Happy Birthday, Kevin!

It's about that time again...Kevin's birthday. I don't even remember if I did one last year. I just looked...I didn't. Sorry, honey. Here is Kevin's birthday acrostic.

K- KIND Kevin is almost kind to a fault, or to an impatient person. He's always letting people cross the road, or holding the door for them, or helping them in some way. It is nice, but I seem to always be in a rush, so it's bugs me sometimes. I know...I am UNkind. :)
E- EASYGOING Again...yin-yang here with me. He's laid back and takes things as they come and is very patient. It takes a lot to ruffle his feathers both good and bad. Sometimes he's so laid back that he doesn't even get excited over awesome things. He's not a cartwheel kind of guy, but he's working on it.
V- VIDEOGAMER He might argue with me on this one, but I'm the one that sees him playing a kid's 3DS when they go to bed. And let's not even get started on HALO or SKYRIM (although the jury is still out on SKYRIM). Plus, he made little jokes about getting 3 3DSs at Christmastime, and you know what they say about joking...10% of it is truth.
I- INTERESTING We've been married 10 years this year, and there are things about him that I'm still learning. He's a very interesting person not to mention intelligent. I was going to make the K for KNOW-IT-ALL, but his kindness outweighs that. Some interesting things about Kevin? He hates watermelon but used to eat it and like it. He can't eat or drink the last one of anything until he gets more of that thing. I see this mainly in Mountain Dews drinks. If there's only one left, it'll sit there for however long it takes until he gets another one. It's really funny sometimes.
N- NATURAL What you see is what you get with Kevin. He doesn't try to put one over on you or care about what you think of him. He's secure in his thoughts and opinions and isn't afraid to tell you about them either. He just has a natural way about him in all things....being a daddy, husband, work, son, brother.
Look! He even got Jared playing while the kids were asleep! :) Happy Birthday, Kevin! Thank you for being an amazing husband, dad, provider, friend, and everything else...oh...and mine.

20 Questions for 2011

My friend sent me this 20 questions list as a year in review exercise. Since blogs are all about sharing, here are my answers.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
Kevin was found not guilty.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
The whole court case experience.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
Discovering Zumba. I really LOVE it. (Thanks, Paula!)

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?
My health issues

5. Pick three words to describe 2011.
Grace-filled, hard, enlightening

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2011 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).
Stink, stank, stunk. :) (That's from the Grinch song)

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2011 (again, without asking).
Hard, fun sucking, blessed

8. What were the best books you read this year?
Hinds' Feet in High Places (Hannah Hurnard) and One Thousand Gifts (Ann Voskamp)

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?
God, Kevin, Mary Liz

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
Thirty-One. The confidence it has given me.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?
I'm less psycho. :) It's true!

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?
More than I can count. When all is gone and you feel completely alone, God will ALWAYS take care of you. My biggest spiritual growth lesson to date.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?
Well, my waistline grew and then shrunk and then grew again and hopefully will be shrinking again.

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?
I learned that it's ok to let people in on your business because they might get something out of it. They might see how strong your faith is in such crappy circumstances and try praying for the first time in a long time.

15. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (both professionally and at home)?
Meeting new people (professionally) and finding a housekeeping system that worked!

16. What was the most challenging part of your work (both professionally and at home)?
Time management to both

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
The internet (A.K.A. Pinterest)

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
Trying to be a blessing to others...and snuggling. :)

19. What was biggest thing you learned this past year?
I'm a lot stronger than I think I am.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2011 for you.
The year of learning to recognize my blessings...big and small.

Happy 2012 to all of you!

Rollerskating Day

We are having a staycation this week and were invited to go rollerskating with some friends. It was in Pennsylvania, but they cater to kids and have little PVC contraptions for them to use to skate with. Everyone had a great time! Logan and his friend were the first ones out of skating and to the video games. Rory pretty much skated the whole time...sometimes with me, daddy, Kaelyn, and her friend Emma. At any given time she would just take off on you. It looks like Marley inherited her daddy's balance genes because she was out there and even dancing while skating at times. Once she got the hang of it, she didn't want anyone holding on. Here are some pics and video.










It was a lot of fun, and they're already asking when we can go back. Can I just say that I held my own for not being on a pair of skates for about 20 years? I had a great time! Some more practice and everyone better watch out!

