Nicole's Blog

You read to me, I'll read to you

2012-02-07T22:41:00.001-05:00

superbowl sunday, after awanas.
heather, jon and the girls were over (as well as dave).
aubri and porter take turns reading each other a book before porter goes to bed.
such a sweet moment.

Porter makes me so proud. I know I brag about the kid a lot, but man, he makes me so proud! Two weeks ago I was doing our Rigby testing for students' reading levels. I was curious as to what level Porter was reading at so I brought home books 2-7 (at this point in the year, a 1st grader should be at a Level 8, and by the end of the year a Level 16). Porter recognized a few of the books and said he'd read them with his teacher. I asked if he knew what number he read and he said "Uhm... I think a 9 or a 10?"

Oh my!

He flew through a Level 7 (the highest level I brought home). The next day I brought a few more home and he flew through a Level 10 (and I haven't had time to test him yet at higher levels). So, at this point in kindergarten, he is beyond grade level expectations for a 1st grader.

I've also brought home our 1st grade math workbook and he has been earning Wii time by completing pages. He seems to really "get" math and is pretty confident doing much of the math on his own.

So so proud of him.

Crafty Weekend

2012-02-04T23:17:00.003-05:00

This weekend I was pretty crafty... painted a shelf and picture frame for baby sis' room, made a growth chart for a friends new baby boy, finished a painting for Hudson's room and... hmmm... well, the weekend isn't over, is it?!

I thought I'd share some projects here... some from this weekend and some from the past weeks/months. Things I haven't yet shared on my blog.

So, first up is Growth Charts. Lately I have been making these for friends for babies' 1st birthdays, births, etc.... it has turned out to be a great, one-of-a-kind gift and I enjoy making them. Each of my boys have one (see Hudson's... looks like I never posted Porter's!) and I will be making one for baby sis as well. Jessica just had her 3rd baby, little Abram, and I made this for her. It matches his room decor (see more here!)

Last summer I made growth charts for Jillian and Lyla, Jane's twins. These also match their nursery.

And onto Hudson's room... the poor kid hasn't had any artwork in his room since his nursery pictures. I started painting this Solar System (knock off from Land of Nod) back in... 2010... 2 years ago really... when I began sewing his quilts for his "big boy bedroom". I never finished the painting and it has been in the basement ever since. I finally started to feel bad that Porter's room is all decorated and I've been so obsessed with decorating baby sis' room, but Hudson's was pretty bare and simple. (not to mention his wall is still under construction from 3.5 years ago when we moved in!!) So... I finished his painting today. And he's so proud of it.

He loves that "he" is in his picture... in his rocket ship. He says he is flying to Mars. Because Mars is red and red is his 'fravorite' color.

And our upstairs hallway. Remember it used to look like this? Well... last fall-ish I updated the wall collage with all beach pictures. I love the colors! I pulled some of the red and orange and teal fromt he pictures and used the colors for furniture/accents. I plan to repaint that chair the aqua color and distress it so some red comes through. And I'd like to get some teal/orange do-dads to put on the book shelf.

This wall just makes me so happy. I love that we have been able to vacation at the beach 1 or 2 times a year. I love our beach memories! I'm really bummed we won't be going for spring break this year, but I am so so so excited about taking a trip next spring break with our THREE kids!

On to baby sis' room. I still have a ways to go (need to recover rocking chair pad, sew quilt, put up some more wall decor, get a rug that doesn't cost $500.... what else..... )

I'm still debating on location of these wall decor items. Originally I had planned to put her name (if we ever decide on one) above her crib in the space between the circles. But I almost would like to put the circles above the dresser and her Sunshine plaque above the crib. But I'm kind of nervous to put a 2'x2' piece of plywood above the crib. I would really like to do a wall collage with a mix of vintage prints and photographs... but not sure what wall to do those on.

Here is another crafty craft I did. I stopped at the thrift store a few weeks ago and found PERFECT sheets to match her room. I decided to use them to make the crib skirt and I LOVE how it turned out. I added little pom pom trim to the bottom. The little patchwork blanket? That is her "mine mine" (that is what Hudson has dubbed his little blankies... his mine mine's).

OOohhkay. I think that's about enough craftiness for today!

Friday with my Hudson....

2012-02-03T23:07:00.002-05:00

I have so been enjoying my Fridays with Hudson. Today was such a great day. We got up and took Porter to school. Hudson thought it was hilarious that both he and I wore our PJ's.

I had a doctor's appointment and my 1-hr glucose test, so we headed to the lab first. He was such a good boy and impressed a little old lady in the waiting room while playing his iWriteWords and FirstWords apps.

After my appointment we went to JoAnn... he was really excited to go with me. On our way out we bought a giant Rice Krispy Treat and split it. He thought that was super special :)

We had lunch at home, played a few racing games on the Wii and then read a story in my bed and napped until it was time to pick Porter up. Such a wonderful way to spend my Friday. This little boy just melts my heart sometimes. He's been super lovey all day and evening... kissing me a million times and randomly coming up to me and hugging me saying "I love you Mom!"

He also cracks me up... he was full of it today and I had to record his little quotes:

H: "Mom if you let me drive your car, I will let you play me Wii....."
Then he giggle and says "Wouldn't that be terrible?!"

***************

H: "When I get big I'm going to drive a big tractor."
Me: "Will you give me a ride on your tractor?"
H: "Well there's only one seat. So maybe I can ask Mr. Steve if I can borrow his trailer. And when you get littler you can ride in the trailer."

***************

After picking P up at school I was stopped at an intersection turning left. Hudson, my little backseat driver, said "Go Mom!" I told him I had to wait for the cars to go by so they didn't hit us. He tells me, "Well, you can't just stop in the middle of the road!" and I told him I couldn't just turn in front of the cars or they would hit us and wreck our van. He said, "Well, if you stop in the road the cars are going to say 'Hey lady get out of the road or I'm going to hit you!" Ohhhhkay!

Private Post: A Plan in Place

2012-01-31T22:51:00.002-05:00

Private post: here

They are buddies.... or not?

2012-01-26T22:40:00.000-05:00

The boys have been getting along SO much better now. It is hilarious to hear their conversations and the things the come up with. And even though they have their spats, they seem to be understanding each other a little more (though a lot of it is Hudson being... 3... and a brat...).

