Nudged.

I will skip the routine of stating it's been a long time since my last post, since there is no getting around it's been a long time! Our family is nesting nicely in the state of Kansas. You can't get away from moves when you are part of the corporate shuffle. My husband works tirelessly to meet the needs of our single income family so we kind of just go with the flow when the job changes. Anyway, back to the blog - I love this blog. It has so many memories in it I just can't stay away. Blogging was such a big part of my life, it's time to give this old blog some love!

I will be honest and say that I did not plan on coming back here at this time; I wasn't so much forced, as nudged gently by an assignment in my BYU-I religion class. Which means, yes I am back in school after...well, many years. There were several choices I could do for my project, but this one seemed like it was the best one. That's how I was forced, but not really, more nudged, to come back!  My project will last up to eight hours and my assignment is to be more guided. It's an eternal families class which means lots of gooey thoughts and feelings towards family. I really love this idea and am happy to be able to share about my favorite thing in the whole world - eternal families!

So why Kansas? Mr. C, that's my awesome husband and best friend going on almost 23 years; was out of work for longer than we would have liked. Yet right at the last minute, before our financial situation was to go in to death con mode, he was offered a job. We didn't want to just jump on any chance to finally be free of that jobless worry! So we prayed about it, and we knew without a doubt, that Heavenly Father needed us here in Kansas!

That's it for now folks! I am a succor for A's in my new returning to school adventure, so I will be back. I've got more to write and an A to put on my report card. Plus, I've got to get used to writing with only one space after each period. I definately don't want to seem "old" or "dated"!

Until next time, Michelle :)

 I cringe at how many days have gone by since my last post.  I have had many thoughts about wanting to shut down my blog, yet when I go to do it - I can't.  Today, I realized that maybe it's because I need to keep writing, to keep talking about life and motherhood with those people that want to listen and share with me.  Being a mom is hard, it's not easy.  Whether you are a working mom, single mom, or a stay at home mom, it's hard.  I find it incredibly inspiring to share in my journey into motherhood with other mothers.  It's a beautiful thing to be a mom.  

My children are varying ages with so many different problems and places that they struggle.  To stretch myself in so many different areas, has made me work really hard to be their for them when they need me.  When I was a little girl, I remember my mom was physically always their when I got home.  She tried to be their for me, to talk to me, yet I know that she struggled just to get out of bed and be happy. I wish I could have helped her find herself, find how grateful I was that she was at least their.  Maybe if she had a bigger support group to help her, maybe then, she would have found her smile more often.  I cry just thinking about her and how lonely she must have been in her struggles.

I am thankful that there is my Heavenly Father who loves me, who reminds me of the woman I can be.  To know that he has given me specific gifts, and has specific things he wants me to do here on earth brings me great purpose.  I know I am a Daugther of God, who loves me!  Remembering this is a daily challenge we all face.  It's a good thing to share about motherhood - good things are meant to be shared!  

sis and bro on the slide!

Until next time....!!

Brown Paper Packages.

Love Basket

My favorite things are wrapped in the Fall season.  Not only do I get to celebrate Mr. C's birthday and my beauties birthday; I get to spend day after day viewing the beauty of the changing New England leaves. I will post this years fall photos in an upcoming post!

This year I decided I would let go of traditional wrapping paper for birthdays and come up with a more economical option.  I found within my craft supplies brown shipping paper and I knew instantly that this was it!  I picked up another roll at Walmart for under $5 (and still have most of the roll left).  

I wrapped each small gift in the brown paper, drew a heart, and wrote about the things that we love about them.  I am calling it The Birthday Love Basket.  It's almost as if Julie Andrews herself is singing the song My favorite things including the part where she belts out brown paper packages tied up with string these are a few of my favorite things!   

Mr. C's cherry pie and birthday love basket.

The beauties turned 11 this year!  I started this blog in 2007 when the girls were five and now they are full fledged 11 year old girls.  Here is a link to their fifth birthday HERE.  It's completely throwing me off thinking that I have had this blog this long.  I enjoyed scaling back this year on wrapping paper, balloons, and decorations and trying my hand at a few handmade decorations.  The brown paper garland was fun to make!

