#11 Our Christmas tree

Okay, as silly as it sounds, I love my Christmas tree. I mean...I LOVE IT. I always want to set it up a couple weeks before Thanksgiving arrives and not take it down until mid-January. Chad frowns on the thought of putting up the Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. He thinks it's sacriligous to celebrate a holiday before another one is over. I agree...I guess...but I love Christmas so much I can't wait to decorate the house and I want nothing more than to feel that Christmas spirit and the way the house looks and feels during the holidays.

There's also a bit of sentimental value that goes along with our tree.

When Chad and I were first married, he was working as the general manager of a Goodwill store in Indianapolis. It wasn't a glamorous job, by any means, but we were thankful for his employment there.

Goodwill at the time had a contract with Target stores. They got all of their unsold, returned, and broken merchandise. Chad called me one afternoon and said they had gotten a shipment in and he wanted me to come and look at it. I made the trek to the store one Saturday and was pleasantly pleased to find several Christmas tree boxes in their back storeroom.

Chad said they had taken them out and put them together and they were all complete and in good shape. He had picked one out for us and we brought it home.

That was 18 years ago. Our first Christmas tree. It's still as beautiful as it was when we first bought it. Every year, we talk about getting a new one but we never do.

I am thankful for our Christmas tree and the memories and feelings we have associate with it. Merry Christmas to all of you.

#12 - Laundry

Okay so the task of laundry is not my favorite and I'm not thankful (persay) for dirty laundry. The sorting, the folding, the putting away....not exactly my cup of tea.

When you have children, laundry becomes a way of life. In fact, I do laundry (at least a load) nearly every day. It's the only way I can keep up. When I was sick with the flu recently, I didn't do laundry for four days. You might chuckle and think, "4 days? Please! Like that will make a difference!"

Let me tell you... In four days, I had so much laundry it was stacked up as high as my washer and dryer in TWO clothesbaskets. That, my friend is about 10 loads of clothes!

When you're a mom, you become a sort of master launderer of sorts. You become efficient at sorting clothes, knowing exactly how much detergent, fabric softner, how many pairs of jeans can fit in a super sized load, time it will take to dry the favorite pair of jeans before the bus pulls up in front of the house...etc and you would think this would bring pride to the children of the family to know that their mother knows how to remove dried on ketchup from the favorite shirt.

Ummmm NO! At this point in their life, it has no bearing whatsoever.

What I am thankful for is CLEAN laundry. I am so eternally thankful for a working washer and dryer so I don't have to lug 15 loads to the laundromat and spend my life savings on getting my clothes clean.

I am thankful for a detergent and a clean place to wash my clothes without leaving the comfort of my home.

So, today as I look for the matching pairs of socks and fold that unbearably difficut fitted sheet today, I will not get frustrated. Because I AM THANKFUL FOR CLEAN LAUNDRY!

# 13 - Silly, sweet Sydney

I have a wondeful daughter. She is fun and silly and ditzy and kind and loving. She has a great sense of humor that many people don't get to see because Sydney is incredibly shy. At home she is loud, and crazy, and talks NON-STOP, and sings and is crazy about her brothers and can take a joke better than most. She giggles all the time and usually has something pretty funny to say. Around those she doesn't know well, she is quiet and aloof and shy and timid. Even around family, she is content to stay back and listen and absorb without getting involved and being noticed. She hates to be the center of attention. She hates to be involved in an embarassing situation.

She is starting to break out of her shell a bit which is so fun to watch.

We had our Austin Kids Christmas gathering at my parent's house on Saturday. It was a good time. We always do a White Elephant gift which is guarranteed to bring lots of laughter. Sydney's gift was hysterical. She got a Christmas Disguise complete with platinum wig, reindeer headband, and glasses with the giant nose attached. The family called to her to try it on. Inside I was thinking, "She will NEVER put that on in front of everyone!"

BUT she did! And she giggled the entire time.


It was great!

Needless to say, the Christmas Disguise was a hot item and Sydney wasn't able to hold onto it for long. She was even sad about it because she actually loves playing dress-up with her friends. My brother snapped this picture to capture the event. GO SYDNEY!!!

#14 - Health

Okay...so I'm realllllly behind on my thankful posts. But I have been sick, sick, sick. The flu has rocked our household and I was the first lucky duck to get it. I'm feeling so much better (day 5 here!) but still have quite a tender stomach and tiny meals is about all I can muster without feeling ill.

With that being said, I am thankful for health.

We have battled illness in our house since Fall Break. Elijah and I were very sick with bronchitis and sinuitis and then Noah and Chad got it after we started to get over it. We were healthy over Thanksgiving weekend and then it started up again! It's so frustrating!

