Lunch Box Notes Sept. 2016

I may have a good stock pile of lunch notes left from last year but with all 4 kiddos in school, I plan to go through them fast! And most of the ones left are rather generic so I want to get some more "fun" ones.

Here's a cute back to school one:

From HappinessisHomemade.net

Here's an example of some really cute ones babysavers.com compiled.I can't wait to use this one tomorrow!!!!

I had to dig around on Google to find some adorable Shopkins ones. Here's an example of one you can find when you Google "Shopkins Lunch Notes"

My girls are going to flip! I printed three copies... just in case ;)

And for the boys!!!

One of Mason's favorite kinds are ones he can show his friends and work on/ figure out. Last year I found some really cool optical illusion ones but I can't find any new ones so I went with some critical thinking ones. Here's some neat word puzzles I found:

Found from a Google Search. Couldn't pull up the website sadly

School Days= School Daze

I can't believe another school year has started!!! As of yesterday, I officially have all 4 kiddos in school. I've got a 5th grade (gasp!), 4th grader, 2nd grader, and Pre-k kiddo!

Every year I create these cool info list on each of the kiddos and yesterday I was comparing them to the very first time I did them, 3 years ago. What a change for each of the big kids!!!!

Mason 2016

vs

Mason 2013

Saydi 2016

vs

Saydi 2013

Karli 2016

vs

Karli 2013

Ahhh... my babies!!! Feels like just yesterday... not 3 years ago!!! 

And here is my sweet Darik!!! Just because :)

Darik 2016

vs

Darik 2013- when he was just 1!

Googling

Have you ever "Googled" your name your first name? I had a couple minutes of free time and though, "what the heck" and did!

I mean, afterall, my blog IS titled "Embracing Marli!" So... I'm going to embrace the actual name today :)

I didn't think I'd find much as my name is rather unique but I was DEAD WRONG!

Look at the hilarious that ensued!

Happy

I'm generally a "glass half full" kind of gal on the outside. Within society, I find more peace in showing happiness, so most people just assume that I'm happy.

Though the truth is, I struggle with genuinely being happy.

Ten Years

August 4th, 2006

That was the day I married my best friend

I'm not going to be some sap and say it was the best day of my life. I mean, yes, it was a great day but well, you just have to know our crazy little love story :). 

I lied

You see, I'm not one to lie. I'm awful at it- I don't have the memory to remember what and how I lied which always screws me in the end. I've learned the hard way.

How sad is this: I remember the exact last time I flat out lied. It was June 2012. Wes was deployed and was nagging me about making a ring payment. Long story short, that morning I lied saying I had paid it. I had every intention on paying it that afternoon but I was hospitalized with preterm labor. So ba-bammm! I was caught.

I have yet to live it down- rightfully so, I guesssss.

So when I lied Monday and yesterday, I almost felt a little guilty. ALLLLMOST.

8 years

It's been 8 years since I found out I lost my baby. I was 20 weeks at the time, sitting in a room with my 3 year old and 1.5 year old, husband, and an ultrasonographer. Within minutes of walking into that room my world came crashing down around me.

I woke up that morning hoping to find out the gender of the baby only to end up deciding what funeral home I wanted to go through. It was the hardest blow still to this date that I've had to take.

I used MySpace and Facebook to vent a lot during that time. I found comfort in writing and it was a nice peaceful outlet. During that time in my life I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out and the last thing on my to-do list was talk to people. Social media gave me a way to receive the support but in ways and at the times I was mentally ready to. When you are suffering from overwhelming grief, many things can set you back. It's hard to fight towards the light and during those moments you are trying, the last thing you want is someone to remind you of why your heart constantly aches. The support I received was amazing but definitely overwhelming at times. Thank you to those who stuck around and hugged me even when I didn't look huggable.

Here's what I wrote 5 years ago: