multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts":

1779. Christmas picture taken, cards ordered, cards in-hand and waiting to be stuffed . . . and it's still November!
1780. a fresh haircut on my VERY shaggy first-born
1781. Joey leading his class in the pledge at Grandparent's Day ::
1782. safe travels, despite van troubles
1783. seeing deers in ditches :: not on the roads!
1784. our baby girl loving on her grandpa even though it had been nearly half her life since last she saw him
1785. family
1786. boots & skirts {my favorite combo!}::1787. a great family Thanksgiving program following the yummy meal
1788. a nice post-dinner walk
1789. a breath-taking sunset
1790. so very much to be thankful for!
1791. grown-up dinner . . . and kids old enough to take care of themselves {the joy of 13 cousins together in the house with no adults in site!}::1792. hand-in-hand walk with grandpa ::1793. new power tools!
1794. home again {and safely, praise God!}
1795. a good Nancy Drew mystery to pass the time
1796. a letter from Melvin {our Compassion kiddo} waiting for us when we arrived home :: something else to be thankful for!
1797. a great church close enough to walk to when the van won't cooperate to get you to your own church on a Sunday morning
1798. a pretty successful 4th-grade-girl intervention
1799. being in touch with your feelings ::

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

flashback friday

Thanksgiving 2008::

The Stoll side of the family::
Kirby's parents, their 4 kids {& spouses} and 13 grandkids
{Kirby & his older sister must be taking the pictures because they are missing, but all the rest of the 23 family members are present and accounted for, plus a few dolls even.}

thankful thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

A day all about being thankful. How great is that? I heard someone say recently, though :: "Thanksgiving isn't a holiday, it's a way of life." I try to live that one out each day. I sure do mess it up quite often, but I keep trying! How much more wonderful would the world be if everyone made thanksgiving a way of life?

Today marks 6 years exactly since my father-in-law had a major stroke :: sitting in his favorite recliner, surrounded by his kids and grandkids {most of them, anyway} in the afterglow of Thanksgiving dinner. It's a moment I don't think I'll ever forget.

Here he is on Thanksgiving Day 2008, 2 years {exactly} after his stroke. {Isn't he cute? I've always been especially fond of him. It's hard to believe I've known him for nearly 20 years already :: I first met him in early 1992, if I remember correctly -- a couple months before I met my mother-in-law}::
Life can make MAJOR changes in a single moment, without a bit of warning.

So be thankful today. Be thankful FOR today. Be thankful with your whole life.

We are thankful to still have my father-in-law with us. Thankful for these 6 years that we realize have been a gift. Life hasn't been the same for him since that day, but he's still here. We still love him! We are so thankful to have him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts":

1767. a table full of men at the Y :: Bibles open, studying together
1768. sweet baby girl sound asleep :: little bum sticking up in the air
1769. a good book :: oh how I love a good book!
1770. an early morning walk to start a Saturday :: especially wonderful when the destination is a coffee date with a girlfriend
1771. our first dusting of white
1772. kids playing outside in the snow
1773. crafting up a storm
1774. my dad cutting up TONS of wood for me so I can keep workin' away
1775. my favorite church service of the year
1776. good customer service
1777. a celebration of a wonderful life lived for the Lord :: meaningful service for Gordy Peterson, a wonderful friend of our family {he and is beautiful wife, Gladys, were in charge of the guest book at our wedding; we were so happy to have them be a part of our big day and are glad to know they are together again in heaven now! Praise God!}
1778. that everyone has boots, coats and snowpants that fit {and hopefully will fit ALL winter long!} :: snow gear x 6 is a really big ordeal!

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

flashback friday

November 2005

thankful thursday

I'm so thankful, lately, for our chiropractor. I started going a while back for some pain in my shoulder. He worked with me for a month or so and when I was still in pretty nasty pain {you know, the kind that makes your eyes water} he suggested I get a MRI. I did and it revealed that I somehow tore my labrum, which is the cartilage in your shoulder. I have an appointment with an orthopedic shoulder specialist coming up to see whether some physical therapy could help me at all or if I'll have to have shoulder surgery. Anyway, back to the thankful part :: during the time I was seeing him for my shoulder Lydia's migraines had become more frequent and she was pretty miserable, so I asked him about it. Now he has started seeing her, and although it's too soon to tell at this point, I think between the adjustments and a few other changes we've made at home on his suggestion we can trust she'll experience less frequency and less intensity of headaches in the future. Also, Sara has started seeing him too, since she's had quite the history of ear infections. She's already had the first full night of sleep in her life {my kids are never great sleepers until they're at least one though, no matter what we try!} since we started taking her to him, so that's a big perk. Overall she just seems happier and more mellow too, so that's fabulous and we trust he has something to do with that. So, if you live nearby and need a chiropractor, you should give Eric Lund a call.

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts":

1759. $20 found on the ground and no one in sight who may have lost it
1760. IKEA
1761. fun times at the Children's Museum
1762. backyard fires still in mid-November::1763. tree-climbing girls
1764. a good 6.23K walk/run as a family on Saturday morning (even though I walked 25% of the race at the pace of a 3-year-old who didn't want to ride in the stroller, we didn't come in dead last)
1765. a fun, much-needed, laughter-filled dinner with girlfriends
1766. finishing a great book during my workout this morning

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

flashback friday

one of my favorite oldies::

clearly not the best picture ever :: a little heavy on the floral couch.
jacob (3), rebekah (15 months) & lydia (less than a month)
what a trio

and, i can't help but mention :: happy 11.11.11 to you

can you feel the love hate?