Many of you know and realize that when one person in your house gets sicks, usually the rest will follow and it can take weeks to get through it. The more kids you have, the longer it takes to run its course.

The bottom line is, I am thankful for health. Yes, we might have had the flu and bronchitis and sinus infections and colds but on the whole we have health. We don't have an illness that can't be cured with medication, we don't have a debilitating disease, we don't have a mental illness that prevents us from taking care of ourselves and making decisions.

We have health!

I am holding on to that this holiday season as I dish out the Advil and vitamins and take temperatures and soothe aches and fevers. I am thankful for the health my family has.

With that being said...

As I travel to family gatherings, as I sit with my own husband and children around our Christmas tree and open gifts, as I enjoy family meals and play games together over the holiday, I don't want to lose sight of those that aren't able to enjoy the Season because of their lack of health for whatever reason. I want to God prick my heart over these next days of rejoicing to continue to remind me to lift up the sick and suffering.

Today....be thankful for health.

#15 - Thankful for my BFF

I love my best friend. She has been my best friend since I was around 12 or 13. We spent nearly every weekend together when we were in high school and we endured broken hearts, car accidents, idiot boyfriends, pregnancy, break ups, you name it, we've been through it. We have laughed so hard we've cried. We don't have to talk every day or week to know how important we are to each other. I love her more than anything and I'm thankful our friendship has survived all these years. She is silly and goofy and wonderful and kind and sincere...all rolled up into one person. I couldn't be happier to call her my best friend.

I love you, Holly!
By the way...if I come up missing, have Holly questioned first. She is going to KILL me for posting some of these pics!!!

Noah's Snow Art

Noah has a wonderful sense of humor. He really is a funny kid and this, I think, proves it.

This is what greeted us when we looked out our front door after Noah had supposedly gone out to "shovel snow."

Wow! You gotta love this kid!!!

#16 - Moscato Wine

Okay, I am not a big wine drinker. I find it a little bitter and I'm definitely a sweet wine kind of girl. When I drink wine, it must be a white wine and it usually is Pinot Grigio.

Last night, Chad had to work the late shift so I decided to take Sydney and Noah out to dinner and then grocery shop. They begged to go to Olive Garden. We rarely, and I mean next to never, go there. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it is so expensive that we don't indulge ourselves very much.

We went and they were giving out samples of their Moscato wine. This is the description of it, if you've never had any:

Castello del Poggio Moscato

Castello del Poggio Moscato is made from the muscat grape and originates from the Piedmont region of Italy. This wine, which means “Castle on a Hill,” is lightly sparkling, with lush notes of apricot and honey. On its own or paired with a dessert, the wine offers a sweet finish to any meal.

Oh My Goodnes...it is delicious! I think it could quickly rise to the top of my favorites list! While I'm not normally thankful for alcohol, I am thankful for new and fun discoveries that give that giddy feeling like I've discovered something absolutely amazing! I bought a bottle for Chad and I and he liked it alot too!

If you get a chance, and you like sweet wine, give it a try. YUMMMMM!

Some snow pics

Wanted to include these in the below blog but forgot! I decided to make them into a separate blog.

#17 - Thankful for SNOW!

I may have some haters with this blog but you're just gonna have to suffer through it.

I love SNOW! Now I'm not talking late February or March snow... I'm talking about Christmas, Tis the Season to be Jolly, wonderfully, white, sparkly stuff that "makes the season bright Snow.

We are supposed to have some sort of storm this weekend. It's supposed to start of with rain and then snow all day Sunday which might make for a nice 2-hour delay for Monday or even a closing :) but there are so many conflicting reports that no one is really sure what is going to happen, how much we're going to get, or how long it will last. I guess we'll see! But I'm excited! I love the way snow can fall in these big, huge, dense flakes but hit the ground in near silence. It coats everything like it's washing it clean. Everything seems purer when it snows. There's something romantic about a snowy day, whether it's morning or evening. I love it.

Now...on the opposite side of this, no. I do not like the slick roads, the icy conditions, the greasy slush... but that's not what I'm talking about.

My kids love playing in the snow. It is one of their favorite things. Elijah has grown out of the desire to bundle up and throw snowballs and make snow angels, but he still loves snow. Noah could play outside for hours! He loves to shovel snow, which is nice because he always wants to clean off our sidewalks and deck and I never have to beg him. What a good boy! Sydney loves to eat snow. She was just talking last night bout all the sweet treats she would try to like make with snow (to be honest, not really sure about that girl but she sure is cute!)

Snow! Beautiful, season changing, throw your scarf and mittens on, and enjoy the SNOW!

