Blessings

On Wednesday, we had a department teambuilding event, which we do annually. It's usually a 3 day event, but this year, we cut it down to 1 and focused on serving. We spent the day at the North Texas Food Bank volunteering our time to help create meal boxes for families, snack bags for children, sort cans, and many other various tasks that I'm not even aware of.

This was an experience like no other. Not because I felt good about giving back to the community, but because I learned just how ignorant I am and what the need is in the community. I knew there were people out there who needed assistance and the Food Bank provides them the help and support they need. What I didn't know about were the facts they shared about how many people they are able to help and who they help. It was shocking and so heartwarming at the same time.

Did you know:
*The North Texas Food Bank serves 13 DFW counties?
*A $1 donation is able to feed 4 people?
*40% of the households served by NTFB feeding programs have at least one employed adult?
*81% of the households served by feeding programs are “food insecure”?
*Amongst NTFB clients, 51% must choose between food or paying utilities; 46% must choose between food or paying for housing; 39% must choose between food, medications, or medical care?
*Each month Member Agency food pantries distribute food to more than 64,000 families and provides more than 540,000 meals and snacks through on-site feeding programs?

These are just a few facts, but there's so much more. I encourage you to take the time and visit their site to learn more. I have learned what I need to do in order to make a difference.

Please visit their site http://ntfb.org/index.cfm to learn more and see how you can make a difference.

Growing up

Bryce is growing up. He's moving on to rice cereal. Todd wanted to try it a few weeks ago. We did. Bryce spit it out. I wanted to get him full last night because he seems to be hungry at 4a, so I tried again. Lo and behold....he ate it and did REALLY well. No spitting it out, good use of the tongue to swallow the rice cereal, no horrible faces, it was all good.

Way to go "Ricey"! We love that you're growing but so sad you're growing, too.

My baby.....

is a baby no more. :(

My sweet Kayden is 3! To my sweetest little boy. My boy who refers to himself in third person, the boy who loves to run around without his pants off but prefers to be buck naked, the boy who loves to cover himself in baby powder till he's baby powder white, the boy who loves to give me long kisses, the boy who is sure to thank Heavenly Father for Mommy, Daddy, Kayden and Ricey every night in his prayers. The boy who teaches me that no matter what, you should love one another unconditionally. The boy who brings such a smile to my face and makes my heart melt.

This boy is 3. Oh how I love him.

Happy birthday sweet, sweet, Kayden!

Friends

I'm sitting here tonight studying. Todd ran out to get some cold medicine for him and to get gas (so many jokes....but I'll refrain. There's my immaturity speaking out). He leaves...a couple minutes later, he walks back in with a box from........

Claim Jumper!

I have seen this box many a times......and by many, I mean MANY. So I instantly knew what it was. And let me tell you, it couldn't have come at a better time.

By now, you may be asking yourself, "What is in this box she speaks of?" Okay, maybe not that exactly, but perhaps something to this effect. Well, this box contains only THE BEST chocolate cake ever! It's not the best because it's fudgey (is that even a word?), moist, decadent, chocolatey (again, is that a word?), best tasting cake in the world. Okay, those things don't hurt. It's the best because it's a whopping 6 layers!!!! I admit, in the 5 minutes I've had it, I've eaten the top layer.

Every time I eat this I envision the scene from Pollyanna (one of the greatest movies of all time....aside from Anne of Avonlea/Greengables or My Fair Lady - but that's another post for another day) where she's at the local fair eating that monstrous piece of cake the cook made. And for some reason, this all just brings a smile to my face and makes all right in the world.

This is how powerful this cake is for me. Who knew?!

But really.....this post is to good friends. The ones who know how much we (b/c this cake is really for both Todd and I. I do admit, he doesn't get as much of it as I get. Oops! Thanks, Todd for sharing!) love this cake. The ones who always make it a point to go to Claim Jumper when they go home to Cali. The ones who will stop by at 11p at night after they have had a long day driving or flying to get back home. The ones who know just when we need this delicious piece of baking goodness.

So to you, THANK YOU!!!!

Have you ever?

Have you ever found yourself so tired that you don't know how to you got dressed in the morning, how you got to work, etc?

I guess that was me today b/c I just reazlied that I had 2 different earrings on. I could have sworn that I pulled the same 2 out, but alas, I didn't. One was green and one was amber....and completely different styles.

Not sure what I was thinking when I got dressed. It's a wonder that I even got my clothes on right side out.

Ahhh...the joys of parenthood. But- at least I showered. :)

Merely an observation

Can I just say that organic yogurt has a really weird consistency. It's almost slimey/gooey. It's really weird, and nearly unappetizing.

I normally don't buy organic anything, but I wanted some granola with yogurt and I found some granola that was organic (that was the only kind I could find at Walmart and I didn't want to go hunting or all the way in to Sprouts/Whole Foods/Central Market just for this) so I thought, what the hey, the granola is organic, so I'll just get organic yogurt to go with it.

I do admit, it's really yummy, but not sure if it tastes any different. At least I know.

Update

Things have been going for us here in TX.

Kayden got sick (thought to be allergies, but probably not) but is now pretty much over it. But now, Bryce is sick. Poor little one. He has a stuffy and runny nose, sneezes, coughs, and is hoarse. No fever, so we're good there. It's cute though (in a sad sort of way) when he talks because he's so hoarse.

So, between the two of them, it's been fun. Not horrible, just busy.

But Bryce has now discovered his thumb. He was never really a binky boy, so this is what we get. He loves his hands. He sucks on them, sucks on his fingers, etc, so it was bound to happen that he would discover the joys of just that one finger - the thumb. He will take a binky now, but I think it's just more convenient for him to use his thumb b/c it's always there. We were in Wal-Mart one day and about to walk out the door when he snuggled in to me: nestled his head in to my shoulder, relaxed his body, and found his little thumb. Literally, less than a minute later.....he was out cold.

I probably should be more diligent about taking his hands/thumb out of his mouth, but I'm not - for whatever reason. It could be worse, I guess.

Other than that, we just enjoyed a nice day yesterday with family. Had a BBQ dinner, and ferociously cleaned the house. There's still more cleaning, but at least we made a pretty good dent in it.

There's the Anderson happenings for the past week. Pretty uneventful, eh? That's how we like it!

Are you kidding me?

This is how my day starts - just had to share.

I wake up at 5a and get ready for work. Bryce starts stirring at 545a, so I change his diaper and feed him. He eats. I pick him up to burp him and get a couple pats in before he spits up all over me, the rocking chair, and the carpet. I'm covered in spit up on my arm, my front side, my back, and my boo-tay (and a little in my hair).

We were running late already, so this just set us back another 25 minutes as I cleaned up and put in a load of darks.

Hopefully, this is not indicative of how my day will go today.

Many thanks

Yesterday as we were driving home from work, Todd and I saw a man on the side of the road (close to a busy intersection) with a sign reading "I need a job". Our hearts sank as we both saw that. We couldn't believe it had come to that point for him but thought that at least he was doing that instead of just trying to get handouts. That might net him something - you never know.

Well, we drove for a second and talked about it and then decided to turn around to talk to him to see if we could help. We didn't have a job for him, but knew we could refer him to the LDS Employment center close by and thought maybe we could keep our eyes out for a job for him, get contact information, etc.

We chatted with him and gave him the information and drove away. After that experience, it made us both even more grateful for the jobs we have and the situation we're in. We always think we have it hard, but then you learn of someone else's situation which makes you gain perspective and appreciate what you do have.

We have been blessed in so many ways and easily take it for granted. Hopefully, this will experience will help us keep that perspective of gratitude and appreciation.