Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Since I didn’t get any Christmas cards mailed out this year I thought I’d go ahead and post the pictures that I would’ve used had we actually mailed them. Christmas kind of snuck up on me, and I didn’t really get a chance to get much of anything done. I didn’t put up my tree until the week before, and it probably won’t come down for a while. I just don’t have the time! :( Anywho, on with the pictures!

Here are the kids with their Teachers. The AWESOME ladies who take care of them during the day. I couldn’t ask for better teachers. Dahrran had MacKenzie’s teacher in Kindergarten, and so we were overjoyed when we found out M was getting her! Kaitlynn’s teacher is new this year, but it such a sweet lady. Dahrran’s current teacher is super nice as well!



And then there is this one….This is MacKenzie’s “boyfriend” L. She talked him into wearing his suit, (even after his mom couldn’t!!) so they could dance and look cute together! She’s quite the charmer that’s for sure!! On another note, L’s mom made the girls dresses!

 

Oh, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled with M’s hair either!!! But that was before I found this website! Check it out if you have a little girl!

Aww shoot….

Might as well call me Betty Crocker. 
Guess what we made today?

Sugar cookies! :) Just in time for Christmas.

 

And just to prove I’m no Martha Stewart……I give you the “mess”



And that my friends is CLEAN!

*If you look hard enough in the first picture you’ll see the sinks of dishes as well as the stove that is fully full of crap!! Not to mention the other crap that is all over my counters! :) *

Have a Merry Christmas!

What I’m working on

So the last few posts have been quite the downers. Sadly that’s just who I am this Christmas. It’s not for lack of wanting to be in a better mood, it’s just not who I am right now. All I want for Christmas is someone to come clean and decorate my home, and THEN for it to stay that way over break so I can enjoy the time with my kids. Sadly I don’t think I’ll be getting my Christmas wish.

In other news, I decided to make crayon rolls for the girls’ stockings. I’ve had a few people ask what they were. Needless to say I’ve educated some of them. But at the same time, I realized I LOVED making them, and so I took a few (16) orders….might be in over my head, but I LOVE IT! :)

There they are. I love making them. So I picked up some more fabric today. Let me know if you need one. (Oh, and these two need new homes…they were just my prototypes, and the ones I’m making now are bigger and more what I was going for!)

Big Ole Pitty Party

I’m having a hard time getting in the Christmas spirit this year. Not sure what it is. Joel is gone tonight, and it’s hitting me really hard that we don’t even have our tree up and it’s the 11th of December. I don’t have shopping done. And after looking over our accounts, it’s going to be hard to finish up this week like I’d hoped.

I keep thinking about our miscarriage. Why I’m not sure. Probably because we’d talked of looking into adoption or foster care around Thanksgiving, and haven’t done more since.

I miss my mom. I hate this time of year because she’s not here. The last time she was here for Christmas was 6 years ago. We have plenty of family that loves us, and we get to see around Christmas time, but there is something about having your mommy home for Christmas.

Joel isn’t home tonight. I’m not missing him because I know he’s having a good time. And the kids are actually being angels so what the hell my deal is, is beyond me. Just a a big ole pitty party I guess. I have so much on my to-do list, and nothing is getting done.

Seriously, anyone who knows me IRL can come over tomorrow and help get me in gear to get my tree put up, and cookies made. And maybe help time slow down for just a little bit! I’m overwhelmed!

….testing….

Hello everyone. Seems I always end up writing these types of posts when I’ve been gone for a while. I know, a while is a bit much this time. I don’t think I’ve gone this long without blogging before.

I’m in a funk. You see I’m not sure what happened. Okay so I am, Life Happened.

We’ve been busy. But there are TONS of moms who are just as busy, if not busier than I, and find time to blog. I guess part of my problem is I feel like I’m ignoring my family if I sit in my office and blog all night. Because let’s be honest here. I’m not a morning person.

I haven’t forgotten about my blog, I’ve tried to write this post many of times:

Oh how I miss you. I miss my friends that blogging has made, I miss that I don’t get to share my family with the world. I miss how easy it was to just tell you all the little things. There are a lot of things going on in my life right now. And crazy enough, it’s simpler now than it was when things were really rough. But I still have neglected to come here. I’m not sure why. For fear that you’ll all look at me in a different way, or that I won’t get it into the words that I actually want to say. I feel lost. Lost at blogging, lost as a parent, lost as a wife, lost in life. I’m so tired of people thinking that I should be someone I’m not. I’m not perfect. I never have been. But the part that’s the hardest is, I think I should be perfect.

That was just one of the many blog posts, during my darker days. Now that Christmas is right around the corner I’m glad to report that I’m trying to be more positive. I’m trying to be a better mommy, wife, blogger, friend. But not all days are sunny and shiny.

Please just bear with me, as I come back to this journey of  blogging love. Because really I DO miss you all!

A Baseball Game – Warning Picture Overload!

We took the kids to their first ever baseball game back in July.  I won tickets on the radio for us to go. When I was playing “the game” to win them, I didn’t realize they included throwing out the first pitch at the game! The kids were so excited when I told them. And of course I won 6 tickets (since we’re a family of 5) so we took Aunt Lindsey along!

