Day 52/365: So Strong

Day 52/365

Well we've all been taking turns being sick around here, and hopefully we're all better now. Just in time for Christmas. 

Today is Sunday, and normally on Sunday we try to do things a little differently. We don't play soccer or football. We don't ride bikes, or go sledding. And usually we wouldn't play in the snow. Sundays are usually reserved for visiting family and friends, and spending quality time together as a family playing games, reading books, and just enjoying each other. 

But every once in a while it's fun to break the rules. Today we did. As soon as we got home from church I got my kids dressed in their snow pants and boots and let them go outside and play. We didn't even change them out of their sunday clothes! They had a blast, and it gave me some much needed peace and quiet as they shoveled snow, built a snowman, and had a snowball with their dad. 

In this picture my son is showing me how incredibly strong he is by holding up his shovel full of snow. :) 

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Day 40/365: So Behind

Day 40/365

It's getting a little ridiculous how behind I am. I was doing well enough until this last week hit. My sister got married and things got crazy around here. 

On top of it I got super sick for a few days, and I left my computer at my in-laws. So add all that up, and well, now you know why it goes from 30 something to day 40. 

But I like the phrase "Start where you are, make the best of whatever" so that's what I'm planning on doing.

So here we are Day 40 of 365. This is a picture of my nativity set. I love this set! Something about it is so lovely to me. I add to it every year. 

CC welcome.
Also, if anybody has tips on noise reduction I would LOVE them. 

34/365:Train tradition

34/365

When I was little my dadd started a new family tradition. He bought a train and each year added on to it. 

Part of the magic of Christmas morning was hearing the clickity-clack of the train circling the tree. Santa usually even built tunnels for the train with presents. 

When I got married my dad gave my husband and I our first train set. We set it up every year and are beginning to add to it and continue the tradition with our own kids. 

I'm pretty sure that it's their favorite part of Christmas.

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Days 33/365: Christmas Lights.

Day 33/365

(I tried to post yesterday, but couldn't for the life of me get anything to work at all. So I gave up. I will however get day 32 posted eventually.)

So this is my baby sister. And that is my husband's best friend. 

I set them up years ago, and now they are getting married. Just call me Yenta. :) 

This shot was after their official shoot was over. I saw them walking back to their car and grabbed them for this shot. I think it turned out rather well. I feel like the white balance is a bit off though. But not enough to completely take away from the picture. 

CC Welcome! 

Day 31/365

Day 31/365

Ok I'm a little...a lot behind. In fact, I'm more behind than I thought I was. But I do have all the pictures, I just have to post them. I'll get mostly caught up eventually. 

One of the reasons I'm not caught up/falling behind is because "me time" has become "we time" pretty much every night. 

Every parent knows what I mean. That heavenly time at night where the kids are asleep and you can just sit and eat a bowl of ice cream without sharing and watch something other than the disney channel. 

But every once in a while one (or more) of your kids decide that they can't sleep and you end up hanging out with them until 11pm or later watching disney channel and not eating that bowl of ice cream you were dreaming about all day. 

That's me tonight. So to entertain ourselves and take a break from Mickey Mouse we took pictures of the Christmas Tree. :)

These are basically unedited. It's 11pm and I didn't feel like taking the time to do all that extra work right now. 

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Day 26/365: Love

Day 26/365

There is something so special about this little girl. She is adored by every member of this family. 

We waited two years for this sweet angel. 

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CC Always welcome

Day 25/365

Day 25/365

Believe it or not I have taken a picture every day, but my laptop is so ridiculously slow it takes me 30-40 to edit and upload 1 picture. That's right. 1 picture in 40 minutes. 

Hopefully I get something to fix the problem for Christmas. 

Anyway. Day 25. I put my son to bed at 8pm tonight. At 9:30pm he came downstairs and said he needed me to tuck him in again. 

I told him to go back upstairs and I would come up in a minute. 

When I came upstairs, this is what I found and suddenly it became obvious why he needed to be tucked in again. 

Day 22/365: Quiet time

Day 22/365

My husband has been working late nights this week, and as any mom can testify evenings tend to get a little crazy. 

There is something about that time right before dinner that is prime for fighting, whining, temper tantrums, etc. 

So today, when I noticed my kids were turning from their sweet angelic selves into...well you know...I busted out their new chore charts. 

I was trying to save money when I made these but probably spent double what I could have if I had just bought them off of etsy. Oh well. Lesson learned.

These are not just any chore charts, these are chore charts you can draw on with markers! 

It bought me one hour of happy, non fighting, non whining, children. Anytime I tried to walk away to get things done they would say "Mom, come watch us draw." I know it's what we all want to do with our quiet time, watch a four year old and a two year old draw. 

I love moments like these. 

(Excuse me while I'm on a B&W kick. CC Always welcome)

Day 21/365 Electric shock.