The other night I sent them to their rooms to play because I needed quiet while I made dinner. It had been that kind of day. They whined they were bored etc etc... so I threw out a few ideas for them to do upstairs, one being make a fort out of Hudson's bunk bed. So, that's what they did! They played for quite a bit in it and at bedtime they begged us to let them sleep in there. Only.... they weren't both sleeping on the beds. No. Porter took the bottom bunk, which was all blanketed in with quilts. And Hudson? Well, he was sleeping on the floor UNDER the bed, in a sleeping bag, with a bunch of baby blankets he found in a bottom drawer of his dresser. He promised it was comfortable. We did let them sleep in there and surprisingly they fell asleep! It was so cute.

Uh, yeah... don't mind the unfinished wall behind Hudson's bed. That project is only 3 years in the making. Poor kid. And its not like its even that difficult of a project! Someday.... lol!

Tonight, however, they were at each others throats. Heather is in CA for Jon's graduation from marine's boot camp, so Addisen is staying the night with us tonight. She gets along so well with the boys... she is so not a prissy girl and I love that about her (and I so hope that our little girl is not a prissy girl either... though I'm not sure with two rough and tumble brothers she could possibly ever end up being prissy HAHA!). She keeps right up with the boys and loves playing with them. They took a bath and then the fighting began over whose room Addi would sleep in. Porter wanted her to sleep in his room on the floor, and Addi wanted to (though I pretty much think only because she LOVES the rats and they are in Porter's room). Hudson didn't want to be left out so he wanted to sleep in Poe's room on the floor too but Porter didn't want him to. So it was quite the drama for a bit. We let Addi try out the floor with the condition if she got up she'd have to go sleep on the top bunk in Hudson's room. 10 minutes later I was moving her to Hudson's room HAHA! And then she and Hudson spent the last hour and a half talking and laughing and making all sorts of noise upstairs. I let them, though... its a special night to have your cousin stay!

Tomorrow morning is sure to be crazy... I have to get Porter to school before 8:15 and then take Addi and Hudson with me to the vet to have Cooper spayed. Yep... buddy boy gets the ol' snip snip tomorrow!

Monday I start another grad course... something to do with teaching Reading and Writing to English Language Learners. My plan was to ditch the Master's courses and get an alternative certificate to add onto my certification, but after talking to my advisor I have decided to stay with the Master's but only focus, right now, on getting my required 18 credits (Masters Degree is 36). Though I technically have only 6 years to finish the required Masters courses, they won't wipe them off my record per se. I will have to reapply, though not as formally as the first time- basically stating why I've sat out for X amount of semesters. And if any courses were added/changed to the program I have to complete anything new. So... that took a big weight off my shoulders. I was worried about losing the credits, or being penalized for not completing in a timely manner. I so want to focus more on my kids right now, and once I complete my next 4 classes (which I'll need to get my 18 credits to move from provisional to professional license), I'll just take classes as I can. It will all depend on where I am at that point... I may be part time, I may be full time, I may be staying home, I may not even be in teaching anymore! I just want to take it one step at a time and slow down and soak up the next few years while my (littlest) kids are home. The one thing I'm excited about is the Masters in Reading, which is the program I'm doing, will also give me a Reading Specialist endorsement.

Aaaaaand... that's all, folks!

Private Post: I am my own worst enemy

2012-01-25T10:50:00.000-05:00

Private Post: here

Mr. No

2012-01-22T00:21:00.002-05:00

Awhile back, when we took a parenting class with my therapist (who is amazing at counseling parents and helping out with parenting problems!!), we discussed parenting styles and analyzed our own. Ryan, not surprisingly, fell into the "drill sergeant" category (authoritarian). He is Mr. Do-It-My-Way-BECAUSE. I'm not saying he's a bad parent. He isn't. I love that he is not afraid to put his foot down and he is not a pushover. I tend to be a little more lenient, but I kind of wishy washy back and forth from lenient to drill sergeant depending on my mood (hence the counseling).

I try not to write too much therapy stuff here because this is public, but I know this is an issue many other parents deal with. Different parenting styles. Ryan and I have been working for the past year and a half to meet in the middle and become more democratic parents. We try to give more choices, stand our ground more, not criticize, let the kids deal with their disappointment and consequences that come to them.

Most of the time we do pretty darn well. Our boys are very strong willed. They are very persistent and very independent. They like to try to push the limits whenever they can, regardless of how many times they have been redirected, scolded, told no, directions explained etc. With that being said, Ryan and I have to be on our game and work hard to maintain consistency. And now that I'm typing all this out I'm realizing I might be the one knocking things off the rocker. Anyhow... Most of the time we're on the same page. Most of the time we do a good job of maintaining order in the house regardless of what limits are being pushed by the boys. However, there are still times Ryan falls back onto his "Drill Sergeant" ways and there are times I become too passive only to explode after being pushed too far by the boys. This is our work in progress.

Lately, however, I've noticed how much Ryan is a Mr. No guy. Mr. No-All-The-Time. Okay, I've stated I sometimes tend to be a pushover, but I in no way feel like I give into my kids for no reason at all. I don't. I just choose to pick my battles and try to let the boys have some decisions in things as well as have fun in situations that might typically make a child misbehave. A few examples we've run into recently...

Shopping at Target. Now, I by far take the kids shopping more than Ryan does and I have my own routine and rules while I'm out with the kids. Since they have been old enough to ask to play with things at the store I have allowed them to play with toys etc while we shop. They learned early on that they don't get to keep these items... at the end of our trip they say good-bye and we put them back. Sometimes we end up with a pile of things in the cart, sometimes we swap throughout the trip as they find different things to keep themselves entertained. It works for me. They know that even if they ask to buy it the answer is no and that it is just something to keep them entertained. So, we're all shopping at Target. Porter is picking out a toy for a friends' birthday party and it is in the cart (a truck that makes noises). Hudson is sitting in the front of the cart and reaches back to get the truck and play with it as we shop. Ryan takes it from him and tells him no. (and here's where we disagree). I don't back him up. I asked Ryan why it is such a big deal for him to play with the truck. I allow them to play with toys in the cart while we shop and by immediately butting heads with Hudson he's creating a battle that really doesn't even need to be started. Is it such a big deal that he looks at the toy we're buying for a friend? Yes, I know... I should back him up. But I don't. And he gets ticked.

