Life IS good...

My friend, Chauntelle, and I have a saying, "it's all good" and we often say it. Sometimes because we mean it and sometimes to remind ourselves that it's not really that bad. In my previous post I vented a tad bit and recorded my current trial in a way that I will remember it. I have received such an outpouring of love through the internet and phone calls and I am reminded of how blessed I am! I wanted to share some good stuff so everyone knows that I am staying positive, I am persevering, and I do know life IS good!

This morning Nathan left to go with the Boy Scouts on an overnighter snow trip, the fact that he is gone isn't good, but he is doing something fun and helping others, so "it's all good". There was also no school today due to a teacher inservice day or something. I really don't mind the no school thing because I LOVE having my kids home with me. Here is how we spent our day...

1) This morning I took all four kiddos to the chiropractor for my appointment at 9:30AM. It was nice to get loosened up at the beginning of my day. SO far all my appointments have been in the afternoon and it takes me a few hours after I wake up to be able to function without considerable amount of pain and stiffness. So the day started off great!
2)After that Nick and Tatiana both had a friend come over for a playdate.
3)Then they went to the movies with their friends and their mom (They are brother and sisters too, so it works out great.)
4) While they were at the movies, Ben, Andrew, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood because Ben wanted a closer look at the construction that we can see from our house. He was in HEAVEN seeing those big trucks up close! The dump truck driver even stopped and got out of his truck, came over to Ben and talked to him for a few minutes. He was like a kid at Disneyland seeing Mickey, sooo excited! So cute!
5) Then the boys took a nap and I was able to do Yoga for the first time. With all my injuries I was told to try yoga and it would help with my aches and pains. Definitely not as flexible as I use to be, but we will see if it helps with time. Actually we'll see if I am able to stick with it!
6) After the movie Nick and Tatiana played more and the play dates ended after 8:00 this evening. They were both very good about including their little brother and letting Ben play too.
7) I baked three batches of homemade cookies this evening. I think all the kids ate up one batch already!
8) I let Nick and Tatiana stay up late with me and watch "Extreme Home Makeover" with me on TiVo. I cried, I always do.
9) Straightened up the house after tucking them into bed.
10) I just talked to Nathan on the phone and now I am blogging because I hate going to bed without him. I just cannot sleep well when he's gone.

So we have had a full and busy day, life is still carrying on. I am not laying in bed depressed. Just have a lot on my mind. I am trying to push it aside as I focus on my children, my sweetheart, my responsibilities and the good things in life. I am trying to take my grandmother's wise advice, "Let go and let God." I know I will be okay, but things will definitely be different. I know I have done the right thing, I have no regrets. Life IS good.

There comes a point in your life when you realize....
who matters,
who never did,
who won't anymore...
and who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

I am having a difficult time right now and someone very close and dear to me sent this to me in an email. It really helped and has made me feel better about the situation that I'm in. God sends us angels to comfort us and answer our prayers. I am sharing this because I know there are people in situations that I am aware of that could use this and there may be people who are keeping there struggles private that could use this. And this is a way of documenting this part of my life without going into great detail. May God bless you all and may his angels comfort you continuously!

Ben and Andrew

I realized in the past post that I didn't include much about our two littlest Tolmans. Ben and Andrew sometimes just have to come along for the ride, but rest assured they get plenty of attention and stay busy themselves. Here's a few pictures...

Nathan and Ben practicing the piano before church one Sunday. Isn't that so cute! I walked by and saw that Ben pulled out the toy piano to be like his daddy. He is such a sweet boy, very loving!


Ben has also been very into these melty-beads. He loves to put them on the shapes with the pegs and then have mommy use the iron and melt together his creations. He will spend more than an hour working on them! He is so proud of them and he is obsessed! But, heh... a quiet three year old using his creativeness...I am NOT complaining!


Tiana likes to do them too, Actually so does Nick, but he isn't in this picture.

Here our two little buddies in their "Very Hungry Caterpillar" outfits. Oh! too cute!!!

We got Ben this laptop toy for Christmas and he absolutely loves to play with it. He is such a good big brother too because he lets Andrew sit by him and he shows Andrew what he is doing. Then with Andrew touches it (or rather, hits at it), Ben just laughs at him. Such good friends.

Playing catch up...

Sooo much has been going on with the Tolmans and I simply haven't had time to get on here and share pictures and record memories. I apologize! So here is a quick update to catch you all up and then maybe I can start sharing more regularly again.

On January 6th we went up to Hoodoo again and went sledding. This time we invited some friends to come with. The Montgomeries and the Negretes joined us for a fun day in the snow. We have some great memories from this trip including some pretty amazing wipe outs and me ending up in a tree! Nobody got seriously hurt though, thank goodness!


Then on January 3rd Tatiana and I went with our Brownie Girl Scout troop to the Girl Scout Cookie Kick-Off at the fair grounds. There was a lot to do there and we had some good fun. Tatiana got excited about selling this year and since I wasn't much help with her last year due to the pregnancy, I have made up for it this year. So far she has sold 252 boxes! Way to go Tatiana!

