Three Things I Am Ever So Thankful For.

No, it's not my kids.

I mean, come on, that goes without saying. Boring.

Before I get to my list of three, it requires a brief explanation.

I am an allergy sufferer, as I think has been mentioned on here before.

I started getting them when I was pregnant with Owen and they are fierce!

I mean completely debilitating allergies--lay in bed, can't function because my eyes won't stop pouring out water and my nose won't stop dripping out snot kind of allergies. (too much?) Well sorry, that's how my allergies are and if you've ever seen me during allergy season, you know.

When living in UT my allergy season was from early May until about July. Then I would get them a little bit again in the fall, but not too bad. I never went to a doctor and was never tested, so I didn't even know what my allergies were--just that it was something outside.

So I moved to AZ hoping that maybe my allergies would go away (wishful thinking) and they got worse and suddenly there was no "season"...I had them all the time.

Finally I went to an allergist and got tested. Turns out I am massively allergic to every kind of grass there is and that in Arizona that is a year round allergy.

Nice.

So the doctor prescribed Singular, an expensive medicine even with insurance. I've tried every over the counter medicine without any success, so I was hopeful that this might work.

It was better, but not fantastic. And for $30/month, I wanted fantastic.

Enter my sister-in-law Lana, the first thing (who happens to be a person) I am thankful for.

Just ingnore Porter in this picture...while I'm thankful for him too, this isn't about him. Sorry Port.

One of the things I really love about Lana is that if you share something with her she really listens and tries to help you come up with a solution. And her solutions are really good.

While lamenting about my allergies she shared with me her similar struggle with allergies and what her doctor has prescribed.

1 claritin and 1 flaxseed oil pill every morning and night.

Since we were losing our insurance soon I decided it couldn't hurt to try it. So I did.

Enter the next two things I am incredibly grateful for.

Flaxseed oil pills...

And Claritin.

These have been like miracle drugs for me.

I'm putting this on my blog because I'm hoping if anyone is struggling with allergies like I have they might want to give this a try. I was constantly searching for solutions.

And I'm thankful for Lana one more time because as I was talking to her the other night I told her how excited I was to have a $4 off coupon for Claritin. She just looked at me and shook her head, "Dixie, Dixie, Dixie..." she said, "Don't buy Claritin. You can get Costco's brand of 300 pills for $11.99 as compared to 45 pills of Claritin for $26."

Seriously! Why do I not talk to Lana every day.

Thank you Lana. Thank you flax seed oil pills. And thank you Claritin and Costco Claritin for saving my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sisters--Everybody Should Have One.

Last night as I was going to bed I peeked my head in to see how the kids were doing. Morgan had been crying and complaining that she was scared...her favorite thing to do at bed time lately. Never mind the fact that 3 kids are crammed into one bedroom, the door is open and the bathroom light is on and shining right in there--she claims to be scared. After sending her back to bed and telling her I didn't want to hear it, things had quieted down and I hadn't heard anything more.

A little later I looked in and saw this.

Her big sister, who DOES NOT like to share her bed, had agreed to let her on since she was scared. And there they were, completely content and asleep.

It made me smile and it made me so happy. Truly you could not have two more different girls than these two, but they are sisters, and there is a bond there... no matter what.

It made me hope for their future that they can be as close to each other as I am with my sisters (and sisters-in-law). I think everyone should have a sister. There is no other relationship quite like it.

Last Saturday my sisters (and in-laws, and mom) kidnapped my sister Allyson to take her on a shopping spree. We got to hang out and shop and talk and spend the afternoon together and it was so much fun. We are all very different too, but we enjoy and appreciate each other so much.

I have felt exactly like Allyson did when we took her shopping. How do you thank these wonderful people enough? When I moved from Utah to Arizona my sisters (and others) had worked tirelessly to make my apartment a place worth living. They painted, cleaned, talked my dad into re-doing LOTS of stuff, had flowers outside my door with a welcome mat, food in my fridge and a build-a-bear for Livy. And those are just the things I can recall off the top of my head. It was INCREDIBLE! After reading Allyson's post the other night I told Shane I knew exactly how she felt. I'm so afraid of crying and getting emotional telling people how much I love them and how much I appreciate them (I don't know why I'm this way...it's a huge flaw, I know), so I just sort of move on because I can't take it. It's hard to accept that much love and care on your behalf. And yet, it's there. (currently swallowing the lump in my throat. must. not. cry.)

To my sisters and all others who helped with the apartment and who helped me when I got here, thank you from the very bottom of my heart. I'm awkward when it comes to emotion, just know that I love you and am more thankful than you will ever know.

Some day my Livy and Morgan will know what a valuable relationship sisterhood is. And I hope they will always cherish it like I do. I hope they will remember being 6 & 3 years old and sharing a bed because someone was afraid. I hope they will always remember what's important. I hope they will realize how lucky they are to have a sister.

"How do people make it through life without a sister?" ~Sara Corpening

Love you all!

"Unlimited" is a Bad Word.

We took the kids to Olivia's fall festival at her school this past Saturday.

They have games, crafts, treats and about 5 different big blow up bounce house-type things. It's a lot of fun and very exciting for the kids.

When you go you can either buy tickets to pay for all these things or you can buy a wrist band for "unlimited access" to everything.

As I sat there at the table thinking about what I was going to get I thought through everything available in my mind and felt like "unlimited" wasn't such a good idea, so I opted for the tickets.

As we went throughout the day it was confirmed to me that the tickets were a great idea--this was a day my kids would learn value when others did not. (Please don't think I'm judging you if your kid had a wrist band. It's just that, well...maybe I am. :) )

Before I even got the tickets the kids were playing on the playground, happy as could be and didn't even know the bounce houses existed. They could have enjoyed playing there all day. I got the tickets and explained to everyone how many we had and what we could do with what we had. Everyone could pick one or two bounce houses to go on and then have some tickets left to play a few games and get a treat or do a craft.

They all thought about it, looked at all the different bounce house options, and picked where they wanted to go. As I watched kids with wristbands go in and out of the bounce houses, they only seemed to 1/2 enjoy themselves while my kids were ECSTATIC to be inside and enjoyed every minute. They knew they had used their precious tickets to get in there and it meant something to them.

After that we played games at the game booths and did the same thing....look, decide, play. Other kids ran from one booth to another without even really enjoying themselves because the lure of the next game booth was already calling to them. They could play them all so none of them had any real value.

I know I'm way up high here on my soap box right now, but sometimes I have a really hard time with this "unlimited world" full of instant gratification and everybody wanting more. The more we get the less satisfied we feel. It's not just our kids, it's us too.

I think it's more important now than ever to teach boundaries and value and to live that way too. It's hard to do because we want our kids to have everything, but what we don't realize is when we do that they lose the most important stuff along the way.

I want my kids to have character and morals.

That's what matters.