Today, Ryan is getting ready to go shovel the sidewalk outside before P's basketball game. Porter excitedly asks if he can help (because he's all ready to go to his game, just waiting on me and Hudson). Ryan immediately says "No I'm going to shovel and you'er staying inside." Really??? Is it that terrible of a chore to just say "SURE why don't you come help me?" Most days during the week when it snows Porter goes outside and shovels the sidewalk for me, and sometimes even the driveway. It burns some energy and keeps him occupied. Of course, naughty me, I don't back Ryan up and I ask him "Why? Why can't he go help shovel?" And then he is ticked at me and asks when I'll start backing him up. And I tell him "When you stop being Mr. No All The Time."

I just feel like.... there are SO many times kids are told no during the day. So many things that deserve a no rather than nit-picky little things like helping shovel the sidewalk. I do tell them no, lots of times.

You want chips and ice cream for breakfast? Uh... no.

You want to ride your bike to school? Uhm... no way.

You want to start the fire in the fireplace? Heck to the no!

And of course there are times when we need/want to tell them no because timing is inappropriate (They want to play a game while I'm cooking dinner, for example... though instead of no I tell them "Sure! We can play the game AFTER dinner...)

You get my point.....

I just don't want them to grow up always hearing negative. I want them to have some decision making power, but know that there are limits. Shoveling the driveway? I could care less if you want to shovel the driveway! Go for it! I hope you always want to do that! It isn't going to hurt anything and the alternative is an upset kid stuck inside for ME to deal with and explain why Daddy didn't want him to help (to which I have no answer because there really isn't a reason he can't help other than Ryan's first instinct is to say no).

So we have some work to do... some work getting on the same page and some work at slowing down and thinking about what kind of answer to give the kids. Does anyone else have this problem in their house? How do you handle it?

I feel bad that I don't always back Ryan up (we do try really hard to back each other up but it seems like so many times lately he's snapped out a "No" to things that really he could have made a fun moment for the kids), but I also know that I don't think it is fair for the kids to always hear no. And in Ryan's defense, I noticed that the rest of the morning and day he was much more intentional with the things he said to the kids rather than negative negative negative. He let Hudson help him take things up to the attic (which he normally would have been all "Uh NO!") and he set a much more positive mood for the rest of the day. I applaud him for this, as even though our morning started out rough and grumpy (everyone was in a bad mood because we were all not on the same page), our afternoon went great and we were much more in tune with each other.

A little DIY Weekend

2012-01-21T23:41:00.000-05:00

Awhile back I saw this wall art from Etsy and fell in love. I really wanted it for the baby's room, and knew I could recreate something similar on my own. Little did I know it actually would be pretty darn easy (though I think what they are charging is completely reasonable for the time it took!).

First off, I wanted to do a 34x34 board like shown, but I had the option at Menards of a 24x24 ($4.98) and a 48x48 ($15) which I would have cut down. I decided for the cheaper price to go smaller. I figured if I wanted to I'd be able to mix other things on the wall along with the wall art.

So, I started with a 2'x2' piece of sanded plywood. I let the boys go to town painting 3 different shades of pink on it (I let it be messy with some bare spots as well... this would be the under coat so it wouldn't really matter). They have been really helpful in all the nursery projects and I'm glad they're getting to be a part of preparing for Sis' arrival.

After that dried, I put a nice coat of a light mango orange color, and then over top lightly brushed/glazed some burnt orange. Then, let it all dry.

I had to do a little Photoshop handiwork to get the "stencils" for the wording, but luckily it wasn't very tricky just slightly time consuming. I used the fonts Marcelle Script and Tin Doghouse for this. I created a 24"x24" canvas in PS, laid out my lettering exactly how I'd want it to look on the board and then cropped out 9 different 8"x10" sections (the bottom section being 8"x4" which I resized that canvas to 8x10). Then I printed all the 8"x10" pieces out, taped them together like a puzzle and voila!

The next part was a little trial and error. First I attempted to cut out the letters (and got "Yo" cut out and decided that was taking too long). This method also would have left me with lots of pencil outlines (ick). The next method I tried was just tracing the rest of "You" and using the imprint in the wood as my outline. That was easier but the imprint was still tricky to see (probably would have been easier in daylight, though). The final method, which was my favorite, was to color pencil all over the back of the paper and use that to "carbon copy" onto the wood when I traced the lettering. This worked nicely... it left a faint pencil outline but it covered up well when I painted.

So, then I painted in the letters... (I put one full coat on and then went over some lighter spots with a second coat, but didn't worry too much about it being super even).

And finally I sanded (after it dried). I used some hand sanding (with sandpaper) but found that the orbital sander was much quicker and easier.

And... voila! I just need to put the hanging hardware on and put it up!

Be grateful for the journey

2012-01-15T08:17:00.001-05:00

I found this quote just sitting in my drafts. I saved it almost a year ago to the day.

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are.

As you create a home, don’t get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don’t dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey." ~Marjorie P. Hinckley

I thought it was quite poignant that my thoughts were here, at this point, a year ago and thus seeing how my journey in the past year has taken me to this place. I've come a long way in the past year. I've grown a lot. I've learned a lot. I've let go of a lot. I've learned to be more content. To accept things I cannot change. To worry less about those unchangeable things. I've learned to embrace the life I have right now, to be content and have joy in where my journey has taken me. I've learned to be more present in my children's lives- not just "being there" but actually BEING there and BEING involved. Being present.

I've embraced my 2011 word of the year: Simplify. And I love this quote. And oddly, I had just pinned it yesterday on Pinterest (which, a year ago, was scarcely heard of!)

Private: Counting Down

2012-01-14T16:53:00.001-05:00

Private Post: Counting Down

Oh Hudson...

2012-01-14T16:11:00.001-05:00

January 14, 2012
Hudson (disgruntled with Targets big toilet seats). "Ugh I hate these kind of toilets!"
Me: "Do you know what I hate? Little boys with sassy mouthes."
H: "Know what I hate? Big girls who spank butts."

(the boys, playing the wii)

Porter: "Hudson, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

Hudson: "A heart attack?! Well that's not so baaaad!"

January 8, 2012
Up early today. Hudson is coughing and says he has a "warm".
I asked what a warm was and he said "You know, a warm. It makes you choke and cough.".
I said "Do you mean a cold?".
"Oh, yeah. I have a cold." he says.
Haha!

