It's time for the New Year!

I am amazed at how fast this year has flown by. I really am.
2008 was kind of a tough year for us. We had lots of great things happen and lots of truly hard things happen. Through it all, we did the best we could, learned what we could and came through it all a little wiser and a lot stronger. We are truly blessed-
I am not big on writing New Year Resolutions, but this year I feel like it...so here are a few thoughts I have-

What amazing gifts the new year brings-
An entire year's worth of wonderful opportunities, given to us one sunrise at a time.
Many of the moments ahead will be marvelously disguised as ordinary days, but each one has the chance to make something extraordinary out of them.
Each new day is a blank page in the diary of our lives. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can. Have pages on understanding and tales of overcoming hardships.
Fill your story with enthusiasm, adventure, learning & laughter!
Make each chapter reflect time doing these things:
Follow your dreams. Work Hard. Be Kind. Do what you can to make the door open on a day that is filled with inspiration in some special way.
REMEMBER: Goodness will be rewarded. Smiles will pay you back. Have Fun. Find Strength. Be Truthful. Have Faith.
Don't focus on anything you lack. Realize that people are the treasures in life, and happiness is the REAL WEALTH.
Have a diary that describes how you're doing your best, and... the rest will take care of itself.

When I ring in the New year this eve, I am going to remember all of the people that mean so much to me. I am going to remember my much loved and missed Grandparents whom are watching over me from Heaven above. I am not going to let the procrastinators of this world bring me down or discourage me about our "economic times".
I am going to say my thank you's more often and always be grateful for what I have. I am going to hug my husband and children and dad really tight....and I will toast all of you that are miles away but always, always in my heart.

May God bless each and every one of you in this new year-
Much Love,
Laura Lynn

Mac Attack is 8!

It is hard for me to believe, but my baby is now 8. Holy cow....where does the time go?
Anyhow, he wanted a swimming party again this year. It was kind of strange to be swimming when we had a foot of snow on the ground and it was about 20 degrees out, but the pool was nice and warm and we had a lot of kids show up!

I think most of you know that Mac has his friends bring items to donate to the Oregon Humane Society instead of gifts. We load it all up and go turn it in. They give him a Certificate of Appreciation and a tour of the facility each time. (He loves animals)
He really looks forward to it every year. I did not get a picture of all of the items brought, but will when we go turn it all in!

Group picture- Mac is 4th in top row between the 2 tall kiddo's!

Lilly and Tarver had a blast too!

Hmmm...wonder what he is wishing for?

I was informed that the writing on Mac's cake should have been in red, not blue because Darth's light saber is red....OOOPS! I do apologize to all of you Star War fans! Ha-

Christmas Day

The kids came rushing down the stairs Christmas morning. They were excited to see what Santa had brought them!
We knew that we were going to have a quiet day. My family could not come as planned due to the snow and road conditions. We still cooked lots of food and did have some friends come by.

Lilly has been enjoying her kitchen set from Santa!

This is what it looked like outside Chrsitmas Day. At times, it looked as if we were having a blizzard!

Christmas Eve -

We made it to Kathy's (Pat's Mom's) for Christmas Eve. Our drive was interesting to say the least...I was shaking when we arrived! Anyhow, we were very glad to have made it! We got to have our usual tradition of Shrimp Salad and fondue, along with lots of caroling!

This is dad with Catie Lynn. She is the newest member of our extended family!

This is Lilly in her "Frosty" overalls. Everyone blamed her for the snow after seeing these and asked me if I could make them say "Let it Melt".

All the kids had a great Christmas Eve. They were all tired by the time we were done with the festivities. We were all thankful that we were able to celebrate it together-

Activities while snowed in...

We tried our hardest to keep ourselves occupied while we were "snowed in".
Dad worked on Lilly's dollhouse for a couple of days and played LOTS OF GAMES with the kids. He is now a pro at Candy Land and many other board games! Ha-
We also had friends over about every day. The kids had a good time making their gingerbread house. All in all, we did a good job of keeping busy. It was actually nice to have some quality time together!

