The mere thought of handling two blogs seems near impossible, so if you have my blog listed in your column of blogs you read, it's time to change it. It's not necessarily new, but the address is www.mariaglassford.blogspot.com. This one is and will be written in on a much more frequent basis!
- Carter told his daddy tonight, "your my best friend."
- Carter told me yesterday, "Drue's my boy."
...Ahh, there are so many more from today and yesterday. Hopefully I can remember them and update with more tonight!!
My mom interview with Kyla. It was fun to hear her answers!!
1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? Cleaning up my room.
3. What makes mom sad? If I don't clean up my room.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickling me
5. What did your mom like to do as a child? Kiss my dad
6. How old is your mom? I dont know. "Guess", (me). 16.
7. How tall is your mom? 6000 feet.
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Football.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Go shopping.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Marrying somebody. (huh???)
11. What is your mom really good at? Playing soccer.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Playing soccer when her legs hurt.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Makes her bed and folds laundry.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? chocolate chip cookies
15. What makes you proud of your mom? when she blows kisses
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Minnie..then Cinderella
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play board games
18. How are you and your mom the same? Were both girls
19. How are you and your mom different? God just makes us that way.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because God made her to love children.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? We both watch TV together.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? The ice cream store.
25 Random Things About Me.
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.
1. I never dreamed I would be a mom to 5 kids. In fact, as a kid, I never dreamed of being a mom like most little girls. Although now, I couldn't imagine any better job.
2. I am not an emotional person and my husband and sister always make fun of me for it. I truly think I am quite an optimist, so when things are bad or seem sad, I try to find the good, rather than focusing on the bad.
3. I am a neat freak and don't mistake that for a clean freak. Things at least have to be picked up.
4. I love love love yardwork and could spend all day outside doing it.
5. I love cookie dough. Like, A LOT.
6. I am a reality TV junkie and really don't watch anything but (Biggest Loser, American Idol, Bachelor, the TLC shows, etc.).
7. I never answer the phone if I don't recognize the number.
8. My husband is absolutely amazing. He is so great to me and the kids. I'm so grateful God placed him in my life to be the person I get to spend forever with.
9. I have decided to become an avid moviegoer..in hopes to slow down my shopping addiction.
10. I plan on driving my expedition until it dies (hopefully many, many years). I love it and never want a car payment again.
11. I still talk and am friends with my best friend from Kindergarden.
12. I just started eating vegtables (besides corn and green beans) and am quite proud of myself. I had never tried broccoli until last week and I can actually handle it.
13. I LOVE where I live, my house, my neighbors, etc. We, without a doubt, have some of the best neighbors ever, who we love hanging out with.
14. I secretly hope all of my kids love and excel in soccer...and play competitively.
15. I love board games and would play them every night with my husband, if he would let me. :)
16. I truly think I have some of the best friends in the world. I am extremely grateful for all of the wonderful people in my life.
17. I knew I was going to marry my husband within minutes of meeting him, and therefore, as the manager of the place he applied to, I hired him.
18. I am an investigator, plain and simple. I investigate everything, research everything and could spend hours doing so, which is why I majored in criminal justice. In fact, I found my husbands biological mother within a matter of minutes doing a google search.
19. I was the biggest tomboy as a kid and was never into anything girly. I spent hours playing outside and in the woods everyday with my boy friends.
20. I would probably have one more kid, if I knew it would be a girl (don't get me wrong, I LOVE my boys). Mainly, so I could give Kyla a sister because I couldn't imagine not having one.
21. In middle school, my friend and I would sneak out of her house whenever I spent the night and ride our bikes to friends houses (we even got pulled over by the cops one night, and after that, we never did it again).
ps. to think I have a middle schooler now scares me to death!!!
23. I am a very impatient person, although I am trying hard to change this.
24. My favorite stores are Target, Old Navy and White House Black Market.
25. I love God and am always so grateful for His Word, grace, humor and timing. I am thankful for the work He is doing in my life, as well as in my family and friends lives.
Kevin is brilliant. Plain and simple. His intelligence is truly like none other. He wants to be a scientist of some sort when he grows up and I have no doubt he will do something absolutely wonderful with his brilliance.
