Things I take for Granted- Post Six

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved to read.  She loved it so much she took advantage of it.  The end. 
In reality though, I have so many books that I have read and loved, and have forgotten that not everybody has read to many wonderful books as well.  I love how I can escape for a couple hours from Boise, Idaho and attend Hogwarts, the Battle School, Mr. Bingley's Ball, or the largest dump in Cambodia. 
The way I regretfully spend my life some weeks with out touching a single spine is why I feel I take advantage of it. So many of my books have left an impression on me.  They have helped me to understand the circumstances and minds of people in many different situations, to recognize the blessings that I have in my daily life and how to make the best out of even some of the hardest trials.

My overly crowded and messy book shelf

Books are taken for granted.  The ability to read is taken for granted.  The ability to be able to read the books that are in the world is taken for granted. 

Things I take for Granted- Post Five

When William and I were married we came home to a full-size bed.  Which with William's height means sleeping corner to corner.  There wasn't much room for me. :)  Shortly after my sister donated a queen bed she had access to.  What a blessing!  We obviously were not going to be picky as we were poorish newlyweds.  I was so excited after setting it up, I jumped on it and hit my head.  This was EXTRA-Firm.
Fast forward through moving 2 times and 5 years of college.  William and I bought a pillow top King Size bed.  HOLY COW!  Was this heaven or what!  It has been a little over 2 years since we bought this beauty.  And I have taken it for granted.  As Thanksgiving nears with the possiblity of guests staying down in the guest room I went down to change sheets on our old bed and decided to lay down while the boys were behaving in the toy room next door.  MY GOODNESS!  How on earth did we sleep on it!? 
So, I feel very blessed for my huge comfy bed that fits me, William and all 3 boys cuddled around us without to much maneuvering.
Do you take advantage of your bed? 

Things I take for Granted- Post 4

Today, I realized that I have taken advantage of having a dog.  Yep.  Our dog Koa, is taken advantage of almost everyday. 

This 100 lb Chocolate Lab is climbed on, pounded by tiny fits (petting) and is called upon at all hours of the day to clean up the floor in the kitchen and the dining room.  We force him to pick up all the macaroni noodles, the scattered cheerios and even the remnants of steak when dinner is over.  A "Suffrage for Dogs" movement needs to be started in this house.
I have knowledge of some families (even larger than ours) where they don't have a dog.  Those Mom's and Dad's get the time of their life cleaning up Jell-o and sliced hotdogs all by themselves. 
In reality, Koa is such a fixture in our home as a family member that even though I wasn't a fan of a dog the same height as my 3 year old running through the house when we brought him home, now I can't imagine not having him here to protect Sam and Dallin from the horrible Monster Mama, greet them as they get off the bus, or clean up the popcorn as we watch a family movie.

Things I take for Granted- Post Three

In our part of the world, October and Early November is hunting season.  For the months before I take for granted the fact that my husband shaves nearly every Sunday before church.  That combined with me not having a haircut day for about 3 months turned my husband into this:

                                                          Boom!  Caveman or Hobo!
In celebration of the end of hunting season as the sun set on November 9th we did a little work on this mess.  And then with a little shave (okay 30 minutes in front of the mirror and a clogged sink) I received this as a present on Sunday:

                                                                    Mr. Debonair
Too bad we didn't think of beforehand to go do some mysterious deed.  Grateful for the return of my engineer husband. :)

Things I Take for Granted- Post Two

My boys have a steady bedtime.  Every school night between 8 and 8:30 they are in bed.  For the weekends it is between 8:30 and 9.  They also always wake up at the same general time every morning.  This is a great blessing I realized I take advantage of after having some additional young children staying over the last 2 nights.  Like now.  9 pm and the only one in bed is my little Matt.  Off to go encourage the other 2 biological ones to sleep and flat out beg two not so biological ones to do the same.

