The Fun.

What's the fun in growing up in a family of five children and having only one bathroom? I mean, seriously... there's nothing like taking a shower while being serenaded by a chorus of bangs on the door and "Hurry Up! I gotta go now's." Yeah, that was the fun in that...which, wasn't much. However, the rewards of having two brothers and two sisters have been revealed in many ways as I've gotten older... Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering..this is my youngest brother Chance and his very cute, but mostly the nicest person you'll ever meet girlfriend Miran...

Which brings me to....What's the fun in having a brand new camera, if you don't have willing subjects to let you find your groove? Luckily for me (and I guess it was worth it to have to share a bathroom with most of these folks growing up)... I have some of the best subjects ever (I think..) and boy have I been having some fun!! :)

My four year old nieces compliments of my brother, BJ & sister, Rachel whom I had the most wars with not only over the bathroom--but, most things in general growing up....

Oh, and Christmas card pics--I was so on top of that this year... My Bro B.J. & his family:

My mother and my baby sister Chelsi:

My sister, Rachel's gorgeous kiddos:

I really do like my camera. I love my familly. And Christmas... as difficult as I thought it might be, I am ready for it, too.... Life is precious. Although sometimes difficult. And I'm so thankful for growing up with my many brothers and sisters, even if it meant we only had one bathroom.

What I don't understand is how Miss Mae & Hannah Grace have the same bathroom wars as I did.......and there's only two of them and double the bathrooms in our house. They don't know how difficult it was "in my day"... You know, when I had to walk five miles to school, barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways and all that...

Miss Mae and Hannah Grace had a blast decorating our Hot Pink (*Hannah's Choice), Turquoise (*Maeci's Choice) and Silver (*Mama's choice) tree... Poor Big Daddy...he gets the short end of the stick on decisions such as this. Something tells me he doesn't mind though...

So, what about you? Are you ready for Christmas? Wrapping a million presents? Singing your favorite carols? Enjoying the ones you love?

Thankful for the To Do's...

....Imagine my shock, when I started getting comments on a post...that I didn't know I had finished writing yet.

So, to those of you who left a comment before the final product was out-- You rock!

It bothers me a bunch when I continually have to say --I'm so busy, I can't seem to find a second to write. I feel like I'm out of touch with all of you, and so--here I go, another hit and miss, here's what we've been up to, sorry if I don't get back to you in a timely fashion....post. :)

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Oh my, the first big holiday since my dad passed away. Do I even have to elaborate????

If I didn't have so much to do to prepare, I just might lose it. All's well, however because of course there's always so much to do... And my "To Do" list is forever long. So, this year, I'm officially thankful for the "TO DO's" because they are truly helping me to get through. I know that might sound awful to some of you--but it's the truth....

And there's more ...

You know, to be thankful for... like my family... oh, my sweet-crazee-busier than we sometimes want to be family... I'm so glad for the time I get to share with them:

Like watching Miss Mae play in her first Jr. High basketball tournament...

and realizing that now she only lacks a few inches before she is officially taller than her mama...

Or, watching Hannah Grace blow out her candles at her 11th birthday party earlier this month...

Waking up to these sometimes grouchy smiling faces every morning.....

And late night chats about everything under the sun with big daddy...

..and good blog friends, who stop by to check on you, because even though they have their own trials--they understand you're dealing with trials of your own...

Oh yes, there is oh so much to be thankful for...

What's on your list this year?

I Feel A New Moon Rising...

In a little over 24 hours, I will be packed in a theater with my girls Mae & Hannah, my sister and my sisters-in-law... oh yeah, and a handful or twenty of other crazees to watch the movie that it seems all the world's been waiting for....

...and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you've apparently been in a bomb shelter for a couple of decades, are disappointed because polyester is no longer "that" hip, and you don't even know what the internet is, and well--how did you find my blog anyway?

Okay, okay--honestly if you have no clue what I'm talking about, you're probably a well-adjusted adult, who is rational and actually has a life that doesn't consist of reading sappy-vampire -wolf themed teen romance sagas... So, good for you. Here's a cookie for being so grown up while others of us are way less mature. ;)

Now that I've got that out of my system, This is my official hoorah!!, New Moon comes out on Friday, and I'm so happy...I just might wet my pants (I know, I know...you're thinking... "AGAIN?!?!" and actually I haven't done that in quite awhile thAnkyOuveRymucH!), or go out and buy a Team Edward shirt.... or I might just go watch the movie and have a great "Girls' Night Out" with some of my favorite girls.. Yeah, I think that's what I'll do!

So, if you're not a well-adjusted adult or a polyester loving, bomb shelter escapee--what are your plans for the momentous occasion? Do share.. Or, if you're so over the whole thing, and want to tell me why you won't be seeing it, by all means, feel free to tell me how 30 something mothers of 2, are so not cool for getting all hyped for what should be a giggly teenage girl thing...

Happy Birthday Hannah Baby!

Friday the 13 has been my lucky day...for about 13 years now. Both of my crazee kids were born on the 13th and more specifically they were both born on Friday the 13th! Kinda crazee, right? Some might say, "That explains a lot..." I say Friday the 13th is the luckiest day ever!



And exactly eleven years ago today, Hannah Grace came into this world.

She started by kicking and screaming and making a huge fuss....

and little has changed since.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl. How boring would our lives be without the excitement you bring, the jokes you share, hearing those wonderful songs you sing...? I am so thankful for you. Love ya, love ya Hannie!

