Passion vs. Survival . . . our daily life :)

The Big Guy :)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 00:18:00 +0000

Cameron ran to him before anyone else. Loving his excitement this year!

We got Castiel on his lap, but the twins questioned him more this year.

Emmitt couldn't think of anything he wanted, but quickly found something.

One of my favorite things . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 00:29:00 +0000

I love listening to the kids singing along to the radio in the kitchen.

They get that from their father :)

True Believer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 01:06:00 +0000

"Mom, can you mail this for me?"

I wish they'd believe like this forever . . .

Emmitt's First Bus Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 18:27:00 +0000

This is my text to daddy after getting Emmitt off to his first day:

----- Emmitt jumped on the bus as soon as the door opened with no hugs or kisses, didn't even turn around to wave. His little face pressed against the window as the bus pulled away and he had the biggest smile on his face. He then gave me a thumbs up :) -----

The thumbs up has always been his thing. We give him a thumbs up to let him know we are proud of him and he gives us a thumbs up to let us know he's okay.

I didn't even think of crying until he gave me a thumbs up with that big grin on his face.

He's okay...

This one was definitely harder on mommy...

Our Journey to the Ocean

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 01:33:00 +0000

We are staying in Eugene, Oregon.

It sits right between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains.

We had to decide if we were traveling West or East for the day. And really, growing up in the Midwest, how do you not pick the ocean?!?

On the way, we saw what we thought was smoke, but then realized that they were clouds laying on the ground.

Everywhere we looked there were pine tree filled hills. Lots and lots of huge pine trees.

We turned a corner and realized that we were about to drive through a hill. It was a pretty long tunnel.

Then finally we saw the ocean. This is at a state park. See how far the ocean is away?

We then saw this sign.

Well, it's June 1st. We took that as a sign we were going on a hike.

We trudged through sand dunes that had been washed a mile inland.

Then we made our way through a woods.

We could hear the waves crashing. We came out of the woods to see this.

A meadow. No ocean. At this point I was convinced we were going the wrong way. Because i ALWAYS get lost. But we walked through the meadow. And when we got over the hill....

The ocean!

And the best part of hiking that far to see it . . .

We had the entire beach to ourselves as far as we could see!

It was still a hike across the sand to reach the water.

And when we got there, it was painfully FREEZING. It actually hurt to walk in it. But we did, for a brief moment :)

Then we walked up the beach and picked up orange, purple and blue shells. Really, they were mostly broken, more like sea glass, smooth pieces of shells.

Then the hike back, which seemed to be all up hill. But doesn't the journey back always seem to be?

Especially when we reached the sand dunes again. That was brutal.

This is overlooking the journey we just made.

A day I will remember, and the adventure made our trip to the ocean that much more special :)

I've now had my feet in the Pacific Ocean! Check that off my list :)

Bag of Bones

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 May 2013 21:29:00 +0000

Not often are the boys interested in the girl's school projects.

Today was a HUGE exception.

Audrey came home with a bag of rodent bones today. She had dissected an owl pellet today.

I say "eww!"

But the boys said "cool!"

Never have they sat and listened so intently as she told them how the jaw bone fit onto her skull. She pointed out all the little teeth. And described how her friend cracked open her skull and found a brain!

Again "eww!"

Something for the boys to look forward too :)

Eww!!!

Quiet Morning with My Twins

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Cameron had a birthday party this morning at the movie theater. Epic.

I had KC take him, because the taste of movie popcorn was more appealing to him at 10:00am.

The girls wanted to see the movie too, so they tagged along happily.

Just me and the boys on a beautiful morning.

So, I took them for a bike ride.

First we made it to the park, which we couldn't pass without playing on. About 5 minutes in Cas had to go potty, so back home we went.

They wanted to go again, so I took them the opposite way, to avoid the park.

We stopped to sit on a bench to look at the "lake", actually a neighborhood runoff pond.

Emmitt wanted to wait for a fish to jump :)

I got them going again, only to be stopped by a family of geese.

We stopped and kept our distance so they could cross the street.

On again.

And then as we got to our house, Emmitt notice that the geese had crossed through our backyard.

So we sat on the sidewalk watching them very slowly walk away.

They put on about a mile and a half, with many stops on the way.

Then we played in the backyard.

