2009...our year in pictures

Well since this is the last day of the year many people are reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the year ahead. So I suppose i'll join in. :o)

2009 was a very special year for us, we welcomed our beautiful Logyn to our family in January.


Watched Lexi grow from toddler,



To little girl.




Saw Konner mature even more from little boy,



to just boy.




Colby and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary,




And got to go on our first vacation.




All in all we had a great year and I can't wait to see what next year brings! So from our family to yours...Happy New Year!!




May 2010 be the best year ever!!!

Another post so soon?

I can't believe i'm getting the chance to post again so soon! It's not going to be another month and a half before i'm back! :o) I don't really have much to chat about so this may be a bit scatter-brained but since I have the chance I thought i'd take it...

I can't believe Christmas is a week from tomorrow!!! It's crazy how fast it snuck up on me this year. We still have so much to do though and i'm trying to not get overwhelmed with all of it. We're making pretty much all the gifts for everyone other than the kids and I still have quite a bit to do on all that, plus we haven't even started shopping for the kids yet! Yes, we will be some of those crazy people out next week trying to get everything at the last minute! But thankfully we don't go crazy on gifts for them, they each get 3 gifts and their stocking. For the 3 gifts they get something they want, something they need and something to read. And for their stocking they get things like fruit snacks, socks and underwear-old family joke in my house-and then a few little toys. So I don't think we'll have a real hard time getting everything taken care of...at least I hope not!

It's so funny to me how big Christmas gets once you're married, when I was growing up I wanted Christmas to last for a week at least but it always seemed to end so fast. Now it really does last for days and days since we have to go to each of our families for get-togethers. I think we have at least 5 functions we have to go to, we'll go to my mom's house, my dad's, Colby's parents and his family in Borger and then my friend Chelsea's house at some point so the kids can see their "Gigi"-she's an official yet unofficial grandmother to them. So now it really does last more than 1 day! :o)

The kids are loving the Christmas tree though and so far Logyn has really left it alone which totally surprised me. I just knew she'd mess with it constantly but she hasn't even noticed it really. We get a real tree now which is a new thing for me but it's one thing about Christmas that Colby really loves so i'm all for it! He's a bit of a scrooge about Christmas, he's better than when we first got together but he still has his moments. He wants to get the cartoon "Grinch" for the kids to watch, I swear, that's his theme song throughout the holidays. haha! But like I said, he's improving. :o)

Um lets see...can I think of anything else to talk about? See i'm actually trying to put off house work, that's the real reason behind me sitting here talking to myself! haha! But nope, I can't think of anything. Guess i'll have to actually get to it then... :o)

Overall update...

Well since it's been about a month and a half since I last posted I guess it's about time for an update. Last time I posted we were getting ready for Lexi's birthday, everything went so great!!! I did make her cake and it turned out really great so I was very relieved. Here's a pic for ya...




My friend Brianne and I stayed up till like 2am working on that thing but Lexi loved it so it was totally worth it! :o) Now we're getting ready for Logyn's first birthday! I can't believe it's already time for her birthday, it doesn't feel like she's been here for a whole year but at the same time I can't really remember what our life was like before she came.

A HUGE part of me is very sad right now, she's our last baby so while i'm exited to watch her grow and learn new things it's also really really hard knowing that she's the last. There won't be another baby to watch learn how to roll over, or sit up, or take their first steps...she's it. So i'm trying so hard to enjoy all my time with her because I won't have another chance at this. I know I have 3 kids and i've enjoyed every bit of each of their lives, but there's just something so final to everything Logyn does.

But like Colby says, eventually there will have to be a last baby. Even if we were to have 20 kids there would at some point be a last one so i'd have to deal with this eventually. Honestly though, i'm ok with not having more kids. I can't imagine having more than these 3 running around here! :o)My mom is a little devastated that we're stopping with 3, she thinks I should have 10 kids at least! haha! But like i've told her, it'd be better to only have 3 kids and be sane than to have 10 kids and go insane! :o)

All of the kids are doing great though, Logyn is still growing like crazy and I kinda wish she would slow down. I still can't believe she started walking at 8 months! Pure craziness!! Lexi is still my little drama queen, but she's growing more beautiful every day. I looked at her today and couldn't believe how grown up she looked! She was just wearing a pair of jeans and a plain shirt but yet she looked like a little girl, she no longer looks like a toddler and it just kinda caught me by surprise.