Too Much-

It is hard to get good pictures of how deep the snow actually is, but here are a few shots. Everything is frozen with lots of snow on top of it. Our internet and t.v./satellite freeze up every so often.

Pops on the back porch taking a rest. He and Pat had been shoveling snow all morning!

Our new, bigger snowman.

I took this picture looking down from our upstairs bedroom window. This is the main road to get out and about on....yes...I know, there is NO ROAD!

Same main road, but taken from our back yard. The snow is higher than our fence in some places!

Our front driveway/yard. We have to "dig out" every morning.

We have trees and limbs coming down everywhere. This one bent the trampoline and the one below bent our metal fencing! I hate to mention it...but LUCKILY none have come too close to the house and we have not lost power as of yet. Our power flickers a lot, but seems to come back on quickly.

Lilly claiming "her" chunk of ice-

Lilly in the front yard. We have to watch her constantly while she is outside. Sometimes she falls through the snow so deep that I can only see her arms and head!

We have up to 25-31 inches of snow in some places. We are not sure when it is suppose to stop. We woke up to 4 "new inches" of snow this morning and it is snowing again. This is way more snow than we normally get! People are walking most places if they can and just trying to make the best of it. My Dad likes it, but I do think we are all starting to get a lil bit of "cabin fever"...
We are keeping busy with projects and Pat and my Dad have been shoveling snow and "rescuing" neighbors to pass the time- the kids are getting a bit bored. They can't really sled anymore. There is just too much snow-
We have not gotten any mail since Friday and today is Wednesday! Pat is going to venture over to the post office today and see what he can find out....
My Dad is painting Lilly's new doll house and I am just trying to figure out plans for the next couple of days. It does not feel like Christmas Eve today!!!
My brother called this morning and is having a great time in Switzerland. He says Merry Christmas to you all!

Winter BLAST-

We have been POUNDED with snow the last 4 days
AND IT IS STILL COMING!
We wanted a white Christmas, but this is a bit ridiculous...
We have tried to make the best of it. You can only sled and walk in it for so long...all our Christmas parties and activities have been canceled. You can't travel very far distance wise-
We will try to make it to Pat's mom's house later today to have our Christmas Eve celebration, but our Christmas Day plans have been canceled because others cannot drive here-
Actually, Pat and I are still cooking and having an "open house" type Christmas. All our neighbors are trapped too, so they are invited to stop in and enjoy some food!
This first set of pictures were taken before the "Big Blast" hit. We only had a couple of inches of snow in these-
I will post some more of the deep snow in next post-

This is Dad sitting on the fire hydrant in front of our house. The day after I took this shot, we had to re-locate it and dig the fire hydrant out!

The kids dug out a "tepee" they can crawl through it for quite a distance-

Sledding

Our first very small snow man

It's Frosty...

The kids and I made our own "Frosty the Snowman" inside. Our outside snow is so frozen and hard, you can't make anything with it! The kids think he is pretty cool...
He is kind of cute!

Winter Storm...

We are in for a very cold and ugly weather day. Snow this morning, freezing rain by this afternoon and more snow in the evening. School was canceled everywhere. The roads are suppose to be very treacherous and almost impossible to drive on. I went and did some "major" grocery shopping yesterday (as did everyone else) and we are as ready as we can be for today's storm.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will calm down by tomorrow and the roads are better because my dad is suppose to fly in tomorrow eve!

Mac is kind of frustrated with the weather. It is way too cold to play outside and all is frozen anyhow as far as the snow. His birthday party on Saturday will probably be canceled/rescheduled and he doesn't like the fact that he will not have a Christmas party at school. Lilly is on the tail end of her strep throat/cold. I am in the middle of mine...NEED SLEEP...my head feels like it's gonna explode. Head colds are the worst-
With Pat home and not at work, I will be catching up on my ZZZ's!

