11 Years Old

Yesterday this guy here turned 11 years old.

Goof Ball!  

By the way that is a pancake (his birthday dinner choice) that I did not have success making, but it was still delicious and he didn't seem to care.

Gift cards and candy.  What more can you ask for when you're 11?  Nike.com, Game Stop,  App Store, and three months of Xbox live.  

He is growing into this boy who is still two years from being a teenager yet he is starting to look like one to me!  (I'm not ready!!) 

 He is also kind, loving, and just plain awesome!  

Happy Birthday J!

We Like to Call Her

Pleasantly Plump.

She's just so darn cute!  Don't you think?

A Little Bit of Christmas

I know it's January, but because I took that little technology break during the month of December I didn't have the chance to share some of our holiday festivities.  I won't bore you with all the advent activities, many of which we did last year.  However I did want to share one of our new crafts which was to decorate our bedroom doors.  (I may have stolen the idea from Jamie?  Did I see that on your list?)

Anyway, we have this huge roll of paper I've had since I had my home daycare.  I pulled three long sheets of it and gathered some stickers, markers, crayons, ribbons, etc and the kids sat on the floor and decorated the paper to hang on their bedroom doors.

The children were so creative with these.  It may be hard to see all the little details but let me tell you there are some super cute drawings on A's and C's.  J drew Santa in pencil.  It's really very good!  I took a picture with and with out the flash and it seems it's easier to see without the flash.  

A's 

C's

J's

What do you think?

Rejoice!

The wallpaper is no more!

I did have to hire someone (thank you Lisa for the recommendation!).  There were two layers of wallpaper and I'm pretty sure it had been there for at least 30 years.  It took three men and eight hours to remove every last piece.  I'm so thankful!  We've been living with that wallpaper for six years!

Today I am off to find a new color for the walls.  I'm excited and scared.  I'm always afraid to make the wrong choice when it comes to paint.  Usually I'm happy but there have been some mistakes and no one wants to live with a color that makes them want to cry.  Right?

Here are a few I'm thinking about:

Benjamin Moore

Tranquility

Lemon Sorbet

Golden Straw

Sea Haze

Wish me luck!

More Baby Love

Did you hear that squeal?  

Love it!

Baby Bee's First Day

I was hoping to show off my niece a lot sooner but poor C came down with the stomach bug.  

Needless to say it's been quite a ride!  Baby's are a lot of hard work!  I had forgotten after all these years.  Throw in a sick six year old on day two, a snow day, and whoa!  What can you do but sit down with a snugly baby, be surrounded by your family, take some deep breaths, and settle in. Just go with it. Right? Right!  

Poor Baby Bee! On her first day she was bombarded by three giant children and the dog!  Can you say "Over stimulation"? Of course they are excited to see her and don't quite grasp the concept of "too much of a good thing" for a four month old.

Once my three went to school, she settled right in.  She played in the Exersaucer, had some tummy time, I sang her favorite songs, and we played pat-a-cake! We took a trip to the mall where I had to buy her a new toy of course!  She also likes to eat, and she poops a lot.  I guess I had forgotten how much they poop.

She is truly one of the happiest babies I have ever know and I've known a lot of babies!

I've Got the Gear

and I'm ready for Baby Bee!  

Starting tomorrow Baby Bee will be staying with me while my sister works.  I am so excited! She's such a happy baby and I love her to pieces.  

Be prepared for baby overload.  I have a feeling I will be blogging about her and our time together quite a bit.  

Accomplished

You may or may not wonder how my "break" from technology worked out?  Maybe?  Well, I'd like to tell you!  

I spent as much time with the kids as I could.  Really listening with no distractions.  Helping with homework. Not yelling. And then after the Newtown Massacre I was glad I had taken the time off from the computer and my blog.  First, I would not have been able to handle all the news coverage, the pictures etc. and glad that the children were protected from it too.  I was craving every minute with them.  I needed them to be with me.  I needed them to know they were safe.  I was grateful there was no media related news for them to see.  As for myself, I've never been more grateful to not look at a television screen or computer in my life. 

Mostly because of what had happened, I also chose to add no television time during the day.  No television and no computer freed up quite a bit of time and I was able to get much more done during the day.  I'm ashamed to say how much of my time was spend or should I say wasted, looking at a screen (it can be so addicting, don't you think?)

During those weeks I was able to::

• Buy 5 houseplants!
• Complete my book goal of reading 70 books in 2012
• Make approximately 8 trips to the goodwill.  We purged and organized the basement, playroom, and two dressers (in the boys bedrooms), and my scrapbook/craft area.
• Write in my journal everyday
• See my sister and Baby Bee a lot
• Plan meals and shop
• Have coffee with friends
• Tried again (unsuccessfully) to remove wallpaper in the kitchen. I think we're going to have to hire someone.  Ugh.
• Kept the house clean and was caught up on the laundry
• Completed all Christmas shopping and preparations a week before Christmas!
• Scheduled appointments

Good, no? 

