BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

Common question around here when a birthday is approaching.  This year I decided to handle my birthday a little differently.  Instead of RECEIVING...I decided that as a family we were going to GIVE.  I decided to do 38 Random Acts of Kindness for my 38th Birthday.  

Now I should preface this post with the fact that I am NOT asking for a pat-on-the-back by writing about this.  I want no credit.  I got the idea from a blog post, and I thought that possibly by writing about it others may be inspired to do something similar.  The world needs all the love it can get.  

Note:  Most of these Acts of Kindness were done in one day, but it took about 2 weeks to complete all of them.  

38 Random Act of Kindness

1.  The kids and I went to our local Martins (many of you have probably heard about the recent events at Martins) and gave the employees a card.

2.  We also purchased a few gift cards and as we walked through the store I let the kiddos decide who to hand them to.  Honestly, doing this made them both a little nervous....but I felt it was good for them to reach out.  Afterwards, they were both just giddy with excitement about it.

3.   We put some diapers and wipes in the bathroom on the changing station for a mama to find!

4.  We put a special note on the bathroom mirror for people to see when they wash up.

(sorry the picture is blurry)

5.  We taped some popcorn packets onto a Redbox so that people could enjoy some popcorn with their movies!

6.  We went to Starbucks and paid for the person behind us in line.

7.  We also delivered some hot coffee to some construction workers we saw bundled up and working in the cold.

8.  We put a box of Girl Scout Cookies, along with a note, in our mailbox for our mail lady.

9.  We delivered donuts to our local fire station.

10.  We made homemade cookies for all of the neighbors and the kiddos delivered them.

11 - 12.  I sent Matt to work with homemade cookies for the lunch room, as well as a special packet of cookies for a sweet lady that works with him that is always so nice to our kiddos.

13.  We went to Dunkin' Donuts (to purchase donuts for others) and paid for the person behind us.

14.  We had lunch with Daddy at a local restaurant and left the waitress a package of Girl Scout Cookies along with her tip.

15.  We also left a little note on the bathroom mirror of the restaurant.

16.  We went to the dollar store and tucked a few $1 bills into the toy section for a child to find.

17.  We took a donation to our local Humane Society.  Eva and Jaden also collected money for this donation.  They were pretty excited.  Greyson...well he was just in love with all the animals!

18.  We cleaned out all of our toys, boxed up the gently used ones, and dropped them off at the Women's Shelter for less fortunate children to enjoy.

19.  I donated blood in memory of someone special.

20.  I gave a small gift (a magnet with a quote on it) to a special group of girls I meet with every week.

21.  I COMPLETELY surprised the kiddos by suggesting ICE CREAM for dinner one night!!!

22.  I sent out some snail mail to some special people I love but don't see often enough.

23.  I made the kiddos teachers a meal (I do this every month).

24.  I dropped off a meal to a friend that works some CRAZY hours.  One less thing for her to worry about one evening.

25.  I treated a friend I rarely see to lunch.

26.  I took homemade grape juice to my MOPS mentor mom to thank her for her hard work.

27.  I stuck a little note inside Matt's suitcase to surprise him on a recent business trip.

28.  I sent MY amazing mom flowers at work to thank her for being so awesome.

29.  We made cookies for some local friends.

30.  I made a donation to a little girl that was selling keychains to raise money for her aunt that has breast cancer.  Honestly friends, supporting children that are reaching out to others is SO important.  Give generously.  Give often.

31.  I scheduled a playdate for each of my children that they have been begging for for weeks.

(yes, that is my son in the dress...they were trying to trick me)

32.  I not only sat and WATCHED a football game with my husband...I actually commented on it (other than whether or not I liked the uniforms) and even sent out some texts about it to a friend that I knew was watching.  If you know me...this is major.  I was definitely speaking his love language.

33 - 34.  We delivered cookies to our church offices and our KidsWorld staff to thank them for all of their hard work.

35.  I delivered cookies and a little note to an elderly friend that I enjoy.

36.  We purchased donuts and delivered them to the office staff at the kiddos school.

37-38.  We purchased the kids teachers favorite candy bars, decorated them, and they delivered them to school.

There you go my friends...38 Random Acts of Kindness to celebrate my 38th birthday!!  I have to tell you, it was sooooo much fun.  I loved the conversations that it created with the kiddos and I loved that sometimes a Random Act of Kindness would pop up unplanned (like the construction workers we delivered coffee to).   Definitely a birthday I will always remember.

XOXO...

Jamie

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"

--Ghandi

Mother Nature with a Vengeance!

Mother Nature has had a bit of a burr up her bum this winter.  We started the new year off with a full blown blizzard....and it really hasn't been much better since.  

That being said, sometime you can't change the situation...but you can change your attitude!!!  I'm a girl that believes in always trying to see the bright side....the blizzard allowed more family time (no school for kids, no work for Matt) and the weather we continue to have has provided some GREAT snow memories for all of us!  

As much as I am a summer-right-down-to-my-core kind of girl, if we are going to have winter, then I want it like THIS!