#18 - My Noah

I am very thankful for my kids. Each one of them is so different from the other which is the biggest reason why each of them are so precious to us.

Now it's time for me to dote on Noah.

My wonderful, spirited, energetic Noah. Funny. Silly. Genuine. Tender-hearted.

Noah's toddler years were a non-stop barrage of chasing after him, cleaning up his messes, pinning him down, treating his bumps and bruises. In fact, to the innocent bystander, I'm sure it probably seemed like a circus at times. When he wasn't eating the dirt, the trash, and the dog food he was playing in the dirt, the trash, and the dog food. He was our ER baby as he always had accidents like falling through ceilings (yes, it's true!) He could sit in wet or poopy diapers for hours and when I'd go to change his diaper it always ended being some sort of endurathon of running, chasing, wrestling, and practically sitting on him just to get clean pants on him. I was constantly putting band-aids on him, treating bumps with ice, and we had a constant tube of Neosporin in various places in the house intended for use on Noah.

Not long ago, we were watching some home movies of the kids when they were little. Elijah began to chuckle. I asked him what was so funny. He said, "Noah." I looked at him with a look of question and he explained. "Mom, you always talk about how busy and active Noah was and I never really understood what you meant until we sat down today and watched us in action. One minute he's under the table, the next minute he's being chased down because he has something he shouldn't, the next minute he's sticking cheese puffs into the waistband of his diaper to save for a later treat." Elijah, by this time is cracking up. And he finishes it by saying, "You're right, Mom. He never stopped. Not once." And I agreed. The only break we had was when he slept.

Meanwhile, Chad and I have to just look at each other and smile because we know the heart that beats inside this lanky and long-legged boy of ours is that of a loving and sweet boy who adores his family, takes pride in his schoolwork, and would do anything to make someone else feel better about themselves.

I am including a short video of what we lovingly call "the lipstick incident." This is Noah at his best. He is two in this video. I had left the living room to answer the phone. When I hung up, THIS was what I found. While it was frustrating, I also found it very funny and I tried very hard to seem angry but ended up having to leave the room because I was just about to crack up! If you will notice, Noah is trying his best to "seem" upset and remorseful for what he has done but really can't muster the proper tears or reaction.

In the end... I'm thankful for Noah. Very.

#19 - My favorite cookbook

This is my favorite cookbook. This is the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, copyright 1953. From the time I was a little girl, this is the cookbook I remember my mom using to make many of our family favorite recipes. From cream puffs to snickerdoodles, this became a fixture in our kitchen growing up. My very favorite recipe is the amazing apple dumpling concoction she would make. It would come out hot from the oven and we would pour milk over the top to cool it down just enough to eat.

I am thankful for my mom and how she would spend time with me while I was growing up to teach me how to cook and how to follow recipes. I love that many of her well-loved recipes have worked their way into our home to become dishes my husband and children love and request just like we did when we were young.

I asked if one day, mom would pass her beloved cookbook onto me and she gave it to me a few years ago. I use it all the time. Everytime I pull it from the shelf and flip through it, I can feel flour granules on the cover, see the stains of vanilla on the recipes of well-loved desserts, and the memories of my childhood with each turn of the page.

Thank you, Mom for teaching me how to cook.
Thank you for passing on a great heirloom and a wonderful memory from my childhood.

#20 - Baking Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite traditions that we do with our kids is baking Christmas cookies and decorate them. We give them to our neighbors and we have a blast doing it. It is a tradition I'm very thankful we started and our kids look forward to it every year. We use a recipe out of my favorite cookbook and we have tons of cookie cutters that we have collected over the years. I think when we started out, we had a star, a bell, a candy cane, and a Christmas tree. Now we have about 20 different shapes and each one has their favorite.

We spend the evening baking, icing, eating, and laughing....A LOT!

This year was no different. Sydney has become quite an artist and she iced an amazing Santa on her ornament cookie HOWEVER.... she tried to make him holding a present but she messed up and it looks like Santa is holding a gun!!! Nothing says Merry Christmas like Santa holding a handgun... SHEESH! We laughed and laughed even though she was disappointed with the outcome of something she worked so hard on. Chad always has good intentions when he ices cookies however all his snowmen have red, robot eyes and look a little on the evil side. It's pretty funny!

We love this tradition and look forward to it every year. Being a mom is the biggest blessing and I'm so very honored to get to watch these kids of ours grow up and take some of the traditions we have always done when they were young and apply them to their lives when they have families.

So much fun!