Teeth, Sports, Careers and Babies

2012-01-07T23:52:00.000-05:00

-Porter lost his 2nd tooth last night. It'd been wiggly for a few weeks and Oma had told Porter the other day that if he pulled his tooth out before Saturday's Christmas she'd give him $2. Last night he asked me, out of the blue, "Mom, do you want me to pull my tooth out?" I said I didn't care (because, really??) and he walked into the kitchen, got a towel, came back into the living room and pulled that baby out in a second and said "Oops, there it is! I pulled it out!" So random. HAHA! Not sure if he was motivated more by the money promised by Oma or that he wanted to pull his 2nd tooth out before Aubri pulled hers out.

-Porter started basketball on Thursday. It should be interesting... they had one practice (Thurs) and have a game next Saturday. As usual, Porter was the only kid on his team (there are 6 kids) that was dinking around with his shorts, hands in his pocket, hopping and spinning around while the coach was instructing them on drills. He said it was boring because he didn't get to play... but doesn't get that he has to LEARN how to play in order to PLAY. Duh. The child has no attention, I swear. So... we're holding him to playing this season (just until the end of Feb) because he is the one that initiated that he wanted to play basketball and the money is paid already. I hope that he enjoys it after they start playing games.

-I decided to drop my Master's classes. I am taking a different direction (approach, mindset etc..) and just getting my 18 credits in a planned program to move onto my professional license. The past few months I've become more at peace with where I am at with my work/career path at this time. The bottom line was that I'm not sure when I'll be fulltime and I don't want to spend the next 4 years busting my butt to get my Masters degree and have it possibly over-qualify me and hold me back from getting hired in full time. College will be there later. Masters degrees will be there later. One on one days with the kids? They're limited. And I'm so glad I have made that discovery now rather than later. My kids are only little for such a short period of time and I want to try to focus on them and not so much on building a career. Sure, I'd love to be teaching full time but I also know that that would mean less time with my kids (no Friday-Mom-Days, more time planning at home etc) and right now I'm okay with not being full time. I'm okay with putting the extra time into the boys (and soon baby sis) and viewing it as a blessing rather than a setback. Sure, it may mean a few more years of doing photography more than I'd like, and it may mean driving my rusty but paid-off van instead of getting something shiny and new but I am choosing to be thankful for my Fridays with Hudson right now and thankful that I have been blessed with photography skills and a prosperous part time business that helps fill in the gaps when we need it to.

-Baby Sis (as we've come to call her) still does not have a name. We have a few top contenders (and really, though, Ryan is pretty set on one name) but I'm not 100%. I don't have an absolute favorite, but feel pulled by one in particular. I don't know. Regardless, we've decided to keep her name to ourselves until she is born. Even if we decide I feel that this time I need to SEE her to be settled on her name.

Her room is coming along nicely! Her walls are a light light spring green (very pale yellow/green). New curtain rods have been hung and the curtains have been made (by me!) and hung. We purchased a dresser at a resale shop and it was a pale yellow (which was pretty in itself but it clashed with the wall color) and I repainted it pink and distressed it so the yellow shows through in spots. It is beautiful. I love love love it. I've attempted to work on her quilt today but only got so far as to cut out the 5" squares. My sewing machine has taken a dump on me. So, hopefully I'll get some progress done on that soon! I still need a rug for her room though I kind of want to get the bedding done first to see if I need color or something neutral. I wanted to do pink, but now that I have the curtains up I am leaning towards wanting something shaggy and cream/white colored. We'll see.

He's already a protective big brother...

2012-01-07T23:31:00.001-05:00

December 31, 2011:
Porter was helping me while I put up the curtain rods in the baby's room. He says to me "Mom, I'll pick up whatever falls on the floor so you don't have to bend over and break Baby Sis' legs."

Forgiveness

2012-01-07T23:11:00.004-05:00

Last month I attended a Script class/workshop/conference/group meeting at Westwinds with my sister and her friend. It was really inspirational to get so much information and advice and insight to something that is so difficult and so often struggled with. Forgiveness. I took notes, of course, and before I lose the notebook or it gets too full/overused, I want to make sure I get them journaled somewhere they won't get lost. The information given by Becky was invaluable, and though my notes are pretty vague, they definitely give you something to think about.

Why is it hard to forgive?

trusting again
acceptance
revenge
pride
lack of trust
no completion
denial
don't want to deal with emotions
want to be right
humility
confrontation
negativity is easy, forgiving isn't
want to heal before forgiving

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God"

You love much when you've forgiven much.

What does it mean to love?
What does it mean to be forgiving?

**When you understand what you have been forgiven for, you begin to forgive differently.

When we forgive:

1) We realize they are not monsters, they are people like us. When we reduce people to an action it is dehumanizing.

2) We relinquish our right to get even.

Romans 12 17-19 "¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord."

When you forgive, you have chosen not to get even.

3) You begin to want to bless that person.

-Forgiveness does not remove your right to hurt or feel the pain.

-Forgiveness doesn't mean the act or offense was okay.

-Forgiveness does not mean punishment is not necessary.

-Forgiveness does not mean inviting the offender to hurt us again. It does not mean reconciliation. It does not mean you have to trust them.

We forgive because:

1) We are commanded to forgive

2) It gives us a future of hope

3) It is good for our health.

Who we forgive:

1) Only the people who hurt us

2) You know for a fact they did it on purpose

3) Those that don't ask for it

4) Ourselves

How do we forgive?

1) Recognizing we hurt

2) We acknowledge what has been done to you, how it has affected you

3) What was the exact action. Call it by name. "Lord, I forgive ____ for ____."

4) Don't wait too long- it will destroy you if you do.

5) We don't stop forgiving. We lose count if we keep score.

Matthew 18 21-35 ¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

6) Journal. Be still. Pray. Contemplate. Write it down... steps 1-5. Then burn it.

One Little Word: 2012

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

This year my word is BALANCE.

Balance is something I think everyone struggles with, especially when you're expected to wear multiple hats each day. This year we will be adding another sweet babe to our family and offsetting our 1:1 ratio here so I know balance will be something I need to focus on in order to keep life smooth.

In addition to our upcoming new addition, I want to try to achieve a good personal balance with family (husband and 3 kids) and work (both teaching and photography), school, scrapbooking, and daily chores/home upkeep. Balance is definitely something I want to keep forefront on my mind this year.

Setting Goals for 2012

2012-01-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

First I'd like to reflect on my "goals" for last year... remember, my completely selfish list? Let's see how I did on things...

