Let's Celebrate 2008!

I hope you enjoy the slideshow!

I love you!!

Bottle Battle

Ok. I need some help. I don't really have any experience with fighting the "bottle battle", but I definitely need to learn some defensive and offensive moves if I am going to win this war with Ciara!

I was fortunate enough to be able to nurse my older two children until they were both over one year old. So they never got too attached to the bottle. With Ciara some complications arose and I had to surrender to the bottle when she was about 6 months old.

And I am here to tell you that weaning a baby from the breast is so much different than weaning them from a bottle. Not that weaning from nursing is easy by any means, but I at least know how to do it. Or maybe it is the same techniques and Ciara is just being more stubborn than my other two were! Yeah! That's probably it!

Ciara has become extremely dependant on her bottle. Not just to sleep, but to have, hold, and cherish! She wants to carry it around with her like a security blanket. And she is very demanding for it!

I have tried to replace it with a sippy cup and that is pretty much a no go. I have tried to only allow the bottle when she is sleeping, but that isn't working either. She throws a huge fit, screaming and crying and someone, I won't name names (DAD!), always gives in!

So here's my dilemma. How do I wean Ciara off the bottle and train the other members of the family (because she has trained her brother and sister to jump up onto the counter to get her a bottle out of the cupboard) not to give in?

Is my only option to go completely cold turkey and put away all of the bottles??

I guess this is another thing I can add to my ever-growing "Things I Need To Do In 2009" list.

Lazy Weekend

We had such a nice lazy, relaxing weekend. I don't think we really did anything at all! We got quite a few movies for Christmas so we spent the majority of our time cuddling on the couch and watching movies!

In a way it was absolutely wonderful! We have all been so busy the last few weeks that it was nice to not have to do anything. But on the other hand, it was kinda sad because we got absolutely nothing accomplished!

We had become so lazy that our conversations started to sound like this...
"What are we going to do for dinner?" As I am lounging deeper and deeper on the couch under the blanket.
"I don't know, what do you want to do for dinner?" Was the response from the other couch.
"I don't want to do anything..that's why I asked you."
"Why don't you order pizza then?"
"Alright...hand me the phone."

Of course the kids didn't mind too much! They got to play with their new toys and eat pizza without too much complaint from Mom and Dad to do chores.

Hopefully, now that we are back to work we will get back into our regular routines and get some stuff done!

It's all over :(

It's kinda funny...at times it seems like you just can't WAIT for the whole Christmas stress to be over with....and then when it is...it's sad.

My favorite night of the entire season is Christmas Eve. I love getting together with my parents, siblings (I miss you RJ!!), nieces and nephews! I love the simple traditions that we share! And I love that sense of anticipation! The kids are giddy with delight! And did I mention the lamb? Boy, I love the lamb!!

Then Christmas morning hits all too soon. The presents are all opened and we are left with a feeling of relief and sadness.

But with the end of Christmas comes the beginning of a new year! Which is always so exciting! You just never know what the new year will bring! I'm certain it will have it's share of trials and absolute moments of joy! But most of all...it brings us a new chapter of the story of your life. We just have to remember that we are the author of our stories. We can't rewrite the past, but we definitely have the authority to write how we grow from those experiences!

So here's to the next chapter in my story!

Christmas Carol Games

Here are some fun games that will hopefully get you singing Christmas carols!

Highlight the area under each question for the answer. Hopefully you can't see the answer without highlighting it..it works on the computer I use. If not...sorry. It kinda ruins the fun! LOL

NOTE: With the new background, the answers show. Sorry, I couldn't find a font color that blended into the background.

