Happy Birthday

To Me!  ^_^

I'm 38 today.  I feel like such a baby in so many ways, so sit's hard to believe I'm well on my way to becoming an older lady!  HA!!!

Only 10am and it's already been a great day.  I want to share a couple things that have helped it feel that way.  First, is the joyful manner with which my children have greeted me and wished me happiness today.  Although it has subsided already, they were starting out well with their chores and responsibilities.  At least it started out well.  They could've just done poorly with that from the start (or: as usual).

I was able to take a walk.  It helps me to get out of the house and away from my load of responsibilities.  I left a lot later than normal because the weather is rather cold and I've been worried about how the mists are effecting me and baby girl.  Thankfully they were basically gone by the time I went out.  Yeay!  :)

Lots of facebook friends have wished me a Happy Birthday.  That definitely brings brightness to my day.  I'm so grateful!

The best thing, probably, so far, is the 'secret' gift my children delivered a few days ago.  They wanted to give me a surprise party.  I don't like surprises unless I've asked for them.  So... they did something that could be a surprise/secret.

Now, try and tell me that's NOT funny!!

 

That's today.

Once you read the letter,

you'll understand better what this is all about.  ^_^

 

Pretty sweet letter!  I'll transcribe it below.

 

My oldest daughter wrote the letter.  It says:
Dear Mrs. Gollihugh,

We are the mama boosters. & we have been to mama's house before. & we had a vote about a month ago & the subject of the vote was you!  We the four mama booster's all agreed that you are the best mother on the face of the earth so along  with this Letter there will also be a blue ribbon because you have won the blue ribbon of being the best mother ever miss Gollihugh we apreeceate what you do very much.  keep doing what you do & keep being who you are!

Sincerely,

the mama booster's

P.S.

Happy birthday!  from the mama boosters.

 

So, the picture before the letter is my Blue Ribbon.  How awesome and wonderful is that!!!??  Pretty sweet gift, if you ask me!  My children have risen up and called me blessed.  My business is growing bit by bit... I'm becoming a Proverbs 31 woman.  Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever!!!!

 

Happy Birthday Kitty Kat!

My Kat

Born SEVEN years ago.

sweet

joyful

kind

loving

wonderful

strong

helpful

perfect in imperfection

a royal daughter of Heavenly Father

my sweet

amazing

awesome

Kitty Kat

I can hardly believe it's been SEVEN YEARS!

I'm so grateful every single day for this girl of mine.

Praise the Lord for mercifully blessing me

with SUCH an awesome person in my life and heart!

Around here birthdays are SPECIAL days.  But they are also quiet most years.  Every 4th year (starting at 4 years old), my children get a BIG party and gifts.  Every other year, they get to make a wish list and we try to make their wishes come true.

Kat's List This Year:

3 movies

Temple Trip (family)

Chick-Fil-A for lunch with ice cream

Ria to make burrito stuff

angel food cake with fruit and whipped cream (as her birthday cake)

all girls wearing Lilla Rose (honest to goodness this was her wish!)  ^_^

feed acorns to the goats

pizza for breakfast

carmel popcorn made by Daddy

Obviously, we still have some wishes to fulfill, but I'm pretty sure they are all do-able!  I'm so grateful for such sweet children as I'm blessed to have.  Their wish lists are SO sweet!  Donchathink!!??  :)  We'll continue the fun tomorrow!

Happy birthday my sweet Kit Kat!!

Two New Babies

I find it interesting to think about birthdays.  In my immediate family, we have 1 January birth, 2 March births, 2 October Births, and 1 December birth.  The baby yet to be born is due in June.

CONGRATULATIONS to my sister, brother-in-love, brother and sister-in-love!!!  We look forward to meeting your girls!!!  ^_^

In my extended family (my immediate family and my family of origin and those related), we have (including the ones listed above): 1 January birth, 1 February, 5 March (TWO within the past two weeks! ^_^), 3 April , 4 June (to become 5 with the baby i carry), 2 August, 2 September, 4 October, 2 November, and 1 December birth.

It gets even more interesting when you look at the dates of those births (date including or exclusing years).  For simplicity, I'll list dates without years... also, those tend to be most interesting to me, anyway.  :)

January: 18
February: 13
March: 10, 12, 13, 16, 27
April: 3 on the 11th!
June 2 on the 10th, 27, 28 (the gestating baby is due at the end of the month)
August: 8, 9
September: 9, 13
October: 9, 10, 25, 27
November: 22, 24
December: 16

Maybe it's just me... but that's just INTERESTING!  Throw in my husband's side of things... well, that's only another 6 birthdays, but still interesting!  :)

TWO of four birthdayS in ONE family

I'm planning to call and wish them each a HAPPY day, but wanted to publish our celebration of and love for your baby girls, Evelyn.  HAPPY birthday to BOTH of them!!  ^_^

Thankful Thursday: Week of January 12 to 18

Thursday, January 12, 2012:  I'm thankful for the garden work we were able to get going today.  We now have almost double the space we started with before our efforts!  YEAY!  I'm hoping I'll have a good planting plan sometime soon!

