I know... it's been a while..

Ok, So I know it has been a while... but in my own defense... I cannot say the word NO! Life has been crazy and while I love being busy I am loving the idea of Christmas break for 2 weeks!!! It is going to be so nice. We are staying local... we are going to play, go to Zoo Lights, maybe head up to Flagstaff to go sledding again, and did I say play? Can't wait!!! I know many of you who check this blog do not have or don't want access to my facebook! Please be my friend! :-) So, I am going to throw an update on the last couple of months on here with a few pics... Hopefully over Christmas break I will have some time to spend on this blog!

So, back to October... we always have our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch... and of course our annual block party with the best neighbors anyone could ask for... What a fun time... This year we had an angel, a devil and Minnie Mouse in the house for Halloween. I know I am biased, but I think they all looked adorable...

Ok... on to November.... Thanksgiving was great... The Ewings were kind enough to keep the kids for a couple of days so we could do the Black Friday event. I have never done this before and yes, Mike and I were at Walmart at 3am. HOLY COW! These people are crazy. But, we did get some great finds... and we were able to get pretty much everything bought and wrapped. We got one tree up and all the lights on the house. We got a lot done and are very thankful for a mini break! :-) Aubrey had a very cute program at school with her class... They sang TOmmy the Thansgiving Turkey and she was adorable. I helped (imagine that...) at school that day with the first grade feast afterwards.

Ok... on to December... at least so far... December has been a nutty month! One thing after another... not alot of time to just sit back, hence looking forward to the break. We did mange to get away last weekend for a fun little trip to Polar Express in Williams, AZ. What a fun time! We had so much fun playing in the snow (which was a shocker, because N. Arizona never gets snow this early), riding the train, sledding, and just being together. It seems we are always so busy when we are here in town running from one thing to another... and this was our time. 24 hours to be together and it was awesome!

Looking forward to a great holiday and a wonderful 2010. We will try to keep this blog updated a little more often! Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An update

So, I know it has been a while... There has been alot going on but not too many pictures to show for it. I will have to get better about that.

Some important updates:

Potty training is going well... although she now asks us to leave every time she is on the potty saying "Go away Mommy, need pivacy". I guess I should be happy she is modest... if only that modesty lasted all day long and she kept her clothes on... Yes, my child loves to be naked and we usually end the day with at least 3 outfits that are sort of dirty because she is constantly changing her clothes. It is always an adventure.

Miss A had her first campout with the Daisy troop. She made it until morning but was not thrilled about having to change her clothes in a tent or sleeping on the ground. She is so my daughter. They started the evening off with a Halloween parade so my little angel got to wear her costume for the first time. I picked her up the next morning and she said she had a great time... I think that has something to do with the fact that she shared the air mattress with our friend Miss Stacey who stayed to help. Again, so my daughter!


We had a chance to celebrate the sealing of our friends Kyle and Beth and their children in the Mormon temple. We did not get to go into the temple, but we were able to hang out on the beautiful grounds for a bit and I got to play photographer for them. Such an awesome family... wonderful people! And I think I got "hired" to come to Utah with them for their family reunion! WOO HOO! WONDERFUL FAMILY!

Too true!

"When life gives you a thousand reasons to cry...Show life a thousand reasons to smile."

Whitney Houston

Not a huge fan of hers. Never really dug her music and thought she was a little too dramatic for my liking. But, two songs off of her new CD are amazing and so spoke to me. So, that either means I have gotten more dramatic or she has toned it down a notch. I am thinking that after the last couple of years maybe a little bit of both. But, all of you who really know me know how I love to listen to music.

A friend of mine and I were chatting the other day over a glass of wine and she was commenting on what a crazy and tumultuous year I have had. She paid me a compliment which I actually accepted... and that (accepting compliments) does NOT come easy. She told me that I have lost so much in the last year, but I seem so much more positive and resilient. It is amazing how much you can go through and NOT have it break you. I will gladly accept that compliment!

MILEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great night I had last night... I took the 3 beautiful, fun, stylish and awesome girls to the Miley Cyrus concert. I have never seen so many screaming little girls in one place in all my life.

Her concert was great... nonstop! The kids knew all the songs and I actually have to say I knew most of them myself. We had a blast full of fun, laughter and music! Thanks to these three adorable girls for letting me tag along, and for telling me over and over again that I was the coolest mom/aunt there is... Just what I needed! This was a good night!

Those girly moments

So, I sit here as a mom to a 1st grader and a 3rd grader. They are both so full of life and love. They drive me crazy and make me proud all at the same time. I am sitting here having such a hard time with the idea that "cliques" are already starting up. Seriously... already? How can this be?

It brings me back to my own childhood. For as long as I can remember I clung to my friendships. They were so important to me. We could disect why that was and is but that is another therapy session for another day. But, I also remember how mean girls could be. I tried so hard to "fit in" and be part of the "group" and most days I was... but, there were those days that I came home from school completely defeated and sad. I just do not want my girls feeling this way. I know that they have already and that makes me even more sad. I also know there are going to be many more days with moments like these.

