2011 Review.....

Another year has gone by.  It is SO crazy how fast this year flew!  I have BIG plans for New Year's Eve (tonight).....I'm in my pj's, kids are in bed asleep, hubby is running out the door for a massage (spoiled rotten) and I plan on watching "It's A Wonderful Life".  December was so busy and by the time the kids were in bed most nights, I just didn't have the energy to stay up and watch it.  I cannot let this year end without seeing it. (it's my favorite!)  So, yeah, big plans.  ugh.  Life as a parent is so glam, right?  HA.


Anyway, I digress.  2011 review.  It was a great year in some ways, and not so great in others.  I can honestly say that it was the toughest year of my life.  For several reasons.  Mainly trying to adjust to having two kids was the toughest part for me.  Tom and I both still struggle with this at times.  Seems so pathetic...I mean, lots of people have more than one kid, right?  And they do it and make it look so easy sometimes.  Why is it still so hard for us sometimes?  Don't get me wrong...we LOVE our kids....it's just that parenting is by far the toughest job EVER!  I guess the fact that Shae' is still waking up most nights doesn't help.  I don't know why it seems so hard, I just know that it is and that I am totally exhausted the majority of the time.  I hate that feeling.   On the flip side of that, we have never known more joy that the joy our children bring us.  Really.  Isn't that amazing?  How your kids can drive you nuts one minute and then melt your heart the next?  That part I love!  My kids are great.  I love them madly and believe with all my heart 2012 will be a bit easier in this area.  Here's hoping anyway! :)

Aren't they the cutest? :)

I guess for every negative, there really is a positive.  Our family has faced some spiritual battles like we've never seen before this year.  It's been hard.  REALLY hard.  But the positive is that we've learned (and are learning) to trust God more.  Knowing that He really does hold our world in His hands and has it all under control is the best feeling.  (I love that song, have you heard it?  "You Hold My World" by Israel?  It has brought me much comfort in the last few months)  My favorite line: "I'm not afraid, my world is safe in Your hands".


So I guess, to keep from going into tons of details about the year, I can sum 2011 up by saying:  I've learned a lot.  I've grown as a person.  I'm learning more patience (thanks Carter and Shae') and I'm learning to trust in God more than ever before.  I've been blessed beyond measure this year and the good ALWAYS outweighs the bad.   I've grown closer to some friends and farther apart from others, made new friends and had the privilege of seeing some friends whom I haven't seen for years. I've learned more about myself and am thankful that God is still working on me.  I've laughed and I've cried, but looking back, I don't know that I would change much.  Even if I would like to, I refuse to live in regret.  Instead, I'll shift my focus toward 2012 and all that is in store.  I'm believing for an amazing year!  

"Let's watch the old year die, with a fond goodbye

and our hopes as high as a kite....."

Happy New Year!  Thank you to all of my family and  friends, close or even just 'FB close' (HA!) for making 2011 so wonderful!  I pray blessings for you all in 2012! xoxo

Christmas Recap

Another Christmas has come and gone.  It's hard to believe we're already at the end of the year, but  I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how fast time flies....each year seems to go faster than the one before. 


We had a wonderful Christmas!  This was our 3rd really FUN Christmas with Carter and Shae's 1st fun one.   The kids got some wonderful gifts and we've been enjoying great quality time with family.  We chose to go south to visit my family for Thanksgiving this year and stay home for the month of December.  It's the first time since we've been married that we haven't visited my family for Christmas.  So, it's been different, but we've enjoyed it.  Tom's sister and her family have been visiting so we've been busy with them.  Plus, we've enjoyed creating our own traditions as a family.  What kind of traditions do you have?  Anything unusual?  I'm always looking for ideas since we are just getting going with our family.  I want to start things now that we can continue throughout the kids growing up.  A few things we do now are:


*Advent Calendar
    We have a little people hanging advent calendar.  If you've never seen it and have small kids, you really should check them out.   You spend the month of December creating the manger scene and on Christmas morning get to put baby Jesus in the manger.  It is SO darling!  Carter looks forward to it each day in December.
*Elf on the Shelf
     If you have never heard of this, you should check it out.  It is such a cute idea.  However, we do not do Santa at all, so instead of Elf on the Shelf, I bought a Zebra that has bendable arms/legs and we named him and call him our hide-and-seek Zebra.  No magical powers, or visits to the North Pole....just a fun animal that we can play a game with at Christmas time.  Every night we would hide him in different spots (just like Elf on the Shelf) and the first thing the kids wanted to do in the morning is look for him.  Shae' especially got really good at finding him, often times before Carter even would. 
*Joy Stocking
    This is one of my favorites.  We start right after Thanksgiving.  I leave blank paper and pen on the kitchen counter and throughout the month of December, we write joy notes to each other and place them in a special stocking we have hanging on our fireplace.  These notes start with....."you bring me joy when....." and can be filled in however.  It's just our way of saying what we are thankful for in each other.  On Christmas Eve, we read the notes aloud.  This was our 3rd year of doing this.  We actually were so busy Christmas Eve with family over, that we ended up reading them at the breakfast table Christmas morning and I really liked that too.  I can't wait until the kids are old enough to write their own notes.  It will be so fun to see what they come up with!
*Christmas Carols
   Call me old fashioned, but I LOVE singing Christmas Carols!  We do this on Christmas Eve before bedtime.  We just gather around the piano and sing as many songs as possible before the kids lose interest. HA.  Everything from Jingle Bells to Silent Night.  It's a blast.  I look forward to future Christmases when the kids can play an instrument and we can have our own little band while we sing :)
*The Christmas Story
    The last, but certainly not least, thing I'll mention is our reading of the Christmas Story.  A rule in our house is no presents are opened Christmas morning before we read the Christmas Story found in Luke 2.  This year was really sweet because Carter was SO excited to read about baby Jesus.


These are just some of our traditions.  I look forward to making many more as our family grows and the years pass.  I want traditions that my children can pass on to their children.


I'll close with some pictures from our Christmas.  I'm including some pics of my Christmas decor too.  I LOVE to deck my house out with Christmas stuff.  There's not many a corner in my home that goes untouched. :-)  

The centerpiece in our living room, that's our joy stocking hanging :)                                                     

My living room tree, yes, not much green showing I know ;)

My cozy living room.  LOVE this room.  That's my new furniture that was part of my Christmas present :)

I love to display my Christmas cards....these are just randomly stuck in this decor piece in my kitchen....I get to look at them every morning while I make my coffee :)

Our family room.  I love doing the bright colors..SO fun!  This is where we open gifts :)

The stockings are hung with care :)

Shae' on Christmas Eve

Carter on Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning :)

Caught in the act ;-)

She thought it was funny :)

The best I could get of them together

All the kids went in together and got these throws for the grandparents.  It has all the grandkids photos on it. (great-grandkids for Grandma Mim, pictured here)  Grandma Mim said she laid it across her bed and every time she walks into her room, it's like all the great grandkids are there looking at her.  How sweet! :)

Here's the grandparents with their throw.  My MIL cried like a baby when she opened it.  I would call that a successful Christmas present :) (I just realized that the bottom of the throws aren't showing in the pics...but I promise all the kids are pictured.  The throws are huge)

I pray you all had a blessed Christmas as well!  xoxo