It's a terrible afternoon :: the kids came home in a funk -- for lack of a better term. Anna had been SUPER needy today {like, as in, I couldn't look away from her or go to the bathroom or feed Sara or do anything without her demanding my undivided attention}. Plus she was tired and whiney. When the big kids walked through the door the "fun" really started :: Doors slamming. Stomping up the stairs, the kind of stomping that leads to fear that the house might, literally, fall apart. Yelling. {Oh, the yelling.} Tantrum throwing. Glasses bent {I think, intentionally} in a fit of rage. Throwing things. Screaming. Crying.

The crying may have been just me, I didn't stick around long enough to find out.

I went outside and sat on the steps leading to the basement {in the cold} and cried and prayed. But it followed me. Even from out there I could hear yelling and stomping and slamming. From outside! Even from outside I could feel the hate oozing out from the house. I hope and pray it's not really hate. I don't think it is. But it sure does feel like it.

I know no one has perfect kids, but in my mind other kids aren't this bad. They aren't this bratty. They aren't this needy. They aren't this whiney or jealous or moody or angry or disrespectful or mean-spirited.

Maybe I'm the one who is off-kilter. Maybe it's because of the constant, often intense pain of my messed up shoulder that I'm extra moody or sensitive. Sometimes I just feel like, clearly, I'm doing something wrong {if not, everything} because these people I'm trying hard to raise are a complete mess. I know deep down that they're not a complete mess, but I sure would appreciate it if they weren't quite so "messy" {literally and figuratively, I might add!}.

Alright, I'll quit now. Just keepin' it real.

thankful thursday

I feel like I've said this every Thursday for months, but I am so very thankful for the amazingly beautiful fall we've had. The leaves are glorious. The air has been crisp, but not too cold. Anna still goes out to play with bare feet {which makes me cold just looking at her, but she says she's fine.} The kids walk to school at 8:15 with nothing more than a sweatshirt, and front yard football is still going strong. This is Minnesota, so I know that the yucky stuff is inevitable :: sub-zero temperatures, snow that was novel in December driving you nutty by April, scraping frost off car windows and being cold even with 7 layers of clothing on. Last night we had our first hint of flurries and this morning was a chilly one with coldish air coupled with wind, but I'll sure have enjoyed our nearly-mid-November-and-still-snowless fall. Fall is, after all, my favorite season, hands down!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts":

1743. leaves raining down
1744. the beauty of frost-covered lawns all glittery in the sunshine
1745. a wonderful husband :: just perfect for me
1746. a discouraging diagnosis :: but through it are the only paths to an explanation for the pain and hope of healing
1747. sharing a slice of Costco pizza with my very favorite person in the world for lunch to refuel after pushing around that REALLY heavy cart on our Costco run that we got to take together
1748. good books
1749. writing letters to Melvin {our Compassion child}
1750. traveling mercies
1751. long awaited hugs::
1752. face-aching, side-splitting laughter
1753. a "full tank"
1754. time with my parents :: just the 3 of us
1755. kissing the faces of my kiddos as they slept
1756. a house full {nearly bursting} with teenagers
1757. listening to Jacob talk about what he learned about sin at the youth rally
1758. the grace of everyday. that we are alive. that we have the chance to live this glorious life. it could so easily be different.

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

flashback friday

Since just the 3 of us are spending some time together today, I thought a picture of when it was just the 3 of us would be appropriate. The Carlson family, circa 1976. Aren't we a handsome bunch?

thankful thursday

I am thankful for my parents. They are wonderful and such a blessing to me, to us as a family and, I know, to lots of other people too! Tomorrow morning I head out of town for just under 48 hours with my mom and dad to attend a conference in Illinois with my mom. I'm excited! I'm so thankful for the chance to get to go. I am thankful, too, for Kirbs, who is excited for me to go and willing to hold down the fort while I'm gone. I am thankful for the full night sleep I plan to get {unless one of my parents needs something in the middle of the night, that is!}, for the chance to grow and learn, to hear some fabulous speakers {one, in particular, that I'm especially excited about} and go be filled up. After having the weekend on the calendar for months and months, I'm really looking forward to it and can't believe it's finally here . . . already {I know the finally and the already seem to be opposites, but isn't that how life is?} . . . less than 24 hours now. Whoo Hoo!

Boo! {the return of the cow}

A little review of some fall fun. Not a penny was spent on any of it {well, I guess that's not completely true, my mom did buy Rebekah that mask at the dollar store}. We borrowed. We dug in the dress up box. We were imaginative. Even at the last minute there were costume changes going on. Even the pumpkins were free! A fun night was had by all, and if you're short on candy come on over. We've got MORE than enough to share. Yikes!

Wonder Woman::

NBA guy::

pumpkins::

Spidey::

The whole crew of spooks::

Mooo {year two in the cow costume for Sara -- last year she was swimming in it at 3 weeks old}::

Dorothy {and Toto}::

A witch or some such thing::

Our 6 + 2 of our favorite "extras" who can quite often be found at our house and often come places with us too. They're both part of the family at this point. You gotta love it when a kid is comfortable enough at your house to just open the fridge and help themselves! Plus we joke that Ev and Joe are going to get married some day, since they have fought like crazy since Joe was old enough to walk. Love all those kiddos::

The welcome committee at our back door::