I attempted a mini photo shoot.

But as soon as they looked at each other.

Castiel turned it into a grass fight.

Oh well, that's my boys :)

Little Helpers :)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 May 2013 02:28:00 +0000

Zoe was in my kitchen again tonight. She actually still is, finishing up :)

She changed it up tonight though. She requested mini assistants.

And they were SO excited.

They took their jobs very seriously and made sure they got their fair turns.

They listened to her so well. I think she might have new little helpers more often now.

She shooed them away while she baked the cookies, but they returned promptly when the oven buzzed.

They couldn't take their eyes off their work :) Jell-O cookies!!!

(Recipe was found on...... You guessed it, Pinterest)

Growing pains

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:29:00 +0000

We tease Audrey, lovingly of course, about how short she is.

She has the nickname "shorty mc short shorts" in the house. She loves the t-shirt saying "I'm not short, I'm fun sized!"

But I think that might be changing.

The last few mornings she's barely been able to walk in the morning. Aching upper thighs. I have been doing stretches with her, to try and loosen the muscles up.

I feel bad seeing her hobble out the door for school, but with only a few days left, it seems silly to keep her home when there is little I can do to help.

Maybe she has some long legs coming and she'll have the last laugh. I never thought she'd be one to outgrow me.

I pictured her more like her name sakes, Grandma "Audrey" (who I never got a chance to meet, but believe she was on the short side) and Grandma Irene "Elizabeth" (who I know was short, not sure if she was even 5ft tall)

Love her. Hope this passes soon.

Say It! I'm a Monkey's Uncle.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:13:00 +0000

Daddy's day off usually looks like this a couple times a day.

But today's the first day I heard Cameron say, "Say you're a monkey's uncle!" while having daddy in a "head lock".

Oh the things daddy teaches them :)

Wonder how long it'll be until the three of them can really take him, LOL.

I want to be....

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:25:00 +0000

A garbage man

The boys ran out to watch the recycling truck this morning.

And then Emmitt took off down the sidewalk.

The garbage man got out and said hi to him and then glanced back, I'm sure to make sure an adult was close behind :)

He was pretty mad when I made him come home and not let him leave with the garbage man.....

He told me that he wants to drive that truck someday.

Boy's Discovery Today

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:07:00 +0000

They noticed the leaves on the trees today :)

Leaves = Shade!

Very simple but very exciting to them.

It's the simple things in life that put the biggest smiles on their little faces :)

My New Bike!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:43:00 +0000

I went on a 7-1/2 mile ride today on my Mother's Day/Birthday present with Zoe : : )

Thank you K.C.!!! I love it.

I haven't been on a bike since my pregnancy with Cameron. Too long.

He even got me a bell! Love <3

We are going to Eugene, Oregon in less than 2 weeks for a 30 mile ride.

I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget how :)

Just Enjoying My Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 03:22:00 +0000

I guess today I just wanted to share a couple of things.

It has been snowing here since Friday. This is by far the most snow that we've gotten all season. The kids have gotten out to enjoy it a few times. Too powdery to build anything out of it, but perfect fun none the less.

Tonight, Cameron requested Christmas music. First, I looked at him like he was crazy. But then I realized, to a child, it looks more like Christmas now then it did a month ago. So I turned on Christmas music and we sang along to all the Classics during dinner.

They were all so happy. That's the most precious thing about kids, the littlest things make their day. And I love when I can give them those little things.

Tonight I also cut Cameron's hair. Cameron is just at that perfect age when everything out of their mouths is worth listening to because if I really listen to it all, I realize how much his brain is working on overdrive.

I think I read somewhere that a 5 year old asks around 500 questions every day. Cameron does that and then some. He is constantly talking and commenting and questioning and debating . . . the kids can talk!

During his haircut, he requested that I cut a word into his hair. I asked him where he had seen that? He said, "All the cool dudes have it." I told him that I would think about it in the summer, but not while he was in school. Then I asked if he knew what word he would want? He said, "Cool Dude!" so all the other cool dudes know that I am a cool dude too."

Ha. Ha. Love, love, love him.

And one more thing. Audrey had a field trip today to a Chicago Wolves hockey game. She came home with a "signed" foam ball that was thrown out to the crowd. I was so excited for her and asked how she caught it? And she giggled and told me that it just fell into her lap.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened to her. Audrey is just lucky. This kid will have to play the lottery when she grows up. She's just lucky it wasn't a hockey puck!

