10 years

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary.

 

A look at our life through the years...

 

This, my friends is what a 10 year anniversary dinner looks like when you have 3 kids ...

 

Here's to 10 more!



Burns baby

It was our annual Scotish Society Burn's Night celebration.

Can I get a WOOHOO!!!

It means one night hotel stay with no kids (thank you Nana!).

I look forward & dread it every year.

We have a great time but finding and being happy with a dress with all this baby weight- no thank you!

THis is what I ended up wearing, I cahanged my mind anbout an hour before we left the house.

All the Ladies

 

The Hubs and I

My sister-in-law Lisa, Niece Tori, Niece Taylor, me

 

Us (notice the guy in the background...I swear he photobombed half my picture)

The Sassy shoes I wore (Target).

 

All in all - great night!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I am sincere in saying that I have a love/ hate relationship with the holidays. 

I LOVE the true spirit of  Thanksgiving and Christmas but like so many others I am guilty of getting caught up in the commercialism of it all and that's when I get stressed and start hating it. 

Christmas is exactly TWO months from today. Yep you read that right- 2 months!!!

For me as a mom with several kids that means I need to get on the ball so I can spread out the impact all that Christmas Cheer is gonna have on my bank account.

In theory I love the baking and decorating and list making and gingerbread house making party, and traveling and ALL the other must do's but to be honest it's ALOT of work to make the holidays memorable for my little ones. 

But MY favorite part of the holidays is adopting another family and helping them with Christmas. We have adopted a family for several years now through various organizations and I usually shop for them by myself and wrap and deliver. However this year I am super stoked because I feel like the boys are old enough to help me and understand what and why were doing. 

This year has definitely been challenging for us financially (not that our kids would ever know that) but that makes it all the more important that we share the blessings that we DO have. There are always those that are less fortunate that we can help. 

I am so excited to be able to share this with my boys this year and as a bonus it will definitely help with my Gratitude Project. 

I am in the process of lining up the family that will bless us by allowing us to help them with Christmas. I encourage all of you to find a way you can make a difference for someone this season, I'm hoping my family will snowball into a something bigger. Keep you posted. 

Tis the season

An Attitude of Gratitude

 

 

I am really struggling today with an overwhelming feeling of wanting my children to be grateful for what they have and what is given to them.

 

They sometimes will "act like brats" as I like to call it and show a less than beaming side of themselves when someone gives them a gift. Yes it embarasses me, but more than that I do not want my children to grow up taking advantage of the blessings they have in their life- and they have an abundance.

 

Maybe not all parents consider birthday presents to be a blessing but I do.

 

Because we are blessed to have people in our life that care enough about them to gift them something,

 because often times they receive things they need which is one less thing I have to buy as a parent (which eases the financial burden)

because I truly hope that as they get older my children will learn the joy it can bring to another when they GIVE a thoughtful present.

 

So I have been thinking alot about ways the I as their mom can help them to foster gratefulness and an attitude of gratitude.

 

What is going to get the message across to a 7 and 4 year old?

What will their little brains understand?

 

I am adding this to my list of things to do because I feel strongly of it's importance.

I am on the search for activities that I can do with/ for my kids to help them develop an attitude of gratitude.

 

A Gratitude Project if you will.

I will be scouring the internet and quizing people for thought and ideas.

Stay tuned.

 

Burrrr

Today I am thankful for the cooler weather that we have today. It definitely helps it to feel like fall and helps to get me in a more holiday frame of mind.

But mainly, I'm thankful becauseI can wear my new boots...

I found them last week at Target for a steal at only $34.99.

They make me happy!

A Mother to Boys

Both times that I was pregnant and would tell people that it was a boy several people responded "Oh that's great, you're the perfect mom for boys".

I never undersood what they meant. But now I know that I am the perfect mom for these two adorable boys.

This picture makes me laugh because I know that they were fighting and yelling at eachother. But the picture doesn't show that. It looks peaceful with maybe a glimmer of hope that one day these two will be good friends.

I am thankful that God blessed me with these two handsome, smart, funny, challenging boys.

I can only imagine how boring life would be without them...

Sisters are built in friends

"If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child."

Did you guess that I am soooo thankful for my sisters?

I don't know who said that quote but it is SO true.

This is a picture of me and my sisters and our amazing mom.

We have been through alot together these past couple of years and who knows if we would have made it without eachother.

It is a rare day that goes by that I don't talk to atleast one of these amazing ladies, if not all three.

God knew what I needed when he gave me them.

A month to give Thanks

I am setting a personal goal to try and focus on all of the things that I am thankful for this month.

To kick off the month I thought I would focus on my hubby.

I know he reads this blog and probably won't be too thrilled to find himself the focus, so I won't gush too much.

Just to say I love him, am sooo thankful he is mine and thankful that he is who he is.

Love Ya Babe!