New Year. New Me.

I've heard that saying so many places this New Year already!  

I'm ready for that.
New year.
New me.

I've changed a lot this year.
Might be all the changes we've had.

Might be all in the greater part of life called "growing up."

Either way, I'm not comfortable anymore.
I don't have the answers I'm looking for.

But some things are clear for me:
1.  I have a new favorite kind of music.  And his name is Phillip Phillips. His music makes my heart feel the same way Sarah McLachlan, Jason Mraz, and John Mayer's music does.

Free.   
And happy.

 So, if you're looking for me, I'm listening to my favorite Pandora station:  Phillip Phillips.
 
2.  I finally found my "style" of decorating and I think now that I own a sewing machine I might finally be able to get closer to that style in my own house.  I can not wait for my annual antiquing day with my mom this year because I have a few things in mind I'm looking for:  an old ladder, more burlap, and wooden letters that I can spray paint.

3. We are getting ready for a major shift in life.  I can't talk about it on here, but just wait...  I'm putting my trust in God- trying to be real with him.  I've been discussing how I might be worried/scared/excited/nonchalant/too laid back about it, but I will trust Him to take care of us.  God is good.  He knows this isn't the end of the world for us.  He knows that our marriage/family will become stronger because of this.  He's got the bigger picture in mind for us, and someday we will look back at all the stress we're going through now, and know why.

4.  I highlighted my hair again.  I'm blonde again.  I feel like myself when I'm blonde.  You can take that any way you want.  But, I was meant to be blonde.  :)

Hopefully 2013 will show me what the "new me" is.  Teaching is getting harder.  Parenting gets trickier the older they get.  But, we're blessed.  And I'm going with that. 
         

How did we survive?

How does one family survive 9 Christmas Get Togethers in one season?

Easy.
You just make sure everyone is in the car, and you hope for the best.  The best behavior.  The best food.  The best relatives that want to play with your kids while you enjoy adult time with other adults.

And apparently, you don't take very many pictures.  
But, you do make forts, have floor picnic parties, swim, and celebrate retirement.

   Play basketball, sing many many Christmas songs, eat a ton, play board game/Wii games, and celebrate Jesus.

Bake cookies, make crafts, go to the Mall of America (Property Brothers were there!), open presents, dance, and love on each other.

Happy New Year everyone!

 

   

resting peacefully... in Jada's bed.

We went to Minnesota over Christmas break, and while that's another post, this one about Jasper.  He did not get to go North with us.  Instead, he was kenneled at my aunt and uncle's vet clinic for 5 days.  

Yes, we took his bed.
Yes, we took his blanket.

But, if you've ever been in a vet clinic, you know what my poor doggy had to sleep on in- a metal cage.  :(

So, I guess you can imagine how fine he feels tonight to be sleeping in this comfy "cage" (if you can consider the bottom bunk to be a cage).  

  I went into her bedroom to turn off the light, and saw this.

You think he pulled those covers over himself?

He kept giving me those "I know, I know... you can take my man card... but I'm not leaving this spot!"  At least the blanket is green with Santa's instead of the pink Princess one she's wrapped up in.

Welcome home, Jazzy! 

Day 2 of Christmas vacay

Day one of Christmas vacation was filled with kids fighting, and a grumpy mommy.  

So, I'm fast forwarding this blog post to day two of Christmas vacation.  IT was filled with crafts, quietness, and game playing.  Ahhh.... now THIS is what I love about time off from work!

 The day before I had decided we needed craft supplies, so with the craft sticks I bought, Jada and Gracie made people- a whole family.  They even named each one.

 Sophie even made her own project, which I put up on my kid wall in my bedroom.

 This monster was so quiet after he painted his own black artwork.  I didn't even realize he was sitting across from me at the table reading books.  

 I even made my own Christmas project- it's a present for someone special.  :)  It came from Pinterest and turned out great for something that only took me about an hour to make. (I put scrapbook paper into the shredder for long strips.  Then, I glued each strip one by one and cut them to the right length.  After I got the tree done, I put the red paper zigzagging up the tree.)  It was a fun project to make.

 Tonight we are in for a night of Just Dance 4, ordering pizza, and spending time together!  After the events of December14th in Connecticut, I'm having second thoughts about going anywhere- I just want to spend time with the people that matter the most.

A Christmas Surprise!

Sophie has been waiting and waiting for some packages to arrive.  I wish I would have taken pictures of these ginormous boxes that came full of things for her.... and for Chad and me! 

She said her friends sent presents- I can't wait to see what they are on Christmas when she opens them!  I also saw that AFTER the boxes arrived, more presents appeared under the tree!

The box that came for Chad and I had a Christmas Pyramid in it.  Have you seen them before?
The more people I tell about it (or Facebook about it), the more people I know who has one.

    With the candles lit, it was hard to get a good picture of it.  But, the propellor at the top spins when you light the candles.  The middle and bottom section moves around and they have nativity pieces in them.  

I don't know if my grandparents had one or not.  And if so, I wonder if that was the connection to why I was so weepy last night.  I just couldn't get enough of this Christmas Pyramid.  I kept looking at it, and the more I looked it, the weepier I got.  It's just so beautiful.  And I've been missing my grandparents (all of them) a LOT lately.  I've been thinking about them so much, and wanting to find time to go visit them.  

This was the perfect gift for us.  Thank you so much, Thomas and Alexandra, for sending this from Germany!  It touched my heart deeply.

He's over 200 years old?!?!?!

Trying to explain something like "Santa Claus" to kids is tricky.  "He looks like Santa Claus, but his name is St. Nicholas.  And he comes to your door on the eve of Dec. 5th, and if you put your shoe/boot out then he'll fill it with goodies- IF you've been good all year."  
Gracie:  "Oh, I get- he's a cousin to Santa!"
Me: "Well, no... St. Nicholas is more religious than Santa Claus."
Jada: "What does religious mean?"
Me: "Uh....."
Gracie: "You mean he's over 200 years old?!?!?"

Why is this so hard!

Well, hard as it was, St. Nicholas visited our house so that when the kids woke up on Dec. 6th there were treats in their boots.
German treats!

    The boots were all lined up like this,

 But St. Nicholas must have known better than to keep them there.  So, when we woke up, the boots were put up.  Can you see who would/could have been a culprit to some Christmas candy?

 Thank you St. Nicholas!  The kids are still calling you Santa Claus, sorry!

thanksgiving weekend

Some think Black Friday is such a stressful, unnecessary waste of time.  To me (and Amanda, Tom, and Hannah) it's a family tradition- three years strong!  And this year we had three extra people- Kara, Bradley, and Tracy.

 It's the thrill of the chase for that awesome sale- although I can't say I found any sale amazing this year except for a few clothes I got Trey.  But, where else can you see a lit up truck at midnight?

 Tracy and Bradley wanted to take the kids somewhere fun over the weekend, so we took them all to Exploration Place.  Poor Sophie was sick, so she didn't get to come.  This is what she missed...

  Some of the big kids got to build, too.

 Since we celebrated Christmas with Chad's side over Thanksgiving break, we felt it necessary to decorate the tree.

 In my last post I talked about how I'm ready for December.  Now December is here.  We have a child with a fever, I wanted to start Random Acts of Kindness with my 2nd graders tomorrow, and I have Christmas presents that need to be bought yet.  Why is this the time of year I look forward to the most, but seem to be the most stressed in?  Oh well.  Life goes on.  Jesus blesses us daily, and we give him the Glory for that.