Blessings #3

I almost forgot to post my thankfuls for this week!

I am grateful for...

Tommy - good friends

Jenni - Extra time with the kids and Tommy this week, Stefanie for dropping my package for me when she went to the post office, my new model/boyfriend - cory the electrician (he was way cute to look at when he came to add some outlets on Thursday!), Charlie not running away when I accidentally locked him out of the house yesterday, short lines at walmart for a change, co-advil, my new cabinets almost being finished!, fun game at a friends house- even though the wives lost to the husbands BY ONE STINKING POINT, my new obsession - Parmesan and Sundried Tomato Riceworks crisps, knowing Louis Weber - I will miss him.

Maggie -friends, day off on Wednesday, Saltgrass Steakhouse, IHOP, jean day on Friday, not getting my phone taken away when I thought might.

Tim - Nintendo D.S. game that Grant Gilbert let me borrow, cool cabinets, new Nike tennis shoes, a straight A report card, going to Ben Gilbert's house to play, an "ice-day" off from school, chips and taco sauce

Why do I always have more on my list than anyone else? I live with a bunch of ingrates!!!

Cool Pond Pics

This morning on my way home from taking Tim to school, I noticed how pretty the pond looked - just like a mirror. So I made the big kids jump out into the freezing cold for a few cool pics!

this is the original picture... notice their feet at the very top edge of the pic - this is right side up. I was shooting the water's reflection.

... and this is flipped upside down! So, that "sky" is really the water!

again, original picture, shooting the reflection in the water...

... and upside down! "Sky" is the water. SO COOL!!!

The sweetest e-mail we've received this year!

FORNEY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
E-Mail Message sent - 1/28/2009
School Closing Jan. 28

All Forney ISD schools are closed today, Wednesday, Jan. 28, due to icy road conditions.

Remember when you were a kid and would sit by the radio or t.v. waiting for your school to be announced? Well, times have changed and now the message is sent out by e-mail and telephone too!
Our phone rang at 6:00a.m. Maggie and I answered at the same time and listened to the sweet, sweet words...

"All Forney ISD schools are closed today, Wednesday, Jan. 28, due to icy road conditions."

The next thing I heard was Maggie's hurried footsteps as she headed to my room to snuggle in my bed! She slept until about 9:00 - that is late for her. Tim came into my room in a panic at about 8:30 thinking I had overslept. He was super excited to learn that school was canceled!
Unlike Maggie, Tim wasn't interested in going back to sleep. He watched a movie with Maggie and then spent a few hours working on a painting. I'm sure I'll post a picture of it when he is finished.

Maggie intended to take her free day to clean (I know, it's weird, but she loves to clean - deep clean and organize!) She only got a couple of rooms done when all of her friends started showing up - 9 of them in all. They baked some yummy peanut butter crisscross cookies. The boys even washed their hands before they got started! Hard to believe, isn't it?!

Mag, Jociel, Trey and Josh

Tim and background cookie balls

They got a little distracted when a good song came on and took a break from the cookies to dance!

Yes, they really are cleaning up their mess!

First hand washing, then sweeping, what's next?!!

Amber and Trey

Tim had a few friends show up too - they jumped and wrestled on the trampoline in the freezing weather. They'll probably all be sick tomorrow!

Tim, Emma and John Matthew

Tommy came home early -about 3:00! He wanted to go see a movie with the kids, but thought better of it when he walked in to find the whole neighborhood in the house!So, he decided to nurse his cold a bit, and just relax upstairs in front of the t.v.
Now Tim is at a friends house and Maggie is down to only one friend over, so I have a moment of quiet to blog in! It is too bad that everyone has to go back to normal life tomorrow.

A cold, soupy day calls for a warm, soupy night!

Today was such a dreary, cold, nasty day! The temperatures hovered around freezing and we had light showers all day long. It was one of those days, where we all watched the weather man closely, waiting for him to tell us school was going to be cancelled - but it never was.

I felt like the evening called for some warm comfort food that all of us could agree on, so I turned to an old stand-by, GRILLED CHEESE & TOMATO SOUP! Yum!

(I promise, I really do cook decent meals occasionally - it's not all Campbells and Chef Boyardee!)

Tommy makes it the best, so he got right to work!

The butter on the bread got a bit smokey, so Tim tried to wave it off!

When Tommy asked me how much soup I would like, I sarcastically said - "all of it". This is what I found at my place when I got to the table!

Maggie likes the sandwiches the best

Ahh, Yummy, Yummy sandwiches!

And since we were all together anyway, I skipped kitchen clean up and gathered everyone in the living room after dinner to read to the kids. I was given this book by a friend, Kathi Martin, and it is my new fave! Tim must have liked it too, because he started out on a different couch than I was on, and by the third page, he was on me twirling my hair - quiet as a mouse! (as a side note, Tim used to always sit in my lap with his arm around my neck to twirl my hair. It has been a long time since my big boy has done that and I could not have been happier tonight!) When the book was finished, we talked about what the parable meant and Tim and Maggie proved to us that they really were listening with their take on the story! This is an AMAZING book!