Day 21/365

I was mopping my kitchen floor while my kids were quietly playing by my side. 

I turned around just in time to see my daughter get a shock from the electrical outlet in my kitchen. 

She had stuck these in the outlet...

You can obviously see the mini screwdriver. But can you also see the metal pin she stuck in the bottom socket? 

I was literally standing right there and I didn't see it until after it had shocked her. 

Luckily she's ok, she said it hurt her hand, but that was it. 

It could have been a lot worse, and I'm so thankful it wasn't. 

Kids. :| 

Day 12/365: Still sick

Day 12/365

It's been a rough week at our house. Two of three kids with coughs and fevers. 

My son held a fever of 104.5 for a while. He was miserable. 

My daughter decided wearing her tumbling clothes would make them both feel better. 

It didn't work...at least for him.

Day 20/365: Peek-a-boo

Day 20/365

Three times a week we walk my 4-year old son to preschool. We bundle up and my daughter loves to ride on the stroller and look at her baby sister through the small window. 

Today they played peek-a-boo.

Day 19/365: MB

Day 19/365

What's MB you ask? Only the owner of the greatest, most buttery smooth voice ever! 

The one and only Michael Buble!

I got to go to his concert last night.

I've only been waiting for this moment for years, and now cross that off my bucket list!

iphone panoramic: I couldn't carry a baby, a diaper bag, and my camera, so I thought  I'd at least try a new way to use my iphone camera.

Day 18/365: "Ballerinda"

Day 18/365

My daughter LOVES "ballerindas" right now. While her brother is at school she demands to put on her leotard and tutu and watch videos of ballerinas on youtube. 

I love having a little girl. I'm glad I had my camera handy to catch her mimicking the ballerinas she was watching today. The ballerina spins, so does she. The ballerina lifts her leg, so does she.

Excuse the clutter. I was just happy to catch her dancing. :) 

Day15/365 Hot Chocolate

Day 15/365

At out house nobody can start their day until we've had our morning pick me up. Hot Chocolate. :) Even this very second I sit here at my computer and sip on my very own hot chocolate with marshmallow cream (I break that out after bedtime).

This is starting to get a little challenging for me. Most days I barely have time to shower. I find myself thinking "Ain't nobody got time for that!" when thinking about taking pictures, uploading them, cleaning them up, and posting them. 

But then I remember I'm doing this for me. Because I want to improve on something I enjoy doing. So I'm going to keep at it.
I'm trying to just document little pieces of our day, and hopefully at the end of a year have something that everyone in our family will enjoy looking at and reading. :) 

Day 14: Supposed to be sleeping

Day:14/365

I'm a couple days behind, but I'll play catch up another day. 

Today I used my iphone to get the shot under her door. 

She was supposed to be sleeping. 

Obviously not sleeping.

Day 11: Children's Tylenol

Day 11/365

Today I am thankful for children's Tylenol which helped my children go from sick, feverish, lethargic children

to this: 

Day 10: Toilet paper in the sink.

Day 10/365 

Today I'm grateful for Disney's Special Agent Oso. Let me explain. 

So this evening I walked in to the bathroom to find this. 

Do you see it? It kind of blends in. There's a running faucet and there's a brand new roll of toilet paper. 

 Yes that's right. Brand.New.Roll.

You may be surprised but this is actually a common occurrence at our house. This has my two year daughter written all over it. 

So I got after her, and we all moved on with our evening. 

A little while later my kids were watching Special Agent Oso, and I was blow drying my hair. 

Suddenly I hear my son yell something to me. I give the standard distracted mom answer of "uh-huh" and he seems to accept that. But then I realize that he had said something like "Mom, I need to tell you something. I was the one who...water...in the bathroom."

So I turned off the blow dryer, set it on the sink, and walked into my bedroom. "Son, did you say you were the one who splashed all over the bathroom floor while you were taking a bath?" I assumed this is what he had confessed to, which wasn't a big deal since I had been standing there when it had happened. 

But then my sweet four year old, stood up and with tears in his eyes walked over to me and said "Mom, I'm the one who put the toilet paper in the water in the bathroom. Not sister. I'm sorry mom!" And he started to cry. 

I was so surprised. My son is super responsible, and if ever there is any mischief done in the house, it's always by my daughter, and never by him. 

He went on to explain that Oso had helped the little girl tell the truth to her grandma about a vase she had broken and he knew that he needed to tell the truth too. 

I told him I was very proud of him for telling the truth. So tonight I'm thankful to Oso for helping my son learn a lesson about telling the truth. 

*This is not a new lesson, I've taught him this before, but apparently it took the help of Special Agent Oso to get it to sink in. :) 

Day 9: Saturday Morning Waffles

Day 9:

 Saturday morning waffles. My husband has been on a business trip in New York all week and got home late Friday evening. The kids missed him so much and have been glued to his hip ever since he walked in the door. 