Unfortunately, our snow gear we shipped home from Breckenridge did not get here in time for the blizzard....but we made do.  We pieced some pieces together and dug up some stuff in the basement to make it all work.  In the end, everyone was covered enough from head to toe to enjoy plenty of play outside and to go to a local park for some sledding!

 "Winter came down on our home one night, 

quietly pirouetting on silver slippers on snow.

And we, we were children once again"

--Bill Morgan Jr.

New Year....BIG GOALS.

I have made a big goal for the new year.  One that I never - in a million years - thought I would make.  

You see, I had planned on running a 10k this year....a simple 6.2 miles.  That WAS my goal.

However, I was planning on running in honor of Isaac, the 7 year old son of our friends who lost his battle with cancer last year.  His parents are putting together a "team" to run in Isaac's name for a local race.  While discussing this is Matt and a good friend (who happens to be a running coach) they both encouraged me to push myself a little harder.  Push myself beyond what I felt my limits were....because THAT is what Isaac did.

So...I decided to run a half marathon.

13.1 miles to be exact.

It's a BIG undertaking for me.  I haven't trained since my triathlon last summer, and even for that I did very little training.  For this race I am going to have to do some MAJOR training.  

It will be hard.

It will hurt.

It will take sacrifice.

It will be worth it.

Wish me luck.

Eva Turns NINE!

Eva is my little girl that loves the snow.  She loves the cold.  She loves being out in the elements of winter.  For YEARS she has been asking if we could vacation somewhere cold....and this year she got her wish. 

We had a fun sleigh ride into the mountains planned for Eva's birthday....but with the whirlwind of events during the week and our decision to get off the mountain early our plans had to change.  That being said, I am pretty sure she still had an awesome time (see comment at the end of the blog post).

The day of Eva's birthday (after an awesome breakfast and a little gift opening) we loaded up to head to Denver.  We arrived to a hotel room door all decorated by my mom and sister!!  Soooo fun and I loved Eva's face!  

We enjoyed lunch out and then spent some time back at the hotel opening (more!) gifts and relaxing. Eva is is alllll about using her Rainbow Loom so she made bracelets all afternoon.

That evening Matt and I planned a surprise for her....but didn't tell her about it.  We told her we were going out to dinner at Dave and Busters (she had never been there and we knew she would think it was fun).  We went down to the lobby and just snuggled up by the fireplace for awhile.  The kiddos played the Wii.

We said we needed to wait for of the hotel to get our car (which was valet parked)....at least that is what we TOLD her.   Then this showed up....

Her expression....priceless.

She saw it pull up and just continued telling me a story she was telling me (she never in a MILLION years thought it was for HER).  I listened to her story and then said, "Hmmm...I wonder who this limo is for?  Could it be YOU?!!!!"

To say she was excited would be an understatement....so was her brother.  Ha!

The whole family loaded up in the limo, poured ourselves some drinks (in fancy champagne flutes which the kids thought were amazing), turned up the dance tunes, and rocked out during our trip to Dave and Busters!!!!!  Sooooooo fun!!

We enjoyed dinner and we all played games for HOURS.  We had such a good time.  However, my favorite part came at the very end of the evening.  With a HUGE smile on her face Eva said, "Mom and Dad...this was the BEST birthday EVER".

Music to this Mama's ears.

I love you to the moon and back Eva Marie.  Love the little girl you are....and the young lady you are becoming.  Xoxo.

This quote is just too perfect...

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on the detour"

--Unknown

Christmas 2013 - Part Two

Our Christmas at home (previous post) was a lot of fun.  However, I could tell that little Greyson was starting to get a cold....no fun when you have a flight coming up.  I did what I could to help him.  I made sure he had a lot of vitamin C, took him to our chiropractor for a few adjustment (love her and am so thankful she even had me come out to her house to adjust him before we left), and loaded him up on some immune boosting syrup.

That being said, a cold is a cold.....it's still got to run its course.

We headed out to the airport on Sunday morning with a caravan of our family, my parents, and my sister/Jeff/their dog.  Once we got to the airport we met Jeff's parents.  

During the flight to Denver Greyson was agitated and kept pulling at his ear.  After 3 kiddos (and numerous ear infections with Eva) I knew that we were probably dealing with an ear infection.  Regardless, the travel went well and we got to Denver.  Once in Denver we rented our cars, met Jeff's sister and her family, and - once again -we formed a caravan to head up the mountain to Breckenridge (about a 2-3 hour drive depending on the weather on the mountain).

Even though it was evening when we got there I quickly fell in love with Breckenridge.  What a beautiful and quaint little town!!  The snow was falling, Christmas lights were on, and our ENTIRE caravan had huddled into a local ski shop to be fitted with snowboards!!!  So exciting!

We got a good nights sleep and were up bright and early the next morning to head out on the slopes!!!  The view from our home was absolutely BREATHTAKING!!!!

(wish my mom was in this picture, as it's the only one with the whole group, but she was taking it)

(yep...that sign is correct.  When you looked over our deck it was literally a cliff overlooking Breckenridge)!  

