The time has come...

We leave early tomorrow morning at 2am to make the journey to the airport for our 6am flight to Mexico!  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm very excited that I will have my best friend with me so that I can vent about how much I miss the kids because Bryan just didn't seem to quite understand my emotions last year when we went! I guess only a mother knows :)  So its bittersweet but at the same time, I know that the  kids will be taken wonderful care of my their sweet grandparents, I have no need to worry.  It is also nice that we will be able to use google chat this time around since we are bringing our computer! 

We learned many things from our last trip to do differently this time and so hopefully we will have even more fun this time around!  So off to finish up on last minute packing before the kids get up from their nap because I will have to spend as much time as I can with these 2 sweet little faces....

See you in 9 days! 

Is it spring???

Of course it is not spring, but it sure seems that we are getting a glimpse of spring in the middle of January! It is just amazing that we we are having this kind of weather right now, but hey, I'm not complaining.  This was taken from my car...

Sorry for the dust!

 But I have to say, I'm glad that I'm not in Mexico this week because it would have been very disheartening to know that  we attempted to get away from below zero temperatures as it usually is in January and then its actually in the 50's. Good news for us is that its supposed to be freezing by the end of the week, just in time for us to hop on a plane :)

I have been having very beautiful views on the way to work lately and this morning the radio called this a "pink moon" because the sun was coming up while the sun was still out and it was such a beautiful sight!

Tonight we did a little bit of grocery shopping to get some kid friendly foods for my mom while she watches the kids at our house the next couple of weekends.  But tonight we went to Walmart which is not as fun for the kids because they don't get to do their own shopping like at IGA...

Now I am helping Bryan pack and oh man, he is worse then me!  He has to make sure that every outfit is just perfect :)  I better get going so I can fully concentrate.  Ha!

But not before I give a big shout out to my amazing mother...Happy Birthday Mom!  I love you and hope you had a great day!  

Fun with Friends

On Friday afternoon, our friend, Andy, stopped by with his son Landon and with it being 45degrees, we all headed outside to test our new snowball maker.  Although it was a lot more wet than snowy, the kids had a blast!  And it helped a lot that the weather was nice because I even joined in the fun!

We are safe in this house with these guys around!

On Saturday, the kids took their afternoon naps and then we Jenna, Andy and their two boys at Skate City.  Its hard to believe that this place was my hang out 10 years ago!  The kids have never skated before so we tried the roller skates this time.  I think Christian may be ready for roller blades next time. 

And Bryleigh was miss independent and didn't want our help at all!  She did awesome and only fell a few times!

  Landon and Carson loved it also, although Carson was pretty reluctant to try at first!

Jenna and Carson

Landon

What's some skating fun without slushies and cotton candy!

 We had a great day with kids and I'm happy that they had a lot of fun! 

And I have to mention that  Bryleigh went on the potty again!  She is so proud of herself when she goes!  And apparently Christian's handcuff's came along too!

I was finally able to get a picture with the two kids!  Usually I am the one taking the pictures!

Now off to lay out the couch with my heating pad :(  My back and neck are all out of whack and I'm hoping that it starts to feel better soon!

Better Late than Never

Christian had his Christmas Program several weeks ago at school and I was sad that I couldn't make it because of work but Christian had lots of family there to watch him including both Grandma's, Daddy and even Great Grandma!  Daddy even video taped it for me and I was excited to watch it, even though the majority of the program is spent looking partly at Christian and the other part on the video camera in front of Daddy.  Arggg..oh well, he sure tried!  But Grandma was able to share these cute pictures with me...

Christian is front row and center.

Little party after the program

Christian helped daddy unwrap the present he made for us.  Daddy was so sweet that he re wrapped it for me so that I could open it on Christmas since I wasn't able to be there! Such a sweet husband I have!

Also, I wanted to share a couple more picture from my bestie's wedding in November...

A little blurry but still cute!

Having fun dancing!

These pictures were taken by Kevin Tritz from Tandem Photography...

Ahhh...brings back memories of a fun night!  Well now off to make some coffee before the kids are awake for the day!

Proud Mommy Moment

This girl here...

peed on that potty today for the very first time!  I'm one proud mommy!  She has been showing some interest in the potty for several months but it is always just to "flush"  the potty and never has gone. But I decided to get the tiny potty out today and the next thing I know, she whipped off her pants and diaper and sat on there and peed!  I don't even know if she knew she was going, but whatever the case, we certainly did the "potty dance"  and she received a sticker and 1 m&m!  Maybe this is just a 1 time event but here's to hoping that we are finally into potty training time and one step closer to no diapers in this household! 

