Time for Bed

I look at 2010 as the year I am going to remember the most. I plan on making lots of changes but I have one resolution request that outstands the rest. Just one.
It has nothing to do with fitting into a smaller jean size or eating less carbs. It is a rather selfish resolution because it doesn’t involve working towards world peace or saving the environment. But at the same time, one of the reasons I am making it is that I am pretty sure that it will hugely benefit my family, my friends, and other people around me.
My resolution has to do with something we all do, every single day, so partly it feels silly to even be making it. But I’ve failed miserably at sticking to it for the past several years and I can think of nothing better than to write about it so it can stare me in the face and remind me that it’s something I need to do.
So here goes, my one and only resolution for 2010:
Get. More. Sleep.
That’s it. Specifically, I am aiming to get at least 7 hours of sleep on most nights. If you know me, you know that this is a major achievement for me. On an average night I sleep about 5 hours and while experts say that each of us has a different sleep requirement, let me tell you that I don’t sleep that little because that’s all I need. I need a lot more and I am going to need to re-prioritize to make sure that it happens. I am sure I will fail often but seeing how lack of sleep has affected me this year – I am so much more tired, cranky, anxious, exhausted, and short-fused than before, and I’m fairly certain that I am eating more crap and more in general to compensate for the lack of energy. I don’t need experts to tell me about health risks of not getting enough sleep, I am now well aware of them on my own.
So 2010, here I come, better slept, if nothing else!

s(NO)w fun

Today was the third time it snowed this month. The snow gives us good reason to bundle up as a family to watch a movie, turn on the fireplace, and have hot drinks. I love this time of year. Although the cold and snow is nice, personally, I miss living in Florida. I miss being able to wear flip flops all year, wearing only a light jacket over a t-shirt, and not having to warm the car in the morning. I tortured myself and looked up their weather today...high of 66, low of 55. I could really use some of that right now.
Don't get me wrong, I love having seasons but I don't like the cold! If the wind hits you just right, it stings. Not to mention the layers of clothes I have to put on and the pile of cold wet clothes that get piled by the door as the kids come in and out. I would much rather take a hot and humid summer day over this!
But my kids love it. The minute they see a fresh snowfall, they bundle up and head outside. I've appointed myself the official hot chocolate maker which is an indoor job.

Here are some photos of today.......

Merry Mommy

My kids have been home from school for a week now. I've personally loved the chance to sleep in and be lazy in the morning. It's nice not having to get up and get the kids ready for school. And the kids have been great so far. Almost every morning, they've left little surprises for me to find! Once they left a gallon of milk out on the table. Another day, they left all the couch cushions scattered throughout the house. They've left a roll of toilet paper unwound across the bathroom floor and a dozen plates with melted cheese on them sitting on the counter. They left me a snow boot sitting on the kitchen floor and every single toy they got for Christmas on the family room floor.
It's a toss-up as to which is worse - cleaning up the messes or getting up early.
But, today was different.
Today, when I got up, I stumbled into the kitchen to make some coffee and when I rubbed my eyes to focus, there I found it....NO mess. Just three little children palying video games and coloring with each other. For a minute, I thought I might be in the wrong house but instead I grabbed my cup of coffee, and counted blessings.
My kids are great!!!

Merry Christmas

Today could not have been any better.

We had our first white Christmas and it was wonderful.

We woke up this morning to the kids running down the stairs with excitement. Santa had come and they were ready to tear open the gifts that I so carefully wrapped.

We had a big family breakfast in our pajamas.

Then we went to my sisters house where the kids spent the day playing with all their new things and the adults tried to relax from all the pre-Christmas activities.

I talked to my parents and in-laws, it really made me miss Florida. I wish I could be with everyone back home this time of year.

Let it snow......

It's Christmas Eve and it's snowing outside!!!!
If you happen to live in a part of the country that isn’t blessed with this powdery, white miracle, (like us) you know why I am so excited. And of course, snow this time of year is always the best!

