DIDN'T

I don't think people ever get "ready" for Christmas - we just run out of time. This was in the Let it Out section of the newspaper a few days before Christmas, and this became my motto when I started thinking about all the things I wanted to do and just didn't get done. Then I saw this post and was inspired by all the things that I didn't do this Christmas!

*We had a house full of guests this Christmas and I didn't get one group picture!

*I didn't do laundry for 10 days!

*I didn't freak out when my boys ate Laffy Taffy for breakfast!

*I didn't get very many Christmas morning pictures and most of them look like this.
*I didn't make my boys get dressed for 2 days!

With all the things I didn't do, we still had a great time with good family and friends and are very much looking forward to a happy 2011!!

CHRISTmas is Coming!

I've been telling a friend at work since June that "Christmas is coming"! It's become a little bit of a joke between us. I've told her on Facebook, text messages, and of course face-to-face every Monday and Friday. And Christmas is coming even if I'm ready or not. I think I'm ready, although I'm sure I'll have to make one last trip to the Walmart. Tomorrow we have Christmas Eve church service, then Chinese food, then Christmas will be here! We are eagerly counting down the last days until we get to celebrate with lots of family.

Merry CHRISTmas to you and yours!!

Crick-ettes

Megan went to Hot Topic to get this shirt yesterday. They were out of stock, so she came home with some Salt N' Vinegar Crick-ettes.

She and Noah decide they are going to eat them together. That's what good siblings do.Megan got the whole thing down. She actually said it was not bad.
Noah got the whole thing down, started gagging on the bad aftertaste, then proceeded to throw up in the kitchen sink. No more crick-ettes for Noah!

But Mom, people wear these!

It's that time of year again! Time to deck the halls and get out all the fun Christmas decorations. My boys love playing with everything and rearranging all the lovely items. I tried to tell Dalton stockings aren't really socks and his reply was "but Mom, people wear these"! If you say so!
Then Devin had to get in on the action with his non-matcing socks.
Now we are off to Walmart to buy some super glue. So far we've broken 2 Hallmark ornaments and one nativity set. Poor Mary and Joseph need their heads back!

I love December!!

Kids

I am so thankful for these kids! What would I do without them? Sometimes I get frustrated and yell (really loud), and sometimes I don't live in the moment. But God is good. All the time.
And this is my adorable new niece, Aslynn Faith. She is a cutie and my future shopping partner (hopefully!).

Noah

Good news....the braces come off tomorrow

Bad news....I still won't get a decent picture without a goofy face.

Bass Pro Shop

We went into Bass Pro Shop in Ohio on our way home from our fall break getaway. Steve went in for hunting shells (they didn't have what he needed), but we came out of the store with some fun pictures and pumpkin birdhouses.

Who says pumpkins have to be orange?!? While the boys were sitting there painting, I noticed the majority of pumpkins were not being painted orange. I silenced (as best as I could) the urge to tell them what colors to paint. So we ended up with a blue pumpkin and a rainbow pumpkin. Love it!

Changing the way I think about Ketchup!!

I obviously don't get out much! Today I went to the Chick-Fil-A for lunch and could not believe my eyes when I saw this way cool ketchup packet/cup. Gone are the days of opening packets with my teeth and squeezing ketchup all over my white shirt (it always happens when I'm wearing white!). I love the fact that you can dip or squeeze these little babies....options are always good. I had to bring one home to show the kids and of course, to blog about it!

My Life in Numbers

4....the number of books I am currently reading.

13.1.....the number of miles I walked on Saturday with my friend Stephanie!

7....the number of times I have looked at the Boden catalog online and wanted to order, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money.

2...the number of times I have made chili this month. October=chili according to me.

21....the number of apples I peeled, cored, and sliced and then made applesauce with. Delicious!

What I've been doing....