I'm grateful for the writing I've been able to get done.  27 pages in the past 3 days (not including today).  Pretty awesome, yes?  :)

Friday, January 13, 2012:  I'm thankful for answered prayers.  I've been praying the Lord to bless me with Quantum Leaps in my progression... mostly Spiritual, but also hoping for other things and other ways of becoming better... I realized just recently that the Lord has answered my prayer by blessing me with numerous trials.  The most recent trial of ill health has been cumbersome, to say the least.  Each time I think my sweet babies are better, they barf again.  :(  It's exhausting.  Emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually exhausting.  I pray I am truly Leaping... but fear I am barely baby stepping along!

Jessie made some suggestions about writing effort he would like to see me make and since then I have met or exceeded his suggestion.  He said it was not an expectation, per se, but I have felt it to be just that.  Good progress in the THE story that has been gestating in me for the last eight year is such a joy.  I feel such excitment in learning what is happening in the lives of these characters that are almost like friends in my mind!  If you don't write, I realize that could sound crazy, but it's really quite normal.  I promise.  :)

Saturday, Januaray 14, 2012:  I'm thankful for all the work my children and I were able to accomplish this afternoon!  Kat and Tea did help, but really it was mostly Ria and me working hard to get some more of our front garden area defined so we can pack it full of good dirt.  (Our soil here is mostly sand with a little dust-like dirt mixed in.  When I dig down far enough, it's a bit of clay mixed with dirt.  Amazing, right?)  We did get the area completed.  It was wonderful to accomplish so much with my kiddos!  Jmy was a sweetie almost the whole time.  He crawled back and forth, following his sisters in their efforts to gather dirt in a little bucket and move the liner stones we used.  I got the easiest work today.  I'm still super tired for the 26 hours awake last Sunday....  Anyway... hopefully we'll be able to get the dirt on Tuesday.  I'm sure we'll be able to spread it over the whole area, but I think we'll have to make one more haul to fill in the area to the depth we need.  I still haven't planned out the plantings....

Plus we have a long strip area in the back that needs work.  We're making that area into huglekulture (as well as the third 8x10 bed we fixed up a few weeks ago).  I'm hoping this kinda of garden will help us with the dry hot summer!

Sunday, January 15, 2012:  I'm thankful for the Sacrament.  I went to church to partake and then back home because Ria barfed Saturday night and Kat barfed twice this morning!  "/  I'm grateful for the peaceful and enjoyable day we spent together as a family.

Monday, January 16, 2012:  I'm thankful for how helpful my girls can be when we have work to do. I'm grateful for their loving dispositions.  I'm grateful that I was able to get some work done in our front garden area and then salvage some screws for future projects.


Tuesday, January 17, 2012:  I'm thankful for the awesome work Jessie did in getting another load of mushroom compost for our gardens.  We've got the front area we've been working on completely covered... just have to get another load to finish it off.  We'll probably also be able to start adding soil to the LONG garden box in the back in which I hope to plant lots of peas for eating (and, if I'm truly blessed: canning!).  ^_^

Wednesday, January 18, 2012:  I'm thankful for Jessie, my husband.  Jess is a good human being.  He's strong (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually).  He is talented: plays guitar, teaching himself to sing, writes well when he sits down to do it (stories and songs, etc) and he's got a most amazing and enjoyable imagination!  Jessie is very VERY skilled!  He is a Chef, a musician, a mechanic, a handy-man, a good planner (when he puts his mind to it), a great play-mate for children, and a hard worker when he chooses to be.  He is just a really good person.  I'm grateful he found me on matchmaker.com these 11 years ago!  I'm even more grateful that, even though I wasn't a praying girl or doing right in many ways, that the Lord whispered loud and clear that I should break some of my "rules" to meet this guy.  Even with all the troubles, he's really worth it all!  I'm grateful for the Father he is and is becoming.  I'm grateful for the provider he is and consistently tries to be.  I'm grateful for his efforts to become a better man.  I'm grateful that he is my husband and pray WE will both continue to successfully  KEEP CHOOSING US!  ICU, JessieWho.  I really do.  And I still choose you.

I'm grateful for those things that were accomplished today, especially what Jess chose to do without being asked: fitting a light up in our computer room.  It's so much brighter in there at night now.  I'm grateful for the time we were able to spend together as a family.  It was a GOOD day!

Chris, Among Brothers

Among brothers,
and I have more than a few,
there is much I can say of example.

There are good things.
And perhaps a couple bad, too.
Upon the silver, let's take a sample.

John is courage.
The boy I knew.
He will return, when given time, ample.

Josh. True, just, giving, loving.
I could go on, but refuse to do.
He is a marvelous example.

Ben is big.
A big man with a big spirit, building his crew.
His career will enable him to, the deceiver, trample.