I have been anticipating its arrival since I first saw the forecast and there I sat, in the living room by the window just waiting, and waiting. By the time the first few flakes started floating down it was well past 11am and the kids had already accepted the fact that it may not snow.

Today would have been a perfect day for me to bake cookies and stay in my jammies, but I just couldn't, I had to enjoy this wonderfulness.
Me and Melissa had Carmel lattes at Starbucks while the snow fell. Coffee with a great friend is always a good thing. Thanks, Melissa.
The kids loved playing outside as the snow piled on their heads and kissed their noses, it was a lot of fun!
We had Christmas Eve dinner at my sisters house,made by the hubbies who did a really good job, we all left the table absolutely stuffed.
It was still snowing outside.....so we let the kids play in the snow again at night, since it could be gone by morning.

Brrr, it was sooo cold!!!! The kids little fingers and ears were rosy and chilly.
Coffee and dessert by the fireplace wrapped up a beautiful day!
I know I often complain that Texas is a never ending land of cornfields and cows, but it's changing seasons and my great friends are things that make it worth living here.
It's been snowing for more than 10 hours now and we have a couple inches of snow. No signs of it stopping anytime soon.
Today was a great day, I wouldnt change a thing!

Don't Open Until Christmas.................

I hunted everywhere to make sure that Ethan got what he asked for from Santa. He wanted an electric motorcycle or scooter. Ofcourse, everyone is running out of them. So I ordered his online and even paid the extra shipping to assure that it would get here in time for Christmas.
I tracked it three times a day to make sure it was in route. I even arranged a play date for him during the time it was supposed to arrive. I ran to the door everytime I thought I heard a delivery truck. When it finally arrived I thanked the FedEx driver over and over and asked if he could help me hide it in the garage, he did. When Mike came home, he made sure to hide it in our closet because the kids NEVER go in there.
Well today when I was getting my clothes put away in my closet, Ethan needed to ask me a question. So there we stood in my closet talking, I totally forgot it was in there. It hit me once Ethans little eyes wandered over to it and his face lit up, while he pointed and laughed. My heart melted, the look on his face was one that he should have on Christmas morning not tonight and not in my closet!!!!
I did all that hard work and now it was ruined!

Fa la la la la

Christmas is almost here, and like most people I have a lot off stuff to do and I'm not close to finishing it yet.

My kids are going to be shocked when they grow up and find that it's not a "thing" to wait until the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to wrap gifts. I may have grown a few extra white hairs over the past few days!!!!

I have a little bit less to do since my parents are not going to be able to make it this year, but Ethan's gift still hasn't arrived and I need to stock my pantry. The kids have been home, on winter break, eating all day.
So, I still have to go to the grocery and get a few odds and ends today. I found it hard to run my errands today when the weather is was so gorgeous! It was 70 degrees and I couldn't help but force the kids to play outside while I supervise with my large glass of tea. So that is what happened, no grocery, no errands, nothing just a lazy day. It was perfect, except tomorrow will be a crazy day ;(

Bah Hum Bug

I've been really busy the past couple weeks. Running around, trying to do Christmas shopping, baking cookies, making Christmas cards, printing pictures to put in the cards, mailing packages, decorating, and trying to keep up with all the usual stuff is wearing me out. Every year, it seems I get farther away from the true reason we celebrate Christmas and I get sucked in farther to the commercialism of the whole thing. I'm about ready to tell the kids all about Santa and start a new tradition of not decorating and not buying presents and not baking cookies and not sending out cards. It's all just so overwhelming.

I went to the mall today. Well, I went to the parking lot of the mall anyway. After driving around for 20 minutes in search of a parking space, any parking space, a parking space 4 1/2 miles away even, I gave up and tried to make my way out of the entire mall-parking-area. That took another 20 minutes. By the time I made my escape onto a main road, I was cursing all of humanity. I really try to stop and think "What would Jesus do?" before reacting. But, then again, Jesus never had to drive among idiots in the Woodfield parking lot on December 21st.

Anyway, I'm trying to reclaim my laid-back, happy, joyful self this week. I'm trying to put all the ridiculouse expectations I put on myslef, and instead prepare for Jesus's birth instead of Santa's arrival.

