A few random pictures...

I took hardly any pictures in the whole month of January...which I am kind of frustrated about, but with the craziness at work I have to give myself a little grace :) :)

Here are a few:

Every student in Kindergarten is kind of like "student of the week" at some point during the year. The parents make a poster and the child gets to take a favorite toy in and share with the class. Here is the poster I made...which turned out pretty good, I thought...for me not being very artistic or creative.

I thought this was cute...

I love this picture too :)

And, I am kind of having a down day...so I challenged myself to not give in to depression, but to fight back with what I am THANKFUL for today...so that I will focus on the positives instead of the negatives...here is my list:

• Our master bathroom is ALMOST DONE. Stephen grouted it last night, so after it cures all we have left is trim...but bottom line is that it will be USABLE again. And trim is the least of my worries right now :) IT LOOKS SO GOOD!!!!!!!
• I am thankful for the break yesterday and my boss allowing me to work from home because of the huge storm that came through. The kids have been SO good on the few days I have been able to work from home. Super quiet when I have gotten a phone call, and done very well playing by themselves while I have had to work.
• We had a really good service on Sunday. God was really moving, and it was awesome to see how the service came together and how people responded.
• I am thankful that God has opened my eyes to something simple that I have been doing WAY wrong in parenting and has been frustrating to me...Simple concept here...immediate consequences for behavior the kids already know is wrong. No more, "Damaris, please stop pulling on the dog" and saying it like 2-3 times...and getting more and more frustrated until I say "next time you pull on Eva you are going to sit in time out." Now it is more like "Damaris, you know we don't pull on the dog. Go sit in time out." Whew. So much less nagging and frustration on my end. This simple change has saved me a LOT of stress and frustration with the kids the last couple days. I still have a long way to go (breaking the habit is hard!), and I am far from "there" but am excited to see how this all plays out.
• Titus has always said he hates broccoli and cauliflower...but last night he said he LIKED them both and said we should make it again. We have a "one bite rule" at our house, and he always waits until last to eat what he doesn't particularly like. We kept telling him they were better warm, but now I think he actually believes us :) It also helped that his attitude was better about trying them...we melted Velveeta cheese on them and Stephen raced him...can't go wrong there :)
• Stephen surprised me on Tuesday and stopped in at the office to see me for a few minutes while he was in town getting supplies for the church. And he bought me a little mid-morning snack. It was nice!
• I rearranged my office last week. I used to be on a tiny desk - the monitor for my computer was right in my face and I had no room to work. The printer was stacked on the computer tower, which half covered my phone. I couldn't take it any more. So I switched everything to the desk that was behind me and now I have ROOM. It is probably close to twice as big. I like change...and I like space... :)
• I finally bought a webcam for my laptop, and now we have Internet at the house. So I was able to Skype with my sister Kara and my brother Brent all in one week. We have several others we want to Skype with too, so I am excited about this! (Stephen's laptop has a camera built in, but he keeps it at the church)
• Stephen and I had a really great time away at our district's pastor and spouse retreat a couple weeks ago. It was kind of hard coming back to reality :) Pictures from our time there coming next!
• Spring is officially here NEXT MONTH.
• I am thankful for a house that has cheap utilities...especially for the size of the house and the size of the windows. We have well water and septic...so no bill there. We have natural gas instead of propane. Our highest bill since we have lived there has been less than $300 for gas and electric COMBINED. This is WAY lower than what I thought it would be for our family of four. Of course we haven't gotten our January bill yet ;)
• All of our tax information has been compiled and sent in to our accountant. This is hours and hours of work, and a project that I started back in November. I AM SO GLAD TO HAVE IT DONE.
• We have so many good friends our age here...and they have been so accepting of us and our family, and I just really appreciate it. You have all helped me feel welcomed and at home.
• I love, love love our new jacuzzi bathtub. And the kids love it too. Our new family tradition on Sunday afternoons is quickly becoming all four of us getting on our bathing suits, adding a few bubbles, and relaxing.
  

I feel better already...I guess positive thinking works ;)