Cici and Nini's brown paper garland.

Then I used the brown paper and made little paper sentiments to them; taping them around the room.  Mr. C picked them up from school and took them to the batting cages.  Then they picked up Chinese food and came home.  This is when I surprised them with their love baskets, store bought cake ( much better than I could  make!), and decorations.  I barely had enough time to put it together and was throwing away the scraps just as they walked in the door!

paper sentiments

There has been a lot of joy and appreciation this year for the opportunities we have to be together.  I can say without a doubt that we have been blessed during this time of upheaval.  We have found a renewed sense of family and togetherness that maybe we weren't paying attention to before Mr. C's job relocation.  We are lucky to have him home for the next three weekends! The in between parts will be filled with Halloween costumes, school, activities, and there is even a girls night in the works for this girl!

The beauties and Mr. C on their 11th birthday!

One last peek!

Thank you for sticking with a happy heart blog!

l.o.v.e.

Changes.

Corn Crib and Barn on our property :)

It has been impossible to really put into words how I have felt this past year.  There have been so many ups and some downs- but through both, so many changes.  When Craig lost his job in October of 2012, I was certain that it wasn't going to take long for Mr. C to find a new job.  Through every week and eventually months, I realized that this wasn't going to be a short process.  It took four months for both of us to realize that our dream of staying in New England may come to an end.  It took that long for us to grasp that Craig needed to look for a job in other areas. 

So he did.  He was offered a job in April.  We were open for moving and open for this job to work out - but we just weren't feeling good about it.  Everything should have made us jump at the offer; but after prayer and a trip to the temple, we were both certain and comfortable about turning the offer down.  It was so agonizing.  The experience helped me come to terms with moving and leaving our home.  I knew I could do it and do it with a good attitude!  It also showed me that even when we think we know what we want, it may not always be the best for us.  Two months later, Craig received an offer from a different company - which he did accept.

It's been two and half months since he moved to Missouri to start his new job.  While I am here in New England keeping our beautiful house beautiful and ready for a buyer!  There is little movement in our area, but I am crossing my fingers and praying a lot.  I know there must be a family, just like ours, who dreams of living in New England and wants our home - they just don't know it yet!

We took two weeks to check out our new area and are really getting excited about it.  We feel blessed that Craig is working, blessed to know that Heavenly Father is looking out for us and knows what we need, and blessed to know that so many people are praying for us.  Thank you!  

Snow.

Craig is in photo number one sporting his very stylish snow suit!  He's handsome and ready to snow blow the massive snowfall that we received in last weeks Nor Easter. Just the day before I was dreaming of spring and enjoying the lovely ground beneath my feet - the next morning we woke to thirty inches of snow.  We rode the storm safely and enjoyed lots and lots and lots of family!

Taking you to photo number two, you see my smiling happy children enjoying the snow!  What you don't see is the crying that took place minutes after the photo because Hawk's hands (little guy on the right) were too cold.  Poor guy just can't enjoy the outdoors in weather minus 70 degrees - yet who can blame him?

Frosty the snowman in photo number three, was the result of an earlier snow storm more around Christmas time. My twin boys would wake-up looking for Frosty every morning and sing to him.  The poor guy melted around the New Year and hasn't returned.

While I love walking on ground covered in grass and leaves, I enjoy those moments after a snowstorm when the snow is untouched.  The snow is still light and fluffy and just gorgeous.  In photo number four, I've made my footprints in the snow and looked back to see the sun glistening brightly on the snow making tree shadows. 

Until next time my friends!

Michelle :)

Snow Day Shape Photos!

My favorite type of snow has been falling from the skies today.  The kind that falls in big snowflakes, covering bare trees and landscaping the area with fantastic white on every limb!  It's peaceful and a reminder of why I love it here in New England. 

This photo was taken simply by punch a whole in this paper.... 