1.I'm doing what with every Christmas card I write?
Dreaming of a White Christmas (White Christmas)
2.What is the greeting from the land where the palm trees sway?
Mele Kalikimaka (Mele Kalikimaka)
3.What is sister Suzzie sitting on?
A thistle (All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth)
4.Somebody snitched on me filling the sugar bowl with what?
Ants (I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas)
5.Who kept time as the little drummer boy played?
The ox and lamb (The little drummer boy)
6.What did Frosty do when the children placed the hat upon his head?
He began to dance around (Frosty the Snowman)
7.What did I hear on Christmas day?
The bells (I heard the bells on Christmas day)
8.The shoppers rush home with what?
Their treasures (Silver Bells)
9.First comes the stocking of?
Little Nell (Up on the rooftop)
10. When will hearts be glowing?
When loved ones are near (It's the most wonderful time of the year)
11.Who was seated by my side?
Miss Fanny Bright (Jingle Bells)
12.How does the old year pass?
Fast away (Deck the Halls)
13.What did I give you last Christmas?
My heart (Last Christmas)
14.Where are we dancin and prancing?
In Jingle Bell Square (Rockin around the Christmas tree)
15.I met a man who lives where?
In Tennessee (Home for the holidays)
16.Why are you jumping in bed and covering your head?
Cause Santa Claus comes tonight (Santa Claus comes tonight)
17.Born a King on what?
Bethlehem's plain (We three Kings)
18. What did Grandma forget when she staggered out the door?
Her medication (Grandma got ran over by a reindeer)
19.It's lovely weather for what?
A sleigh ride together with you (Sleigh ride)
20.Everybody knows that what help to make the season bright?
A turkey and some mistletoe (The Christmas Song)



Can you figure out the name of the carol? Highlight the area under the question for the answer.

1. The apartment of 2 psychiatrists.
Nutcracker Suite
2. The lad is a diminutive percussionist.
Little Drummer Boy
3. Decorate the entry-ways.
Deck The Halls
4. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis.
Silent Night
5. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.
The First Noel
6. Present me naught but dual incisors for this festive Yuletide.
All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
7. The smog-less bewitching hour arrived.
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
8. Exuberation to this orb.
Joy To The World
9. 288 Yuletide hours.
12 Days Of Christmas
10. Do you perceive the same longitudinal pressure which stimulates my auditory sense organs.
Do You Hear What I Hear
11. The red-suited pa is due in this burg.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
12. Far back in a hay bin.
Away In A Manger
13. I envisioned a trio of nautical vessels.
I Saw Three Ships
14. A joyful song relative to hollow metallic vessels which vibrate and bring forth a ringing sound when struck.
Carol Of The Bells
15. Frozen precipitation commence.
Let It Snow
16. Monarchial triad.
We Three Kings
17. May the Deity bestow an absence of fatigue to mild male humans.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
18. Have hitherward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief.
Oh Come All Ye Faithful
19. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness.
Silent Night
20. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geological alpine formation.
Go Tell It On The Mountain

Merry Christmas!!

I wanted to take a moment to wish each of you a joyous and merry Christmas before the tornado of unwrapping occurs! I love you all very much!!

Merry Merry Christmas!!!

Here are some little goodies from the kids! Again, I have to apologize about the quality and the coloring, but it's still cute!

Here is Justin's shouting rendition of the ever popular "Jingle Bells"!

Did you hear that squeal?? LOL

The two of them singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". My phone only records 30 seconds which is a shame because it was pretty funny.

And this one just cracks me up!! Katie was begging me to "incorporate her" (Translation: Record her) singing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and this is what we got! Too funny!

Bedtime Prayer

We are pretty new at prayer. I have always had a testimony in prayer, but have rarely called upon it. We have prayed over dinner pretty regularly since we've had kids, and we always say a small prayer when we hear an ambulance or firetruck, but that's about it. The last couple of months has brought on a few struggles in our family and we have turned more and more towards the power of prayer.

We now pray over every meal (most of the time - it is still a habit we are trying to form) and I have been encouraging the kids to say "private" prayers. These prayers have been especially important to me. There are many things I have needed to pray about privately and I have found great peace from them.

We also now pray every night before bed. We gather in my room and kneel by my bedside. Justin is still a little hesitant to get on his knees, he'd rather sit on top of the bed and as long as he is being reverent and folding his arms or hands (that is how he prefers it..copying his Daddy!) then I don't fight him too much. But the most astonishing thing is that now my sweet little Ciara gets down on her knees next to me as we pray! I just love it! And she seems to love it!

When I say it's time for prayer, she comes running to my room, kneels down and waits for me! She likes it best when she is between Katelynn and I! I am so glad that I am forming these habits with my children. I really wish I would have started sooner.

It's sad when it is the tragedies in life that bring you closer to God, but I am always relieved when He welcomes me back with open arms.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

We headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house on Friday. Grandma DeeDee had all of her singing and dancing Christmas Critters out and ready under the tree for the little ones.