This was my only day on the slopes.  I signed up for one day of snowboarding and my mom was planning on watching Greyson for me.  Since he was still acting as if his ears were bothering him I asked her if she would run him to an urgent care center just to have them looked at.  She was more than willing to (gotta love moms).  

Matt, Eva, Jaden, and I (along with the rest of the crew) headed out to the slopes!!!!  We were ALL so excited!!!  It was so beautiful!!

We got all of our gear on (which was quite funny considering we had never tried lacing snowboard boots).  Needless to say, it took us awhile.  Haha!!  We headed up the mountain on a Gondola.  Jaden  especially was so excited he couldn't contain himself.  He was just squealing!!!!  I loved it.

(Jaden in the Gondola heading up the mountain)

We met with our snowboard instructors and the lessons were in full swing!!  Snowboarding is a LOT harder than it looks!  We all were laughing pretty hard at each other as we tried going down the bunny hills!  Haha!!

(lesson in progress...look at that view!)

I often had to stop and just look around me.  I am not a mountain person.  I would pick a beach over cold snowy weather ANY day......but I couldn't deny the fact that standing up there on that mountain and looking out was absolutely amazing.

About an hour into the lesson I got a call from my mom.  Greyson's situation was a bit more serious than originally thought....he had a double ear infection, they were doing a chest X-ray, and his oxygen levels were extremely low.  They had put him on oxygen.

WHAT?!!??!!!!!!!??!!!!!

Meanwhile, my sister (who's dog seemed a bit lethargic that morning) got a call from the Breckenridge vet that her dog needed to be seen RIGHT away....and that his condition may be serious.

Oh. My. Word.

My sister and I rushed off the slopes (I left the older two kiddos with Matt) and back home.  She grabbed her dog to head to the vet and I waited for my mom to get home with Greyson (oxygen tank in hand).

When she got home I learned that Greyson did have a bad cold, as well as a double ear infection.  As for the oxygen.....well, that's just common procedure in Breckenridge.  The town is nearly 11,000 feet above sea level and due to his cold Greyson simply wasn't getting enough oxygen.  He had to go back to the doctor the following day to make sure his oxygen level improved.  If it didn't, we needed to get him off the mountain and back to Denver. 

(my mom with Greyson....break my heart).

Meanwhile, my sister got the news that the altitude was literally killing her dog.  They had no choice but to get him off of the mountain and back down to a lower altitude.  They got back from the vet and started packing.  

Ummmm......what was happening to our good old fashioned family Christmas????!!!!!

To make a long story short, Nicole and Jeff left and went back to Denver.  Greyson had his follow up appointment and his oxygen level improved significantly (yay!!).  That being said, he would have to remain on oxygen the entire time we were in Breckenridge because of the altitude.  Plans kept changing and changing again....who was headed to Denver to be with Jeff and Nicole, who was staying, etc.  In the end, Nicole and Jeff left and the rest of us stayed put until at least after Christmas.

THANKFULLY, we all did our very best to focus on the positive the rest of the week.  Was it rough at times?  Yes.  Did we wish we were all together??  Absolutely.  However, we all kept reminding each other that some day we were going to laugh hysterically at all the turn of events this vacation handed us!!!  Here is a little snapshot at the rest of our week...

 (we did a lot of laying around the house and snuggling Greyson).

 (The older kiddos became pool playing champions!!!  They looooooved it!)

 (As Greyson started to feel better we had to keep up with him...oxygen tank and all!!)

(On Christmas Eve we got an AMAZING snow fall!!!)

 (The kiddos built snow forts which were AMAZING!)

(Mom, Bob, and I headed to town for just a little bit on Christmas Eve)

(We also got a little silly....because that's always a good idea)!

Christmas Eve we stayed in and mom made an amazing Italian feast!  I felt bad because I knew Nicole and Jeff would have loved to have been there.  We kept in close contact via phone calls, texts, and even face-timing so they could see everyone!

That night we hung our stockings with care (alllll of us brought stockings!) and the kiddos dressed in their Christmas PJ's.

The next morning we were greeted with presents under the tree from Santa!!!  However, my favorite gift was the fact Greyson was feeling MUCH better and God blessed us with an absolutely jaw dropping view from our living room that morning!

We spent the day lounging around and enjoy the company of each other!  Jeff's parents and sister headed to Denver mid-day to spend time with Jeff and Nicole.  Mom decided to head out the next morning to spend the rest of the week with them.  I was happy they could enjoy some family time too!

The next two days were spent with Eva and Matt on the slopes!!  Eva snowboarded and Matt skied (he gave up on snowboarding....tooooo hard)!!  Greyson, Jaden, and I stayed home and played.

(love these two cuties on the ski lift)!

Matt and I decided to head to Denver a bit early to get Greyson off oxygen, so our last night in Breckenridge we all went out to dinner!!  It was really one of the only times all week that I left the house so it was a treat for me!!

The next day we headed to Denver....but more importantly it was our little girls 9th Birthday!!!  Stay tuned to see how we celebrated!!!

"Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine!"

--Anthony D'Angelo