Things I've loved today...

I have loved Q's concern for my safety.  I'd just finished grilling some chicken and I was wiping off the still hot stove.  Q told me to be very careful so I wouldn't burn myself.  Thanks my Q-man!!


I have loved listening to Cameron talk about Naruto.  He loves this series.  He watches the movies/comic stories on the internet.  He was so excited about the next chapter/installment in the series.  He was actually jumping up and down!!  After hugging me, he told me, "Mom, I am so happy right now."  I truly enjoy watching his enthusiasm.  He so enjoyed filling me in on the characters (I used to follow this series, believe it or not :-)).

I have loved spending time with my 'Pea creating.  While I was sitting at the computer editing photos, she was creatively making her own alphabet!!  Love the way her mind works.  Earlier today, she wrote out the alphabet in braille.  She is so clever.  It was so cool just spending time together doing our own thing.

I have loved having my HH home with us.  I know he is not completely happy in his new role while working from home but I have enjoyed being able to see him during the day.

Feel blessed and I am grateful for these moments in our lives.

Around here

Around here.....

I fixed spaghetti for dinner.

Cameron had baseball practice this afternoon.

I am so proud of Ryenn for finishing her bridge for Science Olympiad.  She's been working on it since Thursday.

Cameron is playing Xbox One a lot.  Will need to have a talk about that with him.

Q is complaining about his arm hurting.

I am working on our taxes.  Plan to have them filed by the end of the week.

I need to pick up Thank You cards for Cameron so he can thank everyone that attended his fundraiser on Sunday.  We bowled to help raise money for his select baseball team.  Had a GREAT time!!!!  We are so blessed to have such caring friends.

I love scrapbooking.  To date, I have finished my 2015 WITL album which I love!!!  I finished my DD album for 2015 and have printed all my photos for PL 2016.  So inspired, I took Ali Edwards' class about PL and it was awesome.  So many great tips and thought provoking words of wisdom.  I love being creative, I have missed this so much!!!

I am so thankful for my family.  They are awesome.

New favorite app!

I was on the Studio Calico message boards and I came across a post about this one second every day app.  I checked out the site and thought this was coolest thing!  You just record one second for the next year and at year's end you'll have this cool video.  I started late, around the eighth or ninth but because I am always taking pictures and videos, so far I've only missed 4 days!!  So awesome.  The link to the website is found here.   Love this!!

December Daily Storie

DD Stories 6,7,and 8

Dec 6th - The kids were baptized today.  Ryan recorded the entire event because I was home sick with the bug that has gone through our house.  So proud that my kids wanted to be baptized.  Love that they enjoy going to church with their Pa.

Dec. 7th - Enjoyed my chicken noodle soup that Lisa made for me.  She brought it over yesterday and I finished the last of it today.  Hmmm...Hmmm.... Good!!!  It really hit the spot.  So blessed to have friends (that are family) that love us and take care of us.  Thanks Lisa!!!  xoxoxoxo

Dec. 8th - Missing dad who has been out of town on business.  He comes home tomorrow!!!  When he goes away on a trip, the kids (at least one if not all) sleep in our room with me.  Q always asks "Mom, are you sure you don't want me to sleep with you, I just want to be sure." :-)  This time the Sweetpea slept with me.  I love it!!!  She NEVER sleeps in our room anymore.  She loves her privacy and her own bed, so I truly cherished her staying with me.  Love you 'Pea.  Q slept in my room too but he had a pallet on the floor and I know he was a little jealous that Ryenn got to sleep in the bed.  He is usually the one who sleeps in our bed so that was a change for him but he was a big boy about it.  Love that I can still enjoy these moments with my kiddies, they are becoming less frequent so I will take it while I still can!

Dec. 9th - I recorded a cute video of Cam explaining to me why he loves me.  Love you too Cam!!!
This just melts my heart.  xoxoxo

Dec. 10th - Asked the kids to write down their 10 favorite things about Xmas.

Dec. 11th - Took Cam to the eye doctor today for his annual visit.  We ordered his new glasses and this time I ordered him two pairs because he is really hard on his frames.  The last couple of glasses he got, he bent or broke the frames.  Learned that Cam's stigmatism is abnormal and they need to monitor him and if it gets worse, he will have to wear contacts.  The doctor said not to worry, that Cam's not there yet, it's just something they will have to monitor.  Cameron knew exactly the type and color of frames he wanted.  My son is so handsome and I love that he is knows what he wants. ;-)

Dec. 12th - Ryenn and I spent the day together and we had so much fun!!  We went shopping to cross some more things off the list.  We hit WalMart, Game Stop, Deals, the scrapbook store, Batteries Plus, and then we had lunch at Red Lobster.   I need to start doing my one on one dates with the kids again.  I loved that my daughter asked to go shopping with me.  We talked about a lot of things, listened to music, and laughed.  My daughter has fabulous taste in music (a common love) and  she has turned me onto some great songs and artists.  She is so strong and really knows who she is and what she stands for.  Listening to her talk about her friends and their relationships showed me that Ryenn is very loving and loyal and she truly cares about them.  She has a lot of questions about things going on in the world like current events and race relations.  We talked about these things and I realized how tuned in she really is about certain things.  My daughter is becoming quite an exquisite young lady and I adore her.  I am so proud to be her mom.  Love you 'Pea!!!

