and even jumped with fright at the exact part that I used to as well...I held him close as Fesik through a rock at Westley and it made a banging sound!

Well, the time has come to wrap up another evening here.  Looking forward to tomorrow and getting some more things accomplished!  Night all!

Day 54

Sunday has come and gone once more in our home and I am ready for bed and for a new week!

• We got to church almost on time today and I must say the boys have come a LONG way since the days of either David or myself having to constantly remove them from the chapel for bad behavior.  Now they sit like gentlemen, read books, sometimes listen to the speakers, and eat their packed snacks.  I am grateful for the happy moments that growing children bring!
• We came home and I got a brief nap today and we also went to town organizing the boxes, cleaning the place up a bit and getting the rooms ready for the closet installations in the morning!
• I whipped up a fun meal of crock pot chicken, rice, salad, garlic bread, and some blue cheese dressing from scratch....it actually tasted good! (Yes, me making food for the first time from scratch and having it taste good surprises me every time lol)
• We invited a couple and their adorable kids from church over for dinner and the 8 of us had a great time talking, playing, and getting to know each other better.  It was an amazing evening and they were kind enough to bring us dessert....some of the best dessert EVER!  It was a cream cheese brownie/bar dessert that was out of this world.  It was soft in the middle with a crumbly bottom.  Just yum!  It was so great to be able to enjoy dinner with new friends here and hopefully we can do it many more times!  
• During and after the boys took a bath this evening, we Skyped with my parents.  It was nice to see them and their dog.  David got caught up on all of the recent goings on at my dad's work, and I got to chat with my mom about what has been going on at her church.  The boys also showed them their most recent favorite toy and say some silly things.  I am so grateful for modern technology that keeps us all so close to one another!

Well it is off to bed for now, but this week Joel starts "Super Hero" camp and he is just SURE that they are going to teach him how to fly! I can't wait to hear what he DOES learn there.  Until tomorrow~

Day 53

Evenin Y'all

Well today was a fun day of falootin it around the shopping centers of Texas.  This weekend is tax-free weekend for most back to school and clothes and so we had fun shopping for those things, but there were some must buys for our home as well.

We started off the morning splitting up the kids and the parents so David took Connor for the day and I took Joel....no offense to my little 3 year old, but I was mighty glad I had Joel today.  David had fun with Connor though and they even went to the library and rented a Baby Einstein we actually DON'T own to watch.  Joel and I headed off to a mall nearby with some stores I adore!  We had a blast walking through the stores and bought some hardware for the laundry room at one store and then bought some knick knacks for the house at another store!

We came home and I unpacked and put up some more decorations throughout the house and brought out the knick knacks and put them around the house...our house is becoming a home in some parts and I am so thankful for that.  It makes my heart so happy to look around the house and finally see US around this place!

Tonight I made dinner for us.  Ribs, corn, baked beans and David and the boys created popsicles with our Zoku popsicle maker!  I took off after that and went to the store to buy some food for the week.  I actually made a menu for the week!  I am so thankful to be getting back into a cooking routine now that I have 95 percent of the kitchen unpacked!  Tomorrow we are having friends from church come over and we are so looking forward to a fun dinner and visit together!

Well, as I sit here looking around the house I see my doggie sleeping at my feet with her feet in the air and my feet giving her a belly rub.  She is so cute.  My female cat is curled up asleep on the rug in the family room and my male cat is roaming the kitchen, probably hoping for one last bite of something before bed.  All is quiet and I am so thankful for this home.  Time for bed!  

Day 52

Good evening all!

It was such a fun day today with it being David's Friday off!  He gets every other Friday off and we usually try to plan for some fun things to do with the kids.  Today did not disappoint!

We headed to the mall today to eat lunch at a sushi restaurant.  The boys loved every minute of it and it was so nice to eat a meal with David helping me take care of them....absence really does make the heart grow fonder I tell ya!  After lunch, we headed to the movies to see Planes.  The boys were all snuggled down with us during the movie and I just love watching their reactions to up coming movies.  There is something about movie previews and kids I just really enjoy.  The movie previews usually have the best parts of the movie, or some really quotable moment, and my boys are always willing to turn to me and quote something lol.

