Happiness

Elizabeth and I got in a fight last night. And this morning. Wow. Who knew 8 year old girls would want to argue and argue? I was calm and collected--okay maybe not so much, but I didn't yell!-- but she did not like anything I said. Because Elizabeth is 8, we let her stay up half an hour more than the boys and one of us takes turns reading The Friend magazine with her or just talking. Josh was pulling a late night last night (and may do so today), so it was up to me to stay up with her. After the smallish fight, I really didn't want to. But I did. And that helped. We read, talked and I gave her a hand massage. She had a few questions and then even more, but it was time for bed. I told her to ask me later. When I went in my room later that night I found her journal laying on my bed, open with questions on it for me to answer. Questions like: "Why do we shock? (they were shocking each other from the static on the couch earlier that evening)" "How does a printer make...

Molly cooking in the kitchen! Asher We gave the kids gumdrops and toothpicks and let them build away. Here is Ethan, with his craft. He did a great job! Elizabeth, with her house made of gumdrops. Every year I buy and defrost the turkey and Josh brines and cooks it. Here he is getting ready to pop it in the oven. We put apples, onions and oranges inside instead of stuffing. We almost forgot to take a picture of the turkey before we cut it up- actually, Josh had already cut the wings off, so we stuck them back on. Then, we forgot to take a picture of everyone around the table! Oh, well! It was a scrumptious dinner! Molly made twice baked potatoes and pecan sweet potatoes. I did the Hulihan jello, a cherry pie and we did stuffing and rolls from Trader Joes. Oh, and Molly did a cranberry sauce as well. She is an amazing cook- so at home in the kitchen. The kids all played really well together- what a blessing. ** Excuse my blurry pictures. Asher stepped on my camera while it was in my pur...

The turkey has been eaten. Twice. The thankfuls have been expressed. The Black Friday sales were hit.Early. 7 pm. Thanksgiving Night. My twin and I (who came with her family of five on Sunday and stayed for the week) while the hubsters put excited little cousins to bed. The prayers have been said. Pie Night at the Carrolls attended (wonderful!). The inevitable fiasco averted (made pumpkin pie with spoiled milk and ditched them for a pie from Giant. Equally yummy!) The Skype used to say Hello to Grandparents and Brothers and Sisters and Nieces and sweet chubby little nephews. I am grateful for a warm, well lit house, when all around is dank and chill. I am thankful for the largish family that fills up that house, that is laughing and playing and making cheerful noise. I am thankful for a cold fridge full of lots of leftovers, so much so that not one more bottle can be squeezed onto it's shelves. I am grateful for a working van, that can take us to the metro to go to D.C. and back, ...

and this is what I wrote- Tied up in knots, My Brain, My Heart, My Desires, Yesterday. Go here. Go there. Go everywhere. Do this. Do that. Be this. Be that. All was dark Confusion, Craziness. And today? Calm. The storm has passed. The sea calmed The storm quiet. Everything Peaceful and still. Like a button reset. I am thankful for the new day. This is my blog. My name is Megan A.

Martha Stewart. The first magazine subscription I ever received was for Martha Stewart's Living. I had been married for about four months and was so ready to get into the hobby of making a house and home for my dear sweet hubby. I mentioned to him that I wanted a subscription one day. My birthday came- six days before Christmas (poor guy usually has to buy me 2 gifts this season!) and I was lying in bed after a long day of teaching 3rd grade. Josh came home from his studies of his junior year at BYU and presented me with a beautiful sweater box. "Oh, great. A sweater." is what I surely thought. To my surprise and delight, it was not a sweater! It was the December 2001 edition of Living, along with a year long subscription, and some chocolates. One of the most perfect presents I have received- that and my diamond ring, a baby girl, twin boys, happy Asher, and the nightgown I got for Christmas that year as well. I have renewed my subscription every year since then. Love it...

My feet It's hard being Bipolar. You never know if the feelings you are feeling are actually real or if they are some combination of synapses in your brain that are causing to feel the way that you do. Maybe that's why I like blogging. I can get out all of my thoughts and ideas onto the screen and then I feel better. I see it there, in black and white, and my world makes a little more sense. When I was a teenager I wrote poetry all the time. I think that helped me make sense of my world as well. Another thing about Bipolar is that I don't know if I've always had it, but it's laid dormant or if I just developed it. Probably I was at a greater risk since my Dad had Depression, my Aunt had Depression and my twin sister has Dysthymia (a milder, longer form of depression). One thing I know for sure- although I don't know if it's related to being bipolar or not- is that I'm very sensitive to how others are doing. This made me the peace maker growing up- I tri...