However, I still did not craft!  Crafting was one of the main things I was hoping I'd be able to do.  That's what all that time staring at the computer was for, right?  Looking for things to make and and do.  But it's OK!  The cleaning and organization will help me feel free to create without worry of all those other "things" that have to get done.  

Will I go back to staring at those screens again you wonder?  I'm thinking I can/will be able to continue on this path of less technology and less distractions. And maybe, just maybe, catch up on some scrapbooks and learn to sew my own clothes (which I may have mentioned here a time or two ;)

Baby Love

I got to have Baby Bee all to myself the other night.  My heart is bursting with joy when this little one is around.  She is the most smiley, happy baby.  

Love, love, love.  Oh, and we are both in our Jam Jams!  (those are pajamas just in case you weren't sure)

Perfect, no?

Back to Reality

Today was the first day I have been alone in 12 days.  The kids and The Husband were home during the entire holiday vacation.  No school, no work, no obligations (outside of the home). Total bliss.  

Today, not so great.  I couldn't get moving once the kids got on the bus.  I felt lonely and then my mind began to obsess about the Newtown Massacre.  While my family was home it distracted me from such heartbreaking thoughts and feelings.  Those thoughts were still there mind you, but deep, very deep.  I was enjoying my family and feeling more blessed then I've felt in a long time.  I know I am always saying, writing, thinking, about how blessed I am.  But after that nightmare, I feel more blessed than I think I could ever imagine being.  Today my heart is breaking again for all those families.  Why do things like this happen?  I was driving to the Goodwill today to drop off some donations and went by one of the cemeteries where one of the children is buried and my heart just about broke into two. My Mother-in-law is buried there and every time I visit her I will know he is buried there too.  I don't know if I can go there again?  I just don't know if my heart and soul can take it?  

Yes, I live just a mere 10 miles from Sandy Hook Ct.  I've tried to have as much anonymity as I could on this blog.  But I need you to know.  I need you to know this is my neighboring town.  I know people who live there.  I am torn to pieces.  This unspeakable tragedy has changed me forever.  I almost lost all faith in man kind. I hated God or a higher power, if there is one?   How could this happen?

But most of us will never know.  We can't possibly imagine what goes through the mind of a lunatic.  Because we get up each day and live our lives with the best intentions.  We love and care for our family, our friends.  We would never think to hurt another being in such a tragic way. 

Here are some thoughts I wrote in my journal a few days after December 14th::

I can barely function.  My sadness is so deep.  I keep questioning;  Why children? Why at all?  What is wrong with this world?  What was wrong with him?  How crazy do you have to be? 

This, this is close.  It's so close, so very close.  Being close makes it so very real. So very, very, frightening, heartbreakingly real.

My brain, my heart, my soul is broken.  Those parents.  Oh my God.  How will they ever go on?  How can they ever be the same?  How will they get up each day knowing their child was killed by a maniac?  How?  Please can someone tell me how?  But no.  No one can.  We will never have the answers, we will never know, because it is not us waking each day to this unspeakable nightmare.  It wasn't one of us who planned this massacre.  

Why?  Why would God let this happen?  Is there a God?  A God I want to believe in would never let this occur.  Would he?   

Today I heard a priest say that this was not an act of God, this was not his plan, but a senseless act of violence.  This saved me from hating God or any higher power.  This may be the one thing I heard that saved me from completely losing the little faith I have left.

I am digging very deep to find any light in such darkness.  

And this is why my one little word for 2013 is Faith.  I need my faith in man kind restored.  I need faith to get through my own heart ache.  I need faith to believe those families will be able to go on.  I need faith to believe there is something more to life then what is right in front of our eyes.  I need faith to believe there is still some good in this world. 

I need faith.  

Happy New Year

Happy 2013!

Before I tell you about new years eve, I want to thank everyone who visits me here.  I know my blog is kind of random.  I write about this and that.  This is not a sewing blog, or a cooking blog, or a gardening blog.  It's my blog.  A place I write about what's on my mind and share things about my family of five for my mom and sisters and my closest friends.  And when others join the party, it feels wonderful and I'm heart warmed they enjoy what I have to share.   So thank you, thank you.  And please continue to take a look.  

I'm beginning this year with the hope of a peaceful and joyful one.  My one little word for 2013 is Faith.  More on that later.  

Now for the festivities::

We thought it would be fun for the kids to invite one friend to spend the night and ring in the new year.  They began the afternoon with sledding in the backyard (we have a really awesome hill for sledding!).  Once they came in the boys played video games and the girls played with their American Girl dolls.  We ate lots food; veggies and ranch dip, cocktail weenies (always a favorite), bruschetta, shrimp cocktail, hot wings (for me and daddy), and some chips.  For dessert we had cupcakes for the kids and carrot cake for Poppy's birthday.

We had sparkling cider to toast in the new year and watched the ball drop.  (the boys didn't make it!  Jeez! Boys......)

I wish you all a wonderful, happy, healthy, peaceful, and joyful 2013!