20 favorite things

So...there are 20 days until Christmas Day. 20 days! I can't believe it. I have a had a pretty frustrating year at work so far but even though, there is still so much to be thankful for. I want to spend the rest of December counting my blessings, as I believe all of us should. There is so much to be thankful for. I have these three beautiful and amazing children that I love more than anything and I'm so proud of. I have a wonderful husband who is fun to hang out with and is an absolutely fantastic dad. We have a wonderful home, we're both employed, food to eat, cars to drive, good health....the list goes on and on. But there are some things that might seem silly or ridiculous that I'm still very thankful for. I thought I'd post some of those things here during December. I hope you enjoy!!!

Merry Christmas, all!

Summertime Sydney

Our kids love our pool. It is the one thing that has saved us this summer with the blazing hot temps and the humidity that saturates your skin as soon as you step outside. It has been the best investment and the biggest blessing.

My children have had the good fortune to inherit Chad's skin tone. They bronze up in the sun easily. I'm so jealous but I'm so glad they don't have my fair skin especially since they spend hours and hours in our pool.

Sydney is a regular fish. She would spend nearly every moment in the pool. Sometimes she just puts on her bathing suit after lunch just in case the mood strikes her at some point to jump in.

Sydney is a lovely girl. Many people say she resembles me quite a bit and while she has certain attributes of mine, she is far prettier at twelve than I ever was at any age. She has long, tan legs, beatifully thick hair with curls and wave she's inherited from her daddy. She is sweet and loving and always kind. She is funny but usually doesn't try to be. She's gullible and ditzy but it makes her all that more endearing. She is adored by her brothers and her parents are wild about her. While we never intended to have three children, we sure are thrilled that God saw fit to give us our darling girl.

A few months ago, I blogged about the cat we inherited through my friend, Kurt. Sydney is in love with this feline and Tippy follows her everywhere. Wherever Sydney is, that's where Tippy wants to be. For example.... Sydney can't even be on the computer without Tippy being nearly on top of her.

We sure do love our girl. What a blessing!

Gorgeous, Hilarious, Silly Noah

NOAH

N - Noisy
O - Out-Spoken
A - Astounding
H - Hilarious

I love this blue-eyed, beautiful boy, who resembles his father in his looks but has my free-spiritness.

Ohhh Noah! I hope you know how much you are adored. I'm so crazy about you.

Elijah's Year of Dance

Elijah had a great year in dance. His tap number was such fun to watch and the chemistry he has with the other members of his group is so tangible you could reach out your hand and touch it. His hip hop number was full of energy and so fast paced that those that watched it got winded. Elijah's talent has come full circle. He has always been an incredible dancer but this year he owned the skills he has learned over the years. He's comfortable with his body and has finally grown into his height and his build. His muscles have become more defined and he's able to hone his moves and his body keeps up. He has immense talent and is so much fun to watch.

His production number this year was to the music of 42nd Street. The costumes were beautiful and flashy and it's always so intoxicating to see all the kids up on stage. Once again, Elijah wow'ed us with his brillance up on stage. Something about him lights up when he dances. He is so fun to watch.


Great job, this year Elijah! We can't wait to see what this next year holds for you!

My Summer Book Swap

I wrote about this briefly on Facebook but thought I would share more detail here.

This summer Elijah and I decided to trade books. He has been asking me for months to read his favorite book The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins. I had been putting him off making the excuse that I was reading other books at the time and couldn't but this summer, I couldn't put it off anymore. The reason I put off the reading of this book was because it didn't seem like the kind of books I usually read. I like books that are funny and light with a little comical romance to them. If a book can make me laugh out loud, chances are it will become a quick favorite of mine.

Elijah will read just about anything but seems to like more serious books that have a lot of meat to the storyline and twists and turns to the plot. He likes intricate stories that weave spells to keep his mind wondering and working on how the end will turn out. Me, well... books are my escape. I like to be entertained, I want to laugh, and I want a happy ending.

So, with a bit of reluctance, I accept the challenge to read The Hunger Games. From the first chapter I am amazed and transfixed as I read the story of Katniss who comes from the less than poor District 12 and illegally hunts and gathers food for her family who is on the brink of starvation. Each year, every child ages 12 to 18 must put their name in to be chosen for the annual Hunger Games. This is a government "game" where two children are chosen from each of the twelve districts and put into an arena of sorts and are forced to kill each other until only one victor remains. The Victor is awarded with money, a house, and food for their lifetime. When her sister's name is drawn for the games, Katniss volunteers instead and is in the fight of her life to just stay alive.

The book is one I couldn't put down. It met every expectation and everything Elijah said about it was absolutely true. I finished the book in four days. Elijah also had the sequel called Catching Fire. It was amazing too.