Preschool Pictures-

Lilly took some really cute pictures at school a few weeks ago. (If U click on them, U can see them in a bigger frame) I am impressed because she does NOT cooperate when I take her somewhere to have pictures done. I guess I will just rely on school pictures every year! Ha-
We survived being inside all day today. It was just way to cold and windy to be outside. We played games, did some crafts and watched movies.
I was kind of bummed that school was canceled because Lilly would have had her first Christmas concert this morning. I was REALLY looking forward to watching her. Her Christmas break started today, so no rescheduling the concert.
Oh Well, there's always next year and more concerts to come.
Mac's school has a 2 hour delay in the morning as long as we do not get any snow tonight. Guess we'll see in the morning!
Ta-Ta for now!

Frustrated with some things....

Why are some things so complicated? I tire of it. Maybe because I am 30 and have been dealing with complications my entire life? I know we all have them, I am not pouting. I am just tired. I may even sound as if I am complaining...do not mean to be- because I know complaining gets you no where...

My Dad called this morning and really doesn't want to fly here. I understand this issue for him. He is paranoid (in my opinion) of flying. He says he just hates it, but I know there is more to it than that. He wants to drive here...drive here in these crazy weather conditions that we are having!! We talked it out and he will be flying....whew, was sweating there for a while. (I do feel some guilt about asking him to fly here. I know he does not like it)

Then, as soon as I re-coop from that phone call...get another. My Mom. I have been trying to reach her for a couple of days with out much luck. I do finally catch up with her this morning and she is sick. To be honest, she is sick most of the time and it WEARS on me, I hate that she NEVER feels good. It makes me sad. Anyhow, I am rambling... she tells me that she is not coming for Christmas. She is going with her boyfriend to his family's Christmas. Why does this bother me?? Well, for starters she didn't come for Thanksgiving. He had an unexpected surgery, so she stayed with him. I do understand her reason for not coming. Pat and I have not met him yet. (I think that bothers me a bit too.) The kids asked where she was on Thanksgiving and I think I may have just not given them an answer.
My mom's reasons for not coming to Christmas are, my Dad will be here and she already told Pat (her boyfriend) that she would go with him. When she told me this, I was surprised by my reaction...I cried and told her it hurts my feelings that she would choose him over us....I am still REALLY surprised by my reaction....
I think I am just mostly tired of always having to stress about my parents being in the same place at the same time. They live 2,000 miles apart and have been divorced since I was six and I STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT! I still HATE IT (just as much as I did as a child) and HATE that I have to try to explain it to my kids. I have always been very careful about what I say to them when it comes to my parents. What am I to say to them when my Mom is not here for Christmas, the biggest holiday of the year? How am I suppose to feel about her spending Christmas with people I don't even know and not with us?? Am I blowing things out of proportion? UGH...I am just tired of stressing about it. I want to enjoy the holidays with my family and friends. We have so many things to be thankful for.
I think I am a bit more emotional this holiday season because it's the first without both Mema and Big John and Grandma Kay (Pat's g-ma) ....I am trying to keep that in mind and not over-react to things.
Maybe I just need some prayers....
I am trying to focus on ALL of the WONDERFUL things I have in my life and how truly blessed I am. Maybe I should not post this, but I am going to because I am struggling with it. I know it will all work itself out...always does.
Hopefully, tomorrow will start out a bit better-

Fun in the Snow...

These were taken yesterday (Sunday) in our back yard, front yard and on some of the walking/jogging nature trails in our development. I had a TERRIBLE time keeping Lilly in. She still has strep, but is a lot better- I have caught her bug and am hoping to not get strep!! That is the last thing I need right now...have not been outside in the snow to play as of yet.
We did not get as much snow as expected, but I think it was enough, especially with the ten day forecast that says we are getting more! It is freezing...only 18 degrees today and school is cancelled. Driving is NUTS...everything is frozen. I always stay home, not much on driving in bad weather. With no school in session, I have a lot of entertaining to do with the kiddo's. I had planned on getting a lot of things done and finish getting ready for my Dad's arrival on Thursday. Oh well, seems mother nature has other plans! I am hoping my Dad's flight is not delayed/cancelled. The kids are looking forward to him being here, and so am I.