I just hope that I have the right words to say to let my girls know that they are truly awesome and wonderful girls. I never want them to feel that they are not good enough or need to be anything different than what they are. I never want them to feel they cannot talk to me or share their hurts with me. I just want them to be able to look back on their childhoods and say "yep... it was a fun and GOOD time filled with lots of wondeful friends and parents who I know loved me no matter what".

Time to heal...

So, it has been a while since I have blogged. The last 18 months have definitly not been my favorite... I really could have done without them. During that time I felt that everything was negative and bad... and there were the tough moments... but the toughest moment had yet to come and I lived through that moment on September 4, 2009.

It was then that I realized that there were two ways to look at things in life... You can always find something negative in every situation but, if you look really hard you can also find something positive. I have missed blogging and sharing the little moments with those of you who care enough to know about them. :-)

So, I am back... Hoping that there are still some of you out there who care to take a look into our simple lives here. I am still on Facebook... in fact most people would say that I am addicted to Facebook :-), but I know there are still those of you who "just won't give in and join"... So , hopefully this is a way for us to stay connected.

Here is to looking really hard and trying to find the positive in the big things that hit you over the head and the little things that occur on a daily basis!

Taking a break from blogging...

Just a note to let you know that I am taking a break from blogging. Those of you who regularly read this blog know what is happening in my life anyways and I will always be posting updated shots of our adventures on Facebook.

The reason for this is quite simple.

People have asked me why I made the blog private. I made the blog private so that I could control who was reading about our lives and seeing pictures of our family. Some might view this as controlling but, hey it is my blog and I guess I can do what I want with it. I implemented a tracking system into this blog a while ago... This is how I discovered that people I did not know were viewing my space here. I have kept that tracking device on and it seems that I am getting visitors from locations that I have no "approved" contacts to read this blog from. This makes me think that user names and passwords could be being passed around. That is the only way that people from these different locations could be viewing because as we all know they have to be approved. Not a fan of that at all... I think it is deceitful and disrespectful.

So, there you have it... the blog is still going to be here. Because one day I hope to print it out and make a little momento of it. But, for now I do believe I will be taking a break from the blogging world.

Megan is 8!

I can hardly believe that Megan is 8 years old! Time is flying by so quickly and I am just trying to hang on to each moment! Megan had a wonderful day...

She started the day yesterday with a fun surprise of donuts from Dad and Alli! Miss Alli decided to get up wayyyyyy too early so Mike figured that was an omen that donuts were needed! :-) She was able to open a gift with her breakfast and chose one from Mike and I... The new Disney Rocks cd and some new summer clothes made her smile which made me smile.

After everyone got ready for the day we had some time to open some additional gifts before getting on the school bus for school. All of which she loved.

As we were walking out the door she got the first of many happy birthday phone calls from Grandma and Pa Ewing.

She had a great time at school... Daddy brought her lunch and ate with her in the cafeteria. Mommy brought her cupcakes to school to share with her class. After school we had to rush off to a church retreat in preparation for her celebratig her First Reconciliation this morning. We were there until about 8pm and when we got home we found that Daddy and the girls had decorated yet another treat for Miss Megan...

Thinking of the perfect wish

Today brought us Megan making her first Reconciliation. She asked me to NOT bring the camera but then allowed my friend Geri to take some pictures of her... So, those will have to be posted later. She was so nervous about the sacrament, but afterwards said it was not as bad as she thought it would be and the priest was very nice. Here she is before we left for church.

When we got home we were able to rest a little and then get ready for a fun evening to celebrate the big birthday with aunts, uncles, Grandma, Pa and cousins... Megan wanted pizza, fruit, chocolate covered pretzels... quite the combo! :-) Mommy made the choc covered pretzels last night after the retreat and at 1130pm got the great idea that she was going to make a double decker cake for Megan. Everytime I have done this it has not turned out but I decided to try, So, I made 2 round cakes and let the cool overnight. This morning got up early and frosted it and got the cupcakes finished. Put the cake on the plate with the glass dome to go over it only to discover the cake was TOO BIG for the dome... So, we got it re-frosted and covered it in saran wrap and Megan loved it... I am sure all the kids did giving it took 3 cans of frosting to frost the thing! :-)

THE CAKE

Megan is realizing that she got earrings and yes, a gift card to get her ears pierced over Spring Break.

YEA! Mario Kart... guess what we are going to be doing tomorrow! :-)

Thanks to all of you for thinking of Megan. She loved all the phone calls and messages... Tilghmans... you did a great job singing Happy Birthday! She loved all her gifts... She was so excited to get "big girl" gifts... clothes, gift cards, WII stuff, Scene It DVD game, books, bath gift set... She had a great birthday. And it is not over yet... We still have the party with friends in a couple of weeks (after Spring Break) at the swim school... swimming, crafts, food and cake... Sounds like fun! Stay tuned!

Happy Birthday Megan. We love you!