Alone (Temporarily)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 05:08:00 +0000

KC is ice fishing.

Boys were at home with my mom.

Girls were performing in their band concerts.

Zoe on flute.

Audrey on clarinet.

And I was sitting alone in the bleachers.

Not having to ..... tell anyone to sit still, please stop trying to sing along, having boys standing on my lap to get a visual of their sisters, apologizing to the parents around me trying to record their children, praying for this to be the last song before I lose it, digging in my purse for candy to persuade good behavior, apologizing to the people in front of us because they are getting kicked in the back, trying to explain that 'Bravo' doesn't need to be yelled after every song.

I just got to sit and enjoy.

That doesn't happen very often anymore :)

I enjoyed my two hours tonight. The girls sounded great. And I sat back and just watched.

Disappointed

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 01:57:00 +0000

My husband has worked in the bicycle industry since his very first job.

Just after we got married he started a job at Trek bicycles.

Our whole life and livelihood has evolved around bicycles.

We have watched years and years of the Tour de France, cheering on the Americans. And above all . . . Lance.

For years KC has defended Lance Armstrong by asking why there hadn't been any positive results to the countless drug tests. We figured that something would have been found if he was guilty.

We did not idolize him. He was the biggest name in cycing. And since KC's job was to sell bicycles, a win for Lance was more sales for him. I'm sure a couple of our bonus company vacations were made easier by those wins.

Lance was an inspirational story. He fought through so much just to survive. He started an amazing organization helping countless people through some of the hardest moments of their lives.

And instead of staying inspirational . . . he became a cheater, a liar and a bully.

One of the last things KC asked me to do this morning was to take the life-size poster off Cameron's bedroom wall.

We thought Lance would be an inspiration. Someone that KC could tell him about. Tell Cameron all the amazing things he is capable of doing with his life if he is willing to work hard for it.

And we will still tell him all of those things, but Lance will be taken out of it completely. And he's been taken off his bedroom wall.

He is now an example of what not to do with your life. Cheaters never win in the end.

And this . . . is the end.

Shoot!!! And I have a few bins of worthless Lance stuff in my basement . . . wonder if I can still get anything for it on eBay?

It Always Feels Good To Get Started

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:50:00 +0000

Day 1 of my RunKeeper program. It's a free app if you are interested in checking it out.

I've started with preparing myself for a 5K. It's a 28 step program that started with an easy 1.5 mile run/walk workout. It tracks your distance, pace, calories burned, elevation and time. Probably not completely accurate, but good enough for someone who doesn't want to spend extra money on a fancy system.

Even though it's 20 degrees outside, I did it :) I suited up and walk/ran around our big block 4 times for a distance of 1.6 miles.

This program will take me to March 8th and then I'll step it up to prepare for the 5 mile Walleye Run.

I love making plans . . . but it always feels great to get something started!!!

Welcome 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:54:00 +0000

So, I got off to a rough start this year.

This was the last photo I took in 2012 :)

Consistent sickness in our house since Christmas. Nothing major, thankfully . . . just A LOT of coughing. And I think it all just wore me down until I didn't feel well. It's exhausting taking care of everyone and being 'trapped' in the house for weeks.

So, Friday was the first day without a cough and I'm hoping it stays that way for a bit.

Now I feel like I'm starting my 2013 a couple weeks late. I'm still packing away Christmas decorations, finding places to put all our new presents, and generally just trying to get the house cleaned up.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

I thought about my New Year's Resolution a lot.

I always make my resolution too hard to accomplish. I set myself up for failure. And I usually know it when I make it . . . why do I do that to myself?

So this year I made three small resolutions. Resolutions that I know I can accomplish. I am not setting myself up for failure this year.

First, I am going to simplify my life. By that, I mean de-clutter. I envy the women who have everything in there homes 'just so', and I believe that my problem is that I have too much stuff. I've already taken 2 huge bags to Goodwill last week, and plan to continue doing so all year. eBay is still one of my good friends and I continually list and sell things for a little more income. I have no grand illusions of a perfect home, just better.