My older kids were excited to see them out, they remembered them from the previous year. But Ciara was ecstatic when she figured out how to work them! She liked having all of them playing at the same time and she would just dance around. When one would stop, she'd stop. No matter how many more were still going and she would turn it back on. It was quite cute. And quite loud. And after awhile, quite annoying. But she was having a great time.

It was actually very hard to get a picture of her because she was moving around so much. This is one of her "quieter" moments.

Eventually, I had to tell her that she could only play one at a time. She didn't like that idea too much.

We'll have to see if she remembers "the rules" next time we come for a visit.

Gingerbread Houses

After all the fun we had making the cookies with Grandma, we wanted to share some of that fun with Darrien and Haylee. We brought over more cookies AND we made gingerbread houses! The boys had a regular old fashioned gingerbread house and the girls had a pretty gingerbread princess castle!

I want to take a minute to say how cute the castle was....on the box. Not so fun to put together. Infact, it was impossible to put together. Unlike the regular gingerbread house, the kit did not come with pre-made frosting. You had to mix it yourself so the frosting just didn't come out right. AND it was impossible to put the turrets on! It just didn't work. But the four base walls were castle like and the girls didn't seem to mind.

And here is our sweet little CC scaring us half to death trying her hardest to be in the middle of everything! I still can't believe the mess when we were all done!

Here are our finished products!

Cookies with Grandma!

Friday night we had a great time! I invited my mother over to help us made sugar cookies!

Let me just say one thing...I'd never made them before and the dough is not very fun to work with!

But the kids had a great time cutting out the shapes and decorating them!

If only you could see the heaping pile of frosting and sprinkles that Justin puts on each cookie! I swear they literally weighed a pound a piece!!

And here is Grandma showing the kids how to

pose for cookie pictures! LOL

Katie is a good student.

Thanks for coming over and making memories with us, Grandma! We had a great time!

Feliz Navidad!

(Tip: You may want to scroll to the bottom of the page to pause the background music.)


Tis the season for the kids to sing! I wanted to share with you Katelynn singing Jingle Bells (in Spanish!)

I apologize that the video turned out soooo blurry! I thought it would be a good idea to have the tree as a background. I didn't realize that it would make it so my puny camera on my phone wouldn't be able to focus at all. But you can still hear her sing.

And here is a special little treat...it makes me laugh each time!

Yes. You heard her right. LOL She sang, "Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad Como....Estas?" LOLOLOLOL Obviously, we are still working on learning these lyrics.

Katie learned a new trick!

Now that Katie is in full time school, she has even more time with her friends to learn all sorts of new tricks! Her favorite one right now is tormenting her brother with her "zombie" look. She literally rolls her eyes to the back of her head, flutters her eye lids a bit, hangs her arms out in from of her and moans while walking morbidly toward Justin. He hates it! It freaks him out! and I don't blame him! It's really creepy! And I can't for the life of me figure out where she learned how to tease! After all, she has such a sweet innocent, never teasing mother.

All sarcasm aside, I have had to "get on her" about not tormenting her brother. (Although, truth be told, it's probably just payback!)

Happy Happy Birthday Justin Boy!!!

I can't believe it! My little Justin turned 5 years old yesterday!!! I just don't understand where the time goes!

I try and get matching plates and decorations and such to match the cake. So last week I asked Justin what kind of theme he wanted for his birthday. "Do you want Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man or High School Musical?" And in response I got an aggravated sigh. I didn't understand because those are his favorite things right now. So I say, "I'm sorry. What kind of birthday do you want this year?"

His quick response. "Guns."

I laugh. "I'm sorry buddy, I don't think they make gun cakes."

"Uh huh! Army!"

I couldn't argue. He was right. They probably do make army cakes and decorations. So that explains why he is wearing an "army" hat instead of a birthday hat! (Well, until he ditched the army hat for his Spiderman hat.)

Yesterday we had our family come over for some yummy cake and ice cream! It was a great time. Now I just need to take him out for his special birthday meal and pictures. We'll probably do that this week.

Pumpkin Pie!

Last year I had the pleasure of learning how to make homemade pumpkin pie (crust and all!) from my wonderful Aunt Donna! She walked me through the whole process and we had a great time! I think we made about 20 pies last year! It was crazy! And although I was in the midst of it, I didn't really feel like I made them.