Konner is also growing like crazy. Every day he gets more and more mature. He's changing from little boy to just boy and I don't like it! :o) The way he talks and the things he says...he's just growing so fast. The other day he asked me to teach him how to cook so that when he gets married he'll know how. He also said when he was kids he wants a boy and a girl, he'll name the girl Flower and the boy Incredible Hulk so I guess he's not fully matured! :o)

I wish there was a way to slow things down and making them last just a little longer. For the longest time-and honestly even sometimes now-I felt like I was stuck in this rut and would never get out of it. For the rest of my life I would be changing diapers and getting cups and snacks and doing all the things you do with toddlers. But i'm starting to see more and more how quickly all this will be gone. It's like that country song "You're gonna miss this", before I know it i'll be in the next faze of life and the kids won't need me to hug them when they hurt. They won't want to show me each paper they color or want me to kiss-hug-and by them before bed. They'll grow up and move into their own lives and while that's good and how it should be it's just hard to accept sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want them to stay little forever-at least I don't always want that-it's just kinda hard realizing there will come a day when i'm not everything for them. While I can't wait for them to grow up and become amazing men and women of God it's hard to believe they won't still be my little babies anymore. I won't have all the answers, I won't be able to fix every problem and hurt with a kiss and that's just kinda hard. It's so easy to get caught up in the nitty gritty every day stuff and forget that my purpose as a mom is more than just changing diapers and getting cups. My job, the whole point of being a mom is to train these kids to be world changers for God! These 3 kids can make such an impact and make such a difference if we raise them the way God wants us to. That's our goal, to raise world changers for God. To raise kids who aren't afraid to stand up for what they believe no matter the cost, kids who believe in something greater than themselves, kids that make a difference.

Anyways, i'm not exactly sure how I got off on all that. haha! Went from Lexi's birthday party to my job as a mom! See when I just start talking the topics start flowing. :o) But that's ok right?! Well now that i've rambled on I guess I should get to some house work-I also need to raise kids who help clean house! haha!

Two weeks!!!

Lexi's birthday party is only 2 weeks from today! Where has the time gone? I still have so much to get and so much to do around here, i've been starting to feel a little panic actually because it's coming so soon! I still have to get all the cake stuff, although I am just getting the box mixes so that'll make it a little easier on me. I still have to get all the stuff for her cookie wands as well as the rest of the decorations. We got the pony decorations in today so that's a relief, everything else we'll just be getting at Walmart so I don't have to worry about it not being here in time.

We also got her gifts already so that's nice to have done. We got her a pony bag for all her little pony pieces-it will also help keep them up so Logyn won't eat them-and we got her a pink piano with a microphone. She is always singing, any song she hears she ends up singing it or at least her version of it! :o)

That is going to be a very busy weekend for us though, Lexi's actually birthday is on Friday then the party on Saturday and then Logyn's baby dedication is on Sunday. I'm a little nervous about that honestly, it'll be a family packed weekend which isn't always a good thing but I guess we'll see how it goes.

Oh but we did get a set of cd's from the church when we signed up for the dedication. About a year ago Pastor Connie did a child training seminar at church, it was 5 sessions total and we got the set when we signed up! I've been listening to them the last several days and gosh they're good! I just finished the 3rd cd today and even though I was at the seminar it's still changing my view all over again. I think i've just gotten lazy lately and this is really helping to shape me up again. I'm going to get a copy for my mom just because she's works with kids so much, plus she has ours kids so much so it'll help her even as a grama. It's seriously something I would recommend every parent have and listen to on a regular basis!

Total change of subject but I did some baking yesterday! I made brownies, chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a caramel icing. I also made homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes...my house smelled GOOD! :o) I don't know why but I was just in the mood to bake. I did send about half of everything with Colby to work today, that way it's not all sitting here begging me to eat it! haha! We're also having bible study tomorrow so i'll probably take some of it with me then too. The only thing that was a little disappointing was the you couldn't really taste the pumpkin in the cinnamon rolls. I'm not real used to cooking with pumpkin yet so i'm not sure how to fix that problem, I don't want to add too much more and make it to gooey cause it was already pretty gooey but it really needs more. Any ideas?

Well this blog has been kinda all over the place, that's just how my mind usually works. I almost always have 10 different things racing through at once. But Colby will be home soon so I better go, gotta figure out what we're having for dinner. :o)

A little late...

Well I was supposed to get on here like 2 days ago and update on my cleaning and i'm just now getting to it. ugh! I'm so bad at this! Well for those of you that care....I did get my bathroom finished. It ended up being a day later than I was planning but I did get it done! :o) Now moving on to something more interesting than my bathroom... :o)

Have you ever been in the place where you're ready to move to the next phase of life? There are things in life right now that i'm ready to be done with but it's just not happening in my time line. I've kinda been thinking that maybe it's my timing but not Gods and I need to just trust in Him for things to happen in His time, and honestly i've been getting impatient and almost angry at God for not making these things happen for us. But last night at couples Pastor David read Proverbs 19 and verse 3 really stuck out to me, here it is in the Message... "People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed?" I kinda had to sit back and think on that today.

If i'm honest with myself i've made a lot of stupid choices and really dumb mistakes and yet i've turned around and blamed the consequences on God! Pastor Connie said last night that sometimes we even give Satan the time off and mess things up for ourselves! I hate to say it but I think i've done that way to many times.