YEAH!

We were watching the classic version of Frosty the Snowman this eve. We looked outside during a commercial break...AND IT'S SNOWING!
SWEET...Mac says.
YEAH...Lilly says.
SKI TIME...Pat says.
Will take some pictures in the morning...

Taking a Sick Day...

I went to get Lilly up this morning for another busy day and she was NOT FEELING WELL. She had a fever to say the least, and a tiny squeak for a voice. So, we called preschool to say she would be a no show, called the doc's office for an appt. and called Mac's school to cancel my art class. (Thank goodness I got two of the art classes done yesterday before she got sick!) Anyhow, she had a positive strep test and an ear infection. So antibiotics, lots of fluids and lots of snuggling and rest is on the agenda for the next few days. It's amazing how fast your kids can get sick. She was fine all day yesterday- she went with me to both art classes and all of my other running around's that had to get done. I now worry that we may have exposed people to Strep...

I took advantage of having to stay at home this afternoon. I did a lot of cleaning, laundry etc. I even got Grandpa Tex's room ready for him. He will be here in ONE WEEK! We are soo excited, but I sure hope the rest of us don't get sick too.
I also realized that there are only 15 days till Christmas, so I did some wrapping while my princess napped.
Pat took this picture last night of Mac reading a bed-time story to his 'lil sis... so sweet!
If Momma B sees this, I hope it brings back great memories of her kiddo's. The rocking chair belongs to her. It was her daughter's chair. It's on loan to us for awhile...

Now Presenting...

We Know how to Boogie Down!

Weekend Happenings-

We had a busy, but fun weekend. We got to see Santa. Lilly (as u can see) was not all that thrilled about him! But, she did not cry...so that was good.
She told him she wanted "princesses" for Christmas and Mac asked for a Razor scooter-

Our tree is up and decorated. This is NOT a great picture of it, but it will have to do. It is about 8 1/2 feet tall with about 800 lights on it!

After we decorated the tree, we made my Great Aunt Tea's "frosted tea cookies"
My Aunt Myrt in Texas emailed me the recipe. It has been in our family for a long time. They were very yummy and the kids had a ball making them!!!

I also worked on projects around the house that I have been wanting to get done. I finished painting & decorating Lilly's room and painted the kitchen too. It was a lot of painting/decorating in one day! I was tired last night. I have a hectic schedule this week. I am teaching 3 art classes this month at Mac's school...all of them this week! I also have stuff to get done for Lilly's Christmas Recital at her preschool as well. Her program is on Monday. She is pretty excited about it. She has been running around the house singing all of the songs.
We are going to possibly have some snow by the end of the week, so I need to go get my snow tires put on the car too- my list just keeps going... at least
I am almost done with my Christmas shopping...thank goodness! Now I just have a TON of wrapping to do! All in a days work...I guess-
Ta-Ta!

Getting our tree...

We ventured out on Saturday to find our tree. It was a beautiful day and the kids were beyond excited. We ended up with a 9 foot noble fir. (Pat REALLY enjoyed cutting it down) We had to do some trimming on it when we got home, but it is still at about 8 1/2 feet tall in the tree stand. We attempted decorating it that eve, but ran out of lights. So we started again today after a trip to get more lights.
When all the lights were up, we were amazed at how many it took. It has 8 strands of lights...that's 800 lights!
Anyhow, the kids put the ornaments on this eve and I am planning on doing some "finishing touches" sometime tomorrow...
This is by far the biggest tree we have ever had!
I will post pictures of it as soon as I get it all finished-

I am exhausted...I painted Lilly's room today and the kitchen, plus some decorating and cleaning up! WHEW...but feels good to have gotten it all done. Sometimes I think I just might be Super Woman....HA, yeah right...only in my dreams-