Thankful...day 30

i am thankful i made it through this month without missing a day! YEAH!

Thankful...day 29

i am so thankful that my hubby & i get to spend the day together. just the two of us!

Thankful...day 28

i am thankful for a wonderful night with friends last night. bunko is a hoot to play! and i am thankful to my parents for watching our g's so we could go.

Thankful...day 27

i am thankful for college football! i love watching it!

Thankful...day 26

today i am thankful that even though i want to be black friday shopping, i am home with my girls instead.

Thankful...day 25

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today, I am thankful for everything. But instead of writing about it, I am going to let you think of what YOU are thankful for!

Thankful...day 24

today i am thankful that i get to spend the whole day home with my girls. we are going to be lazy bums and watch movies together all day long! lovin the staycation!

Thankful...day 23

i am thankful for the invention of the sewing machine! i have recently learned how to use my sewing maching and i am so enjoying making things with it!

Thankful...day 22

i am so so so thankful for a day to my self today....

Thankful...day 21

i am thankful for another set of family pictures that we are having taken today.

Thankful...day 20

i am thankful for Trav who worked his bum off making beautiful pieces of art to sell at 2 craft fairs.

Thankful...day 19

i am SO thankful that today is my last day at work before a week vacation!

Thankful...day 18

i am thankful for my in-laws. they too are willing to help when they can, and they too love the girls so much!

Thankful...day 17

i am thankful for my parents. they are always willing to help in any way they can. they love my girls deeply, and take them sometimes so we can have a night off!

Thankful...day 16

today i am thankful for something silly and frivolous. my iphone. i love being able to use it as my ipod, camera, phone, entertainment...

Thankful...day 15

i am thankful for my niece and my nephew. because they are cute and they make me smile!

Thankful...day 14

i am so thankful for this family photo too. it is beautiful and just plain perfect.

Thankful...day 13

today i am thankful for this picture. its thankgiving-y and just plain alex.

Thankful...day 12

i am thankful for a great friend who is an amazing photographer!

Thankful...day 11

i am thankful that the hub & i are gainfully employed. i suppose if we can't be independently wealthy, having secure jobs should count for a lot and it does.

Thankful...day 10

i am so thankful for my husband. my rock. my soul mate. my best friend. you could only wish you were married to a man like him. i don't have any pictures of him handy...but thats ok. i don't want to make the 3 ladies who read this blog jealous.

Thankful...day 9

i am thankful for a baby girl who obviously loves her momma! and i am thankful for this picture so that I can recognize that.

Thankful...day 8

i am thankful for God's promise...and his artistic ability.

Thankful...day 7

i am oh so thankful for this picture. because...who wouldn't be?

Thankful...day 6

i am so very thankful for this spunky miniature version of me. she is my middle, my heart. she might be one of the most difficult children to parent, but that doesn't matter. she is 100% awesomeness.

Thankful...day 5

i am thankful for my maddy girl. she is so helpful and kind. the kind of kid any parent dreams of having.

Thankful...day 4

i am so very thankful for this little one... she is such a joy.

Thankful...day 3

i am thankful for these 3 beauties...

Thankful...day 2

i am thankful for horseback riding lessons for my middle who needs that little something extra...

The November Thankful Diaries...

For the month of November I am going to try to post something I am thankful for every day. Maybe this will get me back into the blogging spirit!

November 1st,

I am thankful for a wonderful 30th birthday celebration that included my very 1st surprise birthday party, a dinner out with my family, and a shopping trip that was all about me!

See you on November 2nd! Maybe even with pictures. Ooh laa laa.

Lets get real for a sec...

Ok. Confession time. Maddy's soccer team this year has been very very hard to watch. The very first game of the season, they lost 4-0 to a team that hadn't practiced yet. Yes. Let me repeat that. To a team that HAD.NOT.EVEN.PRACTICED.YET. Sigh.

Fast forward. Through the past, oh, 5 games. Scores: 10-0, 8-0, 10-0, 7-0, and FINALLY last nights game was 10-1. Mmmmhmmm. 6 Games. Only one goal made. Are you kidding me.

The reason for this post is NOT to put down those wonderful little girls who are running their little hearts out out there. So don't even go there. It's about me as a mom. And the lessons I am getting to learn through my daughter and her teammates attitudes.

To be perfectly honest, I am being HUMBLED by the grace they are showing. I have yet to see any one of those girls CRY, or YELL, or STOMP OFF THE FIELD. They don't have FITS, or get MAD. What I HAVE seen them do is congratulate the other team when they scored their 10th goal on them. High five their friends who are on the other team when they made that goal. All with a smile on their faces. And they show Grace. Every time.

Yeah. They are that AWESOME.

In the past month, I have learned so much about my daughter and the person she truly is, and I am proud. Proud to be her momma. Proud to show her off. Proud to be on the sidelines of the "losing" team. Because you know what? In the long run, they are winning. They are developing winning attitudes. Something that will carry through with them for the rest of their lives. They are learning Grace. They are learning to have fun, while not "winning"at games. And they are learning Dignity. I don't know about you but I see alot of people in this world who could use a little more of that.

Now, don't get me wrong. I would love to see them "win" a game too. Maybe tomorrow... I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

Ahem. Testing...Testing.. Are you there?

Well hey. Its certainly been awhile. Sorry for the lack of blogging. Pesky LIFE just keeps happening all around me. Just kidding. About the pesky part. I love life. But mine is sure keeping me busy.

I'm not going to lie. I have thought long and hard (ok, not really) about deleting this blog, but then I thought, what hurt does it cause my family? None that I can think of, so I am going to give it another shot. Now, don't expect back dated blog posts because I am pretty sure that isn't going to happen. But I can go from here on out. I'd like to start by showing you a photo of my BIG girl Maddy. Yeah, she's totally 8 now. YES, EIGHT. She is half-way to legal driving age. I think I'm having heart palpitations.

Maddy is far and away the best oldest child one could ask for. She's smart, pretty, kind, compassionate, WONDERFUL, and best of all, mine. She can usually be found doing one of the following things: Reading, playing her DSi while listening to either Taylor Swift or Justin Beiber, (Yeah, my house has totally been Beiberized.), or begging her Dad or I to call her BFF Peyton on the phone. She recently finished Harry Potter at school and UNDERSTOOD what she was reading. This my friends, is my happy place. To have my girl love books and reading, well, lets just say it makes this Momma want to do a little jig. Books were my haven as a child and I am glad she has found that same passion. She can also be found terrorizing her sister Alex and cuddling on her baby sister Peyton. But lets just ignore the terrorizing part. OK?

That's all I have time for right now, but I promise to be back soon! I have to tell you about Alex and Peyton.

Crazy freak snow "storm" Dec 2009

We had this crazy little snow storm here the other day. In about 5 hours we got about 5 inches of snow. Here are just a few shots from the day.






Side note, I am still planning on making this blog private someday but seeing as only 6 or so people told me they would read it I am going to put that on hold for just a bit. :-)