Putting the paper up to the lens and focusing the object within the shape like this....

I edited the photo into picasaweb using the "creative kit" edits and the HDR-ish photo edit button under "effects"  Simple and fun!  Let me know if you try it - I would love to see your photos!

Throwback Friday: 2007 Montreal First day of Kindergarten

Welcome to Throwback Friday!  I love Fridays and I love looking back at all posts and photos written on this blog!  It makes me very happy :)  Can you believe how young these two girls are in these photos?!  Enjoy :)

First day of school photo 2007.

Can you find both of them?

Don't they look like little missionaries!

Nini reunited with Cici at end of day!

The girls are officially kindergartners! It's been so fun planning and preparing for their first full day of school; but I have to admit, I've been really nervous about them be away for so long. Their first day of "practice school" was Friday, and my stomach was doing twist and turns, it was quite the feeling. Yet as soon as we approached the school grounds, I was immediately comforted because of the girls excitement. I guess that's all I was hoping!

Since the girls did so well together in pre-k and because of our moving around, I was pretty adamant that the girls be put together. I was told by the school that they do not allow twins to be put together in the same class. I got on the phone and began talking to one of the assistants in the office about my choice to put them together. I could hear her being coached by someone in the background as to what to tell me - she can't speak for herself?

Anyway, after a minute or so of back and forth, I said to the woman on the other line that it's "My choice as a parent, to put them together", she quickly said, "Well hold on". The next thing I know I'm talking to the principle of the school, who I'm sure was the other woman's coach. She also reiterated the schools stance on twin separation and I spoke my choice clearly. After some back and forth, I said, "So you are telling me that as a parent, I don't have a choice?" She finally said, "Ok, Ok, I'll put them in the same class". I was grateful that she agreed, however, I wasn't thankful for the way in which I had to talk her into it. It should be the parents choice, not the schools.

With all that conversation, the girls ended up in two different classrooms. On the practice days, they were put with different teachers to see how they would do, and after observing them with the other kids; I, in the end, felt it would be a good idea to separate them. All that work! But, I feel good about it, because I made the choice.

School Bus Pizza

The school bus pizza was created out of a no yeast pizza dough (simply because I ran out of yeast), rolled, and they cut into the bus shape. I put the bus on a cookie sheet and let the girls load the pizza with what they wanted. It was a lot of fun! I meant to take off their white shirts before they spread the pizza sauce and oops, lets just say I have a bit of stain checking to do!

The party table!

This game was all about how many crayons they could get into the crayon box.

Nini playing Pin the wheel on the bus.

The only problem with planning this party is I didn't have much time to get everything together without making a disaster out of our kitchen. Tuesday morning we had to go to the uniform store and get two vests and their gym uniforms with their school's crest on it. The girls go to a public school, but this particular school they go to is pretty particular about what they wear. Unfortunately this part of their uniform won't be ready for 2-6 weeks. Yikes! We then went to the grocery store and headed home for lunch. The girls had practice school at 1:15 to 3:15, which meant I had only about an hour and a half to go to the dollar store and the office store. We walked home from school, which meant only a short time until everything had to be pulled together for our family party.

These animal erasers came in a 3-pack at the $1 store. I used these for our game prizes. They are really cute and a fun "school-time" surprise.

Any parties planned?

How do you feel about twins separated or not?

Here is the link to the original post and comments!

"I want to dunk like Michael Jordan!"

I love dreams, especially when they come from the young.  It's proof that we all dream of things that are far beyond our reach at that moment.  It's proof also that that even the youngest find comfort with what tomorrow may bring.  I especially find it amazing when a young child's dream doesn't change.  I can recall wanting to be a ballerina, to a great violinist, to painting the french countryside (for a living, of course) - all within a couple years!  Yet when someone young sticks with their dream, works on it, and daily talks about it - you know it's special!  

