The year is gone

Where did it go? It seems like just yesterday we were starting this year and expecting Lauren. It has gone way to fast for my liking. I used to think that people were dumb when they told me that time flies once you have kids. Only know do I realize how true that is. Caitlin is 6 now and it blows my mind. The years move to quickly for my liking.
This last year has been an interesting one for us. While rather uneventful it still has been full of change. It has been a big year for me on many levels and maybe one day I will tell everyone about that. I hope this next year can bring about just as many great changes and new experiance. There is so much to see and do that I hope I can accomplish at least a small portion of what I have planned. This next year I plan on working on being a better mom. A very tough thing for me. I know most moms are too hard on themselves and all but really this is something that I need to work on. I see things in myself that I am not happy with. I do things that remind me of other people and I am not okay with that. This next year I hope that I can actually spend more time with the kids doing things they want rather than just being a silent bystandard. Tough for me as I am not a crawl on the floor and play kind of person. I hope I can change this.
This coming year I plan on making a lot of changes to myself to make me better. I hope that by doing this I can find contentment within myself....something that has always eluded me. This year I hope that I can learn to turn off my mind, relax, and just be.

Happy New Year everyone, may the coming year be filled with hope, excitment, love and family.

The year is gone

Where did it go? It seems like just yesterday we were starting this year and expecting Lauren. It has gone way to fast for my liking. I used to think that people were dumb when they told me that time flies once you have kids. Only know do I realize how true that is. Caitlin is 6 now and it blows my mind. The years move to quickly for my liking.
This last year has been an interesting one for us. While rather uneventful it still has been full of change. It has been a big year for me on many levels and maybe one day I will tell everyone about that. I hope this next year can bring about just as many great changes and new experiance. There is so much to see and do that I hope I can accomplish at least a small portion of what I have planned. This next year I plan on working on being a better mom. A very tough thing for me. I know most moms are too hard on themselves and all but really this is something that I need to work on. I see things in myself that I am not happy with. I do things that remind me of other people and I am not okay with that. This next year I hope that I can actually spend more time with the kids doing things they want rather than just being a silent bystandard. Tough for me as I am not a crawl on the floor and play kind of person. I hope I can change this.
This coming year I plan on making a lot of changes to myself to make me better. I hope that by doing this I can find contentment within myself....something that has always eluded me. This year I hope that I can learn to turn off my mind, relax, and just be.

Happy New Year everyone, may the coming year be filled with hope, excitment, love and family.

Update

I suck at this blog thing. I just cant get the hang of it, or more to the point, I lack the motivation. School has just not been flowing for me or the kiddos. We are having a hard time with it lately. We are lacking a lot of motivation.
Ian wanted to start writing and reading so we did. He is loving it and doing well so far. The kids love their desks they got for Christmas. Having the chalkboard on top sure makes it nice. :)

Update

I suck at this blog thing. I just cant get the hang of it, or more to the point, I lack the motivation. School has just not been flowing for me or the kiddos. We are having a hard time with it lately. We are lacking a lot of motivation.
Ian wanted to start writing and reading so we did. He is loving it and doing well so far. The kids love their desks they got for Christmas. Having the chalkboard on top sure makes it nice. :)

Monday Monday

It is most definatly Monday around here. I am trying to figure out if I should demolish a wall in the house or go for a long walk. You know the kind of day I am having right? Its good though. The snow is still here, although sadly it is melting, the fire is burning and the house smells good. So even though I want to go crazy, life is good.

Last night for dinner we had baked potatoes (they took FOREVER to cook errr) for dinner. I made up some buttermilk cole slaw to go with them. Now I am the only one in the family that really likes a good slaw but the other will eat it if they have too. Last night they had too. Anyway I am a cook book feind. I have, not kiddin, something like 30 cookbooks plus the random recipes that print off line. I figured last night was a perfect time to try out a new recipe. I pulled out a new one by Katie Lee Joel (Billy Joels wife). Most everything I have tried from this book has been good, until the cole slaw. Now it wasnt bad by any means but it wasnt good either ya know. WAY too much apple cider vinegar for my liking (and I love vinegar!) and a bit much pepper. So over all eh. I will probably tweak it a few times until it works for me.

The garden catalougs are starting to pour in. Ohhh you know me and the garden goodies. I have to say though, I am somewhat dissapointed in the amount of hybrids I am seeing in my good ole' organic cataloges. Now I know it is possible to be both and I know and understand the benefits of hybrids but really I want to know that my plant is going to produce seeds that I can save if I want to with out getting some compromised veggie. Am I weird in this thinking?

So anyway I will be pouring over the goodies, planning an overflowing garden, dreaming of tasty goodness, and otherwise relaxing for the rest of the day. Life is good.

Monday Monday

It is most definatly Monday around here. I am trying to figure out if I should demolish a wall in the house or go for a long walk. You know the kind of day I am having right? Its good though. The snow is still here, although sadly it is melting, the fire is burning and the house smells good. So even though I want to go crazy, life is good.

Last night for dinner we had baked potatoes (they took FOREVER to cook errr) for dinner. I made up some buttermilk cole slaw to go with them. Now I am the only one in the family that really likes a good slaw but the other will eat it if they have too. Last night they had too. Anyway I am a cook book feind. I have, not kiddin, something like 30 cookbooks plus the random recipes that print off line. I figured last night was a perfect time to try out a new recipe. I pulled out a new one by Katie Lee Joel (Billy Joels wife). Most everything I have tried from this book has been good, until the cole slaw. Now it wasnt bad by any means but it wasnt good either ya know. WAY too much apple cider vinegar for my liking (and I love vinegar!) and a bit much pepper. So over all eh. I will probably tweak it a few times until it works for me.

