Goodbye, 2010!!

Unexpected surprises from this past year were many...
At this time last year we had submitted an application for a house. A big, unfinished house. For one, we didn't think we'd be chosen and for another, well, we just hadn't thought past that. In the course of 2010, we were chosen, the house was finished, we moved and have already made some wonderful memories in it. Something to truly be thankful for!!

I've always been one to be looking for the "perfect" part time job.  I've had alot of them.  Some good, others not so much.  Well, I think I've got it now.  Getting the job at Kettle Creek has been a pleasant and wonderful surprise.  I love it and it's just the right amount of work for me to do right now.  I couldn't ask for a better environment, a better boss or a better anything.

You don't think I'm going to pass up on mentioning football, do you? 

I didn't think so :)  The success of the team was not the surprise this year.  They were expected to have a good year.  It was how the season went for me.  I, without fail, always have a mild (or major) meltdown 2-3 weeks before the end of the season.  Too much single-parenting, too much running around, etc.  It's been like clockwork every year.  I didn't this year, though.  In fact, I could have gone a few more weeks, I think!  I don't know what the difference was, but it was wonderful!  I hope my football meltdowns are in the past...one can dream, right?!

It was a great year.  One I know I will remember. 
Happy NEW YEAR!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Unless, of course, you and/or your family gets sick!

There is some nasty bug flying around our town and we caught it the day after Christmas.  Oddly, enough, we were in Missouri at the time, but I think we just carried it from Kansas.  We're on the mend, but there are still many down, which nearly put a wrench in my New Year plans!

We're hosting a New Year's Eve party tomorrow night and I'm SOO excited!  Excited enough to not even care if my house gets totally clean.  It will be "clean", but I'm so not stressing on it to look perfect. 

Besides, it's an adult and kids party so it's gonna get trashed anyway!

My kids are as excited about it as me. 
We're planning on have some different "activity" areas for the kids so they will leave us adults alone!

This is what Elijah was up to this morning before I got out of bed...

The papers say "Sit here for chess. (You are white-or black).

Movies will be upstairs.  There are 3 other signs leading you to the boys' room...just in case you get lost.

HyperDash in here.  I'm not too sure if this will be happening.  Too loud and alot of running involved.

 Now, if I can only get him to mop and clean the bathrooms...

Christmas

What a crazy time of year.  It can be overwhelming and exhausting.
I generally consider myself to be a social person.  I love spending time with people, just hanging out or doing whatever. 
Christmas is a time when I begin to wonder if I really am that social.  It just gets to me after awhile.
The shopping, which I managed to avoid almost entirely this year by shopping online, the cooking, the traveling, the visiting. 
I love it and Christmas just wouldn't feel right without all that, but it wears on me.
I'm currently sitting in a hotel room with 2 sleeping boys, listening to classical music, while the other grownups are playing cards.
I'm here by choice.  I just need some quiet time.  A time out.  I'm tired and crabby.

Despite having the holiday crabbiness, I am thankful for so much.  For a Savior that loves me, a wonderful family that I love, and so, so much more!  My kids are making awesome memories with their cousins this weekend.
I love that! 
It's fun...and exhausting :)

Merry Christmas!

Hair

I gave Elijah a haircut tonight.  He cried.
Let me backtrack...
He has GORGEOUS hair. 
It's crazy thick and wavy and soft.
I love it.
I had let him grow it out quite long and he liked it.  It fell into his eyes and he had to constantly brush it away so that he could see.  Apparently that is really cool in 4th grade.
Anyway, he loved his hair.
The problem had become that he loved it too much.  It was a vanity thing.

Now, I didn't cut it with the intention of it becoming a lesson in vanity, but that's the point we ended up at.