After the movie we participated a bit in the Texas Tax-free weekend.  I bought the boys a couple of winter things and we shopped around at Sears.  BIG happy moment of the night was David found an entire sound system with stereo included on clearance for our "Movie Room" upstairs.  I can't wait until the screen arrives and we can watch shows and TV up there!

It was another long day with the kiddos, but I am so thankful we got to be together as a family.  It isn't often I can convince my two boys AND my husband to hang out at the mall with me all day and shop!  It was great!  I am so thankful for my little family and the fun filled shopping day we had.  I just checked in on my kiddos and they are both out cold.  I am so thankful for their cute little faces when they sleep!  Now it is time for my face to be asleep as well, so I bid you all a good night!

Day 51

Well, home and unpacking mostly today.  We did get out for a little bit to run errands, but mostly we hung out and accomplished a lot here.

Later on this evening, I drove over to Trader Joe's and was going to eat dinner without the kids and David.  Well, I forgot my wallet ALL the way back at home, so my wonderful husband drove it out to me, hung out with the kids while I ate dinner, then drove home with them.  I got to eat dinner with my family after all this evening and it turned out to be a cute, happy, moment!

Shopping at Trader Joe's was fantastic!  I haven't been there in a while and I love that place.  It was an added happy moment to shop alone so I got done faster and then I headed home.  I made it home in time for bed time hugs and kisses....always a happy moment there!

So now I am super sleepy and ready for bed.  Hope all of you had a day full of accomplishing tasks with an added bonus of finding joy!

Mon-Wed or days 48-50

Well, time in California has come to a close and I am now home in the Dallas area!

Happy to be home but I will miss everyone in California.  It was SO wonderful to see so many people and really get to say goodbye.

• We had a great time Monday going to the Safari Park in San Diego and the kids loved watching the animals.  They laughed as they watched birds swim.  They were in awe of the cheetah and really enjoyed walking around and looking at the different animals.  I had such happy moments there as I had flashbacks EVERYWHERE of my little 6 month old Joel on the old tram, or eating pudding with baby Joel.  Going to the bird shows, having Joel on David's shoulders walking around.  I remember one of the first times we saw the male lion laying up against the glass area.  You could FEEL the warmth coming off this animal as you pressed your hand to the plexi-glass and knew that was the ONLY thing separating you and this giant cat!  I remember taking Connor there for the first time and all of the fun we had with baby Connor watching the the little animals.  It was great to be there and watch how grown my kiddos are now, but they still loved the carousel ride and now they look at maps and help me navigate!
• On Tuesday we went to Seaworld with my sister, her daughter, and her daughter's friend.  We had such a great time there as well!  Joel was about 6 months old the first time we took him there as well.  I TREASURE all of the summertime memories we have of Joel and Connor at Seaworld for so many years!  They had so much fun petting dolphins, riding almost ALL of the rides there, feeding Mantas, watching the great shows, and I enjoyed watching their faces through all of it.  There is nothing like going and doing things you did as a child and doing it with your kids and watching their faces!  They LOVE the shows and they laughed so hard at all of the silly jokes!  I had such a great time with my sister and it was nice to be able to spend some wonderful quality time with her talking and laughing.  It was such a fun day as well and I am grateful for all of the happy moments made at Seaworld!
• Wednesday we ate breakfast with a friend from our old neighborhood.  The boys had a nice time playing with her son and eating pancakes.  It was really nice to catch up with a wonderful friend (especially since she was my original muse behind this whole "happy moment" journey.)  I know you read this blog all of the time Jen, so thank you for the wonderful happy moments in California!  After packing all of our belongings and getting airport ready, we headed to lunch with my parents and ate at one of our favorite local lunch spots.  It was fantastic as usual and we had a really nice last visit with my parents.  At the airport, we arrived about an hour and a half early, but we found a place to plug in the dvd player and watched dvds and I let the kids run around an area of empty gates to get their energy out!

The best happy moment of Wednesday was coming HOME to my husband's arms and getting in our car and being greeted by our doggie.  We are so grateful to be home and to have had some amazing moments in California.  Now on to the Dallas JOY journey and hopefully many more happy moments to come here!