Well, this year my mother-in-law called and asked if I would be in charge of anything pumpkin. I could make pies or cookies or whatever I wanted, but it had to be pumpkin. I jumped on the opportunity! I wanted to show off my "baking skills" with some homemade pumpkin pie!

So last night I got to work! I was really nervous because my oven is pretty temperamental and doesn't like to cook things thoroughly. It has a tendency to burn the top and leave the bottom "raw". Not good for cookies or pies! But I wanted to try it myself!

So I messed with it a bit and first made a couple of pumpkin rolls. They turned out beautifully! And if the pies failed at least I'd have some yummy pumpkin rolls.

Well guess what?? My pies turned out perfect! I made an extra one so that Shawn could try it out first. (I'd hate to bring a nasty pie to Thanksgiving dinner!) I am so happy! So now I have pies for Thanksgiving at the in-laws and pies for the day after at my parents!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving is always a good time to remember what you have to be thankful for. Traditionally, my family sits around the table and one by one list something that we are thankful for. This usually turns into a tear-fest. And every year I realize how I have taken for granted the blessings in my life. Especially, the people who are dearest to me.

So I guess this is my way of saying, "Thank you! I love you! And I am so grateful to have you in my life."

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Pretties

My sweet little CC girl is very much into "pretties"! She is always decorating herself with different necklaces and bracelets. She even wants hats and crowns. Anything that makes her look "pretty"! It is so cute! And I love to hear her say "pretties" in her pretty little voice! I just want to eat her!




Here she is sporting her new bracelet earrings!

And of course, here is her cheesy little "camera" grin!

What happens when...

Justin is on a new kick. Multiple times a day he asks the same question. "What happens when you swallow _______ ?" You can fill in the blank with anything. And I mean ANYTHING! It is the weirdest thing. It ranges from dirt to fuzz off of a blanket. Or a bead from a necklace. Name it and he has probably asked.

I am uncertain how to respond any more. It is getting very annoying. Mostly because I don't want him to eat anything that isn't food. I didn't realize that was a difficult concept.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Twilight

I wrote my thoughts about the movie and the experience on my OCD page, but I wanted to share with you some of the pics. Most of our pics are on my digital camera so I can't transfer them here, but here are a few from my phone.

Here are my red eyes. Sadly, you can't really see the make-up but it was pretty cool! I caught people secretly taking pictures of me. So I was flattered that it looked so good!


And here are the pics from Hot Topic. LOL

Holiday Spirit

I know it's a little bit early, but I just can't contain it any longer!

I am so excited for the holidays! I absolutely love this time of year!
I love seeing all of the pretty lights on the roof tops as I drive down the street! I love listening to the ding dong of the bells in the music! And I absolutely positively love the smells of the goodies baking in the kitchen! I love it almost as much as I love to taste it!

So in honor of the season, I am dressing up my blog a bit early! If the stores can do it...so can I!!

Love ya and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

What a great weekend!

We had a lot of fun this weekend! And the kids were very excited because they were able to play with all of their cousins!

Saturday, Jenn and I took our kids to see High School Musical 3! It was a lot of fun! It was over the top cheesy with tons of cool dancing...exactly what you expect from HSM. (My favorite part was The Boys Are Back! So cute!)

After that we came back to my place to play and was soon joined by Hailee and Tyler who were spending the night. So my house was packed with jumping, screaming, playing kids. It was great! At one point we were listening to my HSM CD (courtesy of Jenn) and everyone was dancing. Darrien has some killer moves! I pulled out my phone and got a few of them. The quality is rough and it is really dark, but I think you get the idea.



PS- The "spotlight" is courtesy of Justin. LOL

Justin wants a hair cut

The other day I was talking with Justin and I commented on how long his hair is getting. And for those that know me, (which better be all of you or I'm going to have to delete this blog again. hehe) you know that I do not cut his hair. I shave it. It's easy and he actually looks really cute with a little fuzzy head!

His dad said we'll shave it after his birthday pictures. I would prefer to do it before, but I agreed and commented that you can really see the pretty red in his hair when it gets longer. And that was the end of the conversation.

Later that evening Justin tells me he wants me to shave his head. I told him I will do it after his pictures. He gets persistent. He wants it shaved now.

I can't do it right now. I am in the middle of dinner and chores. So I try to make a deal with him to do it this weekend.

He starts crying.

"What's the matter, Baby?"
"I don't want red hair."

