Proprioceptive

Word of the Day!! While looking up preschool activities for the Littles I came across a word I wasn't familiar with... so I looked it up! :)

Now you can too!

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/proprioceptive

Heck Yes!

(Click on the picture so you can read it.)

 :) LOVE this story!!

My New Year's Resolution

I realize that January is almost over but I finally settled on a NYR that I like. Usually I do a ton of them because I like goals and setting out what I want to accomplish is important to me, but this year I am focusing on only one. One very big (to me) very hard (for me) Resolution.

2012: Learn to say NO and STOP being a doormat.

I have already stood up for myself three time this month alone. It is hard, and it is not being received well. Just tonight I almost caved to a 12 year who likes to bully me into things, but I didn't let him win. I remembered that I was going to stand up for myself. Going to buy donuts, at dinner time, in a car I don't like or trust is not something I am going to do tonight. Suck on that bitches.

That last sentence is completely necessary, I assure you. :)

just because

Family Dinner

Like a lot of people I know, our family sits down to have family dinner around our dining table every night, well... with very few exceptions (movie/pizza night or if I am driving to pick up/drop off kids). It's not something we've always done as a family, but it's a great tradition, one that all the experts agree is an important bonding time for children that helps them in many areas of life.

I don't like it.

It's stressful and it's a ton of extra work.

Tonight I didn't feel like setting the table. I didn't want to make small talk that turned into a battle of who was right about whatever insignificant thing someone felt like arguing about. I didn't want to pretend to be interested in the newest video game character -- whose name I can't pronounce. I didn't want to remind the boys to stop (for 1,000th time) trying to correct the little kids.

I didn't want to do it.

So, I didn't.

We ate around the kitchen counter. 

We prayed together and then I let kids come and go as they pleased.  I set out a stack of paper plates and a pile of silverware. People came, they ate, they left.

I didn't like it either.

Oh well! :) It's no surprise the really good and important family things we need to do in life are hard to achieve. I will probably be proud that I was able to provide the 'family dinner time' stability for our family once everyone is grown up. Haha. So tomorrow night we will have dinner at the dining table like usual. But I think we are going to change the dynamic of it. No more "how's was your day?" random questions. I am going to do this:  

http://www.howdoesshe.com/christmas-present-to-our-readers

With some of my own questions and my faves from here:

http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/blogs/150-family-dinner-discussion-topics

And it's going to be fun!!! Who knows, maybe someday soon I will look forward to dinner time. :)

Zombies vs Mom

I am losing the fight for sleep against these "zombies" of Quinn's dreams... and last night was the worst. I managed to get only 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep and it was sandwiched between Marley and Quinn on a less than comfortable twin matress.

Poor little guy, he was so scared. He woke up screaming for me... "Mom, where are you?! Please find me Mom!!" When I picked him up he was shaking and with wide-open, terrified eyes told me zombies were coming out of the play clothes trunk so I reminded him that I have superpowers and zombies, monsters and bad guys are scared of mommies [trying to convince him they don't exist doesn't work, it just makes him upset]. He said ok, and asked me not to leave him. So he curled up next to [practically under] me. I thought that would be enough of a safe and secure environment for him and we'd get to sleep til morning. Not the case this time. Every noise in the house freaked him out. He'd squeeze me, start shaking and tell me the zombies were back. I'd describe the sound he heard and then tell him what made the noise, "Nope, nothing is there the _____ sound you heard was ... kenzie walking around upstairs ... uncle Brad moving around in his bed ... my tummy rumbling ... marley snoring ... the toilet flushing. This went on for about 3 hours. I held him and sang about 10 primary songs [all that I know, lol] and he finally feel asleep... then just 2 short hours later Marley was awake and ready for the day, and she was NOT in a "Good Morning Sunshine" kind of mood! lol.

Needless to say it's going to be a nap kinda day! :)

This one is even better!! lol.

If you are unhappy.... change something!

link

I love this picture.