On January 7th we had our monthly pack meeting. I am the Cub Master and in charge of these meeting where boys from three different levels of Cub Scouts come together with their families to show off what they have learned that month in cubs, receive recognitions and awards, learn about the monthly theme, and have fun celebrating Cub Scouting. This months theme was "a-MAZE-ing games". I always try to come up with a fun way to present the boys their awards that goes along with the theme. This month I had a game where they put on a party hat that had a t-pin poking out the top (just barely) and then two of the Cub Den Leaders tossed a balloon back and forth above their head. The boys had to pop their balloon to get to the awards which were inside. I called the game "Cub Scouts Ballooning with Pride and Popping with Fun!" Here is a video of Nick getting his awards.

Then on January 9th I had my accident. (See earlier posts). I am doing much better and getting better each day.

On January 16th Nick had his Cub Scout Lock-In. It is held at the fair grounds and they go with a chaperon (usually a dad) and do lots of fun things. Our pack put together a booth with rubber band guns that our boys made and then everyone who came to our booth was able to use the guns and shoot down a pyramid of cups. It was a lot of fun. Here is Nick showing off some great form in archery!

On January 17 is when we drove as a family to Vancouver to buy our used van (see previous post) and then stopped at IKEA. It was a long, but fun day.

Our friends went to Hawaii (ALOHA!) so two of their boys stayed with us for a couple days on the 18th and 19th. They are almost 8 and almost 91/2 years old. We let Tatiana have a friend over too. Her play date wasn't as long but it still lasted from 3:00PM to 10:00PM! We did that on purpose and called it a "pajama party". All the kids were very well behaved and it was fun to have a house full. I even had to go to the grocery store because we ran out of milk. That was an adventure to go to the store with six children between the ages of 7 months and 9 1/2 years and they were all boys except Tatiana!

On Saturday, January 24th, Tatiana had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon and Nick had one over in Corvallis to go to in the evening. So we took Nick to the OSU climbing center in Corvallis in the afternoon and he did some bouldering (climbing without rope and harness) and some climbing with robe and harness. Nathan and I took a class to be belay certified and here is Nathan belaying Nick. He made it up about 30+ feet!

So there is a quick update for our month of January. And of course there was the girl scout meeting, cub scout den meetings, committee meeting, cookie selling door to door, taking dinner to friends in need, visiting teaching, home teaching, piano lessons, chiropractic appointments, work things, church things. Oh! Our new Stake Center was dedicated this past Sunday and we all went to that. It was a very spiritual experience. And somewhere in all that we have been able to find time for family movie nights, games of chess, tickle wars and cuddling with a good book. Ohhh, life is grand!

Our new van!

We drove up to Vancouver, WA yesterday as a family to check out a 2006 Nissan Quest. After a test drive, 100 questions, and a thorough look-over, we purchased it for $9100. It really is a super deal! Nathan drove it to Ikea (as I drove our rental van) and then I drove it home from Ikea. This is about two hours of total driving time both in town and on the interstate. We are both very impressed with how well it handles, how comfortable it is and how roomy the interior is. Here is the craigs list ad, http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/993579969.html

I don't know how long it will stay up so here is the specs he had in his ad...
Very nice clean inside out NON smoking!!! 2006 Nissan Quest with only 45K miles with many options Special edition model!!! 4-Wheel ABS, 7 Pass. Seating , Air Conditioning (front and back!!!), Am/fm Stereo Radio , Brake Assist, parking assist,bumper sensors, 6 Disk Changer , Cruise Control , Driver Info Center display, Dual Air Bags (side airbags), Dual Zone AC , Outside Temp , Power Brakes , Power Door Locks , Power Mirrors , Power Sliding Door , Power Steering , Power Trunk Release power lift gate, Power Windows , Original SE Upgraded Sound system, Privacy Glass , Rear Air , Rear Audio Controls , Backup sensors , Rear Window Wiper , Roof Rack , Side Head Air Bags , Steering Wheel Audio Controls , Tachometer , Traction, Xenon HID Lights,

It has some paint scratches on the back bumper from "New York City driving". Nathan is going to get the oil changed, tires checked and an overall look-over this week. Then we will return the rental and have my new van to drive! The other driver's insurance is paying for a rental van for us. I simply cannot lift the boys into the truck without a lot of pain and they offered so I took it.

Happy New Year!!!

We said good bye to 2008 and hello to 2009 in our traditional way. We had a fun party with a couple other families (we seem to invited different families almost every year). We have Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner, everyone brings their left over holiday junk food to finish off before the new year starts too.

The kids and adults played Wii games and other games, talked, ate, and had a great time.

Then we do a "kid-friendly" countdown by watching the live stream of the ball drop in Time Square. So when it is midnight in New York City it is only 9:00PM here. The kids get all the excitement of the ball drop without having to stay up so late. Clever, heh!

3...2...1...Happy New Year!!!! Ben really loved his noise maker!