That broke my heart! I love his hair! I replayed the conversation from earlier back in my head and I do not believe I had put a negative connotation on his red hair. I think it is a beautiful color! Infact, I am quite jealous of it!

I still didn't have time to shave it right then and there. I tried explaining to him how wonderful his hair is and how much I love it. But that wasn't working. I was telling him all of the amazing colors that are in his hair! He's got a little bit of red, and gold, and brown...
He starts calming down at brown.
"My hair is brown?"

That was the key! "Yes, Buddy."

And then he was ok.

The next day I was making some cream cheese pies for work (yum yum) and the kids were all too anxious to help me clean the bowls! Of course they got cream cheese and pudding all over their faces and in their hair. We cleaned up the best we could.

Well, apparently we missed a spot. Justin had some cream cheese that had dried in his hair. He comes running to me screaming about how he just wants to shave his head! I finally got him to just jump in the shower and we washed it all out of his hair, but I just don't understand why he's so sensitive about his hair all of the sudden!

So I think we are definitely going to shave it this weekend. There is no point in making him suffer even if I don't agree with his reasoning.

My first Twilight T-Shirt

I wanted to play around with making some fun shirts for my Twilight premiere. Since I've never done this before, I decided to make a test shirt first. And instead of wasting it, I would just give it to Katie. She was very excited about that!

So here it is...













I definitely need to work on getting the letters aligned. And I do not like the "L"s at all. Or the "I"s for that matter. They both look the same but one is smaller than the other and they both look like "J"s to me. But I think you get the idea.

And here is the back.













Fun, huh??

Bet On It!

So my kids and I have finally been introduced to High School Musical!

With all of the hype about the 3rd one, Katie talks about it all of the time. I assume because her friends are talking about it at school because we've never seen it.

I watched the first one a couple weekends ago at Jenn's. I thought it was pretty hokey and cheesy, but ok. So we borrowed the 2nd one to watch at home.

I finally got around to putting that in the other night. I can't believe how much I enjoyed it! It was the same cheesiness as the first, but I couldn't help get hooked into the songs.

And now my kids are huge HSM fans! Even Justin loves it! He makes me play "Bet on it" over and over again while he sings and dances around the room! It is so cute! I wish he'd let me video him! It is a riot!

And I caught Katie doing the same thing the other day. She stuck it in and was copying the dancing for "What time is it" when I saw her close the curtain over the sliding glass door because she noticed her Daddy was outside mowing the lawn. Apparently, she didn't want an audience.

It was too cute!

So...are we going to go see HSM3!?!
Bet on it!!

Wow

So I am visiting my parents and I go online to check my blog. Wow. I am no longer impressed with my handy work of creating my own blog background. What looked great on my computer looks awful on this one! So...I changed it back.

Rubberband

Yesterday I was cleaning up the house when Justin walks up to me with a broken rubber band in his hand and a quizzical look. "Mom. Can a rubber band toke?"

Hmm...what does that mean? "I'm sorry baby...what?"

"Can a rubber band toke?" He answers with a bit of frustration.

Ok..let's think this through. He has a broken rubber band. "Is the rubber band broke?? Yes honey."

"No!" He stamps his foot. "Can a rubber band toke you?!"

"Can a rubber band poke you?"

This is about the time he decides he is pretty upset with me but can't give up because he NEEDS an answer! So he puts his hands up to his neck and squeezes, making a gagging sound with his tongue sticking out. "Can a rubber band toke you!? Toke! Toke!"

Ahh. I get it now. "Can a rubber band choke you? Yes. You can choke on a rubber band if you try to swallow it. So throw that away so CC doesn't get it."

Now he runs off crying and coughing. At first I just thought he was mad because I made him throw away the rubber band but he kept forcing himself to cough and was obviously more than upset...he was scared.

So I went to comfort him. "Justin, what's the matter."

Apparently he was putting the rubber band in between his teeth when it broke and swallowed a small piece of it. He thought he was going to choke! It took me a good 10 minutes for me to get him to believe that he was going to be fine.

What do you think??

Here is my first attempt at creating MY OWN BACKGROUND!!!

I am very proud of myself! I put the whole thing together all by my lonesome!

I am very very excited! Imagine the possibilities!!

What do you think??

Zoo Trip

Saturday was such a nice wonderful day!!