However, there are so many quirky things he does because he lacks common sense. In fact, I can't even tell you how many times Kirt and I start cracking up because of this. Ever read those Amelia Bedila books when you were little?? He is just like her! Everything you say, he takes literally.
I'm getting to my point of my Kevin funny for the day. He was showing me his homework, and I had a few peices of paper that were garbage in my hand. I asked him to go throw them away. Most of us would just walk to the garbage can in the kitchen and toss them. However, seconds later I hear the front door open..yes, you guessed it. Kevin was going outside to our trashcans on the side of the house to throw away the papers. I love that boy and am so thankful for humor he provides to us on a very regular basis!!
Carter has ALWAYS been a talker. Ever since he was a baby, he always seemed to know exactly what you were saying and listened probably better than all the older kids. Now that he is 2.5 his vocabulary is incredible, at least in my opinion. The sentences he puts together just make me laugh so hard sometimes because he seems so little to be talking like a grown up. Some funnies from this week (and the thing is, is that they aren't really "funny", just "funny" to hear him say them :)).
.."Mom, are they going to yell at me for being dangerous?" (talking about climbing out of the Target cart and onto a clothes display). My response was "yes, in fact, they may take you to jail."
.."Mom, you really need to be careful with that".
.. Me: "Carter, it's naptime."
Carter: "Mom, don't say that word. I don't like that word.
These are just a few from the past few days. Carter is such a breath of fresh air and I just love love love hanging out and spending time with my little man!!!
January 13th, 2005 will be a day I will never, ever forget. The details of the day play over in my head so often and the fact that we are left with so many unanswered questions just makes it that much harder. Today is the day, four years ago, that my wonderful, truly remarkable mother in law passed away in the middle of surgery. I'll never forget the phone call, the emotions, the most dreadful feeling you can experience, the hurt and the shocking pain as I found out my children, and future children would no longer have their grandma in their life. More than anything, my heart broke for them. My heart aches knowing Carter and Jonah will never know them and the only memories Kyla has with her are pictures. My heart aches for Sean and Kevin who have experienced so much loss, so young. I wanted them all to know her, and I mean KNOW her, remember her and treasure her like we did. I wanted her to see them grow up, play with them, spend time with them and love on them. I wanted them to know how giving she was, how selfless she was and how loving she was. She had so many characteristics I idolized and really wish I carried. My kids loved her and she cherished them like any doting grandma would.
There are so many memories we had together, and although I know I will never be able to remember them all, I am going to try to remember a few special ones...
The first one I would specifically label as a memory, but more so a ritual we did on a weekly basis. At least once a week, we always met up for lunch at one of her favorite local restaurants. She was always throwing the kids quarters for bouncy balls and the games which were often broken. We had SO many conversations over lunch and I am so thankful for this. Another great memory was when Kyla was born and her being in awe of her granddaughter. She came in the room as soon as I was moved to my resting room and was just so excited. I'll never forget all the things she spoiled our baby girl with. A funny thing, that most people who knew her know about was her obsession with catalog shopping. She dreaded any trip to the store, but would buy so many random, funny things from catalogs. We always joked that when we went to her house it would be like Christmas all over again. She was constantly giving us stuff. I'll never forget living with her for a few weeks before we moved to Cape Coral. Great memories and great talks. I'll never forget the many trips and days spent at the beach house. I'll never forget watching her read books to Kyla and the boys as they sat on her lap. I'll never forget her wacky sense of humor..she was all about fun. Another great memory was our trip to Orlando together. We had such a great time, with the exception of the flat tire on I75 at 2 oclock in the morning. I'll never forget her laugh, smell and absolute pure love for her family.
Forever I will treasure the memories that were made and forever I will be saddened that there weren't more. We all miss you, the kids miss you, your sons miss you. You were an amazing mom, and fabulous grandma. We know you are watching over us and trust that one day we will see you again. We love you mom!!!
...listening to Kyla sing. She has a really great voice. :)
...watching Jonah identify his body parts, especially his tounge!
...watching Kevin interact and take care of his little brothers. He loves them!!
...seeing Sean grow up and change into a teenager..who still loves his momma!
