Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Be Thankful for Boring...

I have a co-worker that I consider a friend. His family is going through some of the worst kind of hurt imaginable right now. I was talking to him this afternoon at work and he said something that struck a chord with me. He was telling me how just a few weeks ago he was commenting to his wife how they do the same thing every day. Get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, play with the kids, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day. Their life was boring.

This last couple of weeks have been a living nightmare for them. He would give anything to go back to boring. So, when you find yourself restless because your in a rut, take a good look around and remember that there might be a time when you will wish more than anything that you could go back to that point. When things weren't quite as "exciting" (whether good or bad).

Keep it in the back of your head, and say a prayer for my friend. They really need the prayers right now...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Tonight

Well, tonight officially wraps up the fall soccer season in the Holman Household. Joshua's last game is tonight. And it's REALLY cold outside, and will probably by snowing by 6:45pm. Can't wait for that. At least Logan will be going to the sitter's if it's nasty outside - it's bad enough that the game starts so late (it'll be dark already), I don't need a cold whiny toddler complaining the whole time. It's not fair to Joshua. Last time Logan was cold at a soccer game, both Rick and I were so preoccupied with trying to distract him, we missed most of Joshua's playing time!

So, you can bet we'll be bundled up for tonight - long underwear, sweatshirts, hats, gloves the whole nine yards. And a GIANT thermos of hot chocolate...

Maybe the snow will just stay gone - that would be ideal.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Yay for family pictures!!!

We had so much fun yesterday! We went down to Allegan to meet up with Susan and have Joshua's "Littlest Heroes Project" photos done. The whole family was included in the session and we had such a great time! First of all, our boys and Susan's girls get along great and always have a great time when they're together. Second of all, Susan is just incredible. My boys LOVE her and she even got Rick into the spirit of things, even though pictures are NOT something he enjoys. What I love about fall pics is that you have the best props right at your fingertips. Bring a rake and you have mountains of leaves, which I assure you, little boys (and their daddy) absolutely love!

I am really so excited to see how the pics turned out. My boys were running a little hot and cold between cooperating and not, Logan especially, so the number of pics wasn't much, but I hope that the quality of pics she DID get will be awesome. Well, I KNOW they'll be great because she's great, but you know what I mean.

One of the things I had to do, though, for the session was get a picture of Joshua when he was sick so that Susan could take a pic of him holding the pic to show how far he's come. That's the thing about being so far out - it's easy to forget how sick he was. Rick and I were going through all the 2004 pics trying to find the "right" one. I was doing REALLY well with them until I came to the pics right after surgery........ that was not good at all. I saw the one of the back of his head after the surgery and almost threw up. It was SO DIFFICULT. And then the next one was when he was unconscious and hooked up to all the machines. Oh my gosh, it was awful. I guess I'm not quite "there yet" where I can look at those ones and not have a physical reaction.

Someday, I'm sure, but not yet.

Anyways, the boys were all tuckered out by the end and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. There is just something about watching your husband play with your kids that makes you remember why you chose them in the first place. It was SO FUN to see Rick and the boys wrestling in the leaves, throwing leaves everywhere, and just having an honest to goodness blast. It makes me feel really blessed to be this lucky. My life could be a whole lot different, but I'm so thankful it's not.

Have a great week - we're super busy again, but it's good.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

October Busy-ness!!!

Wow. I can't believe it's October 15th already (happy birthday, Hillary - even though I'm sure you don't read this)! This month has just flown by and it's only going to get busier......

We are booked SOLID for the next 3 weekends! Talk about no downtime!!! Oh, we are having a grown-ups only Halloween party on October 24th if anyone wants to come. Leave me a comment and I'll get you the details. We used to have one every year - it was "our thing", but when Joshua got sick, we stopped, and haven't had one since. So, time to remedy that. Rick and I love to throw parties for our friends, so we're excited.

Of course, once Halloween is done, it seems like Thanksgiving is RIGHT THERE (and my favorite day of all - Black Friday, lol) and then before you know it, it's Christmas morning. Have I mentioned I haven't even stopped to think of any ideas for Christmas this year? I haven't thought about what to get the kids, my parents, my husband.... nothing. I don't even know what I want this year!!!!!