But I spent some time today really praying about these areas and things I want to change and i'm starting to see what I need to do. For months and months i've been praying for knowledge, wisdom, miracles...you name it and now i'm kinda seeing that what I really need to just quit sitting around and waiting for God to do some supernatural thing and start doing the natural things He's been telling me to do.

Now don't get me wrong, I totally believe in the supernatural things of God and I do think there is a huge place for that-i've had plenty of supernatural things happen in my life. But I do think there is a point where you've got to stop sitting around waiting for miracles to fall out of the sky and get to work! I think i'm at that point, actually I think i've been at that point for a while now but i'm just now starting to admit it and really make a plan and point to do the work.

Anyways, that's been my big revelation for the day...you'd think after being a christian for most of my life i'd have these things down by now! But i'm really glad to serve a God that doesn't get angry or frustrated with us when we do stupid stuff! Now I guess it's off to work... :o)

Do you FLY?

With Lexi's party coming up I am in the cleaning mode and i'm determined to get all the deep cleaning done that i've needed to do for a while now. So the last 2 weeks i've gotten out my Control Journal and started the FLYlady method of cleaning again. For those of you who don't know what i'm talking about i'll give a quick rundown and post the website in a sec.

The basic concept of FLYlady is very simple, it's a way to get into a routine of cleaning your house and keeping it clean on a regular basis. Sounds simple right? It really is! I am the kind of person that gets sidetracked SOOOO easy, i've always been that way. As a kid I had a poster on my wall that said "I mean to work are Lord but I keep coming across things that are more fun to do!" That was and sadly still is me! I used to be the worst house keeper in the world, seriously...the house was bad! But over the last few years i've gotten much better, I mean i'm not up for any cleanest house awards but i'm no longer embarrassed to have people over.

FLYlady breaks everything down for you. There are morning, afternoon and before bed routines as well as any others each individual needs. She also has Zones that you work on each month so that you never have a big spring cleaning to do. One week you deep clean the living room. The next week it's the kitchen, and so on. But you clean each Zone every month so it always stays clean. This way you never look at the baseboards or ceiling fan and want to hide from embarrassment because there's a 3 inch layer of dust because for the life of you, you can't remember when the last time you cleaned it was! Is anyone else like this or is it just me? I know i'm not alone because there's a whole website for people like me! :o)

Ok here's the website.... www.flylady.net If anything i've talked about reminds you of your home you should seriously check it out!! Some of the stuff might seem a little goofy but if you get in there and just do it it makes a huge difference and after a while you'll wonder how you got by before it!

So anyways, this week I am in Zone 3. I'll be working on the bathroom and the kids room, I think you're also supposed to clean the kids bathroom but we only have 1 bathroom so I get to skip that. I was bad yesterday and didn't start on my Zone work, I had slacked off over the weekend because we were gone so much so I spent the day catching up on my basic work. My goal for today is to get my bathroom completely scrubbed down-walls and everything-as well and all the rugs washed. Will I get it done? We'll see. :o) I'll post my progress tomorrow...I know, you'll be waiting at the edge of your seat until then huh? I mean of course my clean toilet is the most important thing happening today right?!

Also if you have any FLYing stories you'd like to share feel free to do so! :o)

It's party time!

Lexi's birthday is in a month, I can't believe she's going to be 3 already! We have decided to have the party here at our house which will be a bit of a challenge since our house is so small, but we'll make it work. We're going to do it kinda like a come and go so people can come when they want and don't feel like they have to stay the whole time. We'll have chips and sandwiches and of course cake and ice cream so that'll be fun. The big difference this year is that i'll be making the cake! I'm super nervous about it because i've never made a fancy cake before so i'm really hoping it turns out. She of course is having a My Little Pony birthday which is no surprise at all but she also really likes princess stuff, so I decided to make her a pony castle cake. I actually have been looking at cakes online for a while now trying to figure out what kind of cake to make since this is my first time, and I found a pony castle cake. So while it's not MY original idea i'm gonna do it anyways! :o)

We're just planning on inviting some of our friends and family so it won't be a huge thing but it's her birthday so I want it to be a fairly big deal for her so we're gonna go all out with decorating. Colby and I are planning on waiting till the kids leave on Friday and decorating the living room with tons of streamers and balloons so when she gets home from my moms on Saturday the house is all ready for her party! I'm so excited!

Oh, i'm also going to make cookie wands for everyone. I got the idea from the My Little Pony website-yes I signed up for the party planning stuff. I got a cookie sheet that has 6 star shapes on it and a place to put the stick at the bottom before I bake them. Then i'll tie ribbon around the stick and put pink or purple icing and sprinkles on them so they sparkle! :o)Can you tell i'm having fun planning this very girly party?

Ok I guess I better quit chatting and get busy cleaning. That is one good thing about having the party here, it's giving me a great excuse to get all my deep cleaning work done...because we all know that people are going to go behind my furniture and inspect the baseboards! Don't you do that at birthday parties?! :o)