I seriously cannot believe the boys have been in school for 2 months! Time has sure flown. Everyone asks me what I do with all my time now. To be totally honest, by the time I drop the boys off at school, I have exactly 2 hours and 32 minutes until they walk back into the house. I know lots of moms who would love 2 hours and 32 minutes of kid-free time, but in reality it goes very quickly!! I have spent lots of time sorting legos (yes, I'm crazy). But we had about 7 large lego sets that became one big giant box of legos. I put several sets together (way too time consuming!) and sold them at my garage sale in September. I am still finding pieces in the yard and under beds. The fun never ends.

We have also been selling popcorn for Noah's scout troop. So if you need any popcorn, we still have some to get rid of. Noah's goal is $350 in sales and we are almost there! He is quit the salesman.
I have also been eating way too many of these. I don't typically buy Little Debbie snack cakes because I can eat an entire box in a day. But when I start seeing these little beauties at the front of the store, I have to buy them. They are the best and get eaten very quickly around these parts.
And lastly, I just read this book and had to share that it is one of the best books I have ever read. Seriously, read this book! It is an amazing story of love and faith and hope. The Greenfield library has a copy (I am returning it today), so go check it out!

1st Day of Autumn

Dear Summer,

I miss you already. Although we do enjoy your friend Autumn, it's Winter that I don't want to come. Winter means jeans and long sleeved shirts and twice as much laundry. It means snowy, muddy boots, winter coats, and gloves which always end up lost. It means snow days which have to be made-up at the end of the year. It means going days without seeing the sun. Although I love the midwest and change of seasons, it's always a little sad to see "1st day of Autumn" on the calendar. So for now we will enjoy the 90 degree days and remember how good you were to us!

Updates

We found an adorable baby possum in our backyard last week. We had high hopes of finding him a home, and the kids enjoyed playing with him for the evening. Sadly he didn't make it through the night!

My garage looks much better. We had a big garage sale on September 11th and got rid of lots of junk. I immediately took everything that was left to the Goodwill. So thankfully the attic is no longer bulging.

The boys are adjusting well to school. My oldest is at a new intermediate school and really loves it. The twins who are in separate Kindergarten classrooms are doing okay. Somedays are better than others, but overall they seem to enjoy tolerate going to school.

My Garage

From the looks of my garage, people would think we are moving! Are we moving? No! In fact we just celebrated 5 years in our home this Labor Day! I cannot believe how different my life has become in five short years. I remember the weekend we moved in like it was yesterday. I remember stuffing the attic with boxes and boxes saying "I'll look through those later". Well later has come and gone and come back again. Last night my husband and a dear friend emptied out our entire attic! And this is what I have to do the next few days weeks years. Let the fun begin!

Let the craziness begin!

Wow! I cannot believe it is September. Gone are the lazy days of summer and hanging out at the pool. Gone are the days of sleeping in and staying up late. Instead we have homework, fundraisers, cub scouts, PTO meetings, and lots of other stuff to keep us way busy! Last weekend we are able to travel to Kentucky to visit with Steve's mom, brother, and sister-in-law. It was great to see them. We were able to get a group photo before heading to the KY state fair (everyone but me and Megan) and the mall (me and Megan)!

Summer is Over!

School has officially started for us (actually it started a week ago!). I can't believe I have two boys in Kindergarten. They are in separate classes this year and so far have been doing great. They had to get in a little video game time before the first day. They do love their games (maybe a little too much), but we have been slowly weaning them away. My big boys get to ride the bus home which they are thrilled with!

Noah started 4th grade at the intermediate school (which is 4th-6th graders). So far so good. He is excited about meeting all the new girls in his grade!

Random Thoughts about August

Tomorrow is my birthday.

I will be 36.

I feel old.

I am leaving for the MOPS convention tomorrow.

I am leaving my children at home.

School starts in 7 days.

I spent over $200 to register my children for school!

I have all their school supplies bought.

It has been smokin' hot here for the last couple of weeks.

We have gone to the pool too many times to count.

It's too hot to do anything else outside.

I cannot wait for cooler fall weather.

My boys have gotten into archery the last month.

My fence is full of arrow holes.

The target gets missed a lot.