READING: Well, I completed uhm.... 4 books this year? Not as many as I'd hoped, but still better than years past.
BEDTIME: I did really really well on this goal for the first half of the year or so (well... at least until summer....) and once I got pregnant I was wiped out so that pretty much set my bedtime for me so I'd say this went pretty well. Not as many 1am bedtimes this past year as I had in the past.
TRIPS: I made it to the cottage in the spring and fall, the beach in April, and a week camping with family around Labor Day (not Whiskey Creek-atuckey but Mackinaw was just as wonderful!). I did not, however, get to Chicago with the family, continue the Supper Club camping trip (something tells me this was pretty much a one-hit wonder), and the Mother/Daughter weekend didn't happen this year either. :(
EXERCISE: I wanted to train for a 5k. Didn't happen. Not even close. I did, however, do pretty good in the beginning of the year doing Zumba, and even picked back up once I got pregnant but haven't kept up with it (and now my hips are too achy and pop out of place too easily!)
MONTHLY DATE NIGHTS: We did not set aside specific date days for the boys, but we do have pretty frequent times where we take the boys (one on one) for little trips... even if its just running errands or to lunch etc... we tried this past year to split them up and each get some quality time with them one on one.
HOME RENO PROJECTS: Oh boy. Well the main floor bathroom looks strikingly similar, our laundry room is still in the basement (though we have new front loading washer and dryer), and my office is not renovated. However... we DID put up privacy fence and did some room shuffling. The guest room turned into the baby's room. My office turned into the guest room (we're now officially a 5-bedroom home), and we moved my office/scrapbook space into the other half of the basement/family room that was pretty much dead space/play area. I feel like our home is being utilized so much better now!
SEWING: Uhmmm... I have not touched that quilt I started awhile back. Oh well. Someday. I did sew up a few purses and some gift projects but that's about it.
BLURB BOOKS: Didn't really get around to these either. I did make vacay books from Spring Break this year (NC) but no blog books.
UGGS: Got those!
CHURCH: I have done pretty well with church. 6 years of on-again-off-again attendance is a hard habit to break, though I'll forever call Westwinds home no matter how long my absence may be. I got back into the groove really well the first half of the year but then summer was chaotic and we were out of town a lot so I kind of was hit or miss there. The past few months I've been doing great and have really absorbed some valuable lessons.

WHEW! SO that's just last year. This year.... these are the things I'd like to focus on... FOCUS ON being the key word. I'm not setting myself up with a PASS/FAIL list of goals.

Read 1 book a month. I'm hoping this general timeline will help keep me on track? First up to finish this month is I Don't Know How She Does It. I started it but have not finished. February I want to finish Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I'd also like to read the Twilight series this year and the Hunger Games Trilogy.
Strengthen my ties with Church.
Continue Project Life and set aside 1 day a month to designate SOLELY to scrapbooking.
Be more intentional with my money and time
Meditate daily. Continue Peaceful Piggy mediation with the boys.
Acknowledge the things in my life I'm thankful for more often.
Expand my horizons and build a variety of friendships
Have family pictures taken this fall
A few vacations: Camp at least twice and go to the UP this summer with family.

50 Reflections on 2011

2012-01-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

It's that time already. Keeping with my tradition from 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 here we go...

1. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't necessarily set "goals" but instead a list of things I wanted to get out of this year. And some I completed faithfully, and others I didn't quite get around to.

2. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? Getting pregnant and finding out we were going to have a little girl!

3. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? I don't know that there has been anything extremely challenging that happened.

4. What was an unexpected joy this past year? My summer break. I know that sounds weird, but most often by the end of summer break I'm so done staying home with the kids. This year I really slowed myself down and made my presence with the boys more intentional and thoroughly enjoyed our summer. I was very very sad to go back to work this fall.

5. What was an unexpected obstacle? Making decisions about medications and dealing with adverse reactions.
6. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?  Took both boys on a plane on vacation alone.

7. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? More time and money, although I know being thankful for what I have and being more intentional with both (time and money) will make it seem more abundant.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Forgiving but not forgetting.

9. What was your biggest failure?  Keeping up with exercising. Isn't this the most common failure? HAHA!

10. Did anyone close to you give birth?  My friend Stephanie had Evan, my cousin Lindsey had Jayden, and a few other bloggy friends had babies.

11. Did anyone close to you die?  Sweet Ramsey Kate.

12. What states/countries did you visit?  North Carolina,

13. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 

14. How did you spend Christmas?  Same as always... Christmas day was spent at home with our immediate family. I had another sinus infection and sadly slept most of the day. It was still a nice, relaxing day though.

15. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?  I turned the BIG 3-0! I can't believe I am no longer in my 20's. SOOO weird. I do not feel this "old." Ryan and I went out to dinner and a movie- we saw the new Twilight movie.

16. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Oh so many sinus infections... 1 in October and 2 in December. Other than that, nope.

17. What was the best thing you bought?  Hmm... I don't know.

18. Whose behavior merited celebration?  I'm really proud of Ryan for graduating this June!

19. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  I guess my brother's? It doesn't necessarily make me depressed as much as disappointed. Appalled and disappointed. And sad for him because I think he really lacks the ability to change his life into the direction he needs.

20. Where did most of your money go?  This one again? Same as always.... bills, bills bills.

21. What did you get really, really, really excited about?  Baby Sis!!!

22. Compared to this time last year, are you: 
a) happier or sadder?   happier
b) thinner or fatter?   fatter
c) richer or poorer?  I'd say about the same.

23. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year? Probably my outlook on things- life, situations, people, etc.

24. In what way(s) did you grow:

emotionally?
spiritually?
physically? hahahahahha! I'm pregnant... I'm sure you can envision the physical changes.

25. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others? Ryan and I grew closer as parents as we tackled some challenges we had with Porter. The parenting class and counseling has been such a wonderful thing for our relationship to help us realize we really are a great team, we really do work well together and we ARE great parents, despite our downfalls and shortcomings.

26. With whom were your most valuable relationships? My husband, kids and myself

27. Did you fall in love in 2011?  Of course... always in love with my 3 favorite boys, and falling so deeply in love with baby girl!

28. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope
 

29. Who did you miss?  Cathy and Ramsey

30. Who was the best new person you met? 

31. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home? Oddly, the toy room. I love organizing the kids' stuff. Is that weird?

32. What was your most challenging area of home management? Probably the dogs. It has been SUCH a rainy year that it has been awful dealing with letting the dogs out and bringing them inside without muddying up everything.

33. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? GAH Pinterest! So many ideas, so little time.