Second, I am going to put my family on a budget. I have started using Mint.com (thanks for the suggestion Mike). I looked at it last year and was scared off by all the account numbers and passwords that you have to give the site. But, after a lot of research I took the plunge. I have a budget made (and I plan to tweak it as needed - I have to find out what works for us) and goals set up (it states that we should be contributing over $3,000 a month for college costs, which is impossible - but we can do what we can and hope for some good scholarships). It was a lot of work setting it up, but I think now it will be easy to maintain.

Third, I am going to run in the 5-mile Walleye Run. I believe Walleye Weekend is June 7-9 this year. I have always wanted to be a runner and have never done it. (Consistent pregnancy and toddlers will do that to you.) I was going to start training this morning, but a nice layer of sleet fell last night, so I will attempt it tomorrow. I am going to be using RunKeeper so I can track my progress and be ready. Anyone who wants to join us is more than welcome . . . KC is going to run it too :)

So back to packing up Christmas, and finally clean up my 2012 :)

I will try to do a little better with my blogging, but I cannot make any promises . . .

First Shutterfly Book

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:13:00 +0000

I just completed this book for a couple of family members that we don't get to see enough.

And then I realized that I don't see a lot of our family nearly enough, so I thought I'd share with everyone.

I realize there is a big blank space below, I included the photo that I used for the cover.

If you are interested, click on the link below, it does work :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a wide range of artful designs and embellishments to choose from.

Thank you Shutterfly for allowing me to share my book. It was a lot easier to put together then I thought it would be. It's a project that I've been putting off.

Feels good to have it done.

I Survived a 9 Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:44:00 +0000

Wow! That was exhausting. My kids had the whole week off of school, so if you include the weekend before and after, that was 9 long days with five very loud kids.

It started off rough. Lots of fighting, made me 'a lot' nervous about having them home for so long. I guess it's just practice for Christmas break which is coming way too fast.

We went 'home' for Thanksgiving. Emmitt kept yelling "I don't want to stay home, I want to go to grandma and grandpa's". Yes, I still call it home even though it's been 15 years :) and I kept trying to explain to him what I meant . . . but he just got more mad, so I dropped it and assured him that we were going to see both grandparents.

We stuffed ourselves with two complete Thanksgiving meals, one for lunch and then several hours later for dinner. We also celebrated Grandpa's, Emmitt's and Castiel's birthdays. And even after two meals, I couldn't turn down a slice of DQ ice cream cake :)

Over the holidays, I found out that all my kids love pumpkin pie, which surprised me a little. The huge mountain of cream piled high on each slice may have help a bit :)

We attempted to take lots of family photos, which I haven't had a chance to upload yet. I'm hoping for some good ones, so maybe I'll make a Christmas cards this year.

We had beautiful weather Thanksgiving day. We got the kids outside, ran them around a bit. Then the temperature dropped over night. Just in time for shopping.

We've done Black Friday shopping for many years now. This year was a little different. I shopped Thursday evening on-line until 2am, then got up on Friday at 6:30am to shop with Zoe until nearly 1:00pm. Then shopped for a couple of hours on Saturday with Audrey.

I didn't like the idea of taking the girls with last year. This year I found it very helpful. Maybe because I feel like I'm behind this year, it's nice to have a little help making decisions.

We did really good this year. I felt like I found some great deals.

Black Friday shopping is important for me. With five kids, getting away to shop is very difficult. I have built-in babysitters at 'home' that I appreciate SO much for letting me go out. I think I would really struggle through December without those couple days.

And I finished up on Cyber Monday. I have my lists and just searched for the best prices :) Saved lots of money on items that I planned on purchasing any ways. I love being able to shop from home.

It's a lot of work making Christmas magical for five kids, but definitely worth it. It's definitely one of the best times of the year to be a parent. So much excitement in the house. So much curiosity. So many questions. I love it all.

I'm ending this post totally randomly :)

The kids and I had the best discussion tonight. Zoe, out of nowhere said, "I wish I could fly!" Which lead her to ask, "If you could have any super power, what would it be?"

After a bunch of brainstorming of all the great powers, we all agreed that flying would be the best! Even the twins joined in and Emmitt started running around the room saying "I'm Superman, I can fly."

Then Cameron added, "I think being invisible would be pretty cool too."

