Boys Will Be Boys

Drew loves to make a mess! Any day, all day, everyday. Some days I don't mind a HUGE mess but other days I just don't have the energy. Here is Drew playing with shaving cream.....dinosaurs are playing in the snow!

My Favorite Christmas Gift

Andy and I don't exchange gifts. He says....if I don't have it, I can't afford it! I guess that is kind of a true statement but this year I got the best gift I could have ever asked for. My Aunt Stacey is so good to my family. She is my aunt from my dad's family and doesn't seem to ever forget us for holidays/birthdays. It really does mean a lot to me since I don't have a lot of contact with my dad's family. This year she sent us a package. When we opened it I found a Longaberger basket that was my Grandmas! I have it sitting on a side table in my family room where I can see it all day long and every time I do, I think of my sweet Grandma that did so much for me when I was growing up! Then Drew opened up his gift and in the box was a jacket. It looked like one I had seen before but I wasn't sure. It was too big for him when he tried it on and then I read the card. It was a jacket of my dads! Oh how I will treasure this jacket. Drew loves it but I quickly took it from him so it doesn't get ruined. Aunt Stacey said it was special to her because of how much he loved my dad and loved it on him! When my dad passed away I didn't get much to remember him by so I will treasure it hanging in my closet! This is a gift that has no value to many others but to me is priceless!

Happy Anniversary

Dec 24th is our wedding anniversary. A word to anyone thinking of getting married.....don't get married on a holiday because you will NEVER leave your kids. Really??? Christmas Eve...... We will NEVER EVER not be with our kids in some way around Christmas. Looking back on our marriage we have accomplished a lot with YEARS more to finish up our list.

- Baby #1 (March 1994)
- Baby #2 (Oct 1997)
- Moved 1700 miles from our friends & family
- Started our life in Arizona in (Feb 1998)
- Bought our 1st house (Nov 1999)
- Baby #3 (Sept 2003)
- Bought our 2nd house (Dec 2004)

I am grateful for my husband even though some days I wonder if he is my 4th kid! He provides for our family, loves me when I am unlovable. Andy isn't home a lot during the week but he doesn't miss anything with our kids on the weekends, even if it is driving and hour to a soccer game, driving an hour home to see another one play, straight to Drew's t-ball and then drive another hour to watch another soccer game. I just wish our kids knew how lucky they were.

Happy Anniversary Andy - hope there is many more to come! We only get better with age!

Where did the holidays go?

WOW! This year has flown by especially these last few months.

Thanksgiving was so nice and quiet for us. It is nice to be able to relax and not have to go here, be there, stop by here. I really enjoy being simple at the holidays. When we were in Illinois with our families it was always so stressful because everyone demanded our time and just didn't get it....we are our own family. WE need to make our own traditions. It seems that every year my mom has to work so we are so glad to have JD over for dinner. The kids love having Grandpa eat with us. Andy cooks the traditional Thanksgiving food. It is so YUMMY! I am so glad he enjoys cooking.....way more then I do! That night Andy I went out shopping at midnight! YES...we got up at 11:30 (well he got up because I never made it to bed) and left for our annual black friday shopping. Oh what deals we got. I LOVE shopping on this day for some reason. We try to get all of our shopping done in 1 day! This year was no exception and we got everything we wanted! I love this tradition for us. There is definite strategy when we go in some stores. We came home around 11:00, picked up the kids and went out for lunch as a family then quickly came home for a much needed nap!

Where did Christmas go? It came and went so fast this year. Unfortunately Andy had to work this year so we had to get up at 6:00 so the kids could open their presents. This is the only downfall to him working for the airlines but you can't have it all good. There is sacrifice with everything in life and this is no exception. We had a good Christmas. It feels so good to be able to say after the holidays are over that I am not in debt to pay for it. Something we have tried really hard to do the past 4-5 years, pay with debt or cash....NO EXCEPTION!

While I enjoyed having my kids home for 2 1/2 weeks for Christmas, it was so nice to have them back in school. I may be one of the ONLY moms to admit it but I know many feel it!