Anywho, after we were all done and he looked in the mirror at what I thought was a very nice haircut.  I was rather proud of myself that it was all even and nice looking seeing as I'm not a trained hairstylist. 
Elijah, on the other hand, started crying.  He said he looked like a dork.
Ouch!
I told him he looked handsome, which is not something a 4th grader is going for apparently.
Then I went the route of telling him he will probably be able to run faster since his head is so much lighter now. 
Still no good.
I tried to us all kinds of adjectives and reassure him that he did not look weird, or dorky or crazy.
This went on for a good 10 minutes.  At which point, I gave him a lecture about vanity and how it's ok cause hair grows and he has to decide if he's going to really let it bother him or not. 
That didn't go over so well either.
I decided I only had one thing left in my bag of tricks.  A bad hair story from my childhood...
So I told him about the time when I was about 10 and I REALLY wanted a perm.  I begged my mom until she said she would do one of those home kits.  I was so excited!  Lots of curlers and chemicals later I had a perm...it wasn't at all what I had imagined!
 My hair had been fried and rather then having cute bouncy curls I had an AFRO!
Frizz ball.
Fuzz head.
Poofy. 
That was me.
Well, this lovely story of my pain and humiliation made Elijah laugh, which in turn made him not care about his hair. 
Mission accomplished.

Christmas cards

I LOVE Christmas cards.
Pictures are a big bonus and a letter is just the icing on the cake.

Now, that being said, I have NEVER sent a Christmas card, picture, or letter.  Ever.
I don't even know why.  I just didn't really think about it the first few years we were married. 
So much happened with us those first years that it seemed silly to start writing a letter or a card at that point.
The expense is always a consideration and I just can't bring myself to use technology to send out a Christmas "email".  Just doesn't seem right.
So this year, as in all the years past, I haven't sent anything out.  I always feel a little bad when we get them in the mail. 
I get so excited to open them up and see our friends and families.  I put the pictures or cards up in our kitchen window so I see them everyday.  I don't know if other people enjoy getting them as much as I do.  If I thought they did, maybe that would motivate me. 
Maybe I'll do one next year...
Yeah, I say that every year.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Funny is subjective...

This picture makes me laugh!  It was taken last summer at my family reunion.   

I spent most of the weekend with these brothers and I must say, we're funny. 

I went back to my parents cause I wanted to see Isaac (he's the less blurry blur running towards me in the picture).  He' in the Navy and is out in S. Carolina these days.  I like him alright so I thought I better go see him now or who knows when I would get to see him again. 
And, I'm working on being asked to be in his upcoming wedding, so any extra time I can get with his fiancee is key.  Seriously.

I also wanted to catch a bball game of my youngest brother, Seth (he's the blurriest blur in the picture.)
He's fun to watch and they won so it was a success!
AND, I got to see Gabe and Dan, which is always a bonus.

So, anyway, back to being funny...I don't know if it's just cause we're from the same gene pool, but we crack ourselves up. 
Basically, I laughed the majority of the weekend.
We got on a tangent about creating a line of really inappropriate greeting cards.  We actually discussed starting a business. 
Here's one for a sympathy card..."Remember when you said if you weren't with someone else, we would have a chance?  Sorry for your loss.  Can I take you out to dinner."
Or..."Thank you for your loss."
Do you think they would fly??  Who knows, but we laughed til we cried and I almost peed my pants.

There was also an incident with my mom making a chipmunk sound and then praying, which made me laugh til I cried. 
So, I'm pretty sure not a single sentence I've written made you laugh, but I've laughed all over again just thinking about it!!
Here's to funny families and good memories!!

Warning: Totally biased opinions to follow...

I think my kids are awesome.  They are the smartest, cutest, funniest little people around. 
I told you this was a biased opinion!
Anyway, as I mentioned in an earlier post, E, A and C have been taking piano lessons. 
Elijah has had 2 lessons and Cory and Autumn have had just one each.  They do play quite a bit on their own and I help here and there.
Elijah played in his first piano recital this afternoon.  With just 2 lessons under his belt, he managed to get up in front of  40+ people and play his Jolly Ole St. Nicholas perfectly.  It's hard to get up in front of people, peroid, but to get up in front of strangers,on a grand piano he's never seen, in a place he's never been and play!?!
He's my hero.
And, yep, I was proud!