I will admit though, I absolutely LOVE this time of year. I thrive on being busy, seeing my family all the time, good times with great food - I'm all about all of that :)

The boys and I have big plans of doing our "fall craft" this afternoon. We've (mostly Joshua and I) been drawing a lot of pictures with fall trees, scarecrows, pumpkins - things like that. I bought the boys some scrapbooking stickers for fall and we're going to work on making fall scenes tonight I think. Joshua has been looking forward to it all week long.

Oh, I finally got our clothes picked out for Joshua's "Littlest Heroes Project" photo session! I'm so excited about that. I REALLY hope the weather holds so Susan can get us done on Sunday!!! I'm a lot more excited about these pictures than the ones we had done for the Church Directory last Thursday. Maybe because that photographer wasn't very friendly and Susan is so awesome. Regardless, I'm really looking forward to that!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Widow for the Weekend!!

Thanks to Oktoberfest going on up in Pentwater this weekend, the boys and I are "Daddy Free", lol. We are planning to go with Gramma Lola and maybe Gramma Sunshine to the Pumpkin Roll tomorrow in Montague. We've never been able to go before, but I hear it's super fun. Apparently you buy a pumpkin and then you roll it down a big hill in a race. I'm sure my boys will love the chance to destroy something with permission!!

I'd like to get some apples picked if my mom is up for it, but we'll see. I actually get the night off from being "Mommy" tomorrow!!! Due to some VERY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING plans, the boys are going for a sleepover at my mom's house. I have big plans of cleaning, doing laundry and going to bed at like 9:00pm while they're gone, since Rick isn't supposed to be home until Sunday.

Sunday morning we're going to be heading into Grand Haven to clean out my Great-Grandma's place. She lives with my Grandma now, so it's time to get that last little bit taken care of. So, hopefully Rick won't be too grumpy Sunday morning from working Saturday night because we're supposed to be in Grand Haven around 7:00am!! I think he'll stay in Whitehall and just meet me in GH. I can catch a ride out there with someone else, and then just ride home with him. He doesn't have to drive the extra half hour after working all night, I get the bed (and house) to myself - it works out for everyone!!

My helper is going to take over my Sunday School class (it's her week to teach, so it works out), so I'm able to help out my family. Then, nothing to do Sunday afternoon but watch football and hope my fantasy team does better than last week (which was terrible!).

The weather is supposed to be phenominal both Saturday and Sunday, so we'll for sure be taking advantage of that! Those beautiful weekends will soon be a distant memory as winter heads toward Michigan...

Friday, October 3, 2008

MORE Super Awesome News!!!!!!!

I got yet ANOTHER call from the DeVos Children's Hospital yesterday. The calls that used to send so much dread now send something completely opposite....

It was a guy named Dwayne, and he was calling to ask if we would be willing to bring Joshua to a really special event coming up. Grand Valley State University is having their annual "Dance Marathon" to raise money for the DeVos Childrens Hospital. They do it every year - it's a 24 hour event. They would like Joshua to be a special guest there!!!!!!!!!! They want (from what I understand) to "show" these college students what they are raising money for. How awesome is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone from the event should be calling me shortly with the rest of the details, but the event is on November 7th. I did a little searching (thank you, Google!!!) and found a page that tells a little about it. Here's the link: http://www.gvsu.edu/service/index.cfm?id=7E7E31C4-FDA5-A7AA-5CE9FA943A398FDF

You will probably have to copy and paste it because I'm not very good at that stuff yet, but it's totally worth a quick peek!!! I'll update again when I have more details, but until then, I'm ABSOLUTELY doing a "Happy Dance" at how God CONTINUES to use what he chose us to go through to impact the lives of other people!!!!!

Woohoo!!!! Have a beautiful weekend!!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Just for the record...

My office is the place to be today :) That Orange Pumpkin candle is causing people to wander in and out of here for no apparent reason other than the fact that it smells SO GOOD, lol.

And it's making my day a whole lot better too, despite the fact that it feels like November outside.

On a plus note, I did get to wear my most favorite coat to work today, LOL. It's a long wool dress coat in a BEAUTIFUL winter white. Too bad it needs to be sent to the dry cleaners before I can wear it regularly, but it fit my mood today, lol. Along with my favorite Gap work pants (also wool, LOL). Despite everything, the little things are making today a good day.

Hope yours is good too!!!!