They idolize their dad. My son kept saying "Dad, we're best friends."
And my daughter kept saying "Dad, Don't leave me again, ok?"

We love having him home. So today I'm thankful for lazy Saturday morning and Daddy making waffles. :) 

Day 8: Nap Time

Day 8: 

Today I'm thankful for nap time. Both girls were asleep, my son was playing with friends, and the house was completely quiet. I got to take a short nap. 

(taken with my iphone)

So thankful for those quiet moments like these.

Day 8/365 Waking up from nap time is hard to do. Thank heavens we have ballerina tutus and fairy wands to get us through. 

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CC always welcome

 

Day 7: Motherhood

Day 7/365+30thankfuldays: 

Today I am incredibly thankful to be a stay at home mom. It is not always the easiest, most fun, or glamorous job in the world, but I get to be the one is there day in and day out. I get to kiss their owies away, build forts, read stories, and be there every time they walk in the door and yell "MOM!"
Now, I understand that not everyone chooses to be home all the time, or is happy doing it. I get it. I do. I had a hard time adjusting to being a full time stay at home mom. I was used to working, going to school and having adult conversations for the majority of the day. Now my day consists of dance parties, disney and often times one sided conversations that sound something like this "Don't look at each other!" 

"Don't talk to each other if you can't be nice" 

"Does that go there?" 

"Flush the toilet, put the lid down, and wash your hands...yes you have to use soap...No, just because you didn't touch the toilet doesn't mean you don't have to wash your hands. We always wash our hands after we go potty." (thanks uncles for teaching him that one.

But then, I also hear the phrase "I love you mom" multiple times a day, and multiple times a day I get little arms and chubby fingers wrapped around my neck to hug me. 

I'm so glad that day in and day out I get to be the center of their world. 

I know it will not always be that way.

Originally I had planned on using a completely different picture for day 7, but at the end of the my four year old son was playing with my camera and snapped this picture. I loved it, so I'm using it. I love giving him my camera and seeing the shots he gets. They're not always perfect, but I love them! 

CC on all my photos are always welcome

Day 6: Little Boys

Day 6: Little boys.

Today I'm thankful for little boys. More specifically my little boy. He fills my life with action, cars, trains, motorcycles, dragons, and most importantly, SUPER HEREOS. :) 

He loves preschool and is always counting down the minutes until we leave to walk him down the street so he can "practice school". The minute we leave the house he takes off, running as fast as he can and shouts "Batman to the rescue!" *superhero subject to change depending on his mood that day. 

Day 5: Chef in Training

Day 5/365. 

This is my daughter. You'll probably be seeing a lot of her over the next year. She loves helping me in the kitchen. Today she was helping me make grilled cheese and tomato soup when a good song came on. She had to stop what she was doing and just groove out for a minute before she could get back to work. I love this little girl. 

Day 4: My Bed and 365 project photo

Day 4: I am thankful for my bed. I am thankful for my bed every night and every morning to be honest. Every night when I finally get to lay in this glorious bed my entire body just says "Ahhhhhh!" I know that I will always get a good nights sleep in my bed. Don't get me wrong, I love going on vacation, but I rarely sleep as well. Even in a 5 star hotel I find myself staring at the wall in the middle of the night wishing I were back in my own bed. I LOVE my bed, and I'm so thankful for it! 

This is the picture for Day 4 of my 365 project. Up to this point I have used the same pictures for each day, but today I really was really thankful for my bed, but I loved this picture too much not to use it. This is my two year old daughter playing princess. Snow white in one hand, Rapunzel in the other. She's smiling because she's watching herself play in the little orange mirror. I was hiding behind the couch to get this shot. :) 

Day 3: Modern Medicine

(Taken with my iphone)

Today I am thankful for modern medicine. Without it, I would have died giving birth to my oldest, and he probably would have died along with me. Without it, none of my three children would be here today.
Because of modern medicine doctors were able to catch a problem with my sweet baby's hips. When Savy was 2 weeks old they heard a click and sent us to get an ultrasound. As it turns out, she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. We were told she was going to have to wear this harness 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

After one month in the harness, she had another ultrasound. Doctors were so impressed and said there had been such a dramatic improvement that she would only have to wear the harness at night and for naps. No surgery. :)

Day 2: My Husband

Today I am incredibly thankful for my husband. He surprised me with a much needed weekend getaway this weekend. He is an incredible husband, and father, and I am so blessed to be his other half! (These are taken with my iphone)

And just because her smile makes me happy, here's this picture to brighten your day. 

Day 1: My kids

Day 1: My kids

Day 1: I'm thankful for my three babies. They keep me on my toes, but are my whole world.