Is there another super power that beats flying? Doesn't everyone wish they could fly :)

Actually, I've decided to end the post on a VERY EXCITING turn of events!

We were able to welcome home Mike and Tracy from South Korea. They made it through there year abroad safely with SO many great experiences to remember forever. They have returned to their life in Virginia, but have to wait 2 months for the majority of their possessions to arrive by boat. Happy to have you both back :) And I'm also very jealous of the amazing journey you both experienced over the passed year.

Thank you Emilee :)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:17:00 +0000

So, my mind works in an all or nothing way.

My blog made me SO frustrated that I threw in the towel.

Then I came back and remember why I threw in the towel . . . photos!!! And a blog just isn't a blog without photos.

So, I decided to just start from scratch. Figure out some html code, how hard could it really be. They have tutorials for that kind of thing, all I'd have to do is follow the directions step by step.

That's where I was going with my blog until my wonderful sister politely said, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF?!?

Really she said, "Why would you create an entire blog from scratch? You make things so difficult for yourself! Start a different blog. Or use a different platform. There are many other options too..."

But I heard, "You are crazy!!!"

And that was a good thing, because I have no time for that. I have a thousand things I'd prefer doing besides deciphering html code. Crazy how my mind just jumps into fast forward!

A comparative for the way my mind works: if I walked into our Walmart to the Dunkin Donuts shop for a dozen donuts for the kids and for some reason they were out of donuts. I'd be that person that went to the book section to get a donut cookbook, go to the baking section and buy all the ingredients and then go to the kitchen section and buy the deep fryer. And then I get home, unload my van of bags and bags of supplies, get them into the house and then come to the realization that I could have driven 5 minutes to the next Dunkin Donuts . . .

I appreciate VERY MUCH that my sister asked "Why?" That's all I needed.

The only problem I had was the photos. So, wouldn't finding a different photo program make more sense? Yes, it does now that I've been brought back to reality.

Again, thank you!!!

So, KC went to a Bulls game on Monday night and I put the kids to bed and researched. I looked at other blogs to get ideas of what other people were possibly using. I ran into Flickr a few times, so I focused my attentions on that.

And it's completely free to use, unless I want to upload tons of photos in a month. There is a set amount I can upload monthly and then the following month I can upload more. So really, I just have to stay consistent and not go too photo crazy . . . which is probably a good thing.

It took me a while to get everything synced with my blog. I have to cut and paste the html code into my blog for each photo. At one point I was thinking, "this is crazy, having to deal with so much html code" . . . then I remember a day before I was thinking of doing the whole blog over in code and then the copying and pasting was such a relief :)

Sometimes I just need to be reeled back in :)

I know better, I just can't help myself . . . that's why I have people in my life that I can count on to set me straight and it is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! Love you :)

Gives me time for what really matters :)

4749 Days :) (on Tuesday)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:33:00 +0000

410,313,600 seconds . . . 6,838,560 minutes . . . 113,976 hours . . . 678 weeks

They all add up to 13 years! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KC!

It's hard to imagine that that much time has passed, until we add in 5 homes & 5 children together :)

We had an uneventful day, but we spent it together. Kids had school, I had to run some errands, KC made some AMAZING chicken salad, and we got to go out for dinner (thanks Katie and Tony for watching the kids!). We were going to check out a new restaurant located only blocks away from our house, but an advertisement scared KC away. "Magic Dave on Tuesday Night" :)

After dinner we went to Walmart to walk the toy aisles to get ideas for Christmas, which I loved because I usually do the majority of it myself. Nice to have his input. So I took lots of pics with my phone to remind me of what we found . . . got a few ideas for him too :)

We really spoiled ourselves already this year with a trip to Vegas! I haven't shared photos, because my blog wouldn't allow it (thank you Flickr, you are now my choice for photo imports).

KC has been there a few times before, but I had never. I guess the thing that got me the most was the sheer size of everything. Hotels . . . huge. Casinos . . . huge. Drinks . . . huge. Bills . . . huge.

Too bad the pay out wasn't huge, but it's not like we didn't try :)

We stayed at Treasure Island. We were able to see and hear the pirate show a couple of times every night. We also had a great view of it from our room above :)

I know I should have sat by the pool, went to a spa . . . relaxed just a little.