...hearing Carter make his ship and gun noises as he flies them through the air.
...Carter's unbelieveable personality. He is such a fun, fun person to be around.
...watching Kyla dance through the house. She is my little princess!
...Jonah's smile. It is really precious and very contagious!
...seeing Sean's face stuck in a good book.
...Kevin's knack of learning every possible fact..and remembering them for years.
Life is truly great and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful and unique children who brighten everyday and make our house into a home filled with such special life.
we found out we were pregnant!!! It was also that same day that my gut instinct said girl, and sure enough, we now have the princess of our house!
I'll never forget December 24, 2002. It was the best Christmas Eve I will probably ever have. We had tried to conceive for the previous 3 months, but that morning, as soon as I woke up I decided to test just for the heck of it. Little did I know our lives would change forever from that moment forward. Excitement, nervousness, happiness, and so many other emotions instantly hit. It is one of those days you never want to forget. You don't want to forget each little detail or feeling you experienced at each ticking second. It's hard to believe it's been 6 years already, but it has truly been the best 6 years of my life. I love being Kyla's mommy and feel so blessed by God to be given the chance to raise her, teach her, and most importantly love her every second of every day!! I love you Kyla and am so glad you came into our lives and forever changed our hearts!!
what I woke up to at 6 o'clock in the morning.
As a mom, I think it's normal to want to have special memories or treasured stories that you can reflect on, laugh at, and share when you child grows up. Well, what I woke up to this morning is one of those very stories that I will treasure and keep and tell in the years to come.
So, this morning, I had plans to be somewhere at 7, so I was planning on getting up around 6:25. However, I was abruptly woken up by our extremely loud musical mice (12 mice that literally play Christmas songs by banging on a bell) at 6am. Kirt jumped, I was confused and then we both knew instantly who it was and what was going on. You see, for some reason our dear, dear Carter is so confused with time, and thinks he really should be up around 5:45 or 6, when really we believe in the sun rule (you don't wake up until the sun's up). Ugh, why does he have to be like I was when I was a child?!?!
Anyway, back to the story...I walked out of our room, and find Carter sitting on our barstools watching the mice do their thing, and seeing his happy face grin from ear to ear. You see, he wasn't supposed to be out. He figured out how to open his child proof door and snuck out. The funny part to me, was that he not only has the Christmas toons going, but he also made sure he plugged the Christmas tree for the full effect. The boy is just so hysterical. I am so grateful God blessed me to be the mother of a precious little boy who is so fun spirited and loves to make people laugh!! I love you Carter and although I am not very thankful for the 6am wakeup call, know that I am beyond thankful for your humor, love, wit and charm. You are truly one special little boy!!!
My list of excited things for Thanksgiving weekend:
1. Kirt has four days off of work! Yay!!
2. One of my best friends', Natalie, is coming down from Virginia today!! I am so excited to see her!!
3. Black Friday. Enough said.
4. Time with family and friends. Doesn't get better than this!
5. Turkey and potatoes. So, I'm really quite plain and simple when it comes to food. I LOVE the mix of turkey and potatoes.
6. Mayer Christmas Party (a tad early..). Can't wait to go to Natalie's house for a wonderful time!!
7. My sister and I are planning on working at the flea market one day this weekend. The hand stamped charms I have been making have been huge sellers, so I figured we would try another avenue on top of online. You can see them here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6350155
http://www.bluepaisleys.com/category_60/Handstamped-Jewelry.htm
8. I'm really excited about what has been happening with Blue Paisleys. I have been so busy and am so grateful!!! I never would have imagined something I dreamed up less than a year ago is doing what it is doing today!!
So, Happy Thanksgiving!!! We truly have so much to be thankful for. Even though times are rough in so many people's lives right now, we are still being shown constant blessings. We need to remember to never let those pass us by.