Another Sweater Party

Last night one of the doctors threw a Ugly sweater party so a bunch of the L&D staff went. This marks the third, Michael and I have attended this December. I actually really like them. There are so many UGLY/TACKY sweaters out there and I feel like it puts people in holiday mode.
Shopping for a tacky sweater, borrowing it from grandma, or making one yourself, is the best part. People can be so creative: Nikki took tinsel garland and sutured it to her neighbors sweater then she took window cling reindeer and stapled it to Wades sweater, Sam had to outbid people on eBay for hers and I found ours at the Gooodwill.
With every person that walked in the door, I think we all laughed harder and harder.
It was a GREAT night!

Happy 11

Today is my 11-year wedding anniversary!
In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was nervously glancing at my watch every few minutes while my mom and sister attempted to calm my nerves. I was admittedly nervous about the wedding ceremony itself, hoping all would go smoothly. I was not nervous about my choice in husband at all.
Mike and I were best friends for the two years we knew each other prior to engagement. We had many things in common, from similar family backgrounds (both sets of parents never divorced), to sharing a love of college football (how could I go wrong!).
Experts agree your choice of spouse has a lot to do with your ultimate success. In my case, that could not be more true. My husband supports me with everything I do, like my decision to stay home to raise our three children, then my decision to return to school to pursue my nursing degree, something I had given up on in order to make a home. He understands the need for a girls night out every now and then and doesn't even raise a brow when he has to watch the kids, he ENJOYS it.
This year, instead of getting all dressed up, hiring a sitter, and spending $$$$ on dinner....we celebrate with take out, a bottle of wine, and our children all cuddled up on the couch. I couldn't be any happier =)
Here's to another 11 years, honey. I wouldn't change a thing!

Just For You

Call me crazy but, even when the year has me flying by the seat of my pants, I find it hard not to take the time to make my traditional Christmas cards. You knowthe ones I am talking about.... the handmade ones that I start making in October, that take forever to make, need extra postage because of all the embellishments, and look just as nice as bought ones.....yeah, those!

Well with the help of my good friend Nikki, I've been working on them little by little everyday and I can gladly say that they will be mailed on Monday. What a relief!

Enjoy, my friends...these cards were made just for you!

Christmas Sweater Party

It's become a bit of a tradition to go to invite a group of our friends to our house for a dinner party in December to celebrate the holidays together...this year did not disappoint. Mike and I are hosted our first official UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER PARTY last night. We decided to go with a theme of Festive/Cheesy Christmas Sweater Party to make it a little funny and it was great! It ended up being really really fun. We definately are going to have to carry on this tradition! Here are some pics of the tackiness......

I even got to wear my sweater to another party!!!!

Happy Birthday, Little Man

Today is Ethan's birthday!

He is 6 years old and feels like such a big boy.

Ethan has played t-ball, soccer, and football in all his six years and has done great in all of it. I don't push him by any means, I would NEVER be one of those parents but, I am glad to see that he is quite the athlete.
Truly life is flying by at such a fast rate the past few years I feel like I can't keep up. I just ordered our Christmas photos yesterday and I still haven't put last years photos in our Christmas album yet and I didn't put those in the album yet because the year before's aren't completely done yet! (Insert scream here.)
I just put away the Halloween stuff and now I am digging through the attic getting all my Christmas decorations out.

I still have shopping to do and even though Christmas is weeks away, I am way behind.

I am looking down at my calendar as I type and there is not ONE day for the rest of December that we don't have something scheduled. Then I flip to January and it isn't much better!
I am overwhelmed! I am behind the game and the game hasn't even started yet.
So, I just wanted to sneak on the computer and acknowledge my little man's birthday!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

It's Snowing in Texas

Yes! It snowed in Texas today. It was a beautiful day for it, the kids almost convinced me to let them stay home to play in it but, instead I dropped them off at school then rushed home to open all the blinds and watch while I sipped my morning coffee.

It was great........for the hour and a half that it lasted =(