I have a photo of my oldest twin daughter at age 3 running after a basketball with a face so focused, you knew this girl wasn't going to let that ball get the best of her.  Year after year, she continued to show interest and skill and now at 10 - she's a force on the court!  She proudly hangs her favorite basketball player on her wall (thanks to a 2012 Christmas present). Her goals are as follows:  Be the first girl to play on a men's NBA team and to dunk like Michael Jordan!  I believe it and i hope she keeps dreaming it!  

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

- Michael Jordan

Well said, Mr. Jordan!

Buying clothes, a guilt-free approach.

I really don't think it's fair that the stores start sending me those spring catalogues filled with fantastic spring clothing minutes after Christmas ends.  Buying something over $20 and not at Target, becomes more guilt ridden than ever -(this is where my good guilt-free idea comes into action)!!!  I am taking something I love and something I need to do and merging them together.  I love fashion and I love this blazer.  I need to run and need something to get me going this winter!  So, for every mile I run I am adding 1$ to my "I feel guilty buying this expensive jacket in the catalogue" fund.  If I decide to wake up before everyone else in the morning, I add one extra $ to my fund.  If I happen to loose 5lbs while running this earns me 5 extra dollars towards my jacket.  The jacket is from bodenusa - love this catalogue!

What happens when I reach my goal?  I think that shirt under the jacket will be my next prize!

What works for you?

What motivates you?

First Moment of 2013.

Right, so here is the official first photo of 2013!  I wanted it to be a little silly, and well, that's what we got.  From left to right, we've got me, Cici, Mr. C, Nini, and Nana -it was a mandatory photo - even Nana got into the spirit.  Nini and Cici took the lime light!

Expect this blog to be a lot busier this year!  Part of my goals this year fortunately include a lot of writing.  I can't accomplish my dream of having my writing published - if I don't write!  Walt Disney said, "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them".  So that's it, my word of 2013 is COURAGE.  While I will still be buried in the responsibilities and joys of mother hood, I am stepping up to my own plate of dreams - taking my own stand -and writing as much as I can.  Just so we are sure, this has nothing (well mostly) to do with the fact I will be 40 in May ;)

Happy New Year to all my blog readers and I hope to see you a lot more often this year!!

Michelle

So, enough about me...

I have been seldom seen on my blog over the last year.  Plainly speaking - it has been hard to put forth much energy into this part of my life.  While I've contemplated saying goodbye to this blog, my desire to write has always won.  My novel writing days are still a few more years out, for now, I will continue to write when I can in this little piece of world. 

At the end of the summer, I was called as the YW President in our ward.  It has been such a fun calling!  I have loved working with each of the girls and seeing there amazing talents.  I have already grown from their example.  It has been a challenge to go to all the meetings, yet somehow it all works out and the boys and family are always happy when I return home. Here's what's going on with all the most important people in my life - in no particular order:

I see a lot of Mr. C as he continues to work hard at finding a job that will keep us in New England. We are soaking up his time off as we know this won't last forever.  He's finished projects - building us a new kitchen table, benches, a new facade on our sugar shack, and lots of other projects.  

Nini is blossoming into a tall gorgeous young lady.  Her dreams still go between super spy and first girl to play on an all men's NBA basketball team.  In her words, "I just want to be like Michael Jordan".  I love her freckles and her hugs.  She's an amazing and loving sister.  

Cici continues to be one of those beautiful young ladies who everyone loves to be around. She's given dancing a rest and joined her sister on the basketball court.  Both are on a traveling basketball team!  

Hawk delights all of us with his little dimple and smile and bright eyes.  Mr. T is a ball of love.  He loves to be a part of everything and everyone's lives.  Both bring a lot of fun dynamics to our home and really anywhere we go with them!  They have both struggled differently with their language - Hawk with pragmatic and conversation and Mr. T the way he forms his words and how we understand them.  They are in preschool four days a week and with teachers that are helping them with there language.

I am very happy to be the mother of these four beautiful children.  As I watched one of my children struggle with an ongoing adversity, I realized how important it is to stay focused on your own family.  Each one of us deals with and works daily with our own set of problems.  My reason for naming my blog a happy heart blog keeps me focused on the joys of living, the fun moments that make all of our best memories.  I will continue writing on my blog when I can and keep you updated on our little family :)  Merry Christmas!