Eddie is Eddie.
His way with words, Oh! If you knew!
His time is spent now, to, life sample.

Now my brother added last.
Dear Chris, only missing a t at the end, is you.
No, you're not there yet, but progressing you ARE an example.

Your joy in your new addition, such a pleasure to hear.
From all I can see: Faithful and true.
This is not nearly ample.

I'm sure it will be for far more than me,
If you only knew,
How I have been benefited by your example.

Of course there are weird
and perhaps annoying things, too.
Like the "butt change" thing, as a sample.

But when held to the rest,
that is a mere speck to rue.
For something so small, I would not YOU trample.

I'm so glad you're part of the family.
I'll say it for all, sort of 'in lieu'.
Thank you for your exmple!



Oh, and by the way: ^_^

HAPPY happy Birthday, Chri-iis dear. Happy days will come to you all year! If I had a wish, then it would be: A Happy HAPPY Birthday to YOU from me!

Hope your day is WONDERFUL in every way!
Love,
tori

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday DEAR Evelyn! Happy Birthday to you!!!

How old ARE you, anyway! I'm pretty all right keeping track of the little ones' ages, but I'm having an increasingly difficult time keeping track of my sibs ages. John and Josh are pretty easy cause they are each two under me... but I always get confused after that! SORRY! Old age, I guess. ;)

Anyway...

A Birthday Poem for My Sis:

You've earned every year.
Sometimes with a tear.

When the time arrives,
As it does in most everyone's lives,

that you find a gray hair upon your head,
think NOT of how to cower in bed!

But own it with joy.
Use this tool, I employ:

It's proof of your fire.
Each gray, payment for your hire.

Some day when your head is full
you'll hear the call and your heart will pull.

You'll arrive in Father's presence.
Pure and fully white down through your essence.

And the hairs upon your head.
Will match those on others' long dead!

Joy will fill your heart and you will desire to show'em
these words. And you'll feel the truth of this silly poem.



I LOVE YOU, my sister of blood. You are a treasure in my heavenly trove! May God smile upon you this day, as always, and continue to bless you and yours beyond measure!!!!

Happy Birthday.
Love,
tori

Groceries

On top of everything else Jess has to do, he's now, once again, in charge of grocery shopping. He's so wonderful about it, too, which makes the release of that responsibility easier for me to deal with. I hate to ask him to do yet something more, but there's this problem I have... so it's become rather necessary, as the moolah is much tighter right now, for the better shopper to be in charge. And Jess is definitely THAT!

I think it may be because I do the bills and so I know how much I could actually use... but whenever Jess goes grocery shopping, he comes home with almost exactly what I've put on the list. On the other hand, when I go.... I don't even want to go into what I come home with. I don't want to, but give me a minute and I'll get my guts up to bad mouth myself.

I think it also has to do with the horrible sense of foreboding I feel concerning food storage. I feel certain that something is going to happen and we're going to live off of our food storage again. I don't know what and I don't know exactly when, but it feels like it will be sometime after the baby is born, which causes me even greater anxiety.

So, basically, when I go grocery shopping I do NOT stick to the list. This is a good thing in that it seems the only time I remember certain necessary items is while I'm shopping. For whatever reason those itemS just don't seem to occur to me while I'm making the list. Usually the items are food storage related (at least lately). But the added items add up in the total, of course, and then I'm over budget. ARGH!

Jess took BOTH girls grocery shopping this morning. He doesn't prefer this because it is, admittedly, more difficult than taking one. But because he had them both I had a VERY quiet extra sleep time. MAN, I sure have needed a TON of sleep lately!!! I went to bed around 11:30pm last night and slept TWELVE hours and totally could have easily slept a few more. And this is how I've been feeling for a couple weeks now!!! ahwell... I guess this baby just needs extra energy to bake up properly. :)

WALK
YEAY, I was able to go for another walk today!!! Heavenly Father granted my request in that the rain came and went away prior to my walk time. After just a few minutes out walking I felt like I'd stepped out of a sauna because the air was just THAT wet. Amazing! But it felt really wonderful to get out again. This time it was 64 minutes. Thankfully my belly did NOT hurt nearly as bad or as much today as it did yesterday! I only had a couple big BH pains - as opposed to about 40 minutes worth yesterday.

Ria on the Phone
Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Chris made Ria's evening two nights in a row. Evie's birthday was yesterday and I swear Ria talked to her for a good 15 minutes or more. Chris's birthday was today and he chatted with her for a while. He was so sweet when he was trying to get off the phone with her. He's a very subtle guy, anyway. But Ria doesn't really GET subtle too well. I'm probably to blame. Not necessarily overtly (I hope), but when I was young subtley was TOTALLY lost on me. Perhaps it is genetic!?? I can hope. ;) I do have to say, sort of admiringly, Ria sure can talk on the phone! It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Kat was awake today so she also go to hear Uncle Chris. She doesn't speak much coherently - especially over the phone. BUT he did get to hear her say "bubble," which is mighty cute!