Things I take for granted. Post One

I love how I can hand Sam a cookie.  And while he takes a bite I hand him a second one and say "Give this to Dallin."  As soon as the cookie touches his palm he runs to the room Dallin is in shouting "Dallin, here!"  The same is with Dallin.  I handed him 2 bowls of popcorn to bring upstairs while the boys watched a movie. "One is for you and one is for Sam."  So I have heard, it is not the same matter in other houses.  I love my boys!

Family Update!

Our year so far has been mainly uneventful.  We were all sick with the flu within the first week but since then we have been tip top.
William has been doing well at work and had his end of year performance review where his boss said that he had been an excellent employee. Not just good, but excellent.  We hope that means that he will get a raise.  William also got a calling in our new ward this month.  He is a team teacher for the CTR 7 class with another brother in the ward.  They are quite the group, 5-6 boys every week with one girl that joins them when she is having a weekend with her Mom.  It is a very... exuberant class.  In January William also turned the big Three Zero.  We had a fiesta and had a few friends and family members over.  It was quite the party.  The food was obviously the center piece with the pinata coming in second.  William got a brand new office chair for his birthday. After 10 years of his old one it was time for an upgrade.  After the party Tom, Tammy and ourselves went to Tucano's to celebrate.  It may just become the annual double date for us so that Tammy and William can get their free birthday meal. 
Erin has been working on New Year's resolutions.  She came in $10 under for the grocery budget in January.  She also is another 4 weeks further along in her goal to have a baby this year (why not have one goal that you know is going to be said and done for sure?). On Saturday she accompanied her family on a trip to Twin Falls to see her brother Justin go through the Temple for his endowments.  He is leaving for the Atlanta, Georgia North mission on Feb 22nd.  Erin has also been trying out a lot of new recipes from Pinterest. It is nice to have a few new recipes to liven up the menu.  Erin is also working on figuring out the layout of our garden now that we have ordered seeds.  We can't wait to have fresh veggies to pick and snack on at will. 
Sam started public preschool 4 days a week in January in addition to having his Montessori preschool 3 times a week.  He is a very busy boy and has adjusted to a full day with out any naps.  We can see so many improvements as he spends more time away from home learning from his trained teachers.  His words are becoming clearer.  He also is more willing to repeat words that we ask him too.  He calls William, Papa, instead of Mommy.  He is also learning how to share and follow directions better.  He is such a big helper and always wants to help us in the kitchen or with cleaning up the house.  One of his nightly tasks is helping to set the table.  He is so strong and he knows it too. 
Dallin is always in a hurry.  He runs everywhere he goes and knows when he is getting into trouble.  When Sam is gone at school he has a hard time staying out of trouble.  He just had his 18 month check up today and was a whopping 26 lbs and has a very steady growth range.  He got to shots, whined for a little bit and by the time I got his pants back on he was running down the hall giggling at the large stuffed animals.  He tends to copy cat whatever Sam does.  So when Sam runs through the kitchen and into the bedroom Dallin takes off after him.  Our dog Koa is his best friend when Sam is gone.  It is very entertaining to watch them stand at the front window together.  Dallin will start shouting and then Koa will start barking as a car passes or somebody walks by. 
Our friend that lives upstairs, Amanda, is a big part of our life.  To help us out she does the dishes and watches the boys if I need to go to an appointment or go pick up Sam from preschool.  She has been struggling with life in general for the last year, and just this weekend things started looking up.  She has gotten a job as a paralegal for a reputable LDS lawyer here in Boise.  She is the boys Aunt Amanda, and it is always fun to see them interact. 
As a family, we made a bunch of snacks and watched the Super Bowl last night.  Nobody was routing for a team, but we had fun listening to Sam as he shouted "GO!" at the T.V. while he waited for the teams to snap the ball.  Dallin was a big fan of Amanda's puppy chow (muddy buddies) and constantly had white hands and a powdery mouth.  As far as commercials go, we all got a kick out of the M&M's commercial the most.

If this post seems a bit... odd, it is because I adapted it from our family newsletter.  It really does do a good job of letting you know where and what our family is doing.