A is for Apple...and Adventure!

Mr. C and I have had a few fun outings with Hawk and Mr. T.  It's not often that we get to go out with just the two of them.  It is such a fantastic experience to be able to let them have our undivided attention - both of ours.  My Hawk has been talking daily about going out on adventures.  This was how I used to get them excited about doing errands with me.  Now, it's almost an everyday event that he talks about different adventures - be it to go get books, go to Target, or go to friends.  He gets so excited everyday about what we get to do!  You can imagine how much fun our apple picking adventure was for both of them.  Henry still talks about it!

At home, Nana made lots of applesauce and we all enjoyed a few cobblers out of them!

Have you been apple picking this year?

The bitter and the sweet.

A pond near our home. 

Our family is now dealing with something I would term bittersweet.  Let's talk about the bitter and just get it over with.  Mr. C is not longer employed.  Although,technically, he is for a couple more days, but because of changes at work and a position no longer available within the company he had worked, he is now on the hunt for employment. He has been home since the 15th of this month and likes to say with a smile, of course,  his job is now redundant.  We feel more hopeful at this time in his unemployment than scared.  This is the bitter.

Now that we got the bitter out of the way, let me tell you about the sweet part.  Mr. C is home.  Our four children have the joy of seeing him in the daylight hours - and can now confirm that he isn't a vampire.  He can come out in the sun!  The girls have enjoyed getting picked up by him from school and the boys get to actually play and see him during the day - without their PJ's on.  He is also checking off projects right and left, including building a kitchen table for us out of wood we found in our barn.  It's old gorgeous wood - and I am really excited to fit everyone around our table!

So, while we are dealing right now with some bad news, we feel blessed to see Mr. C more.  We feel blessed to have received a severance with his "redundancy :)" and are very very hopeful that this will be a very short hiccup. We hope also to be able to stay in our home without moving somewhere else and will continue to work towards this goal!  Life is good, but it does come with the bitter and sweet.  I am focusing on  the sweet right now - because the bitter - is just that, bitter!

Nini and Cici turn 10.

I simply cannot believe that my little girls are now 10!!

Happy Birthday Nini and Cici!

Mr. T :)

I am so grateful for our Mr. T our sweet Teddy Bear :)  He's sweet and lovable and looks after his brother Hawk.  Today, he was playing inside our doorway, pushing his cute little nose onto the glass.  This is just one of the many little things about him that I love.  Soon, this little man will be 3 - WOW.  Just can't believe it.

Reach the Beach: Fantastic Spirit!

Starting line (David, our first runner, I missed my an inch)

I joined the Reach the Beach Team in February/March right as I first started getting back into running.  I am a mother of two sets of twins and not a lot of time to get myself out of the door and run - but, this race kept me going and kept me focused!  Just knowing I was one of a 12 person team, helped me keep at it, even on the hardest days when I just didn't feel like running after hard days. I wasn't and am not the fastest person on the team, but I knew that I could do it!  Each of our team members brought with them a fantastic spirit and  heart to the team.  Even placing #136 out of over 400 teams - yeah!   It was such a great experience and one I hope to repeat again next year!  Here's the details: 

Poul handing the bracelet to Diane.

The Race:

Reach the Beach is a 200 mile race in 24 hours.  We started in Cannon Beach NH and ended at the finish line in Hampton Beach NH.  There are 36 legs that our 12 member team shared, each running 3 legs of the race.  Each leg was from just under two miles to just before 10 miles long.  At each leg, the runner finishing hands off a tracking bracelet to the runner beginning the next leg.  That's how they tracked the teams 8:20 minute pace!

Team Keene to Run!