Picture Overload

If my memory serves me correctly... which, it hardly ever does... about a month ago-the girls had their picture made for our Christmas Cards. After many "outfit meltdowns" I wasn't sure that we'd be able to actually make it through a photo shoot with out some tears, screaming or a black eye. However, the great photographer helped make the girls feel really comfortable, and she got some really, really awesome shots. 256 of them to be exact. 2 Hundred and Fifty-Six...yeah. A little hard to decide on a Christmas Card picture with all of those choices, but I think I found a winner. I'll share that one with you some time soon (it's a surprise?) Okay, I haven't actually decided, but we can all pretend it's a surprise--but, here are a few of my favorities--that aren't in the finalists for THE Christmas card picture... The pictures were taken by someone else, but I edited them just for fun. Aren't they adorable?

Thanks so much to Nancy @ Paris Photography for the fabulous pictures!

Playing Basketball with Vampires While Your Boyfriend's Over..

Life is a whirlwind. Notice I didn't say tornado--so maybe I'm dealing with things a little better today than I was last week. Life is life, and we each have to make choices...and for those of you who sent words of wisdom-friendship-or are praying, I say thanks. I won't rehash all of the details--because today I'm turning over a new leaf... which just so happens to be an old leaf--which is I think, I might be back...

So, without further ado or babbling, or throwing a pity party...let's catch up.

Miss Mae has her first Jr. High basketball game this evening. That girl was a nervous wreck last night I tell ya! After living her for 13 years now--I know that when my sweet teenager turns into a disagreeable, hateful creature-- that nerves have gotten the best of her. Unfortunately, Hannah Grace has not learned that lesson yet...

At one point last night, I over heard her telling her sister, "This is my bathroom too--you don't own it--you don't even pay for it, mom and dad pay for it, but mostly dad-so if he wants me to get out, then he can tell me to get out or pay rent..." I wonder what she'd do if her daddy actually did ask her to pay rent to use the bathroom?!? Crazee kid.

I anticipated a bloopers reel of sorts concerning Hannah Grace and her new contact lenses. I remember when I first got mine--and it seemed like it took days and days, before I got them in. I remember getting red, puffy eyes both from crying and from poking around with that little circle from hell--to no avail. However, Hannah Grace and her contacts are good buddies already, and she's been so responsible about taking care of them, and taking them out when she's supposed to ... I'm really proud of her. Another reminder that my kids are growing up... it kind of makes me sad... by the way, on Friday-Hannah Grace turns 11! Wow.

Miss Mae has a boyfriend. She's only 13! What?!? She can't have a boyfriend. Okay, I'm finished freaking out now that I've really typed it--it seems so official. Anyway, Big Daddy and I have really mixed emotions about boyfriends at 13... but since this is uncharted territory--we're trying to keep our cool and act like we know what we're doing. So, at first we were pretty set on seeing how we could sabotage the relationship (if you can even call it that).... We thought for sure that once the kid got a good look at who her parents were--and the crazeeness it entailed--this thing would be short-lived. Well, come to find out--he must be just as crazee as we are--because it's been two weeks now (which is like forever in early teen boyfriend/girlfriend world)--and no such luck in the sabotage department. In all seriousness though--it has been an adjustment ...but we were glad to discover that having a boyfriend at 13, mostly just means: sitting by each other at lunch, hanging out at after school functions, and the occassional holding of hands. Which, we can live with-- we decided that if we make a BIG deal out of something that isn't really a big deal--we'll force our kid to hide even BIGGER deals from us. Of course, in all things parenting related-- we live and learn. Oh yeah, and I have spies infiltrated just about everywhere (that I'm not)--but don't let Miss Mae know that! ;)

Hannah Grace is bound and determined to finish reading New Moon before the movie comes out on November 20th. I caught her reading it under her covers with a flashlight last night way after bedtime... Maeci, on the other hand, is perfectly content waiting for the movie. If I ever caught her reading a book after bedtime, I would probably fall over from shock! It's funny that Hannah gets in trouble for something Maeci would get praised for---hmmm, once again, I need to rethink my parenting strategy....


So there's some happenings around the crazee house! What's up in your 'hood?

Moments

Many of you have asked about my new camera. I got the Cannon Rebel XS. After a little research, I found that it was a good step-up for beginners who want to move away from point and shoot cameras to more "advanced" photography. Although in my case, I use the word advanced very loosely. It is an awesome camera, I have to say. I don't usually enjoy spending money on "ME" for frivilous things, because after all things are just things--but this new camera has brought a lot of joy to my life...

Capturing little moments... is really precious. And I'm quite convinced that the good Lord willing-- someday...I'm going to be an old lady surrounded by my moments... I love pictures. Pictures of my family-pictures of events. Pictures... they do bring you back.

So maybe one day, when I'm a rockin' great grandma...I'll come across this picture and think...I remember how Hannah decided that she didn't want to dress like a "little kid" anymore... and so she asked for jeans with holes in them. So, instead of taking her little kid jeans that still fit perfectly fine--and putting my hole creating skills to work, I actually bought her jeans with holes in them at a store where no little kid clothing could be found...Yep, I did. Even though I said I'd never buy jeans that looked like second hand store rejects...

Okay, so maybe I will be enough of a rockin' great grandma to not just have to sit around and reminisce about the good old days...but I want to be prepared...

I mean, don't I want to remember all of the 100's of times I got this "pose" out of Maeci--because she said with just a hint of teenagery frustration and attitude, "I don't know how to pose, where to stand? What do you want me to do?!?!"

Yeah, I'm certain sometime in the future...maybe way...way down the road that will seem way more cute and far less annoying than it does now.