Of course we arrived super early, but even half way through the game the seats weren't filled.  :(

With Dahrran getting to throw out the first pitch we were down on the field . The kids had a fun time watching the players warm up, and even prepping for the game.

 

What we also didn’t know was that Curt Tomasevicz was going to be throwing out the first pitch. You see, we in a sense….”know” Curt. He grew up and was raised in a town that sits about 15 minutes north of where we live. My grandma was his 4th grade teacher!

 

Dahrran got to hold his gold medal, and he was so excited! Curt is such a nice guy. (Not related to the baseball game, but just to prove how nice he is. My grandma is in a nursing home, and has been since November of last year. A couple weeks ago Curt was giving a speech at another local high school, in the town where my grandma is at, and he stopped in the nursing home to visit her! So pretty cool in my book! We had the kids’ pictures hanging on the wall with Curt in them for her, and he signed them both! I thought that was pretty neat, such a nice guy.)

Dahrran did a good job, it bounced before it hit the plate, but he didn’t feel quite so bad when Curt’s didn’t make it there without a bounce. We joked with Dahrran afterwards that if he wanted to pitch some day he’d have to practice, practice, practice!

   

MacKenzie also got to do something fun! She got to participate in one of the “side games” they hold during inning changes. She got to race Homer, the team mascot, in a bone race! In the first picture you wouldn’t know she was scared to DEATH of him. That’s why he’s hiding his eyes. He was so sad!

She won, of course. And finally warmed up to the fact that it was just a person in a suit.

 

Then comes the 7th inning stretch…okay so this was probably only the 3rd or 4th inning, but you can tell they were “OVER IT”! We had such a good time though!

 

And of course ONE more family picture to end the night!

* A BIG THANK YOU goes out to 106.3 KFRX, and the Morning show for the tickets! We love listening to the station, and had such a great time!

Sickies

I’m sick. The girls have been sick. But not the pukey kind. The stuffed up runny nose, watery eyes kind.

You know. The allergy/hayfever kind. UGH.

The girls were doing great with them, except for coughing all night and keeping me awake. Which totally bogged down my immune system, and now I’m the one who’s coughing all night.

I was supposed to go out to Husker Harvest Days again this year with Joel tomorrow, but I’ve decided I’m staying home. You’d better believe that once the kids are on the bus, I’m setting my alarm for 10:30am and going back to bed!

And since I cannot blog without leaving you all a picture. Here’s one from our trip to the State Fair. They have $5.00 wrist bands for the kiddy rides, from 12-5pm. So it’s a great way for the kids to ride rides!

Kaitlynn turns 3

Our sweet little baby turned three last month. THREE. How can it be that she is three already! I know the first year was kind of a blur with everything that happened, but it hasn’t been 3 years. Has it?

Maybe it has. She’s grown up so much in the last few months. Talking all the time. She’s now a bossy little girl, who can tell you what she wants, how she wants it, and when she wants it done. Usually it’s NOW. She is also our lover. I thought MacKenzie was lovey, but this girl is even more so. Her favorite thing to do is cuddle up and give you kisses. But she’s feisty too. Don’t let her charm fool you. If you don’t give in to what she wants,  you’re in trouble!

 
She can turn on and off the charm in a New York minute! And unleash her wrath as needed. She’s already stomping off, and slamming doors when she doesn’t get her way. At the same time though she's the one who will come up and tell you “I Love you” out of no where. And share anything with you just because.

The girl loves Peanut Butter M & M’s but not the blue ones. Something about them I guess. She will eat us out of house and home if we let her. But some days you’d think I was feeding a mouse. She’s tall, skinny, and has so much energy. She loves her sister, and they are the best of friends. Our first cloth diaper baby, that showed me the way to be “greener” in our lifestyle.

 

She’s become so independent. Started Preschool. And now has so many friends I cannot count. When you ask her about school she will tell you “There are Two Kaitlynn’s in my class.” Although she is not a morning person. This girl loves naps. One day we took a nap at 9:30am, just because. Such a girlie girl as well. Loves her nails painted, and to be told she looks cute!

 

Happy Birthday sweet Kaitlynn!

First day of School

Last year at Kindergarten round up the teacher did a neat thing where they planted a sunflower with the kids. They then told them that when the sunflower was taller than they were, and had bloomed it was time for school to start. They also got to bring home extra seeds “just in case” and we decided to plant them all. We ended up with 3 sunflowers out of 4, which I didn’t feel was too bad.

They got HUGE. Taller than our garage. The one that is all drooped over was the one they planted at school. The one she is standing next to has bloomed and it’s flower is stuck under the edge of the garage.

I’m not exactly sure everyone was awake for this picture!

Then there are the traditional close up/full body shots!

My big 2nd grader

My sweet Kindergartener

And my adorable preschooler

 

And of course one more group shot for good measure!

Headed to the bus.

I love these shots. They all did so good!

Bus driver is great. “Turn and Look at mom.” And of course them all waving. THIS is the moment I broke down crying. I was fine before they got on the bus. When it drove away I bawled!