So, this dreary day turned out to be a great day after all! I love when we can spend some quiet alone time with the kids.

Now I have to go clean the kitchen by myself!

If that is the price I have to pay for a simple evening - I'm OK with that!

"Go get ready - I wanna take some pictures!"

"Go get ready - I wanna take some pictures!" Those are the words that Maggie hates the most! But, she usually goes along with me anyway. I think she secretly likes to have her picture taken!
OK, that is not at all true - but I like to pretend.

These are some shots from last weekend. My friend Stefanie and I took our girls out for a day of photo torture! Nothing real great, but I liked several of them.

Maggie - January 17, 2009

Maggie & Amber - my favorite photo from that day!

Maggie just can't be serious!

I rest my case!

Pretty Amber - my fave of her!

Finally, Maggie letting me get a nice shot! I think she was really just ready to go home!

History Made

What a historic day we had this past Tuesday! Our new President, Barack Obama, was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America!

I have heard many people convey lots of different opinions about him - good and bad - but as for me - I just hope and really pray that he will make good, moral decisions for our country, and for our future. However, I am sad to see the republicans go.



In thinking about this election, I am so grateful that my son was taught a bit of politics in school. He became very interested in both candidates and learned a lot about each one. In fact, I was proud of him when I overheard him talking to his doctor one day about the election, swing states, the candidates backgrounds, electoral votes, etc. I was thrilled to see his excitement as he went with me to cast my vote. (although his school wasn't thrilled that I pulled him from school to do it!) He was super excited to watch the inauguration at school - i only wish that I could have watched it along side of him.


Maggie was also able to watch at her school - she came home and told me everything that she liked about it, and even pulled up his speech on the computer and read to me the parts that she was moved by. I was surprised at the passion she conveyed!


I love that my kids are open minded - I love that neither one of them understand what the color of a persons skin has to do with their character - I love that they are optimistic about the way our country will go with a new president at the helm. I realize that they don't fully understand how worried most of us are with the economy, and I hope that it will get better soon and they will never understand what "really hard times" means.


I also wanted to share an e-mail that was sent home from Maggie's principal on Tuesday in regards to a dress code change for the following day. It made me feel good. Knowing full well how badly 8th graders can behave, I was happy to see that they do take important things seriously - after all, they are our future!

***We are allowing students this break from the dress code in appreciation for their collective efforts this morning during our assembly. At 11am we were able to have a live web feed for our students during the presidential inauguration. Over 600 students filled our gym and sat at attention for the entire address. This type of behavior from an entire student body was overwhelming. The poise and maturity exhibited from your children during this event truly reflects the families of Forney ISD.

At the commencement of this program I stood before your children humbled by their behavior and told them that I felt compelled to offer them this opportunity tomorrow as recognition for what they had done. I realize wearing jeans to school isn’t much and it should be much more but please take a moment to thank them for me again. Let them know how proud we are of them all and thank you for being such great parents. Have wonderful evening. Mr. Pierce ***

I am grateful to live in this free country and to be raising my beautiful children in the United States. God Bless America.

Blessings #2

I am grateful for...

Tommy -still having a job, good health - for not getting the stomach virus everyone else is getting


Jenni - a fast computer, lotion in this skin drying weather, DVR and American Idol, Sadie Flaishans for making me laugh SO hard, Laughter (I know, redundant... but I mean the kind that makes you feel liberated or like you are a kid with no responsibilities -head back, sore tummy muscles, can't stop, giggle again hours after the moment is over kind of laughter - that is the kind Sadie made me feel!) the political open mindedness of my children, my mom, sunshine today - 79 degrees!, photography and a friend who loves to do it with me, my stay-at-home mom status


Maggie - a fresh haircut and an awesome hairdresser, friends, texting, coloring books


Tim -MLK day (no school), Webkinz, Lego's, friends, gamestop, getting to watch the inauguration

M.L.K day?

M.L.K day - or Let's go Play day?
My kids are just happy to have a day off from school. The reason doesn't matter at all!
We decided to go check out some of the antique malls in town. Forney is, after all, the Antique Capitol of Texas!
We have lived here for 6 years and never ventured into one of those stores. Wow! We were sure missing out! The kids had a great time seeing all of the crazy things - from cabinets full of naked mannequin parts to 20' tall porcelain chicken dressed as waiters!
Then we stopped by the park for a minute to play, came home and played CLUE, and just hung out around the house. Sometimes, simply waisting the day away together is the best kind of fun!
We missed you Tommy - thanks for going to work everyday for us. We love you.

remember Rikki, from 'Girls just wanna have fun'?