34. What was the best way you used your time this past year? Any time spent with my kids and husband was the best! This summer I feel like I really spent time wisely with the boys.

35. What do you wish you’d done more of? Scrapbooking, keeping up on photography bookwork (I have a long road ahead to get ready for filing taxes!) and somehow archiving all of my pictures/blog into Blurb Books.

36. What do you wish you’d done less of? Dwelling on the past 

37. What was the best book you read?  I love love loved The Help.

38. What was your favorite TV program?  Revenge, Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, Real Housewives (any of them), Flipping Out,

39. What was your favorite movie of this year? 

40. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? None. Celebs are overrated.

41. What did you want and get? A little girl to complete our family

42. What did you want and not get?  A full time job

43. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?  Getting hired into a full time teaching position at Bean.

44. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

45. What kept you sane?  Therapy, meditation, and medication. :)

46. What political issue stirred you the most?  None, really.

47. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. 

48. What song will always remind you of 2011?  One Republic: Good Life

49. How did you ring in the New Year? We spent New Years Eve at Duck Lake with friends... the Dawsons, Howards and Tappans. It was pretty low key, as two of us were preggo and one non-drinker. We had fun playing games and watching a movie. It was great to be kid-free for an evening!

50. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

All of his questions, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues strong
But it's always darkest before the dawn

I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
Cause I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/f/flo
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

Going out with a Bang!

2011-12-31T01:37:00.001-05:00

This last week of Christmas Break not only have I been fighting a sinus infection/head cold plus pink eye, but I've also crammed in some long, tiring days with the boys.

On Wednesday I met Sadie and Stephanie and their friend Sarah at the Treehouse. The place was a bit crazy but the new location, being about 3x's larger than before, made it tolerable. We ended up staying for 3 hours and the boys were so worn out! They were really needing to just run run run for awhile. That trip took up most of our day and we got home and Hudson napped while Porter took an hour rest in his room. I needed the peace and quiet, that's for sure!

Friday we took off around 9:30 and picked Lori up to go to Ikea. We first made a stop at a nearby resale shop (Once Upon A Child in Canton) and oh my was it so nice! They had Sooooo many racks of really nice girls clothes (boys too of course but I never made it that far!) and tons of books and toys and baby gear. I bet they had 30 different bouncer seats- all in great condition. Gosh, really no need to ever buy new! I made it out only spending $35, which was surprising, and then we went to Ikea for lunch.

Ikea was a zoo! The line for lunch was sooo long but kids ate free so that was nice. After lunch we dropped the boys off at Smäland to play for an hour (what an amazing service to offer and it would be crazy to not take advantage of an hour of kid-free shopping!). We made it almost through most of Ikea and my buzzer went off so we picked the boys up for the rest of the way through. I ended up getting curtain rods for Hudson and the baby's rooms, plus another Expedit and buckets for it. I also got an umbrella and an orange wire waste basket for P's room. The Expedit, normally $70, I found in the As-Is section for $50! It had been a floor model and 2 shelves had dents but I was able to out that towards the wall and it's not noticeable at all. I love getting unexpected bargains like that!!

After Ikea we went to Lori's where I shorted through about 10 totes of girl clothes! I came home with two packed totes full of 0-2t stuff and am pretty sure baby girl won't need to be shopped for much. (Need being the key word here... You know I'll still be shopping!). Then we all went out to Red Robin for dinner before heading home. I was exhausted and after a super slow waitress and (my) kids who weren't on their best behavior.. I was about to lose my shit. The boys did not sleep a peep on the way home despite no naps an it being 9pm.

This weekend ahead is pretty relaxed aside from spending NYE with the Dawson's at the lake. Sunday we will probably pack up our Christmas stuff. Ry has to be on call Monday so we will probably hang out and relax before getting back into the work/school routine again!

I can't believe Christmas break is almost over. It went by far too fast!

I think he gets the idea....

2011-12-26T15:57:00.001-05:00

"Mom, when you grow little I'm going to be very very mad when you don't take a nap and don't pick up your toys and don't do your chores. And don't follow your rules. And I'll be disappointed. Yeah. I'll be very very very disappointed."

Porter, listening to Q106 @ bedtime... "Dad, this song is Bad to the Bone.... its Grandma's favorite song."

Documenting via Facebook

2011-12-21T23:50:00.003-05:00

The Marley and Me dog has nothin' on Cooper. Just sayin'. He is stir crazy. Its been so rainy here lately we don't like to leave them out in the yard b/c they run and wrestle (which is good... they wear eachother out) but then come in and Duncan is a wet soggy muddy mop. And they start to dig up the grass running when its so wet and soggy. So... today its sprinkling. And they're stuck inside. I locked them in the kitchen/dining room b/c they keep wrestling in the living room but Cooper keeps jumping up on the table and pulling things off. He pulled down a box of parchment paper and ripped it open and was unrolling the paper. He pulled down a box and was playing with it. Then he ripped one of Hudsons artwork off the fridge nad ripped it up. And he was chewing on a paintbrush (which I think was on the table) UGHHH.
Porter woke me up this morning and had pulled his tooth out by himself! I texted Ryan and he said "What does he think he is in the Hangover?!". Hahaha And who the eff invented this tooth fairy gig? Trying to pry the tooth box out of P's hand without waking him. What the hell.

What was even better was going upstairs to find toilet paper pulled through the bathroom and down the hallway to Hudson's room... and my lipstick smashed all over the mirror and picture in the bathroom. He had been quiet for about 10 minutes. TEN. UGH. I asked him if he had looked in the mirror to see what his face looked like and he just grinned and said "Yup!"

24 Christmas Questions

2011-12-20T22:39:00.001-05:00

I saw this survey on Kimberly's blog and thought it would be fun to do. I love looking back on these meme type posts and seeing my views of things at that point in time.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper! I always have a ton of gift bags (I have a whole bag full) but rarely ever use them.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Well..... here's the story. I grew up with a real tree. LOVE a real tree. But when I was pregnant with Porter we decided to get a fake tree in lieu of no tree at all (I was 7 months pregnant, student teaching full time and exhausted). Well, that fake tree was pretty darn easy to put up and take down so every year we've used that excuse for not continuing (or even starting!) the tradition of going to a tree farm with the kids to cut down a tree. Next year. Next year.

3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving! I am always so anxious to get the Christmas season going, but must wait until Thankgiving gets is due attention.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually after New Years. I am always so sad when Christmas is over... its such a FUN month and I love it! But typically just past New Years I'm ready to get things back to normal.