I might be

watching movies on Netflix all day in my pajamas, while eating toffee and drinking coffee.
It's possible.

These are a few of my favorite things...

After pouring over my new cookbook, I started thinking about all my favorite material things.  I'm not particularly picky about anything so it takes alot to get on this list. They are in no particular order.

1. My VHS of Notting Hill.  Don't laugh.  I love it.  Not necessarily the VHS part, but I love the movie.  It might be the soundtrack or that it's set in London.  I don't even know what it is about it.  I can watch it over and over.  Weird, I know.

2. Explode the Code series-My kids have all learned to read on this series and I love it.  It's simple, which is probably my favorite part.  It's an old school workbook.  No frills.  It gives just enough on each letter for them to "get it" and then it moves on, but still builds from previous knowledge.  I only use it through kindergarten and first grade.  Then we move on to other things.  It's not time intensive either, which is my second favorite thing about it.  I'm all about getting in and getting it done.

3.  Greek dressing, specifically Kraft Greek dressing.  We happened upon it years ago after Chad had returned from his deployment in Greece.  He RAVED about the greek salads over there.  (Chad doesn't really rave about anything, but he came as close to it as I've seen).  It's not exactly "authentic" according to Chad, but oh man, is it good.   Make a salad with spinach, roma tomatoes, red onions, olives, ALOT of feta cheese and this stuff.  YUMMMMM!!!!!!

4.  Everyday Minerals.  http://www.everydayminerals.com/  I love it.  It's cheaper then some other stuff and it's as good, if not better, in my humble opinion.

5. Tresemme hair products.  I have tried ALOT of kinds and I always go back to this stuff.  

Short list and not all that exciting now that I look it over.  Nothing techy or trendy.   Geez, I should get out more.  Broaden my horizons. Try new stuff.  Well, until all that happens, I'll stick with all of these!

You must...

get this cookbook.

I'm not kidding.  I don't LOVE to cook. 

I like it. 

I have to do it. 

 I'd let someone else cook if they wanted to.

This cookbook reads like a novel!  It is BEAUTIFUL!

It makes me want to love to cook. 

I will at some point make EVERY SINGLE THING in this cookbook.

Read about her at http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/

You won't be disappointed.  She makes me smile and want to cook!

Because I want to...

No this is not another post about my sweet, loud, mess-makin', funny two-year old, despite the title. Here's a sweet picture of litte man and his daddy, though, just cause I like it and because I want to :)

Chad and I are going to FARGO, ND!!! 

 Why, oh, why is this a good idea?  In November?  Right after they got about 8 inches of SNOW?

Football?

Kinda.

Friends?

DEFINITELY!!

And, quite simply, because we want to.  We're leaving the kids at my sister-in-laws house and heading north! 

 WAY NORTH!!

I love road trips.  It's no secret. 

BUT, a road trip with just the hubby to see some GREAT friends, watch some good football and have 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep sounds heavenly, snow and cold or not!!

Dumped...

Emptied...
Poured...
Depleted...
Drained...
Expelled...
Unloaded...
You may know what I'm talking about here.

My 2 year old likes to do these things.

Alot.

Here is a partial list of things that Caleb has dumped, emptied, poured, etc...you get the idea, in the past few days.

1. Whole wheat flour

2. Milk-lots of milk

3. water-approximately 100 times a day

4. a partial jug of bleach-this one was a little scary.

5. a bowl of chili-as I'm typing this...

6. a bookshelf

7. His basket of diapers

8. I typed 8, without having another one, with the assumption that he would dump something else by the time I finished this post...so far so good.

Again, just want to reinterate that this is a PARTIAL list and that, by in large, these incidences were, in fact, intentional.

He doesn't look all that destructive, does he?

Don't let those baby blues fool you!

Piano lessons

Finally!!!
My kids are taking piano lessons! I've wanted them to for so long, but we haven't had the room for a piano and I didn't have the patience to take them someplace else to practice.

The older 3 are trading a time spot so they are getting a lesson every 3 weeks. I'm not sure if this is enough or not, but that's what we're doing for now.

