Taking a Break

I am so sorry that I have not written in a while on here. I am so disorganized at home which causes me to have panic attacks and have a constant feeling of guilt. It has effected my marriage, my relationship with my children and my opinion of myself. So that is why I am taking a blogging break. I am planning on being back in full swing come February 1st and I will update you on all of the crazy and wonderful things that have been happening. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and I hope you have a rocking new year.

The Nutcracker

Since Emma is only two we didn't know if she would be ready for the ballet. We decided to chance it and try it. She loved it! She was very still until almost the end when she decided that she was a ballerina too! I could tell she was getting restless so I asked her if she wanted to go. No she said. But when I said do you want to go get ice cream she jumped up and yelled "Bye Daddy!" Apparently she thought Nick was going to stay for the ballet's finale while we wined and dined on icecream! All together it was a wonderful day and I could ourselves blessed that we can take her to things like this...I know this is just one thing that is lending itself towards cultivating our little girl into a cultured, polite little lady.

Here we are at the ballet

Here we are at the icecream shop...they have a playground!

My Hero!

This is the man who saved our lives...by our lives I mean all of the pictures of our lives up to this point. He was able to recover all of our pictures off of our old computer. And he offered to do it out of the kindness of his heart...for free. It brings tears to my heart to know how close we were to not having our baby's first pictures. Thanks again Dave, you'll never know how much this means to me.

Its Cold in here...

Please be praying...our furnace was not working when we woke up this morning...yikes. Fortunately we had our furnace serviced this Fall and the guy had showed Nick a part that was getting ready to go. We decided not to replace it at the time so the furnace man showed Nick how to replace it. Nick thinks that is the part not working so we are praying he can fix it and not have to call in for an emergency fix. I'll keep you updated.

Haven-making is a Serious Job

Here...read this, its wonderful! I can wait until you finish reading. I'll just sit quietly here....and hum to myself. are you done yet? Nope? okay. How about now? Nope? Still not done? How about....NOW? Well geesh silly, its about time! So do you agree that we should treat our jobs at home like actual jobs? I know I do. When I am at home I think it helps immensely to wake up early, get dressed and get things around that I need to have a productive day. For example I often times will get the kids breakfast made in advance as much as I can: oatmeal in the bowl ready for water, vitamins on the table, babyfood and spoon ready for the opening. Taking care of our homes really is the most important job. We need to take it seriously to make sure we are having serious fun. We need to make our home a haven for our loved ones. They should WANT to be at home. The other day Emma and I were away from home for a long time and by the time we were almost home she was saying that she wanted her bed and Calvin and Daddy. She was yearning for home and I loved that. Does your family yearn for your home? If not what can you do to make it more haven-ish?

Just so you know...

In our house this is where you end up if you decide to throw eggs on the floor. Just an FYI.

Farewell weekend

Photo by Amelia P S
















This weekend has been one of the most odd ones in my life. It was strangely chaotic and peaceful all at the same time. I felt and still feel like crap but am somehow rejuvenated. Let me explain. Friday Emma was sick and suddenly Friday evening I was hit like a ton of bricks and within half an hour was down for the count with whatever flu/cold is going around. I felt miserable. However Friday night was the first night I got a full night's sleep...Calvin slept in his bed! So that was heavenly to wake up to Saturday but still felt like crap. Saturday morning we braved the cold and snow as Nick went to get tires, I had to unexpectedly pick Nick up with the kids, take him home, go to a meeting, go to Toys R Us, then Walmart, then home, all the while still feeling like crap, but humming Christmas tunes. We deemed I was too sick to go to the family dinner at Nick's moms so he made the dish to take and I helped with the kids. We had a matress delivered which resulted in an hour long ordeal of doors being slammed, delivery men mad and my husband being more upset then I've ever seen. Matress in place, children's coats on my family sans mommy faced the cold winter to go to the family event. And suddenly I was alone...and free...albeit the running to the bathroom and the constant drip coming out of my nose. I got all of the Christmas decorating done, I got things organized, and vacuumed, and mopped! I got bathroom's cleaned and laundry done...and folded! I felt accomplished, I felt like myself again! Today Calvin was sick and so church was out as Emma is still sick too. A family of four sick behind one door. During naptime I took to the mall where although it was busy and my throat was killing me, I managed to enjoy myself. When I got home we went out to eat and had a wonderful family time. Now that the house is under control I think I can handle another week. Bring it on.

Turkey Day

Emma and I watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade

This is my youngest sis basting the bird


So Thanksgiving went really well, how was yours? My cousin Jaime and I were in charge of cooking the meal and I think we did a pretty darn good job of it. We went in thinking that we just didn't really care and did a nice job. I bought a plug in roaster and did the turkey in that and it turned out FABULOUS. We spent the night at our Gram's the night before with Emma and had a great time. My sister's joined us and had a great time too...they set up the table and did dishes afterwards which worked splendidly and they did a fab job! One of my favorite memories of the day was getting to watch the Macy's Day parade with Em (seen above). She was super excited and really seemed to enjoy it. I remember how much I loved it as a little girl too.

Jaime making a super cute face, right?

My captions are being stupid...above is my sister Lacey with Calvin and this last pic is us at the Thanksgiving table.

Welcome Back Snow!

"Welcome back snow!" is what Emma yelled as she stood outside and watched the first snow of the season fall. Of to be so childlike...she didn't even care if she had a coat, she simply HAD to go outside! I love how much she loves snow because I love snow too!

I'm Baaack...

And still sad. Still no pictures. We have one more IT guy to schmooze to hopefully try to get our pictures and then it looks like data recovery is our last hope...which the minimum that will cost is $500.00, I guess my question for you guys is, is there amount that is too much to get your pictures of your babies? Opinions please. Anyway, hopefully when the kiddos are napping tomorrow I will be able to get you caught up on Thanksgiving...of that I have pictures!

I can explain...

So our computer has died. Crashed and burned. I know this sounds silly but please be praying for it. All of our pictures are on that stupid computer and I just want them back. I think my little heart will be crushed forever if we can't retreive our pictures. Not to mention the financial strain this time of year with "SURPRISE!" you have to buy a new computer. Nick went to turn it on the night before Thanksgiving and it was just a blue screen...nothing else. So I will write as soon as I can more about Thanksgiving and everything but until then please just be praying that we can get our pictures...I know I should have been backing them up but I was always just too busy. Right now I would just give anything for my pictures.