Other than this exciting moment,  we have been pretty laid back this week trying to get back into the swing of things after Christmas.  I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and January is always a blah month for me!  I dread taking down Christmas decorations because I love the coziness of Christmas tree and lights at night time and when I wake up at 5 in the morning.  But I made myself take down the decorations last weekend in preparation for needing to finish packing this weekend before our trip on Friday! 

I came home from work the other day to find the kids helping daddy shovel!  I love that Bryan will take the kids outside because I absolutely hate being cold so I feel kind of like a bad parent in the winter because the kids never really go outside unless Bryan takes them.  There has been a few occasions where I joined them but it is few and far between :)

But due to our weird weather pattern this year, by the next day it was almost 50 degrees out and the little snow that we did have melted away!  But here is the sunset the other night that was breathtaking...

Today I did some running around while Christian was at school and Bryleigh and I  picked up this beauty from from the Candy Bouquet shop in town...

This was for a friend who needed a little "pick me up"  so I hope this helped!  It sure looked fun!  Now for a busy weekend of packing for the kids and definitely some fun kid time this weekend because I'm sure going to miss the kids when we are in Mexico! 

Dinner and Dessert

It was a tough day back to work today and although I had hoped to keep my normal hours of 8am-2pm today, it didn't happen.  I was so swamped with work  that I didn't get out until 4:30pm.  So it was 5:30 by the time I got home so we went to dinner at Applebee's.  It wasn't the greatest meal (which happens to us quite frequently there :( but it was still nice to get out as a family!  The kids had fun, and we went let Bryleigh sit in a booster instead of a highchair for the first time.  She loved it!

Love the "cheesy" smile. 

Bryleigh has been feeling much better since we rang in the New Year with a 102 degree fever :(  I'm not sure what caused Bryleigh's short lived illness but I did enjoy the cuddle time but am very happy that she was feeling better by morning! She was a good little sport though and wasn't even crabby, just very hot!

But we attempted to cool Bryleigh off by testing out the new Dairy Queen Blizzard Maker.  It is kind of a pain for such a tiny bit of ice cream but it was the perfect amount for the 2 kids and they had fun doing it, so that's all that matters.

We also had some fun with paints! 

I'm kind of getting used to these very short work weeks, with only 2 days last week and 3 days this week!  But the Mexico countdown has officially begun with only 10 days left until we are hitting the beach!  Only 6 more work days!  And to show how Type A personality I really am,  I'm basically all packed!  Bring on the next 2 weeks, because 10 days is going to go by really fast I am sure! 

Welcome 2012

 I had to take a look back at what I had hoped to accomplish in 2011 so here goes: 

1. Bible Study every day. ( I have much improved on this in 2011 than in past years but I will continue this as a goal for 2012!  I do have a daily readings book but at times I have fallen behind a few days.)

2. Donate more to charities, church, those in need. (I feel that this will always be an area that I can improve.  I try to donate my time and talents when I am able but I will keep this as a goal again for 2012.)

3. Become more crafty: this is why I started making Bryleigh hair bows and maybe I'll graduate to making her other things. (I feel that I have accomplished this.  I love to put together new things for Bryleigh all the time and I have even sold quite a few of my creations to others. I know I will continue making bows and tutu's for years to come.)

4.Work on being more patient.  (Still needs some critiquing.)

5. Plan a family vacation or maybe a very late honeymoon for Bryan and myself(Done. And we had so much fun that we are going again in 2 weeks!)

6. Possibly start working on baby #3 late in the year if I can talk my hubby into it :) (Ha ha, to think this was once a thought in our minds.  Okay, it still is a thought in my mind but if is up to the hubby, we will only ever have 2 kids.  We will see if we feel the same way in several years.)

7. Drywall the panel wall in the living room and paint the living room again! (Finally completed! And it looks great!)

8.Eat more healthy meals! (There's room for improvement but I am proud that I work out consistently 5x/week which I cannot say that I ever done before this year!) 

9. Landscape our house in the fall. (We completed this in June and we have received so many nice compliments on our progress!  It really adds a nice touch to our house!)

10. GET OUR CONTRACTOR TO FINISH THE GARAGE!!!!!!!!! (We have working garage doors and although we are not satisfied with many things with the garage, I have come to terms with what we have and we are done with this matter.Life goes on.)

New goals for 2012:

 11.Start graduate school in the fall and hopefully study hard enough that I pass several of my exemption exams.

12. Save up for a travel trailer so that we can do more camping this summer.

14. Make time to have at least 1 date night per month with the hubby!

13. Be the best mommy and auntie that I can possibly be!

Here's to another great year ahead!