It's happened again..

And so it seems that life goes on and I don't get to my computer enough. Well, I do, I just don't get to do the things I would *like* to. I keep saying I'm going to make more "me time." Has that happened? Not so much... But plenty more has!

On July 18th, we lost an incredible man.... An. Incredible. Man. I'm so grateful to have witnessed the passing of my father in law from our hands into His. It was an awful day, one I will never forget, but one I will cherish forever. He is at peace. And knowing that, we should be too. So we are all working on that.

As I sit at my computer, doing things I *want* to do tonight (buying on Amazon), I think to myself, "Am I really buying for Christmas right now?" It's crazy! Where did this year go? Heather has turned 16, Gia is 6 months and I'm planning Sophie's 3rd birthday party! I used to think that Don's traveling would make my weeks go by so slowly. It has, however, made for long weeks at times, but has done nothing but speed things up. When he is home, we work so hard to catch up on things as a family. Even when that means spending the afternoon shopping together (he loves that--NOT) or getting the babies to bed so the big ones (we include Heather) can watch a movie or play a dumb game (Mexican Train or Life).

I hate sounding cheesy, or worse, to use this blog to make others think our life is so glamorous or easy. It's not. Things are not easy. Life is not glam. But it is ours. It is our busy day. It is our long week. It is ours. I can't tell you how proud I am, that though I do not have time to catch up on my DVR shows, Sophie says the Our Father every night and thanks Jesus for all that is wonderful in her life. To her...that's her family. She does include her friends, but her list of "thank you's" goes on forever as she includes EVERY relative and EVERYTHING they have done for her (even if that means just having visited us). Heather makes sure we pray before every meal...EVERY MEAL! She's usually the first to sit down at the dinner table, but she waits for the rest of us (usually not without huffing a few times) so we can sit together and pray before she starts shoveling.

My father in law was not the most outwardly religious man. Perhaps we might never know about his relationship with God. And that's not important. What is important is that, in his passing, though we are all working on our grieving, my family has certainly turned to our faith to help understand and cope with being left behind. Have we skipped a couple of Sundays here and there? Yes. I confess. But we are working on that too! ;)

So now that the holidays are upon us (oh yes, they are upon us), I am making my list and checking in twice. But this time, I am working on giving thanks and paying it forward. When Sophie is in trouble, she says, "Mom are you happy?" and I usually respond with, "No, Sophie, it doesn't make me happy when you don't listen to Mommy." She does this, I think, to irritate me! But recently, I have changed my answer. I respond with, "Sophie, I have 3 healthy girls and my honey works hard for all of us! Yes, I am the happiest Mommy there is!" She looks at me funny and says, "Ok Mommy?!" Does it stop her from doing whatever she is doing that bothers me? No. But at least it doesn't grouch up my mood and put a damper on my day. After all, in the scheme of things....is a playdough in my carpet a big deal (uuuuuuugh!!!) Not so much!

So here's to the holidays! Here's to a Thanksgiving of doing just that. Giving thanks...and letting those around me know how much they mean to me. Life is busy. But I'm so in love with it.


{Please excuse the stream of thoughts in this blog. As I "preview" it, I realize it's pretty random. But this is it for today.}