The third book in the series is due out the end of August. It is called The Mockingjay.

I definitely would say that if you're looking for a great book to read that will transport you from your everyday life for a few moments, this is one you should look into. It is wonderful!

For those of you that are avid readers, who can't pass up a good book, who spend their only free moments with noses buried in books, who would rather curl up on the couch with mug of tea and a great read.... well... this is it.

Thank you, Elijah. Once again, you have proved to give me insight and it has been a blast to share something like this with you.

Happy Reading!!!

Me and my 'Lij

I love my kids. They are completely amazing and wonderful and cool! I'm completely blessed to have them in my life and they make my life worth living. I miss them when they are gone, I hate when they leave, I love spending time with them.... it borders on obsessive! They are incredible!

Now it's time for me to gloat and brag about Elijah. He's the best! I have been working non-stop at the school without a break and I'm exhausted. I would come home every night and have to deal with dinner and running Elijah to dance and cleaning the house and doing the laundry and just the thought of it exhausted me. I felt like I couldn't get enough sleep!

But then Elijah (without being asked, or told, or prompted) took it on. He swears it's because he was bored but I think he knew that I was being stretched too thin. He cleaned the house, did the laundry and dishes. I would come home and the house would be swept and dusted, the laundry completely washed, dried, and folded. He cleaned my kitchen, took down wreaths from the walls and washed them and set them out on the deck to dry. He washed baskets and decorative jars. No one asked him to do this. No one said, "You know, Elijah. Your mom is really tired and could use some help." NOPE! He did this on his own because he's wonderful and knew that I needed help and just did it.

He even came to work on my last day and spent six hours on my computer entering books, deleting and adding titles. It's long, tedious work. It takes so much time that even the fastest typer can only enter about 18 book titles an hour. Elijah worked tirelessly that day. On top of that, he worked all day and then had to dance in his recital that evening. I love him and I'm so thankful for the son that he is.

He babysat his little cousins this weekend. I watched him play with Lily in the pool. I watched him gently tickle and kiss Natalie. I watched him patiently make blueberry muffins with Lily. I watched him lovingly feed Natalie. I got a glimpse of the kind of daddy Elijah will be one day. It was a wonderful thing to see. I'm completely entralled with the young man Elijah is growing up to be.

Thank you, Elijah for being such an incredible person. For seeing other's needs above your own. For loving your parents and your family so much. I sure do love you!

Summer!

I've tried to get back in the swing of things by beginning to blog. Things JUST slowed down for me as I have ONE ENTIRE MONTH OFF before I start back into school. Our kids have been out of school nearly a month now but I have continued to work in our library since it is becoming automated. It is a HUGE job and tedious work as well. Since an elementary school in our corporation has been closed, their automated system is coming to Albany, which means trying to get that system integrated with our books before school starts back up. It is a veryyyyy long process and one that will take months and months and months before it is completely finished. I hope our staff is patient (and flexible, for that matter.) This will be a race of endurance...definitely not a sprint!!!

It took me three weeks to purge Albany's library of old books. By old books, I mean books that hadn't been checked out in over ten years. I had books in my library that hadn't been checked out since 1974!!! I purged around 5000 books! These books will be donated to community libraries in Delaware County. NOW...the books from DeSoto's library will go onto Albany's shelves and then as time allows, Albany's books will be entered into the automated system and integrated into the new library. WOW! Makes me tire just to think about it. I've included some pictures. The boxes you see are just a fraction of DeSoto's books that need to be put on the shelves The books with the brightly colored labels on them is our new labeling system for AR. We have over 10,000 books to label!!!




We've got a long way to go but once it's finished it will be amazing! So excited for our kids! They have no idea all the cool things in store for them!

OHHHH NOOOO!!!

One of my favorite drinks EVER and look at what I just learned????

I'm going to have to curb my enthusiasm!!! This is just SO sad!!!


Worst Frozen Coffee Drink
Dairy Queen Caramel MooLatte (24 fl oz)

870 calories
24 g fat (19 g saturated, 1 g trans)
112 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 12 Dunkin’ Donuts Bavarian Kreme Doughnuts

Coffee-dessert hybrids are among the worst breed of beverages. This one delivers 1 gram of fat and 4.6 grams of sugar in every ounce, making even Starbucks’ over-the-top line of Frappuccinos look like decent options. Maybe that’s why DQ decided to give it a name that alludes to the animal it promises to turn you into. If you can bring yourself to skip DQ and head to a coffee shop instead, order a large iced latte with a couple shots of flavored syrup and save some 600 calories. But if you’re stuck where you are, you’re better off pairing a small treat with a regular cup of joe.