Dad had the boys, Cameron had a basketball tournament and he had two games.  His team made it to the championship and they won!!!  So proud of you Cam.  Cameron said he did not get a lot of play time.  This is his first year on the team so that was expected.  Cameron puts so much pressure on himself to excel.  He is slowly but surely finding his balance.  Good job Cam!!!  Go Pontiac Indians!!!

Dec Daily | Stories 3,4, &5

Catching up on my stories for December.  Been sick the last couple of days, I'm the last of the five of us to get it, and so glad I'm done with it and feeling better.

Dec 3rd story - so excited to put up the second tree in the playroom upstairs.  It's a 6 ft tree that we have had forever.  I put the lights on the tree (3 strands) with Q and 'Pea's help and it looks really good.  Ryan saw the tree and told me that we did a great job fluffing the branches and adding the lights :-).  That is huge praise coming from him.  Just so thankful and grateful for the many blessings in my life.  I am trying to really enjoy the season and enjoy the little moments with my fam.  Bring on the magic....

Dec 4th story - We went to Ryan's company holiday party.  Had a good time.  It was so great seeing everyone.  Ryan has been working from home these last months and I know he has missed seeing the gang on a daily basis and I KNOW they have missed him.  Enjoyed talking and laughing with everyone.  Afterwards, we went to our local hangout - The Fairview Lounge and continued the party. Love all of our friends so very much.  So blessed to have them in our lives and they are definitely our family.

Dec 5th Story - Cameron and Ryenn had a Science Olympiad invitational event in Millstadt today.  This event was to prepare them for Regionals which is in February.  It was really cool seeing all the kids working so hard and showing how smart and talented they are.  Our school was ranked the highest in IL at the awards ceremony!!!  Cameron medaled in two of his 3 events - first place!!!!!  So very proud of my two Olympians.

We also got some Xmas shopping done.  I hope Qman can keep a secret....:-)

DD 2015 stories 1&2

Tuesday December 1st | Story 1

I am so proud of Cameron.  He is navigating the world of being a teen and really discovering who he is as a young man.  Last night, we had a discussion about fitting in, self-confidence, and valuing what is truly important in life.  He opened up to us about his feelings and I am truly fortunate and blessed that he trusts us with his vulnerability.  I know the teen years can be a time when as parents, we lose that connection with our kids.  So far so good, we have not experienced this, at least not to a degree where I am concerned.  Cameron is slowly but surely coming into his own and seeing him struggle as a mom is difficult.  I know I cannot fix everything for him, nor should I try to.  I have to trust that we (mom and dad) have raised a kind and responsible young man that knows what is right and what is wrong.

Our conversation was about his new sneakers (Nike).  Someone made a comment about his shoes and this led Cameron to doubt his choice about his shoes.  This may sound trivial and non-important, but to my son it was a very big deal.  We talked about it and when we were done I just asked "So what does this mean, you're never going to wear your new sneakers again?"

This morning, I wondered if Cameron would make the decision to wear his sneakers to school today. I didn't say anything one way or another (that was HARD) and just went about our morning routine.  When I saw him reach for his new shoes,  I said to myself - YES, Cam, good for you!!!!You GO!!!!  He made a tough decision and stuck with it.  So proud of you son.


Wednesday December 2nd | Story 2

Whoop!Whoop!  This year I am putting up 2, yes 2 trees.  I brought up the Xmas decor yesterday along with the tree that we put up in our family room.  I told Q that we had another tree down in the basement and that we should ask dad if we could put the 2nd tree upstairs in the playroom.  Dad of course, acted like a grinch (jokingly of course) and I reminded him that last year he gave me the thumbs up about putting up a 2nd tree.  So he said yes and went to the basement to get the tree.  Of course, now I have to go buy new ornaments because I don't have enough for both trees :-).  I will also need a new tree skirt and tree topper.  Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?!?!  Happy, happy, joy joy!!!!!!!!

Hello December!

Woke up today in such a good mood.  Today is December 1st.  I get to start documenting for December Daily, my FAVORITE memory keeping project of the year!!  December is just such a happy and joyful month for me.  I just smile thinking about it.  I brought up all the decorations from the basement.  Cleaned my bathroom (yes, I still have to do the mundane, everyday stuff) but I'm still so excited!!!  Love this time of year.

**Cyber Monday update - I'm just going to say this - I LOVE my kids.  In this case, my eldest Cameron.  I shopped on the Foot Locker site for almost 3hrs.  Do you want to know how many things were in my shopping cart?  6, yes six!!  I sat on that site waiting to check out forever!!!  My six items were not clothes or even sneakers, guess what they were- SOCKS!!!!  Nike Elite Socks to be exact.  By the time I FINALLY finished checking out and had my order processed it was after 11:30pm.  I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids..... :-).  Love it!!!

Back to today.  Hopefully, we can get the tree up and decorated tomorrow.  Love counting down the days until the big day,  love seeing the anticipation and excitement on my babies' faces.  Love making the wish lists and crossing things off while shopping.  Love the holiday parties and the Christmas music.  One thing I would like to do this year is give back in some way - toys for tots, giving to a local food bank, something.  Trying to make my kids more aware of how truly fortunate and blessed they are.

Hello December, let's get it started!!! :-)