5. Do you like eggnog? I've never had it but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Baby Shivers. I so so so wanted that doll so badly, and I even had a little drawer all ready for her with some doll clothes, play diapers and bottles and blankets. Yes, I loved playing dolls.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yep! We have the Willow Tree one and the Little People Nativity

8. Hardest person to buy for? Hmm... Ryan. Seriously.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Our kids and our nieces. I love buying for kids!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?Mail!!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Uhm... I can't really think of any.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?I love Elf. Not sure its my "favorite" but off the top of my head I'd say Elf.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I shop a little throughout the year, and usually start in November.

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? Only at a Dirty Santa party.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas Cookies! I looove sugar cookies with lots of frosting!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear lights although I always love the large bulb lights, so I plan to buy some of those on sale after Christmas.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
3 Fav's: O Holy Night, Still Still Still and Carol of the Bells.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We stay at home! It is usually a really relaxing day. We take our time opening gifts and just spending time together.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Of course!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?Kids open pj's from us Christmas Eve. We do open gifts from Ry's dad and Lori's family on Christmas Eve. Other than that... Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Probably just the clutter. I have a corner full of wrapping paper and boxes and bows (which I could easily put in the basement and wrap down there but I don't...).

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?
My favorite ornaments are our 12 Days of Christmas ornaments from Crate and Barrel. Ryan's Uncle Dave bought them for us after Cathy passed away. She always led the group singing of 12 Days of Christmas at our Christmas gathering (we'd all have to pick out a day out of a hat and sing that part). I love remembering that about her.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Just to slow down and enjoy the magic of this time of year. Enjoy my kids and really take in their excitement. Gift-wise... nothing really imperative. We're saving for a family vacay next year so most of our money/cash gifts we are given is going toward that.

This randomness...

2011-12-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

That last post... who saw it in Google Reader? The Merry Christmas 2011 from the Imus Family? What the hell... did my account get hacked? Anyhow... deleted and I have no idea how that was posted or who the Imus Family is.
I've begun working on this annual post- 50 Reflections. I thought I'd bring it up now so that if you're interested you can start working on yours! I love that I have so many past years that I've done this survey and it is so neat to go back and read my responses. Some things are so different from year to year and some things just never change...
A few Christmas Questions I've been pondering lately:
1. How many gifts does Santa bring your kids? Is it a certain number of gifts or a price limit?
2. How many gifts do you get your kids? Is it a certain number of gifts or a price limit?
3. Who brings the most gifts... Santa or parents?
4. Does Santa wrap his gifts?
5. Do you put gifts out under the tree before Christmas or are all family gifts put out only at Christmas morning?
6.

Friday was a busy day. Our first official day of Christmas break! I absentmindedly forgot about a newborn session I had scheduled that morning...oops! So glad I have understanding clients.

Ry had the day off so he and Hudson spent some time together running errands. Then the 3 of us picked Porter up from school early to go to our "official" ultrasound. The boys, unfortunately, were less than interested. Good news though is everything looks good an baby girl is officially a girl!

Afterwards we went to Miss Marleens to see Santa. She has a Santa come every year and bring presents (that she buys) to the kids. It is a fun tradition and I think it's so great that she does it for her daycare kids. Hudson was a little mislead when he opened his gift... Marleen had bought Trio blocks (which the boys play with quite a bit) and he immediately shoved the box away upon opening it and crossed his arms, pouted and tried his best to hold back tears. He has been talking for sooo long that he wants Santa to bring him Cars 2 movie (which he will on X-mas eve) and I think he thought Santa would pull out whatever he asked for from his bag. It was hilarious and kind of sad that he felt disappointed, although I want to teach him to be thankful regardless. It's hard to be 3.

After Santa, we dropped the boys off at home with Dave and we headed tot the Dawson's for our annual Christmas Dinner with Supper Club. Unfortunately 3 people were unable to make it so it was just the Dawson's and the Barczaks and Half a Huff. :-). The highlight was exchanging our Dirty Santa gifts.... We always have a good laugh!

I'm so excited for Christmas this year! Last year was so so perfect and I hope the boys will enjoy the day as much as last year. I did go a little crazy with their gifts this year but I didn't go too much off budget because I have been bargain shopping and getting good deals. I also realized this year that Christmas has been so much more enjoyable the past few years since we started the Christmas Club account and have not used credit cards at all. The giving is much more enjoyable that it is paid in cash! I am thankful we have been financially able to do this lately (and even more so that the past few years we have rarely, if ever, used a credit card!).

Woah off on a tangent! In other exciting news, Ryan joined the 21st century and got an iPhone (courtesy if Hudson who decided to give Ryan's cell a bath in a glass of Vernor's.). I am excited that our calendars will sync and we can play games against eachother now haha!

This morning

2011-12-09T09:25:00.001-05:00

This morning is the only day of the week we (me and the kids) can sleep in until 7:30ish to get Porter off to school at 8:15. Normally during the week I'm having to wake the kids up. Today? They were up and at em at 6:30. What the hell.
Speaking of waking up... my wake up this morning consisted of a 90lb Goldendoodle at my feet, a 30lb puppy on one side of me, a kid on the other and another kid on the other side of the puppy. We need a bigger bed.
Dreading my doctor's appointment this morning. I've been gaining weight like... like... like... a food addict this pregnancy.
No, I did not google "average weight of boobs" this morning to see how much weight my size E's might possibly have added onto my pregnancy weight.
While waiting for the bus with Porter this morning, he shoveled the sidewalk and driveway out front. Kids are pretty useful!

P-A-N-E-R-A

2011-12-08T23:52:00.001-05:00

12/2
Porter: "Mom, what does P-A-N-E-R-A spell?"
Me: "Uhm.... p..p...p...pumpkin?"
Porter: "Noooo... listen. P-A-N-E-R-A."
Me: "Hmmm...p...p...p...pencil?"
Porter: "No, Mom! It's Ppp--aaaa--nera. Panera! Now, keep that in your head and let's try it again, okay?"
Me: "Okay."
Porter: "What does P-A-N-E-R-A spell?"

12/3 ‎"See you later alligator mustard-head crocodile." -Hudson

11/28 I heard noise in the kitchen. Assumed Porter was having pie for breakfast. Then he appeared in my room with this.... He had made me grapefruit for breakfast. And he didn't even cut his finger with the big black knife, he said!! Hahaha! I love this kid.