Josh brought home his copy of CM- the Clark Memorandum, the J. Reuben Clark Law School's magazine. I read the one from BYU's school of education and loved it. He suggested that I read it. I brushed the idea off and plopped it onto the coffee table. Yesterday afternoon as I lay sick on the couch with a rough throat, I reached for the nearest thing and found myself reading from it's pages, turning them one by one, forgetting my sore throat and splitting headache- feeling the light of understanding break through any physical pain I might have had. My favorite article was entitled "How Shall This Be?" by Jane H. Wise, a talk given as part of the Spirit in the Law Series at the Law School in 2003. It spoke of how God works in miraculous ways, changing people's lives- often in surprising ways we never would have imagined. Imagine: -A young girl, betrothed to her beloved, being told she would bear a child and his name would be Jesus. -An old woman, bearing a son in ...

A couple of weeks ago, the kids had the day off of school. It was November 1st- if I recall correctly- the day after Halloween and teachers needed to do report cards. I'm sure they were very happy that that day happened to fall on the day after kids stay up late and eat lots of sugar. Not much learning takes place after Halloween. I know. I was a teacher. We decided to make a day of it and hit D.C. Specifically, I wanted to visit Baked and Wired (a fun cupcake store) and then go to the National History Museum- a favorite of my kiddos. What became of those plans was another thing. After finding the cupcake store and seeing it's way blocked by construction, I realized that I had almost no quarters to park. I had two and I knew that would buy me about 15 minutes there with none left for the museum. You have to pay the meter or pay $15 for a parking garage and I did not want to do that. I called Josh and he said that he had two more. I figured I could find some more in the car som...

Dear Rose, On or around this day you were supposed to be born. If you were still here, I would be holding a small, beautiful little baby in my arms, basking in that just-sent-from-above sense of love and peace and goodwill. But you are not. And that's okay. I can see now why things had to be this way. And I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and His knowing more than we will ever know. If we will but just trust in Him and His plan for us, things will work out. They always do. I will love you forever, Your Mom

Yay or Nay?

A Thankful Heart Another Mormon Message that reminds us to be grateful this season! Enjoy, Megan

Alma 24:11 "And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do to repent of all our sins and... to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain." I have always known about forgiveness, but lately I have focused on trying to repent on a daily basis of all the little things I do wrong. The times I raised my voice at my children, when I could have been softer and quieter. The times when I was more selfish and thought of myself more than of others. The times where I didn't try hard enough to go Visiting Teaching, when really if more effort was made, that chat in the parking lot could have been a sit down visit one early morning. This morning I wrote- "to regret and turn again to God is all we can do because that is the one thing we have left to do. We have done wrong and the only way back to Christ is by truly feeling sorry for what we have done, repenting and...

I was browsing through my blog the other day when I realized that I had never actually posted pictures from Elizabeth's birthday (way back in September!) Without further ado, here are some pictures from Elizabeth's actual birthday. Elizabeth's official birthday fell on a Friday, so we had a few close friends over for pizza, soda and a movie. Oh, and a big pink cookie with a candle on top as well. The extra boy is Ethan's best friend Andy. They have playdates every Friday and I just couldn't say no to him that day. One of the best things about having a girl is buying them what you enjoyed when you were little. I had one of these when I was little and I loved it! The little ballerina turns around and around and plays music ( amazon.com ) Elizabeth said "You are the best Mom!" upon receiving it. Thank you. Thank you very much! Here you will see only 7 candles, but 8 candle holes. Who knows where the 8th candle ran off to. Also, this cake is called the pink pu...

Ethan and Jonah on their blessing day, Sept. 2004, 4 months old I was 34 1/2 weeks pregnant with twin boys when I suddenly went into labor one Sunday afternoon. We were sure they weren't coming yet and made a quick stop by the hospital to get something to stop the contractions, taking our 20 month old daughter with us. They checked me and I was dilated to a 6. No going back. We were hopeful that the boys could come home with us- they were 5 lbs each at the time. When they came out, both were blue and were shown quickly to me and then whisked away. They had twin-to-twin transfusion. Jonah had cardio myopathy and was put on many different machines. Ethan needed a blood transfusion. I couldn't hold them for three days. I drove to the hospital each day for five weeks to visit them, talk to them and eventually feed and nurse them. Between that time, I pumped using the hospital grade pumps available at the Hospital and one that we rented at home. I woke up every 3 hours to pump and t...

I was looking through some old photos (from June- four months ago) and found these and remembered that I wanted to share them with you. So, here you go! On seeing them, they don't look totally amazing, but somehow, that warm Friday morning, when I was awake while everyone was asleep, they touched my soul. And whenever something touches my soul, I feel like I have to share it. Maybe that's why I spent 18 months in Spain talking about the Book of Mormon. Beauty does something different to each person. Some people like to quietly take it all in. Some people want to shout it from the rooftops. I was the same way when I opened my mission call, when we got engaged, when we had our first baby, when we found out we were having twins- I wanted to take the joy I felt and share it with all we knew! So here, I proudly proclaim "My hometown has gorgeous sunsets!!!!" This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

On Kelle Hampton's blog , she wrote a post about her grays and colors in life. She found a gray hair and was dealing with it, at the same time as she was dealing with the life expectancy of her daughter who has down syndrome. So, here are my grays and colors in my life right now- in that order. My grays are that I still have to wait to have another baby. For awhile probably. Until next summer to start trying again. My color is that there are a few brand new babies at Church and still more coming up that I can hold and smell their sweet little heads. My gray is that Josh is going on two business trips this month. Now, I know a lot of people have their husbands go on business trips so you know how I feel. Plus, I just don't like to be left alone. That's what I've learned. My color is that Josh is bringing me home a little token from Florida and the other place he is going. If I can't make it to Florida yet, I can hold that little treasure in my hand and dream. My gray...

Picture from Elise Joy Back in the day, when I first started writing this blog, I would just sit down and write whatever was on my mind. And a lot was on my mind too. Ethan and Jonah were 2 year old. Asher was a newborn. Elizabeth was 4 and in preschool. My life was busy, I needed a time that I could sit down and write out all my thought and intentions. Besides the time I spent nursing and reading and driving to preschool and back. Now, life is different. I spent a lot of my time reading- including other's blogs and novels- I spend about an hour a day reading them all- yes- an hour! I spend a lot of time running errands while Elizabeth, 8, Ethan and Jonah, 6, and Asher, 4, are in school. I go to the gym for 3-5 hours a week, getting my exercise since I don't chase after toddler twins anymore. I grocery shop, take the kids to soccer practice and piano, do the dishes, teach piano lessons for 2 hours a week, practice the organ for an hour and cook. My life is busy. But I still wan...

That's a "ma-zombie" on Asher's face, complete with "a flower" on his head. His older brothers kindly informed him that the flower was actually brains. *Completely different topic* I went to the temple yesterday To fulfill a Ward Assignment for Sealings. And to help out a friend, who went through The temple for the very first time in June. It was her first time back. While we there the sealer must have noticed That I was without a Husband. (He was home watching the kiddos.) "Did you serve a mission, Sister Abbott?" He asked. "Yes" I replied. "To where?" he continued "Spain." I said with a smile. "Did you recently get back? He questioned. "Ten years ago." I replied with Even a bigger smile. And that folks, is what happens when you marry good genes (my Mom doesn't look a day over forty) with healthy eating, no smoking, no drinking and running after lots of little ones to keep you young, fit and wise. ...

Martha Schaerr for Board of Education Today is Election Day- Hooray! Right now Josh is at Stedwick Elementary School- our polling location- with a big coat, gloves, a warm hat, hand warmers and lots of pamphlets to hand out to the voters. We are doing Volunteer Work this morning to help Martha Schaerr, an LDS Mother of 7 who has raised her kids in Montgomery County, get a seat on the Board of Education for MCPS. She came to our home and talked a lot about why she was running and what needs to be improved in one of our Nations Best School Districts. It was amazing and we learned a lot. A lot of what we learned will really help us as we put our kids through this Eastern School System. Since it is one of the best and most parents here are brilliant, everyone pushes their kids to go to Harvard and Yale. That leads to things like kids taking AP classes when they are in 9th grade and reaching Calculus at 11th grade. This heavy push to do more and more causes the children to not be developmen...

Tomb-like Brownies we made- the kids loved them! Ethan and Jonah with the brownies Home Decor time again- I'm always wanting to paint something in my house! This time it is the front entryway. The Missionaries are coming over on Saturday for dinner and to help paint, so I had to choose a color. What color would you choose? We're leaning towards the second one. Although the first is nice as well! The boys were once again making Halloween crafts out of the craft book from the library. I knew Jonah was making this spider but it still shocked me to come up to his room and see it hanging there! I guess Jonah decided that staples were easier than tape! :) This is my blog. My name is Megan.

All four kiddos- Saturday Night, readying themselves for a night of trunk or treating. We had 3 Church wards there. I came with 100 candies and fake vampire teeth. They were all gone in twenty minutes. Wow. Elizabeth was a fairy- she was the only one who stuck with what she wanted to be for Halloween! Ethan was going to be a mummy, then when the costume didn't fit over his street clothes for school, he donned his Harry Potter cloak *so excited for Harry Potter coming out!* and became a dead guy walking. Actually, he realized he was dead Harry Potter, but by then it was too late to change costumes! " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0A65iWVNBLM7lNmgE4cp7r5xSh3_fm6J2cNT-JMR8-dP8c2qGevyPRYABga3d84ozOzlM7td3pUa26ZjjGWH3XKKo9eaGCpQKqKgvstDviYf8dRMW4bR38EEk7SuBDfuoj9Wbxwx6kE8/s640/October42010+062.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534651112929557922" border="0" /> Jonah loves this tiger costume. He wore it la...