Today

  I realize that posting again so soon is rather shocking but today I awoke to a white world!  It was beautiful and my sweet husband delayed leaving for a few minutes so I could go out with my camera. I think we got a good 2 inches! So rare here….

I think I am getting rusty with my camera though :oP I need to get it out more but I did manage to get a few that I thought I would share

The view out the backdoor: 

The view from the front:

I found the contrast in color between the weeping willow and the incredibly blue sky to be fascinatingly beautiful

Another tree and my attempt at sun flare

  

And my not-as-successful-as-I-had-hoped  water droplets:

   

Coming next *should* be more vacation pics  :oD

A start

  Well, as I decided to post a pic of each of the kids from our vacation….. Here are the kids all bundled up for the cold  :o)

 

 

Confusion and delay

  :oD  Some of you can probably guess what movie kick we are on right now… Yep, Thomas the Train. It is wonderful for sick 3 year old boys. :o)

  My good intentions of more frequent updates, of posting vacation pictures, etc…. have remained that…. just good intentions.  No matter what I have tried to accomplish I met with confusion and delay. From some little person accidently forgetting that they weren’t supposed to touch my USB cord for my camera and losing the little adaptor end, to sick kids, to a million other mishaps, I just have not been able to make my intentions into reality.  :o(  We did just find the USB adaptor thing and so the pics are on the comp but, as I sat down to sort, edit, and post them, my little guy (who isn’t feeling well) woke up and needed me. As the kids are still sick, I am not sure having them on the computer is getting me that much closer. *Sigh*  So, I have decided not to promise any more posts ever…. 

  I am currently trying to evaluate my need to edit pics before posting. It really slows me down and makes it harder to get them posted. So, the question is, will it drive me nuts to see them on my blog un-edited or can I just enjoy having more frequent posts? I feel the need to say “Hi, my name is B and I am a photoshop addict”  :oP   It is the same quest for perfection that haunts so many aspects of my life. Nothing I do is ever good enough for my standards. I guess I will need to tackle that to….. <rolling eyes>  Along the same lines, I need to sort the million pics on my computer and delete the ones that aren’t up to par, edit the ones that I need to edit, and get them put on CDs so I don’t risk losing them all again.  I am not good at deleting pics that are mediocre. Decision making is not my strong point :^)

   Well, the aforementioned sicky is hungry.

Toodles!  ;^)

A move and a………

VACATION!!!  :o) 

My apologies for being so absent lately. Life has been crazy busy as we have worked at getting moved back in to our “New Old house”!  There is much about living here that we are l♥ving and there is much about living with my parents that we miss.  My kids have had some major withdrawals….. they loved being able to spend so much time with Grandma and Papa and I am so very grateful for the time we spent with them. To see my kids relationships with my parents brings me such joy! My children are incredibly blessed to have 2 sets of wonderful grandparents that they get to see fairly often. I could go on but the point of this post was to explain my absence.  I would like to say that I am completely moved and settled but that would not be the truth. I need more organizational supplies and skills before that can be accomplished. " :o)  We are enjoying living above ground, with lots of natural light, a house that is fairly easy to get looking clean, I am really enjoying having a bedroom (instead of the living room) for the first time in over 3 years. It is nice to have a space that is “mine”, I love the kitchen here too.  We miss the play area at my parents and having our pets here with us but are facing these challenges with good attitudes and enjoying the excuse to go to Grandma and Papa’s daily to feed the rabbits and talk with Grandma and/or Papa if either is home. :o)  The other big happening, which will get it’s own post, complete with pics, is our vacation. For Christmas we were given the opportunity to have lodging paid for a vacation. AMAZING! Thanks Dad and Mom :^*  We left Monday and got back last night.  Our last vacation was roughly 9 years ago, so the kids have never been on one, and we were way overdue for a little fun. I can’t begin to tell you just what a pleasure it was. We went with my folks and that increased the fun!  Anyhow, now we are back and gearing up to get back into school. We have missed it and I *think* we are settled enough that I will be able to teach now and hopefully blog a bit more often. :o)    All in all, 2011 has been an amazing and busy year for us so far :o)

My December Resolution

  I have been meaning to post this all month but, well, somehow the month is almost gone and I am just now getting to it!  I really don’t think I like how fast time is flying by these days.   The last part of November I, through a variety of circumstances, felt led to make some changes.  As I may have mentioned a time or two  ;o), the last 2+ years have been really difficult.  During these hard times I had gradually allowed myself to become more and more overwhelmed with the negative, to the point that I no longer could see God’s kindness and love for me. All I could see, truthfully all I looked for, was the negative and it was threatening to consume me.  So, at the beginning of December, I decided to make a point to daily look for evidence of God’s love and kindness towards me and share them with my e-mail group (I have a group of ladies that I e-mail with as a Bible reading accountability group, it has been amazing for me!).  I can’t say that life has been any easier since starting this exercise, but I can say that it has changed my perspective and has helped my attitude. I am once again able to see and remember that God loves me. The bad no longer seems quite as overwhelming and I no longer feel forgotten……  My only regret with this is that I haven’t written it down in one spot. Maybe my New Years resolution should be to start an actual journal just for these things. :o)

Smiley

    I can’t believe that my baby is 3 months old today!  Where has the time gone?  *sniff*  In honor of his 3month "birthday” I thought today would be a good day to do his picture post.  :o)

   Sadly, you will not see much of his smiles in these pics because he doesn’t smile when there is a big black box (camera) in front of Mommy’s face.  

 

  He is my littlest ray of sunshine

   My cuddler

 

   My little talker

  My special gift from God 

 

  Though our plans did not include a 4th child we are so VERY grateful that God’s plan for our family did. This little guy brings me such amazing joy!   He loves to be talked to, he loves to held and cuddled, he has the cutest smiles, coos, and giggles! He loves to sit in his Bumbo and stare at his toes, he thinks his tongue is fascinating, he likes his swing and his stroller, but does not care for tummy time! He adores his siblings and they him. I can’t even find words to describe how wonderful he is and how thankful I am that he is a part of our family!  He truly is a special gift of joy in a very difficult season in our lives.

My little man…..

Returning to our regular programming ;o), I bring you my little man.  It cracks me up just how much the name “little man” fits him!

He’s my Mr Cool (even with chocolate on his face!)

My little flatterer  (His little mouth looks funny in this pic because he had a biking accident in which it appeared he tried to knock all of his teeth out…. his lips were still a little swollen)

My little ham  ;o)

My sweetheart

  He tells me I am beautiful every day, he cuddles with me and likes to brush my hair, he loves to be my hero and my helper.  His time is seldom spent in “just play”, his play is almost entirely made up of practicing to “be like Daddy”.  He can’t wait to have a welder, a gun, a knife, and tools.  He likes to “fix” things and loves to play “chatch” with his football, basketball, “Winnie-uh-pooh” ball.  He loves big equipment and animals.  He loves music and musical instruments. He turns sticks into guitars and makes up songs. He is always busy, busy, busy!  He is the best big brother in the entire world! And, although there are times I think that he will shorten my life by many years with the things he attempts, I am so thankful that God chose me to be his Mom.  He brings me such joy and laughter.