It's amazingly simple and so very true.

Our happiness really is up to us.

If you are not happy, if your life isn't good...

change something and check again,

repeat if necessary!

All or Nothing About Me?!

I keep starting and then stopping an "About Me" section for my blog. It's one of the first things they suggest you do when you set up a blogging account. It's suppose to have it's own little tab/page too. Intense.

I've always had trouble with the whole write about yourself kinda thing. My myspace intro was so dumb! Thank heavens for the delightfully confusing layout of Facebook! haha. I mean, what things do you say... what things do you omit? How much info is too much? Is there a protocol to it?

I looked around on a few of my favorite blogs... and most of them are super basic, vague and honestly kinda lame. Pretty much like the one I already have up on my page. "blah, blah, husband, blah, blah, kids, blah blah life.... blah." lol.

I was thinking of going big. Drop your jaw "Ummm, what did you say? I had NO idea!" big. An expose of sorts. Then I remembered this is public and forever available to whomever has an Internet connection so that might be a little awkward if my love of pharmaceuticals popped up on a random "google your kids' friend's mom" kinda day (you know you do it too.)

So... somewhere between boring and intense would be nice. :)

Feeling bouncy... like a ball. :)

I had the brilliant idea to try a new caffeine pill in place of drinking my afternoon "pick me up" espresso.

Which would have probably been good...

but I forgot I took it,

and had two espresso drinks because I was super tired.

Then my pill kicked in,

and now...

I am NOT so tired. :)

Always interesting over here! Hmm. I really love caffeine. In a borderline dangerously awesome way!! ... almost as much as swearing. :D

Top 11 of 2011

11

Summer Bowling Trips

10

Family Vacay to Moses Lake Splash Park

9

Remodling the garage

8

Jabali got into Grad School! (Over 100 applied, only 12 were accepted.)

7

Shel's amazing transformation!

6

Mom finding happiness

5

 Brad's Bodybuilding Competitions

4

The "Condi-go" with Jersay and Shelbs

3

 Our Hodgsons moved home!!

2

 Uncle Jake's safe return from Brazil!

1

... and when it ended. lol.


Looking forward to all the fun and adventure 2012 has in store for me!! :)

where to begin?

I have been dying to sit down and just write. Write about everything that is happening all around me.

How awful the holidays were this year, despite all the happy things that were going on... I hated Christmas this year. Never, have I ever hated this holiday until now. I am hopeful for next year though because I have learned what NOT to do, haha.

The obscene whirlwind it was to celebrate Jake's return and send him off again in a mere 4 days, and all the drama that surrounded the fight for what little time we had with him. What a disaster my family can be sometimes. Absolute madness.

How amazing it felt to have Jake home and how wonderful it is to have Stephanie's family living nearby. All of us siblings were in the house at the same time one night and it was pure greatness! We ate dinner, we talked, we laughed, we played games and it was unbelievably fun. I love times like that. Makes the trials of life and everyday problems seem  less stressful, less important.

Life is changing. In SO many ways it is changing. Some are great, some not so much but all of it is exciting and scary. I am not sure if I will love it or hate it. But I enjoy change, change is good.

There is an upcoming challenge I am preparing to face alone and I'm completely stressing out about it, despite my efforts to stop "paying interest" on a problem that hasn't happened yet I can't stop thinking about it. It's going to be big and I am scared to fail.

How happy it makes me to be able to help out financially when its needed. To give a car to Jabali's brother so he can get to work and support his family, to have money in savings that I can use to help pay for my brother's school expenses. I want to give more, help more,  do more on a larger scale and in order to do that... I need more money. lol.

My recent love/hate relationship with lists. I am not sure what is going on with me lately. I do not feel like myself. I am suffering from some existential funk I guess. When I write a list I am happy... if I don't I am stressed, but I can't get myself to write lists without feeling discouraged because I know I can't do the entire list. Strange. I hope this doesn't last long because I am annoying myself. :)