Tim's favorite number!

Bye! We're going to Narnia!

Even with all of the WAY COOL props at our disposal,

I did manage to snap one good picture of each of the kids!

P.S. In trying to get a book put together of my 2008 blogs, I realized that I had to go back and find all of my slide pictures if I wanted them included in the book. I don't know why I didn't think of that before - dumb, i guess! So from now on my posts will be long, as I am not really going to use the slide feature anymore. Now i will put all of my pics in the actual post. Bear with me!

My Apologies, Poor Charlie

Dear Charlie,

I am truly sorry for the disparaging comments that I left on your moms "Poor Charlie" blog post. It was wrong of me to belittle you the way that I did. I never realized how true the phrase, "What comes around goes around" really was until today. My owners sure gave me a dose of my own medicine when they dressed me in this humiliating t-shirt. Please forgive me.

Completely embarrassed, Sadie Flaishans



P.S. Your jacket looks kinda cool. I'm a little jealous.

Poor Charlie

Charlie went to the groomers for a bath and a trim today and came home shaved! This wouldn't be such a big deal except that today is the coldest day we have had all winter! Poor Charlie! In addition to being cold, he is a little embarrassed by his new haircut.

Good thing he has a coat to protect against the wind and the mocking stares of the other furry neighborhood dogs!

kids are so much smarter than me!

Tim spent yesterday evening working on some Lego's Star Wars thing, and was so proud when he finally finished building it. I don't understand how the 8 year old brain can't grasp "make your bed" but can easily figure out a 22 page manual on how to turn millions of those tiny pieces into a toy! Seriously - 22 pages!

Blessings #1

I found myself feeling very grateful for a lot of things at the end of 2008, and I liked the way being thankful feels - even for the small everyday things.

Of'course, the big things count too, but they are easier to recognize and don't take much effort to notice. Those things -like my family, the gospel, good health, answered prayers, a testimony- I certainly am grateful for those - but it is the small things that I find too easy to lose sight of. So, I have been trying to watch for things to appreciate each day. I'm afraid that as the new year goes on and life gets more and more busy, I will become forgetful. I do not want that to happen, so I am going to make myself accountable to this family blog! I am going to try each week to think about and list the things that have made me happy. I am bullying my family into joining me - we'll see how it goes!

I am grateful for...

Tommy: being able to get out of bed each morning and go running, a good job, enough money to pay taxes

Jenni: a smooth day on tuesday, a nice lady at the post office, good conversation with the old men at Tim's barber shop, comfortable slippers to walk around with on my cold wood floors, time to think about and listen to some of the old songs that i love and haven't heard in YEARS (I added some to my playlist), the wonderful book that Kathi Martin gave to me ('the parable of the chocolate chips'), Tim's love.

Maggie: some blow off classes this week in between exams, good music, i-phone

Tim: making a 100 on the TAKS reading benchmark! my pets, a clean room, the weather being too cold to ride my bike to school this morning - riding in the warm car in the warm car!

Soul-kitten!

Tim has always wanted a pet who would love him as much as he loved it. Somehow, he has never quite found a good match - but I think he has finally found his soul-kitten! I snapped this picture of Tim doing his homework yesterday. Sprout must have really missed him while he was away at school!

2008 Year in Review

I really should have done this before the year was actually over, but I just didn't get to it. Since I started this blog so late in the year, I have TOO MANY things to include in my "Year in Review", so I am just going to put in a few things that each of us found memorable.

First - In March Timothy turned 8 and was baptized! I know he is my son, so I naturally feel like it was a special time - but it really was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have ever been too. I cried (a lot), Nana cried, Tim cried, even a non-member friend felt the spirit and cried! Michael Trammel and Lauren Spurgeon sang 'Love is Spoken Here', Maggie gave a talk, Nana gave a talk, and Tommy Baptized him. Nana told him in her talk that he was going to be a great man one day and that he would "soar like an eagle". He will! He is a kind, wise, wonderful little man.

Gran and Tim
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April was started off hard at our house. Our beloved Lindy passed away. She was 9 years old. She developed a fast growing tumor on her spleen that we didn't know about until it was much too late. She fainted while I was taking her for a walk one day. I got her to the vet right away where we discovered the tumor and her heart enlarged to five times its normal size. She was gone the next day. Things we loved about her - Lindy was a beautiful dog. A Border Collie/Australian Shepard mix with a quiet and humble personality. She was afraid of the wind and thought she was still small enough to fit in our laps! She was ever obedient and never failed to try to please us. The only time she would get crazy was when the kids ran too fast, or got too close to the fence - then she would nip their ankles and push them with her head, in an attempt to herd them - as was her instinct!It was very funny! She never caught on to any tricks except shake - which she wanted to do constantly! She would always bow her head apologetically when Tim cried whether it was her fault or not. We will love her forever.

