this year i resolve

2008 was an eventful year for my family and 2009 is approaching rapidly. i set new years resolutions every year, usually things about no longer cursing, no longer eating candy bars, working out, etc... (i do these same resolutions year after year... i usually stick to them until, oh lets see, January 4th, give or take a few days)


this year i have several things i want to change about my life and i will write them out here, as a pact of sorts, to help me stick to them, hopefully for good.

my top seven:

1. i resolve to spend more time counting my blessings rather than complaining about hardships.


2. i resolve to give more time to marriage.


3. i resolve to be a more patient mother, allowing more messes for the sake of having fun with my children.


4. i resolve to become fit, focusing more on activity and exercise, less on numbers.


5. i resolve to allow only the amount of activities my family can easily manage, allowing for more free play time at home together.


6. i resolve to teach my children more of what they can do and less of what they can't.


7. i resolve to make church more of a consistent part of my life.


i will leave it at seven, there are lots more things i need to work on, but this is plenty for 2009.

wish me luck!!

oh the joys

it took several tries to get this years christmas picture... most of them turned out like this




or this...



but somehow i captured all four facing forward...



it was a blessed christmas this year indeed, i spent it baking cookies with my four crazy, healthy, beautiful children and husband. i was able to visit my dad and mom in the hospital. his surgery was a success, he is (cross my fingers) cancer free and one less lung lobe as i type. it was caught way early according to the surgeon - luck due to his cat scans to watch his heart - there is the silver lining in the whole mess.
we took them christmas dinner, visited for awhile, went to candlelight service... where all four sat like perfect angels - other than having to take maggie out for screaming amen over and over, feeding ashton and molly bags of candy to keep their mouths occupied, and my hair nearly being caught on fire by the little old lady behind me, it was ultra peaceful.
we spent the rest of christmas eve at home, just the six of us, playing games, feeding the reindeer, setting out cookies for santa and going to bed extra early.
my children woke up to a generous amount of goodies and a note written by the jolly old elf himself. the best gift i have ever been given has to be this very fancy, beautiful, large, gold, pink heart and diamond ring. it cost my oldest son 13 dollars of the 20 he had to spend on his whole family. it came in a little black jewelry box and everything. be prepared to compliment me when you see me around town with this baby on:



i know, the picture just doesn't do it justice.

there was much fun had by all but this mama's beat and ready for a very long winter nap.

doesn't it go by in a blink?

there is nothing like looking at old pictures to make you realize how fast it really goes...

molly at one


carson's first christmas


i had my act together this christmas... a picture together




but this is the best i could find from 04 christmas... rats



and then there were three


again it must not of crossed my mind to get pictures this year...



back on my game... oh boy four


and now, christmas present

eight is great

this post is really to recap the ultra fun big birthday bash i recently had for my oh so soon to be eight year old. but i needed to get one thing straight first. i had several girls spend the night for what i thought was called a "bunking party". please tell me there is someone else out there that knows this term!! i understand you call it a sleepover, slumber party, whatever, but it is also called a bunking party in my world.

it was brought to my attention that perhaps several of the girl's parents may have been confused by this terminology and thought i was hosting a "bunko" party, which usually involves a little gambling and drinking. i can assure you, there was no drinking or gambling... well maybe a little.

they were up to all hours playing poker and sharing cigars while i hit the bottle... other than that it was totally innocent.

for real - not as bad as i imagined. there was pizza, cupcakes, gifts, singing, dancing, giggling, crafting, popcorn, a little tiny bit of sleeping and tons more giggling. molly was in heaven the entire time, smiling from ear to ear, so it was worth it. it is fun when you are the birthday girl, everyone wants to sit by you to eat, sleep next to you, play all the games you want to play, so you sort of feel like a princess the whole time.

the girls were super nice to molly's little siblings as well, including them in all the festivities. the big game of the night was dressing up maggie as a queen and treating her like one - thanks, that is all i need for that little princess to be advanced to queen. we are still working out the logistics of that.
so happy birthday dear molly, i hope i made it as special as you deserve.

i am constantly reminded of the important things in life. i am really guilty of getting wrapped up in the superficial details, media, other's perceptions, so on and so forth... but something or someone comes around and reminds me of what really matters, puts me in my place.
i was stressing earlier this week about my list of things to do, christmas parties, birthday party, christmas eve dinner and more silly things. i was telling my dad i thought we might try and make the 10 am candle light service so it wouldn't interfere with dinner and family time if we went in the evening as usual. he responded with, just do what you want to, don't alter you plans around me, i will probably be in the hospital for christmas eve.
say what? why?
(this is the same dad i almost lost last year to a dissected aorta on his birthday)
well, i guess when doing his routine cat scan to check how his aortic valve and other various replacement parts were working, they saw a nodule in his chest. they did a pet scan thursday and have scheduled surgery to remove it on dec 23rd. moving kind of fast in my opinion, so they must be worried. crap. are you telling me that after miraculously surviving a fatal dissection he could have cancer? that just doesn't seem fair.
anyhow... the point of the story... be thankful for everything in your life, small to big.

don't worry about what time you will sit down for christmas dinner, just be thankful your family will be sitting down for that dinner.

don't fret that your babies are fighting, fussing and making you crazy, just be thankful that they are fighting fussing and you are around to be crazy.

in that same thought, a friend of mine was fretting over how she may have screwed up as a mom because her son hated to go to sleep without being loved on and rocked to sleep first. don't you ever for a second fret about that. i know there are always people who have children who give up the binky on time, go to bed right at 8, sleep all night, nap on time, give up the bottle on time, and that is great! but don't you ever fret because you love your baby so much you feel the need to hold them until they sleep. i promise you won't regret it.
just don't get so busy making sure you are doing everything right that you miss out on the doing of it all.
can anybody tell that my baby is way too quickly approaching two years old and my oldest will shortly be eight? im way emotional over it.

snow days

merry christmas!!

snow

there is nothing like the first big snow. i love how magical it is, how it gets you in the mood for the holidays and makes you want to turn on the fireplace and snuggle up on the couch with a good book and cup of hot cocoa.



oh wait, that is so not my life. the first snow gets me in the mood to squeeze eight snow boots on eight little feet, eight mittens, four hats, four coats and four pair of snow pants on four little squirmy bodies. reverse all of that in about 20 minutes, throw all of the wet stuff into the dryer to get ready for the next round that will come directly after they get hot cocoa and warm their little bodies back up.



i know there will be a day when i get to watch the snow falling from my living room while reading my book by the fire, sipping my hot cocoa in peace - and i will remember days like today when i had all those little bodies to watch giggling and playing in the snow.

don't try this at home

when they tell you not to use bubble bath with your whirlpool tub, they probably are speaking from experience.

this is how my husband got the kids super clean while i gabbed on the phone with friend of mine.

funny, our conversation was about if she should have a third kid or not... come on girl, have a couple more.

prayers

Please pray for the Vest family this Christmas season. Stephanie lost her battle with cancer yesterday. Pray for her husband and children most importantly, but also for all of her friends and family she has that also are grieving. I can't even try to wrap my mind around their sadness right now.
http://rainkitephotography.typepad.com/stephanie_vest/