An Award, Snow and Fighting Depression: Week Three

Mark is incredibly humble.  Do you know of anyone like that?  A person who is faithful, trustworthy and does the right thing.  Well...that describes my Mark.  He came home from one of his trips to Pasco, and gave his award to me.  He told me that he was presented this award for reporting a man he saw wandering on the tracks.  Because of his great description,and reporting right away to the police, the man was apprehended.  This man was actually a wanted fugitive.  I’m incredibly proud of his accomplishments with BNSF.  We celebrated by buying him a new railroad bag.  He has wanted this one for awhile and I am so happy that he bought it.

In week 3 we saw some snow!  It snowed off and on during the week.  The kids had a couple of late starts and one snow (rain) day.  Wasn’t quite sure why we had that off.  It has a been an incredibly mild winter this year so far.  

Isn’t preschool art the best?  I am LOVING all the art work that Matthew is bringing home these days.  It takes me back to my days as a Special Education Preschool Teacher.  

Seriously...how adorable is the snowflake?

Matthew has been very attached to Mark.  He cries and cries when Mark has to go to work.  “I want you to stay with me!”  He pleads.  It is so sad.  They are the best of friends.  However, as soon as he realizes Mark is now away at work, he is back glued to my side.

Bella and Matthew genuinely have a wonderful relationship. He adores and copies EVERYTHING she does and she LOVES calling all the shots.  Do any of your children have a special bond with a sibling?

If you wonder what Matthew has been up to these days, he is stamping all.the.things.  I have gotten more done while he stamps away on paper, and the counter, and quite possibly covering his hands.  Hey it’s sensory right?!?  

And we cannot forget my most feisty, crazy, up for a laugh, daughter of mine!  Gah....she literally has me crying from laughing so hard.  I’m telling you...God put her in my life for some comic relief, and to remember to not take myself so seriously.

And I need that little spit fire!  The end of week 3 found me struggling with depression.  Ahh.  It flairs it’s ugly head at the weirdest of moments.  Sometimes it comes out of nowhere, and other times I can feel it creeping it’s way up and over me.  Perhaps, it is because January is the longest month of the year and it has rained every.single.day of the month.  Or maybe because the load I am carrying at times feels too heavy to take another step.  But maybe because I am human, and realizing that sometimes it’s okay to not be okay.  I’m more gentle with myself now.  I have my therapist, and my peeps that I call and feel safe enough to share really, honestly, how I feel.  I have my meds and vitamin D, and trying to take walks outside between the downpours.  And I know it isn’t forever.  The sun will shine again.

Snow Day, Car Accident and Crafts

We had a bit of winter weather this past week and the kids had a "snow day".  It was a perfect snow day...snow was out in the morning and gone by the afternoon.  We had fun visiting with some friends at their house and hanging out that afternoon.  Bella had her first experience out in the snow.  She thought the best part of the snow was scooting around in her boots.  The snow was really wet, so it created a big mess and she really didn't want to have anything to do with it.

The same day as the snow, Mark got into a car accident.  We are SO thankful that no one was hurt (except the car). Currently, the car is in the shop getting repaired.  We are also thankful that we have the truck to drive so that we don't need to have a rental.  I know Mark felt really bad about the accident, but stuff happens and that is why we have insurance.  Cars are just things but people are important.

Mark is getting ready to head back out to the road on the railroad and I am gearing up to take on the kiddos while he works a crazy schedule.  We are thinking about upgrading our 1992 TV this month. :)  We have the oldest TV and is must weigh 300 pounds.  This was my parents TV and back in the day it was awesome!  Now...not so much.  I honestly would just like to see the whole picture now that everything is formatted in wide screen.  We often miss words because we don't have a wide screen.  Oh well...not in a rush, but this purchase is definitely on our minds.  When we do replace it my mother will be so relieved.  She calls our TV "the death trap."  Hehehe.  It has worked well and blessed us all these years.  We are slowly coming into the electronics era.  My brother Dave, is the electronics guy.  He has every gadget you can think of.  Me...not so much.  This year we finally purchased our first laptop (which I LOVE)!  And I got a new digital camera (Nikon SLR).  Yesterday, a NOOK Simple Touch joined our family.  While my son has used it more than me...I can't wait to enjoy the technology of this new ereader.  Luke already has it figured out!  This coming from a gal that didn't have her first e-mail account until I was out of high school (1997).  So I am enjoying some of the new gadgets we have in this electronics world.

Lastly...I have been having some fun doing a few crafts these days.  Today I created Valentine Felt Fortune Cookies for my kiddos.  The suspense is killing them and they can't wait to dive in.  It is a count down to Valentine's Day.  The RED fortune cookies are for Luke and the PINK ones are for Grace.  When Bella gets bigger I will add WHITE one's for her.  Starting February 1, they will pick one "cookie" a day and open it up and read the "fortune" or scripture that tells them about Jesus' love for them or an attribute/blessing that we (Mark and I) love about them.  All 28 of the cookies are different so they can share with each other and the plan is that it will lead to some good conversations.  I am really trying to get the kids to open up and really start talking about the important things.  If you are interested in getting some felt valentine's cookies for yourself or someone you LOVE....visit my ETSY shop Dahlhouse Design.  Or it you want to know how to make them yourself they are super fun!  I would LOVE to let you know how.