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Mothers Day was nice - the kids gave me exactly what I wanted - they let me take their photographs without complaining! We just went out to Windmill Farms (by Maggie's middle school) and shot a few pics in between the quick downpours of rain! We actually got some good ones despite the 'sunny one minute, rainy the next' weather.

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Summer was packed full of activities as usual. Right off the bat, maggie and I went again to Girls Camp in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It was alot of fun, super hot, draining and wonderful! Cousins Lindsey and Rebecca came with our ward this year and we are happy that they did! We had so much fun in our cabin, (as is evident by our YouTube video!) and enjoyed our girl time! Tommy and Tim hung out together the week we were gone. Tim actualy loves going to the office with tommy everday!

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Tim attended Horse Camp this year at the Bingham Ranch in Crandall, Tx. He REALLY LOVED riding and just being in that environment! I am afraid of horses, but not Tim! He is so calm and natural around them. I was proud of how he handled himself around those big horses!


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Each year we try to spend a bit of time in San Antonio during the summer since the kids don't get to see Nana and Pa often. It is also a nice mini vacation. Tommy was unable to go this time, so we invited a few friends. Tim's friend was not able to come, but mine and Maggie's did. Michael Trammell and Maggie's long time bestie, Zack Brooks. We did all of the typical tourist stuff in S.A. - the Alamo, Natural Bridge Caverns, floated down the River in inner tubes, etc. Then we drove down to Corpus Christi. We didn't realize that Hurricane Dolly was going to strike on our 2nd day as hard as she did! We were stuck in the condo, so we made our own fun - a video that I will post later. (watch for it - it is SO worth the wait!)We did have a full day in the water at Port Aransas and got to go crabbing. Zack and I ate like royalty that night! WE LOVE CRABS! We ended up spending two super fun weeks, but we really missed Tommy.

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Tim became a daddy twice this year! His first born - a black dwarf bunny that he named Lila B. is a sweet girl. He visited the bunny farm several times before deciding on her. Tim had more than one discussion with Tommy about responsibility before adopting her. Tim is an animal lover to the core!

His next baby - Sprout the kitten - showed up at our doorstep and just never left! We tried to find a home for her, but she got very sick and we had to get her well before we could pass her along. Then she got a little boyfriend, so we had to take her to be spayed before we ended up with more kittens. After two expensive vet visits so far, we decided that she better not ever leave! I don't know how we ended up with 4 animals (tommy doesn't like pets and swore we would never have anymore) but Tommy really likes this latest addition to our bunch. Sprout is so affectionate that she immediately steels your heart! Tim took her name from a fortune cookie - the "lucky word" on the back was beansprout!

In saying that we now have a bunny and a kitten, let me also mention how careful we have to be with those two particular pets. Let me explain with a picture...

Yes, this is what is left of the bunny that Sprout brought home for us! Well, there was also an ear, but she gulped that down before I could take a pic of it! So, we have to be VERY careful with sweet Lila B. and our kitten! (this is Tim's favorite highlight!)

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September took us down to San Antonio again because my brother Steve came for a visit! That doesn't happen often, so we all got together for a family snapshot. We had a great time hanging out with Steve and Mark. We wish we could see them more often. Thanks Zack, for going with us to take the picture

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Halloween is a major holiday in the Wright house! That is because of Maggie. You see, Maggie dresses up ALL THE TIME, I'm talking about almost daily, just to entertain herself! I thought she would grow out of this weird habit, but she is 14 and still doing it! So, Halloween is the one day a year when she can put on a costume and it is normal! The problem is, this is a very expensive habit and it seems to cost more and more as she gets older! This year Tim was Racer X from Speed Racer, I was a Hunchback with a bulgy eye, Charlie was a Pig, and Maggie was a Fa-wee Pwinthess (Maggie's version of a Fairy Princess !) Tommy didn't dress up because he is a party pooper!



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And that brings me to where I started this blog! It has been a great 2008 for our family and we feel so blessed - no, really - We have thought a lot in the past several weeks about all of the things that we have to be grateful for, and there are too many to count. I pray that 2009 will be just as good for us, and that we can live our lives worthy of all the blessings we hope to receive. We never want to be caught being ungrateful to our Heavenly Father. We are lucky to have each other and we love one another so much. We all love our Heavenly Father and have a strong testimony of him, of His Son, all that he has done on our behalf, and in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A few things that we wanted to document that we don't have great pictures of:

Maggie turned 14, Tommy turned 44, Jenni turned 37. Maggie dyed her hair hot pink for the summer, Tim dyed a blue star on the side of his head! Tim got glasses. Tommy and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We remodeled a lot of the house (wood floors, built Maggie a living room - pics to come upon completion)

Check out the slide for more random "year in review" shots.

Also, see Maggie's blog on my blog list to the right, "Moments with Maggie"