Andrew just loved all the excitement, and yes, he did leave his hat on!

After everyone left, Nathan put the kids to bed and I went to pick up the babysitter. Then Nathan and I went to chaperon a youth dance at the church. We had a lot of fun and the best part was that we got to ring in the new year twice!

Our day in the mountain snow!

On December 27th we took the family up to Hoodoo to go sledding for the day. It was so much fun! The snow was very deep and the big hill was very fast! We had a blast!

Tatiana made a snowman. We didn't think about bringing things up to make a snowman so we compromised. The eyes are pennies, the nose is a pencil, the mouth is a broken plastic ruler, and the hat and arms are Tatiana's! How cute!

Nick had fun making snow caves. I love his hat! We could spot him anywhere!

Here are Nick and Tiana trying to work their way through the deep snow. When my foot would go through it was up to my hip! Not easy to walk through, but so much fun!

Our adorable Andrew even got to experience the snow a little bit. All smiles!

Nathan pulled Ben around in the sled. Ben enjoyed going down the little hill several times and playing in the snow. He only went down the big hill once, "too fast!"

After a while Ben, Andrew and I warmed up by playing in the truck. What a great day!

Ben says goodbye to his first bank

We got Ben a really cute car bank for his birthday. He loved putting his money he would get for helping with chores. He loved his little car bank and would happily bring it to family meeting at the kitchen table each week. Sadly, it broke and we had to throw it away. No, we couldn't glue it back together because at the point of impact it shattered leaving no pieces to fill the sharp jagged hole. But I first took this picture to remember it and mostly to remind us all of Ben's excitement around earning money and doing chores at this young age. (Don't you just love that expression?!)

Our little baker!

Tatiana loves to help me in the ktichen. She recieved a baking set with everything you need to bake cupcakes and throw a cupcake party, mini sized! So Christmas day she got to work and baked up some cream filled chocolate cupcakes. She was so proud. I emptied out a kitchen drawer that is now all hers and she has filled it with all her supplies. That's my girl!

car accident update

I am feeling quite a bit better today, my biggest complant is this HUGE headache that won't go away! My other pains and even the stiffness feel like they are getting better. I hope to be back to myself in a day or two. I just need to get rid of this monsterous headache! Andrew and I stayed home from church today and we both took a two hour nap! That helped some. Now I can walk without my head feeling like it is going to explode with every step. I even did the dishes when I got up! Baby steps, literally!

It wasn't my fault.

So the past few weeks have been very busy ones and that is why I haven't updated my blog in a while. I should have a few days to get to that now though. You know how you get so busy that life decides to slow things down for you...in a way. Well I've been slowed down for a couple days, way down.

Last night I was rear ended! I went into town BY MYSELF, thank goodness the kids weren't in the van with me, to get a massage because I have been very busy, not sleeping well and just needed the help. After the massage I get out into my car and called Nathan and tell him I am on my way home and I felt like a new woman. I told him that my aches and pains are much better and that the headache I had when I went in was now gone. I hung up the phone and headed home. About five minutes later I was sitting, completely stopped, at a read light when WHAM! I was rear ended. I did not see the kid coming at all and was completely shocked at what just happened. I sat there for a minute, stunned and jolted. The lady in the car in front of me heard the crash and saw us in her rear view mirror. She got out and came back to check on me. Thankfully, I was back far enough and did not hit her, but I was pushed very close to her. The car behind me was being driven by a teenage boy and he was going full speed at 40 miles an hour. When the police officer asked him what happened he said, "she was at a dead stop, I didn't see her." Granted we were stopped much further back than normally at that light and I later found out that the first officer on the scene was there so fast because she was actually heading to that intersection to check out a call that the lights were messing up. But still!

Anyway, I got out of the van and went and sat on the side walk because I was afraid someone else might rear end us again. I was very dizzy, had a pounding headache, my whole body hurt, and was shaking like crazy all over. I couldn't figure out why I was shaking so badly. Later was told it was the adrenaline rush, what a trip! If that is what drugs feel like, no thank you! I also threw up a little from the adrenaline and have still felt a little sick to my stomach, probably from the medication now.

The paramedics came and put me in the ambulance and took me to the E.R.. The good news is that nothing is broken. I have a bad case of whiplash, a concussion, and my right shoulder is really sore. The doctor said my head may have been turned that way during the impact to kink my shoulder muscle. So they put a soft cervical collar on me, gave me some hydrocodone and sent me home.

Today I feel much worse then I did last night, but by tomorrow I should feel better (hopefully MUCH better). It has taken me all day to write this post because I am either too sleepy or too foggy to concentrate. My pounding headache is by far the worse of my symptoms, followed by the dizziness and neck pain and all over tenderness. Ice has been my friend.

But I have slowed down! I have taken three naps today! I never take naps! So let that be a lesson to us all, if we take on too much and don't slow down, life will stop us in our tracks whether we like it or not! LOL! And just to be clear, the accident wasn't my fault!