But I wanted to see everything! Yes, it's true . . . I don't get out much :)

We walked and walked and walked. And then we got a bus pass, so we could see even more :)

And my favorite :)

I've never been to New York . . . . hint, hint :)

We also spend almost an entire day in old Vegas. We didn't plan to, but we love it. Old Vegas has a completely different feel. It's possible to cover a lot of ground in Old Vegas in a short amount of time, not true on the new strip.

And we made a little stop here :) I wanted to meet Chum Lee, but the line was around the corner and I will live on . . .

And my favorite night lights . . .

This photo is another dream . . . hint, hint . . . but I realize that this might be 'a few years off'

The best thing about Vegas are the shows. We were lucky enough to see two.

I loved this show. Would recommend it highly :)

I thought that was all we'd see, but we were invited to dinner and a show with (Chuck & Stacy, thank you!) . . .

Our life together started with The Beatles. We had a 60's theme wedding . . . daisy bouquets, girls with bouffant hairstyles, peace/love/happiness, Beatles grand march. Yes, we love The Beatles :)

It was great listening to all the songs. The show is much more chaotic and strange, but definitely entertaining :)

I had such a great time. Even when KC had to work at the bike trade show, I didn't stop exploring. Tried to make the most of every minute away.

But by the end of the week, I missed the kids so much. Love the time away, but there is no way to avoid missing their sweet little faces.

We returned after all the kids had been in bed, but bright and early the next morning, they all joined us in our bed, so excited to see us . . . and that feeling never gets old.

Castiel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:20:00 +0000

IMG_0599, a photo by passion vs. survival on Flickr.

testing "my favorite photos"

Blogging Troubles

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:15:00 +0000

So, I remember why my frustration with my blog began.

I have run out of photo space in Picasa, which is where all my photos are automatically uploaded to when I include them in a blog.

If I delete them from Picasa, they disappear from my blog . . . what to do? I don't want to delete to make room for new blogs, because I want my old blogs to stay whole.

Maybe I'm missing something, doing something wrong, but I keep getting error messages. I can't change my blog logo, I can't change my photo banner, I can't include video . . . frustrating!

I tried to make changes and updates for weeks . . . months ago, and threw in the towel. And then the thought of going on my blog became painful, because I couldn't do what I wanted.

And that's my story on why I took a break.

Nothing has changed, still the same frustrations. And that's kind of the story of my life right now. My blog, out of room. My computer, out of room. My phone, out of room. I'm just running out of space with everything!

I'm starting to play around with creating my own blog so that I have my control over design and space. It'll be a VERY long project, but that's one of my projects for 2013. I know I'll be able to figure it out. I just have to be patient and find the time.

So, for now, photos on my blog will be small and minimal because that's all I'm allowed. Unless someone has some advice, maybe I'm missing something.

So, I will continue to write :)

Today They are Three!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 03:12:00 +0000

It's amazing how fast time goes by.

I can remember nearly every minute of my pregnancy, birth and NICU with the twins. I remember instantly that I could tell them apart. I remember thinking how differently they were from the beginning.

I remember crying as we pulled up to our driveway, when they were finally allowed to come home with us.

I remember it all as if it were yesterday. But it wasn't yesterday, because today they are already little men :)

In a way it makes me sad, to not have a baby around. I think it makes me a little anxious, because I've never had a three year old and not been preparing for another baby or already had one in my arms.

But it's also comforting to know that this is my family. There are no surprises ahead, we are as we are. I would do nothing different, because I am right where I want to be. In the middle of a big family that I never thought I'd have, but someone else knew better and gave it to me :)

We had a great family day. Castiel awoke, climbed in bed next to me and fell back to sleep until Emmitt woke up a half hour later, running down the hall yelling "Mom, I'm fweeee!"

KC and I talked to them about their birthday as we were tucking them into bed the night before. They knew what was coming . . . the cake, the opening of presents and blowing out candles. They also understood that they shared their birthday, no questions about it, they knew that this was 'their' day.

They picked Mac & Cheese and hotdogs for dinner, luckily it's both of their favorite. They ripped through their presents at warp speed. They proudly smiled while we sang Happy Birthday to them (individually this year). And blew out their candles by themselves.

And they both said their thank yous, and really meant them this year :)

Happy Birthday my twin boys!

Love you more then you could imagine.

I can't believe you are already 3 . . .