11/18 I just heard Hudson screaming from the playroom... "GET IT GET IT! AUGHHHH! GET IT OUT OF HERE!". I walk in to find him screaming and pointing at this bug book on the floor. He continued to yell "GET IT OUT OF HERE I DON'T LIKE THAT BUG BOOK!". Hahahah! I should also mention he does this to a red eyed tree frog book as well. Heee hee.We randomly hand Hudson this rubber red eyed tree frog just to watch him yelp and throw it. It's funny bc he is so scared by it he is almost intrigued... He always asks us to read him those books but it's like he can't stand to be surprised by them if he randomly pulls one off the bookshelf. Lol!

November Recap

2011-12-06T22:52:00.001-05:00

I feel like I've lost my voice or something... that blogging just doesn't seem to be my outlet lately. I've kind of become more introverted the past month or so and even though there are lots of times I have things I want to blog I just don't seem to feel the desire to actually type it out. It is frustrating to feel this way because I know time is slipping by and I'm not documenting these memories or small moments that I'll forget all too quickly. So... before things get too far into Christmas, I need to do a little recap on November.

I utterly failed NaBloPoMo. What the hell. I'm not sure you could even say I started!
I utterly failed at my daily Thankful posts. Again, lots of times I intentionally made a mental note of things I was thankful for (actually I bet on a daily basis!) but I never made the time to write it out.

Let's see... what were the "big things" in November...

Christmas Parade in Jackson

This is the third (or 4th?) year that we've gone to the Christmas Parade downtown and I swear to goodness we get amnesia every year about how darn cold it actually is. This year was really windy, and I didn't have a hat or even a really warm coat that actually zipped/buttoned up without making me look like a stuffed sausage. (the coat I wore fit, but wasn't that warm). The boys were bundled, but still cold. And stupid me... wore shoes instead of my warm Uggs. My feet FROZE and it wasn't until we were walking back to the car I thought WTF... I have BOOTS that are so WARM! Next year we vow to put the boys in snowpants and bring blankets and hot cocoa. Yeah. I'm pretty sure we say that every year!

Regardless of the cold, the boys had so much fun. This year the floats were really great as well! I think this was the best year yet. It cracked me up that the things the boys enjoyed the most (and ooohed and aaahed over the most) were the tractors that were in the parade and the race cars. I guess it shouldn't surprise me though! We intended to meet the Dawson's downtown but they were unable to get across the road to our meeting spot, but we did end up next to a boy that Porter knew from school. He had a lot of fun watching the parade with him.

Next year.... warmer clothes and blankets!

Thanksgiving

This probably should have its own little post but I'm lumping it in with "November". Again, we had dinner at our house. One of my favorite holidays because both sides of our family gather together under one roof. I was literally barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen all day and by dinner time I was ready to just stuff my face and then go lay down. In which I did do both those things quite well. Everything really went off well... I was able to fit our new kids patio table in the dining room with the kids table from the playroom so everyone was able to eat in one room. I even got crafty the night before and decorated the kids table up!

Another favorite about Thanksgiving... the boys and all their cousins are together! I am so thankful that they have so many cousins that are around their age, and that they love them! I almost feel bad for Baby Girl because she'll be at least 4 years younger than everyone else. However, I'm also so excited to see how adored she is because I know all these girl cousins are going to eat her up!

Annual Shopping with Lori

Ohhhh this year was a bust out! Just like the past.... oh 5 years or so, Lori and I headed to Ann Arbor on Black Friday to hit up the resale shops. We actually only went to one because I spent SOOO much money on darling little girl clothes (and everything was 25% off... BONUS!). I walked in the door and said to Lori.... "This is the day I've been waiting for for sooo long!" I was finally able to dig into those bazillions of girl clothes for myself!

We spent a good 2 hours in the resale shop (some of which were spent consoling a crying pregnant woman who burst into tears talking to us about how disappointed she was to be having another girl...) and then we went to Red Robin for lunch. YUM! We also hit up Pier 1, Babies R Us (got more clothes... some pink Avent bottles and a bath thingy) and also JoAnn to get 2 bolts (12 yards) of fabric for the nursery curtains.

Our evening wasn't done there.... we had mostaccioli for dinner and then Lori and I went back out shopping to the Toy House. We then ran home, packed up the families and headed to the Christmas Lights at the fairgrounds. This has become an annual tradition for us as well and I am always amazed at how well done the lights are! Just when you think you've seen so many, there are more!

I truly am thankful for these special shopping days with Lori. It isn't the same without Cathy, and I will always hold those memories dear, but I do love that Lori and I are continuing the tradition.

Decorating the Tree

This year we had talked about getting back into the "real tree" mode for Christmas and take the boys to a tree farm to cut down a tree. However... I really wanted to get decorated for Christmas over the long weekend and we were kind of feeling like we wanted to just get the tree up so we went with the fake tree... again. Maybe next year?

Just like last year, I realized that decorating the tree is not something I should do with the kids awake. Let me rephrase that. I should get the nitty gritty done (tree up, lights on) while the boys are in bed or away... and then let them dig through the boxes of ornaments. They are always so excited to see all the ornaments they're digging through boxes and making messes and carrying ornaments all around the house. It drives me nuts. Also- thank goodness for the unbreakable ornaments that are ALSO beautiful. Not only did the boys drop a ton, but I did as well. One special ornament managed to get broken (a windmill from Holland) but lo and behold I had actually purchased 2 on that vacay so it didn't break my heart too much. After all, it was an accident.

So there we have it... Hello Thanksgiving, love ya, muah, see ya later and Hellooooo Christmas!

First Snow of the Year

The last day of November was a SNOW DAY! Yeah! While snow days used to be so dreaded to me (not because I don't want to get to stay home... but because I don't get paid if I'm not working)... but I've come to embrace them. I love the unexpected day off of work to hang out at home with my boys in our pj's.

The boys were SO excited to see snow on the ground. I think we got around 5 inches or so? Maybe? They were up at 7 and were begging me to go outside. The sun wasn't even up! However, by 7:30am they had me out of bed and they were running around the house in their underwear screaming with excitement. We all bundled up and were out in the snow by 7:45am. WHEW! Both of the boys loved shoveling the sidewalk and Porter ended up shoveling almost half of our driveway. They spent a good 2 hours outside playing! The rest of our day was spent inside by the fire, watching movies and doing a little laundry. Perfect, perfect day.