Sunday, January 9, 2011

A new year, full of new things!

First, b/c I forgot to show them last time I blogged, here is a pic of the little project the girls and I did as christmas gifts for the grandparents this year. So cute, right?? Not perfect by any stretch, but it's not supposed to be perfect when made my 3&4 yr olds :)








We have been having a lot of trouble with getting Joslyn to sleep. We finally made her this little pallet in our room, so on the nights she does wake up, she can still come to our room but not in our bed! They were both in it one morning, so I snapped this pic :)

This just cracked me up. I was folding laundry on the bed, and looked up and what do I see? Joslyns fur real kitty, "lulu" was spying on me. Life is never boring around here :D


Since we have had so much trouble with escaping dogs around here, I finally got smart and ordered tags. How cute are these?!?!



Joslyn finally got to start gymnastics last week!!! She was so excited about it. I went back and forth a lot trying to decide whether or not to let her. But in the end, I cancelled my own fitness center membership, and we made it work. It was so worth it, to see this smile on her face:

In other news, my dear friends Wendy and Tamara, and myself, have started the couch to 5k fitness program. Yes, that's right, my fat behind gets out there in the cold and runs. I admit, it is not in any way enjoyable. I hurt, it's cold, I'm sure I look ridiculous. But for some reason, I just had to do this. I haven't done any sort of strenuous exercise (well, besides chasing after 2 kids) in the 5.5 years since I was diagnosed with lupus. Yeah, I've been scared. I mean, just taking a shower sometimes leaves me in pain, I didn't want to know what it would be like to really push myself. But ya know, for 5.5 years now, things haven't really changed. I haven't gotten any better. So maybe this is just how i'm going to feel for the rest of my life. And if so, does that mean i'm just going to be scared to do anything strenuous, for the rest of my life? My dream is to take the girls to Disney world. I have never been, so I admit it's a bit of a dream for me too. A very far off dream of course, as half the time we can barely pay the bills. But say we do get there by some chance, do I really want my kids to see me have to drive around the park on a scooter? No way. I want to walk, I want to ride, I want to enjoy every bit of it the way people are meant to. I may never run a 5k. But, I can prove to myself that I am not helpless, and that I am still at least a little bit strong! I am just so thankful to have some amazing friends at my side.
Oh, in other new news, I got another job! Well, job is a relative word here. Position might be a better description? Our church is just overflowing, with big people and little people! Our preschool area is huge and includes kids from ages 2-4. The church decided that the 2 yr olds, being the neediest among them, needed their own "leader" to take care of planning etc of the classes. I was approached by the director and asked if I wanted to take this position, and I said yes! I'm still pretty sure she only asked me, b/c she knew I was the only person crazy enough to accept such a task :) I also work with this age kids at MDO. I feel good about it though. These kids deserve to have the absolute best care, and I hope to be able to help give them that. We have a lot of new ideas that I am so excited about! The only bad thing is I will no longer be able to work with the babies in the nursery. I will miss the nursery crew a lot! I had been working there for about a year now and had gotten used to being around all of them.
Random tangent time:
I know, that to some, my blog probably seems a lot different than others. It's not all just pretty pictures of my kids and home, or cute stories about the things we have done. I totally see some people's reason for wanting to have that kind of blog. To be able to look back and see all these happy things. For me, personally, my blog is a way to share all aspects of my life. My feelings, good and bad. Things that we go through in our daily lives. Things that make me smile, laugh, cry, and scream. I don't think I have really ever been a "put on your happy face!!!!!" type of person. Yes, I believe in being positive, and I trust in God to take care of me and give me what I need in life. But I also believe that life can be very frustrating, and that sometimes, it just feels like it downright stinks. I was reading my cousin's blog today, and her words just summed up my thoughts so well. She wrote that "believing in God doesn't constitute a perfect life, but one that gives us hope." And "it's OK to not appear to the world to have a squeaky clean slate. We will never be squeaky clean if we believe God is constantly molding us, shaping us, and loving us the way we are right now." She said all this to say yes, someday I will show my children this blog, and they will see that things were not always perfect. We had good times and bad. But her children will know, that their parents loved them so much, that they were willing to fight through whatever they had to, to give their children the best life they could.
All that to say, I'm sure some read my blog and think " wow, she's really saying that publicly? Doesn't she know what people will think????" Yes, and yes :) B/c this blog is my truth. This blog is my real life. And I am thankful that anyone at all is interested in reading it! :)
Love to all-Jasmin :)
PS: ummmm, it has been brought to my attention by several people that my blog does not allow comments. Being the not technologically savvy person that I am, I have no idea how to fix that. Eventually, when I feel the urge, I'll change my layout and hopefully that will fix it?