Christmas Jammies

The kids got some much needed jammies for Christmas this year. It was getting to slim pickings from some growth spurts. Now though, I think they'll be able to wear a different pair for 10 days in a row. :) It gives me a chance to get rid of some other less desirable ones. Logan in particular has a couple sets of shorts and t-shirts in size 4. When Logan wears these jammies, he's normally up at some point in the middle of the night because he's cold. He sleeps without a blanket too. I have weird kids. Anyway, I'm happy that he has new warm jammies.
Marley has every Dora jammie known to man I think. She loves her Dora nightgowns the most. We got her a purple one and then she got a red one from Nana. This makes Marley happy because she doesn't like wearing pants.
Rory got a couple of pairs which really doesn't mean anything. She takes them off the first chance she gets and just sleeps in her underwear. She covers up with blankets at least. Told you my kids were weird. Here are some pics of them modeling new jammies...and Rory got a robe too because she says she's cold in the morning. I told her it's because she has no jammies on, but I don't think she cares. When I was growing up, I was always jealous of friends who had older brothers. I wanted a relationship like that...a protector. I love how Marley and Logan cater to each other. Rory and Logan have a great relationship too, but somehow it's different.
Rory wanted you to see her new socks too.
Logan wanted me to take this pic.
That's his Ninja Squeaky.

Christmas 2011

Well, folks....I forgot to bring my camera to Nana and Papa's for the Nerf Gun fight. :( I'm sorry! This year Kevin went out and got a bigboy gun, but Brian didn't have his. Instead Papa loaded up and got himself a new gun. We did our Christmas on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning the Spirit of Christmas came and the kids opened those presents. Then we went to Nana and Papa's. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's. Then we went back to Nana and Papa's. Here are some pics I did get.
Some action shots. More to come. I need to try and sweet talk Papa into sending me the pics from his camera. ;)

Merry Christmas!

If you look for Me at Christmas

you won't need a special star -
I'm no longer just in Bethlehem,
I'm right there where you are.
You may not be aware of Me
amid the celebrations -
You'll have to look beyond the stores
and all the decorations.
But if you take a moment
from your list of things to do
and listen to your heart, you'll find
I'm waiting there for you.
You're the one I want to be with,
you're the reason that I came,
And you'll find Me in the stillness
as I'm whispering your name.

Love,
Jesus

Christmas Week Daybook

Outside my window...
There is someone riding their ATV at 730p. This makes me not happy. It's dark but not too cold. It got to 60 today. I guess that seals the deal for no white Christmas. :(


I am thankful for...
My life. I helped a friend by helping her clean her house today, and I'm glad I'm not a maid. It's hard! My husband is amazing, and I'm glad we are making steps to improve ourselves and our relationship.

I am thinking about...
How I'm going to get everything done. I have a few more things to do, but all deals are off on Christmas Eve. That's when we have our Christmas with the kids. Sunday is travel day and Christmas with everyone else.

Learning all the time...
We are not doing any "school". We are learning to bake cookies, cross-stitch, bird watch, squirrel watch, singing, dancing, etc...

From the kitchen...
I'm going to make more Ritz cookies. These are the people pleaser, folks! Smear a little peanut butter on one ritz cracker and a little marshmallow fluff on another. Put them together and dip in chocolate. Let set before eating (about 10 minutes). I just keep getting request after request.

I am creating...
A home. It's coming along being cleaned every morning like it is with my chores and such. Decluttering is happening all the time. I have a feeling Christmas might ruin this open feeling.

I am working on...
Being aware of what I need to be doing for me. My counselor keeps saying to just take care of me right now and everything else will fall into place. I can't...CAN'T take care of everyone.

I am going...
To try and keep my focus for the next few days. I'm going to breathe and stay calm even if things don't go according to plan. Hopefully being intentional about it will make it happen. (NOTE TO PAPA- No trying to test this one. That's not fair.) :)

I am hoping...
The kids enjoy the holiday but learn that it's about something bigger than presents.

I am reading...
"Too Deep For Words" by Thelma Hall. It's an interesting book about Lectio Divina...deep praying.

I am praying for...
Peace.

I am hearing...
The TV. I told the kids they couldn't watch it, so they went and asked their dad who said, "yes."

Around the house...
Answered already. It's feeling like home for the holidays. :)

One of my favorite things...
Helping people. I'm hoarding money so that I can pay for the people behind me at Starbucks tomorrow. I love doing that!

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Kevin's off all next week, so the family is having a staycation. I don't know what all we're going to do yet, but I know we're going rollerskating on Tuesday with some friends. Oh...and my zumba guy is in town doing a zumbathon. That's two hours straight of zumba. I'm addicted. I'll admit it.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
Ninjas..with black construction paper. :)