But sometimes the target gets hit!

Because I never want to forget

I was cleaning out all the papers, projects, and things from last school year when I found my Mother's Day gift from Noah. It was awesome. Just so you know, grammar and spelling have not been fixed. (I wrote my response in the parenthesis).

ABC Mother’s day Book
By Noah Evanoff~3rd grade

You make good Apple pie (I have made one apple pie my entire life, I'm glad you remember)
Thank you for Buying a DSI (You are welcome!)
You make good no bake Cookies (They must be good…they disappear fast!)
You make Delious Pankaces (Thanks!)
Thank you for letting me Eat (I will let you eat every day for the rest of your life)
You let us keep Frogs (but they must stay outside)
You are Great (I’m glad you think so)
You make me very Happy (You make me happy too!)
I have fun with you (Me too!)
Jesus loves you (I am so thankful for that!)
You Keep loving me (no matter what, I will always love you!)
You Love tv (yes I do!)
You like Michael Evanoff (yes, I like your brother)
Thank you for naming me Noah (It was that or Emily….Noah was better)
Buy me a Octopus please (Let me think…..NO!)
You like Peanuts (salted in the shell)
You are the Queen of the house (Get to work….now!)
You do not like pickel Relish (yes I do!)
You make homemade Soap (even though relatives make fun of me)
You tell the Truth (I try to be truthful, but I have lied once or twice in my life)
U are asowme (what?)
You are married to a Vetran (I am proud of your daddy)
We love soda (yes, we do!)
You have never had a X-Ray (only of my teeth)
You made a carpet out of Yarn (I made a locker hook rug many years ago)
You are not a Zombie (no I am not, thankfully!)

The Karate Kid

Noah has been watching Karate Kid movies like crazy this summer. It all started on vacation when he and I went to watch the new Karate Kid (while dad and the twins watched Toy Story 3). We both loved it. I was a little skeptical going into the movie (I was a huge Ralph Macchio fan back in the day. I remember cutting his pictures out of Teen Beat for my wall!), but the movie did not disappoint. It was great and Noah has since watched the original Karate Kid and The Karate Kid II. After watching all of these movies, Noah has decided he needs to train for his next big fight. He decided to start his training in the pouring rain yesterday.

Home

We are home. And I am exhausted. I have piles of laundry to do and piles of sand to sweep up. We had a blast in Michigan.

Dear July

Dear July,
We miss your friend June already. June was very good to us. We want her to last longer. July will be very busy and bring us closer to August. Which means school and two little boys going off to Kindergarten!

In June we rode on four wheelers

and two wheels!

In June we gave up water wings

and practiced our diving skills.
Lots of energy was burned off in June. August 11th is the end of summer. Please July go slowly!

Sincerely, Denise

Vacation

I am supposed to be packing for our vacation. Although any mom knows to use the term "vacation" very lightly. So far I've packed my children.

This blog is the reason for my packing distraction. I found it yesterday morning, and I was almost late to work because I could not stop looking. I want to make everything on it. I want to run to Michaels and Hobby Lobby and Home Depot right now and start making stuff! Okay maybe I will wait until I get back from our vacation.

What I've learned about Silly Bandz

1. No matter how many packs of silly bandz I buy, the kids still beg for more.
2. I will pick up at least 100 silly bandz off the floor a day.
3. I will find silly bandz everywhere.
4. My kids really don't wear them, they just play with them, then leave them on the floor. (see #2)
5. After paying $3.99 for several packs of Silly Bandz, I found them in the dollar section at Walmart. Go figure!
6. I cannot wait for the next big craze to hit the stores. (And I still be finding Silly Bandz in random locations)

Fishing

The boys have been fishing a ton the past few weeks. Lots of fish have been caught, deboned, cut into filets, and frozen in the freezer. We are gearing up for a big fish fry with some friends. So a few more days of catching and we should have enough fish to feed a small army.

Camping

The boys went camping

for four days.

They loved it!

I lasted two days. Pretty good for me!