Friday was one of the worst days I've had in a very, very long time. Almost made me want to write my own book titled, "Maria (or Kirt) and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day". Everything started of normal. I was getting the kids ready for school and the younger boys ready to run a few errands after our school drop off. Around 8:30am, my phone rang and it was Kirt freaking out, but like in a shaking and I don't know what to do kind of way (not yelling and out of control). He tell tells me that his tools have been stolen out of his truck. Bags and bags of tools and expensive ones at that. If he were to estimate it would be around 4K in tools of his own, and about 8K of the companies. We have no idea when or where it happened. He swears his truck was locked over night and there was no sign of entry whatsoever. He stopped at a gas station and ran in quickly and the door was unlocked during this time. I'm not a thief and I know they can do crazy things, but I just find it so hard to believe that they would climb into somebody's truck and take so much stuff during a super quick trip into a gas station (..and he was parked right in front). Who knows. However, I do know that I feel very violated. Now, somehow we have to come up with thousands of dollars in tools so he can continue to work. The rest of the day wasn't great either, but it was totally minute compared to the morning.
Regardless of circumstances, I am so thankful I have a God who I know will be with us during this time. I am so grateful for my faith and I can't even explain the feeling knowing that even when things get tough, we will not be forsaken. I am certain He will provide and will reveal Himself through this difficulty. I also pray for those who did this to us, that they may experience His presence, seek His grace and be saved from the only thing that can save them from whatever their circumstances may be.
Carter is so hilarious and is pretty much defined as our family clown, and he knows it. He makes the funniest faces and says the funniest things. Most dinners, all 6 of us are staring at him laughing at his crazy antics. Today, he found some of Kyla's pink lipstick, put it on and then ran to me telling me "I have to go show the mirror". It was too funny. Thankfully, he wiped it off right afterwards saying it was disgusting.
you get Jonah's wonderful post below. He typed it and posted it all by himself while I was on the phone with my dad. I'm a proud mom. :)
In difficult news, a friend I grew up with passed away November 1st after a 3 year battle with breast, lung and brain cancer. She was a single mom to a 6 year old little boy. We made many childhood memories together, including school, soccer and birthday parties. The last time I saw her, about a year or two ago, she was doing quite well (I think even in some sort of remission) and was so very happy. In fact, one thing I will always remember about her is how happy she always was and her constant smile. My heart breaks for her sweet little boy and how his life will now forever change because of this awful cancer. I pray for her little boy so he may find comfort during this difficult time. Rest in peace Lisabet..we can celebrate your passing knowing your in the most amazing and pain free place, unlike anything we can imagine.
I have been pestered quite a bit lately regarding my blogging, or lack thereof. So, this will just be a random blog, likely containing a lot of jumping and random thoughts. Speaking of which, I love when I hang out with my sister and husband at the same time. You see, my husband can only have one conversation at a time (typical man) but my sister and I have about 6-8 random conversations going at all times. We jump around and are constantly distracted by any new detail brought into the conversation, leading to another conversation, yet still holding on and not finished with our other conversation. Got it? It drives my husband nuts, but I love how my sister and I speak the same "language".
Anyway, in other fabulous news, much to my surprise Kyla got her ears peirced yesterday. Kirt took her out for a bit and my little pricess came home with some brand new sparkly earrings...REAL ones (as she would say). They are adorable and I am super proud of her for doing it, especially like such a big girl. She didn't move, flinch and took it like quite the big girl. In fact, she now thinks she is so big that she is now the "wife" of her daddy and I am now the "kid" of the family. It was quite funny. Some may think this is weird, however, my husband took full advantage by telling her that wives scratch backs and give massages. She obliged.
Right now I am absolutely loving Target's frosted SPRINKLED sugar cookies (they are by the bakery bread for anyone wondering). I absolutely love sprinkles..probably more than my kids do, which is scary. These cookies are so delicious and right now my absolute weakness.
I am happy this election is over tomorrow. I still do not know who I am going to vote for, mainly because I really am not a fan of either. I feel like Obama is a really great politician (but seems like a liar and pretty picture painter- of himself- to me) and McCain for me, seems okay, however, I would really, really worry about Sarah Palin as a possible president should anything happen to McCain. I really, really like her, but I don't think she knows truly what she is doing. So, I am up in arms, and still unsure.
I hope this post will suffice for now(Alicia). I need to go figure out who has my vote tomorrow. Make sure YOU get out and vote tomorrow!!