The garden catalougs are starting to pour in. Ohhh you know me and the garden goodies. I have to say though, I am somewhat dissapointed in the amount of hybrids I am seeing in my good ole' organic cataloges. Now I know it is possible to be both and I know and understand the benefits of hybrids but really I want to know that my plant is going to produce seeds that I can save if I want to with out getting some compromised veggie. Am I weird in this thinking?

So anyway I will be pouring over the goodies, planning an overflowing garden, dreaming of tasty goodness, and otherwise relaxing for the rest of the day. Life is good.

Snap shots of Christmas

The first two are from today. The kids thought these were a riot so I am sharing.

It was a complete hit around here. We had an awesome day. It really was great. I didnt even get stressed....HUGE accomplishment for me lately.

Snap shots of Christmas

The first two are from today. The kids thought these were a riot so I am sharing.

It was a complete hit around here. We had an awesome day. It really was great. I didnt even get stressed....HUGE accomplishment for me lately.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Its fantastic here, a near blizzard out my window and its wonderful. I love it and I cant wait to see how much we get out of this storm. I dont know how people cant like this season. Its so relaxing (yes I do go outside and drive!) and peaceful. Ahhhh nothing is better than fall and winter in my opinion. Love it Love it Love it.

The kids are loving it too. Tomorrow is snow fort day, or at least snowman day depending on how big of drifts we get out back. Last year took the cake, I would love to see it get beat this year.

Christmas shopping is done. All presents are wrapped. I was totally lame this year and didnt sew a single thing for anyone. I tried but managed to screw up (well almost) 10 yards of fabric. Dont ask. I will tell you this, I have more pj pants in Christmas prints than I ever wanted. Grrr. Anyway I managed to get the deal of the year yesterday. Wanna see???

I bought 2 of these for under $100 bucks. I have been pricing them for a year now and I havent found them for under $100 each. Yesterday I walked into a great kids store I havent ever been in and they had them for 60% off! WOOT WOOT. Seriously I couldnt pass them by. They will be great for the kids school and honestly they will think they are the coolest thing since....I dont know granola bars or something. :)

This year we started a new family tradition. We hate the mass commercialization of the season. We hate the extreame buying. We hate the frantic pace set by everyone. And we hate dealing with the "Oh what to get? Did we get enough?"....blah blah that we have dealt with years past. Anyway we have started a 3 theme. Something to wear, something to play, and something to read. Simple sweet and to the point. LOVE IT. I shared the thought with a friend and she said her sister did it also, except she did it because there were 3 wisemen at Christs birth. Her philosophy was that Christ only had 3 gifts why should the rest of us have more. Hmmmm somthing to think about there.

Caitlins play gift is a cookie baking set and her book is the Blue Fairy book.

Ians play gift is a tool set and his book is a collection of Aseops Fables. No pics sorry.

We didnt really worry about Lauren. We'll get her a little something and then give her the boxes from everything else. :D She'll be in heaven.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Its fantastic here, a near blizzard out my window and its wonderful. I love it and I cant wait to see how much we get out of this storm. I dont know how people cant like this season. Its so relaxing (yes I do go outside and drive!) and peaceful. Ahhhh nothing is better than fall and winter in my opinion. Love it Love it Love it.

The kids are loving it too. Tomorrow is snow fort day, or at least snowman day depending on how big of drifts we get out back. Last year took the cake, I would love to see it get beat this year.

Christmas shopping is done. All presents are wrapped. I was totally lame this year and didnt sew a single thing for anyone. I tried but managed to screw up (well almost) 10 yards of fabric. Dont ask. I will tell you this, I have more pj pants in Christmas prints than I ever wanted. Grrr. Anyway I managed to get the deal of the year yesterday. Wanna see???

I bought 2 of these for under $100 bucks. I have been pricing them for a year now and I havent found them for under $100 each. Yesterday I walked into a great kids store I havent ever been in and they had them for 60% off! WOOT WOOT. Seriously I couldnt pass them by. They will be great for the kids school and honestly they will think they are the coolest thing since....I dont know granola bars or something. :)

This year we started a new family tradition. We hate the mass commercialization of the season. We hate the extreame buying. We hate the frantic pace set by everyone. And we hate dealing with the "Oh what to get? Did we get enough?"....blah blah that we have dealt with years past. Anyway we have started a 3 theme. Something to wear, something to play, and something to read. Simple sweet and to the point. LOVE IT. I shared the thought with a friend and she said her sister did it also, except she did it because there were 3 wisemen at Christs birth. Her philosophy was that Christ only had 3 gifts why should the rest of us have more. Hmmmm somthing to think about there.

Caitlins play gift is a cookie baking set and her book is the Blue Fairy book.

Ians play gift is a tool set and his book is a collection of Aseops Fables. No pics sorry.

We didnt really worry about Lauren. We'll get her a little something and then give her the boxes from everything else. :D She'll be in heaven.

Classical Kids

I LOVE this program. I happened to pick up my WTM copy last week and flipped through the suggestions. I quickly noticed that they suggest Classical Kids and mentioned that it came highly recommened. I filed that away for later.
The next day we went to the big library and what do you know, there is a CK cd right there. This cd has been played everyday for over a week at least 3 times a day. The kids dont ask for a movie they just want the CK cd.

If you want music appreciation as part of your day check this out!

Classical Kids

I LOVE this program. I happened to pick up my WTM copy last week and flipped through the suggestions. I quickly noticed that they suggest Classical Kids and mentioned that it came highly recommened. I filed that away for later.
The next day we went to the big library and what do you know, there is a CK cd right there. This cd has been played everyday for over a week at least 3 times a day. The kids dont ask for a movie they just want the CK cd.

If you want music appreciation as part of your day check this out!