I called up Misty and asked her if she wanted to join me and the kids to go to the zoo. It was really nice! I hadn't spent very much time with Misty lately. It was really great to see her and the kids!

My kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousins! And Ciara really enjoyed running free! this was the first time I left the stroller at home. I was hoping I could use one of my kid leashes but I couldn't find them. I have them packed away somewhere and I don't know where! But it actually worked out pretty well. She didn't run off and she didn't need to be carried too much either! It was perfect!

I'm really glad we were able to spend a few hours together and catch up!

Trick or Treating

I am not a big fan of Halloween. I really don't like all of the time and energy it takes to put the kids "together" and I really REALLY don't like the trick or treating part!

So it's time to start getting ready. Katie was all to eager to get her costume on. Justin...not so much. I had to MAKE him put his costume on. It was awful! But he finally caved and let me get him dressed.

After Justin was ready, (he was pretty easy once he let me put it on) I got going on Katie's hair and make-up. Her hair we kept pretty simple. She wanted it left down, but I wanted it out of her face, so I just pulled up a section of it. Simple. Now to her make-up. She wanted a green face. After all, she's a witch. I really don't like that costume make-up...it so thick and gross. So I used my charm to win her over. "I thought you wanted to look like the Hocus Pocus witch." That did it. So we did the works. Eye shadow, eye liner, blush, lipstick and even a little masscarra. She was very excited and happy with my work!

By now, we are running way behind.

We are getting in the truck when Justin realizes that he doesn't have his weapons. Oh no! His swords are in my car trunk and Shawn has my car. Whatever will we do!!??

I tried to tell Justin that it wasn't worth it. You aren't going to be using your weapons while you're trick or treating any ways...but he wasn't going to have any of that.

So this time, I caved. We stopped by Shawn's work to get the stuff out of the truck and headed out.

We finally get there, throw some pizza down the kids' throats and send them off!

It was so wonderful! Dustin took the kids out while Jenn and I stayed home with CC and passed out candy!

It was the best Halloween yet! I had so much fun seeing all of the different costumes and joking around with the kids! It was great! And CC was as cute as ever!! Jenn had Halloween music playing so Ciara was just dancing her little heart out all night. It was so funny!

Halloween Party

Jennifer put together the cutest little Halloween party for the kids the weekend before the holiday! Everyone had so much fun and it was exactly the distraction we all needed! All of the kids got dressed up in their costumes (courtesy of NapNap) and we played a bunch of games!

We played pin the nose on the jack o' lantern and Halloween charades! That was so funny to watch the kids act out the "monsters". At one point, Justin just sat on the ground and wrapped his arms around his knees. The monster was the devil but there was a cute little pumpkin drawing on the side and Justin didn't want to listen to me. So he was acting like a pumpkin! Funny thing is, the kids guessed it right away!!

Then the most amazing thing happened! A witch came into the house and hid all of NapNap's candy! It was so helpful though that she left behind clues!

The kids had the best time with this game! The clues were so fun and creative! They would be something cute like, "You must howl like a ghost to the place that NapNap sleeps most!" So the kids would run through the house wailing to the master bedroom to find the next clue and so on and so on til they got to the candy!

It was such a great hit that a monster had come in and hid Darrien's game and left clues for us to find it! That was a lot of fun! It's not so easy reading clues from an 8 year old's writing!

Then we all snuggled on the coach and watched scary movies. Hocus Pocus and Ghostbusters!

It was a great night!

Thanks NapNap!! We love you!!

Quick Note

First, I must say that I am so blessed and grateful to have such a wonderful caring family. These past few weeks I have felt so much love. Thank you.

Welcome Back

Just a quick note to say that I am going to continue blogging. I am making this a private blog. So only those who are invited can access the blog, but I just love sharing my stories and pictures far too much to let it completely go. I didn't realize exactly how much all of this meant to me until it was gone.

At first I felt like it was an all or nothing sort of thing. I had to keep control over the things I have control over and blogging was one of them. It was a small sacrifice for the safety of my family. But the more I thought, prayed, and talked about it...the more I realized that there were other options. I am not promising that I will keep this blog running. I am still very reluctant and nervous, but I want to try. If I can keep in control of who can view and access the blog, I think I will feel better about it.

So with that in mind, please do not give my address or add my blog to your page because it will be inaccessible to those I do not invite to view it.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support!

I love you all very very much!!


PS- I'll start posting tomorrow!