I seriously had the most amazing birthday ever this year. I really want to write about it just so the memories can be stored in a place I can always go back to and read. Kirt and I went to dinner on Sunday (the night before) at Tokyo Bay and then to the movies afterwards. It was fun, romantic, and just so nice to be away from our crazy home lives. We definitely need to do this more. We know that for our kids sake, and for our relationship, we need to never lose focus on each other and the love that we have.
Monday was my actual birthday. I took the kids to school and then did a little shopping with Carter and Jonah. They were really good, which was so nice! To make things even better, both boys took awesome 3 hour naps when we got home. PEACE and QUIET- such an AMAZING thing. I love my life and love my kids, but I also love how absolutely quiet and still my house can get at certain times of the day. Anyway, that night my dad, sister and I went to Outback for a wonderful, long dinner. We just hung out, ate and chatted for hours, reminiscing on the past, bringing up great memories, and just having such a blast. I love my dad and sister so, so much and we always have the best time together. My dad is so smart, intelligent and has so much wisdom to share. I could listen to him talk for hours because after each meaningful conversation, I just feel so enlightened in life. He is such an amazing father and I love him soo much!
On Tuesday, I had plans to go to Carrabbas with my sister for dinner. Little did I know, she had much different plans in mind. Not only was I going to dinner with her, but also many of my great friends!! It was such an AWESOME surprise and we had SOO much fun!! We did so much talking and laughing and it was such a perfect birthday dinner. I still can't believe she pulled it off! Thank you so much Alicia for the best birthday surprise ever. :) You totally did an amazing job. Thank you, too, to all of my wonderful friends who came to suprise me and celebrate with me!! There is nothing better than great friends sitting around eating some great food! I love you all so much and am sooo VERY grateful for each and everyone of you!! :)
Kirt and I went to see this movie last night for my birthday night out. If you have not seen this movie, GO SEE IT NOW!! It is such a great movie for any married couple to see. I really don't want to give too much of it away, but Kirt and myself both loved it and will definitely be buying it on DVD. It is so refreshing, encouraging and an awesome reminder as to how we should live missionally in our relationships. I know I am often "on mission" for other people, whether it be friends, family or even strangers, and after seeing this movie, I realized I really need to be more missional to my own husband. How easily we can get so caught up and distracted in our everyday lives and let the most important things get pushed aside. This movie really makes you think and is so relateable to most of us. Anyway, here is the trailer. I'm serious, go see this movie before it's out of the theaters!!!
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/
Here is also a link for "Fireproof my marriage".
http://fireproofmymarriage.com/index.php
I've been a bad blogger the past few weeks. I feel like I have been putting everything to the "side" and quite frankly, not accomplishing anything. Let's see, I have about 8 loads of laundry to do, as well as baskets of clean laundry that my family has been digging through the past few days (okay, I'm lying..like 2 weeks now). I absolutely despise laundry. Because I despise it so much, once I actually complete it, the sense of accomplishment is so satisfying. Yet, there it sits. Why do I struggle with something so easy and mindless as well as very rewarding?? Anyway, enough complaining about it, but my goal is to have it all done and put away by tomorrow. :)
I really have no news to report or updates to give, because I feel like I've been lazy in life lately. However, next time I post will hopefully be with a better attitude as well as tons of pictures with my new amazing camera. :)
Being convicted is a lovely thing. Seriously. Lately God has been pressing on my heart so hard over certain things going on in my personal life. I have been praying for Him to show me his desires and speak to me His wants for my life. Thankfully, this past week I finally heard Him convicting me of quite a few things that I needed to take care of or change. The blessings in return have just been amazing and wonderful and I know they will only get better. Not all convictions reveal immediate blessings, but thankfully God chose to not test my patience too much during this time (I'm sure he knows patience is one of my weakest qualities..). I am so happy to be at such a wonderful point in my relationship with God where I am finally hearing Him and responding to the desires and wants He has for me. I am thankful for such a wonderful, forgiving and compassionate God who truly wants to bless us during our short time here on earth. Unforunately, all too often we are found with our eyes closed, ears covered or both and miss out on all He truly desires for us. I pray he reveals Himself so clearly that we may not miss it, and yet we respond so obideiently that we don't miss the blessing he has in store for us.