Day 47

Happy Sunday!

Today was a day of church and then naps...AH how I love a good Sunday nap!  Getting to church was entertaining.  Connor has been wearing Joel's pirate gear NON stop for the past couple of days.  He kept trying to negotiate with me either the hat or the sash lol.  I finally told him he could wear it ALL after church and so he conceded to let me get him dressed!

We came home and had a nice Sunday lunch together and I got to talk to the boys about what they learned at church.  Then we all went down for naps and I loved every minute of it!

After naps, we woke up and tried to go to one of our favorite restaurants here in California for dinner but alas, they were out of the most important ingredient so we ended up going to another restaurant I really wanted to get to on our trip here as well!  So it all ended with a happy moment!

The boys went right to bed and I got to watch a new show that is hysterical with my mom!  It is a game show where one person has an ear piece and famous people tell them to do silly things to earn money...we laughed so hard!

I am grateful for our beautiful Sabbath day here in California.  We miss David though!  Looking forward to being back with him and cooking a big meal next Sunday!  Hope all of you enjoyed the beautiful day as well! Blessings!

Day 46

Hello all!

 What a beautiful day it was today!  So many happy moments happened so let's get down to them!

Today was Joel's last day of Ocean Camp and it was "Dress like a pirate" day.  We had so much fun earlier in the week purchasing a few things from Target to make his outfit complete.  It turned out SO cute!


SEE?  I was so pleased that we dressed him up like a pirate on a budget!  Some of the kids were in some serious pirate attire, and others didn't have anything on at all.  Joel was in the middle but the look on his face says it all!

Connor and I met up with a friend at the Irvine Spectrum for lunch.  She has been my Pampered Chef rep and dear friend for YEARS now.  She is the one friend who has seen me go through it ALL for the last 7 years of life and has been so kind and helped me through a lot.  We had the best lunch and walked around.  Connor was SO excited to see her because we usually meet up as of late at Disneyland.  Hopefully we can do that during Christmas time when we come back here!

After our day of fun in Irvine, we headed down to my dad's work to see if he was there.  He wasn't, but a friend from a LONG time ago in the first Ward that Joel was born in was there with her 3 sons!  We had THE best time catching up, talking, discussing life, sharing about what has been going on, her telling me about other people in the ward, and talking about our boys.  It was so nice to spend time with someone I saw unexpectedly!  She was always one of the kindest, sweetest, people in our ward and she still is so so kind.  Such a happy moment to hug and talk!

This evening I went to the movies with my parents while Joel and Connor had a babysitter.  It was a really funny movie and a really nice movie theater!  It was good to just relax and laugh and spend some quality time with my parents!  AND I ran into my old neighbor who recently got married so I had fun catching up with him for a few minutes!

Well, this has been such a fun filled day of people and I am so thankful for the many happy moments that left me with a smile on my face tonight!  Have a good night and I hope many more happy moments to come tomorrow!

Day 45

WOW, haven't been up this late in a while!  Alright, bullet happy moments then bed for me!

• Getting to hear all about Joel's day at ocean camp today.  He got to go out on the ocean on a boat and saw dolphins and a grey whale...I still remember my first time seeing a whale...I was SO excited for him and he was so talkative about it!
• Spending the most amazing quality time with my mom and Connor at Pretend City today.  Connor's face absolutely lit up as he showed his Grandma this or that and he gave her the biggest hug and kiss for bringing us there...a moment I will treasure for a long time.
• Connor went down for a nap today and woke up happy!
• I spent HOURS out at a mom's night out at an Italian restaurant with my friends.  We laughed, ate, and ate, and laughed some more.  I am SO thankful for this amazing group of ladies in my life and I just want to ADD to them when I get back to Texas!  Can't wait to see who will be game for Mom's night in Texas!

I am super sleepy but super happy tonight.  It was such great fun to just relax and not have the looming MOVE to Texas over my head this time.  I have been able to enjoy myself knowing where my home is and that my husband is happy and safe back in Texas.  Y'all have a good night and catch ya tomorrow!