The Team:

Our team was comprised of four girls and 8 men.  We ranged in our teens to our forties, but all young at heart and ready to race! There was Ryan, Poul, Ivan, David, Brandon, Melanie, Darryl, Kirsten, Michael, Michelle -Me!, Diane, and Geoffrey.  We met several times before the actual race allowing us to decide if we wanted to run for a cause (which we did...coming up), who would be running which legs, who would design our T-shirts, and all of those little things that make the biggest difference.   Personally, I felt each team member brought there own fun and enthusiasm and strength - couldn't of asked for a better team!

Waiting at the next transition spot!

The cause:

Got Bra's? -  Was our fantastic slogan and fundraising focus on our team.  Women and Men are sent to mentally ill facilities and rest homes without what one would call dignity items. For women, one of the most important dignity item not available to women in these facilities are bras.  Thankfully, Cindy, at RangerLady Inc., has been collecting bras and other dignity items for them.  Check out her story here and get on the bra donating band wagon by sending your bras here.

Getting ready to start and get our safety gear ready for check-in!  You couldn't race without them :)

The Start:

We drove in two vans to Cannon/Lincoln NH where we registered our teams, took a team photo, and got ready for our first leg of the race.  There were 36 legs containing 2 to 9 miles in each leg.  The person on leg one would run leg's 1, 13, and 25, giving each person three legs of the race.

Geoffrey reaching the end of his leg, while we all cheer him on!

Transition areas:

Once the race officially began, one member of our van would drive slowly to each transition area.  The transition areas were for runners to come in, hand off the tracking bracelet, and start the next leg of the race.  This was a great opportunity for team members to cheer on and support your team mates!

The bathrooms:

Saying these green rectangle boxes were "bathrooms" is pushing it; but, they were at every transition and made the 200 mile journey a little easier!

Teamwork and Spirit:

My favorite thing about this race was the teamwork, spirit, and support that everyone gave each other.  Our team worked well together and everyone supported each other and cheered each other on.  Even during my legs, most people would give encouraging words as they passed me - saying "good luck" or "good job".  It was really neat.

Driving:

There was a lot of driving and a lot of 12 passenger vans riding the roads.  Most of us took turns driving each team member to the next transition point.  There were a few sticky parking situations, but everyone was very well behaved on the road.  It was fun to decorate our van with our teams name Keene to Run and our Got Bras? tagline.  Since there were hundreds of vans that all looked exactly the same, it ended up being the only way we could tell our van from the others on many occassions!

The Wait:

Our team was split into two vans with all six of the first runners in Van 1, and Van 2 held the last six runners.  While each van transitioned through each leg, the one who's runners were not racing would have to wait. Most times we drove straight to the leg where our first runner would transition.  This allowed us to either get some sleep, rest, or food.  I only got a full 90 minutes of sleep over the two day race!  And, those were spent on the grass, in the open air, in a sleeping bag.  Not my first choice - really my only - (right Kirsten and Diane!).

Ready for my first glowing run!

My evening run:

This was my favorite leg raced.  I loved it the most, perhaps because I love running in the evening, but mostly because it was my first leg.  If you are woman running at night, your team van had to check on your every mile or so;  knowing that they would be there cheering me on - was such a support!  Funny story -When I entered the end of my leg, my teammate wasn't there.  Funny enough, she was in the porta-potty!  Luckily, it wasn't a long wait!  But it made for a very funny hand-off!

Ryan and Poul having fun at a transition area :)

Almost there Kirsten!

Kirsten taking us to the finish line!  (don't mind my silly face please :)

The fantastic finish!

Despite me looking pretty silly in the photo above, this is one of my favorites!  Kirsten ran our last leg of the race and most of it was on the beach.  Not my favorite place to run, but she did it brilliantly!  I loved that they let the entire team run the last few steps to the finish line with your last leg runner - so fuN!  I have to say that my family was so incredibly supportive.  They all chipped into help with the boys on Friday and drove out to the beach to greet me on Saturday night.  I got 10 glorious hours of sleep that night and have recovered better than I thought.

I'm certain that I will continue to enjoy running.  This just proved how much fun staying active can be!  This mother of two sets of twins - would love to run this race again!

Van 2 :)