Piano might actually be my only regret (not a big fan of feeling regret, so I just avoid it if I can). I think I took lessons for 3 years. Maybe 4?? I really don't remember much except where middle C is, 2 bars of a song I played for a recital and begging my mom to quit when I was 11. I liked playing, but hated practicing. Pretty typical for an 11 year old, I'm sure. My mom tried. I know she did. I imagine I will have very similar conversations with my pianists at some point.

I wish I would have kept at it for just a few more years.
I might actually still be able to play.
I can barely read music.
I just think it would be a great stress reliever to just sit at the piano and play something beautifully!
I don't expect them to be concert pianists, but I consider it a life skill to be able to read music.
We'll see how it goes...

10-0

So proud of these guys!

Hold on, I need to write it again...



10-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I've wrote before about life as a football wife, but there isn't much that compares to getting to the end of the regular season undefeated!

So many invested so much into this team, these guys, and when it all plays out to perfection, all I can do is smile :)
I know how hard all those boys work and how much they had to prove. They are a very young staff and felt like they needed to prove that they could be champions, despite their age and experience.
It was a lot of pressure. And they beat it.
They won.
Every time.

The staff, players and families watched the playoff selection show yesterday all together.
We also did this last year.
This year was TOTALLY different. I couldn't help but notice the atmosphere in the room compared to last year.
No major cheering, joking, celebratory antics.
Business, pure business.
They knew they were in, they knew we'd play at home.
The staff was gone immediately after our team was announced.
Off to get film, start studying, planning.
We won't see Chad this week and that's ok.
No regrets.
I want to win Saturday as much as they do :)
GO BULLDOGS!!!

Hi, my name is Sarah...

and I blog.
Infrequently.
Almost never.
Or, at least, not in a REALLY long time!!
It was kinda nice to not have internet for a few weeks.
Sometimes it was annoying when I had to order something, which reminds me I have to order my kids piano books, still..., or when I wanted to research something stupid, like how far it is from McPherson, KS to Helena, MT.
I read more, cleaned more, didn't check Facebook 6 times a day, and read to my kids more, got to think about things outside of the internet world. I had no idea what happened to any celebrities for 2 weeks or really, what happened to anyone unless I spoke to them, which was not necessarily a bad thing.
So here's the low down on what was going on while I was unplugged...
1. My mom came to visit, which was super great.
2. My in laws came for 11 days, which was also great. We ate a lot of McDonalds, which is my FIL's favorite place to take us when they're here. I enjoyed visiting with my MIL and they were a huge help while I worked in the mornings or did a bunch of other running around that I normally have to haul everyone too.
3. FOOTBALL-There will be a whole 'nother post about all that awesomeness!
4. My kids started their piano lessons. I had to FORCE Elijah to go to his, but I think he may secretly like it.
So that's about it. I'll be back.
Hopefully, sooner then later!

Internet

is gone. Well, actually, whoever we were getting our internet from is gone.
So, we're getting our own, which is the ethical/legal thing to do anyway.
I will blog again...
Probably Wednesday or Thursday next week or whenever I remember.

My momma is coming!

Mi Madre y mi Padre

They are basically awesome.

And I'm super excited about my mom coming for a visit.

I get to see my mom quite a bit, but there's nothing like a REAL visit.
Most of our visits consist of an "event" or a project.

I go back to my hometown and see my parents often and they come out to our house a few times a year.

It's usually super busy, lots of running around and not a whole lot of time to just visit.

This time it's a visit for visiting sake and I'm so happy!

It's been a stressful few months with the house, moving, football season, etc. and I have just needed some MOM time!!!
We have a few things planned out to do...Halloween parade, time at the lake with friends, football on Saturday.
Most looking forward to just hanging out!
Here's to MOM TIME!! :)

My one and only...

girl is 8! I just have to brag for a minute.

She's amazing and not by any feat of ours.

She just is.

Really and truly, I cannot imagine what life would be like if we didn't have our Autumn.

She's helpful beyond what's normal, independent about everything, thoughtful and...

BONUS: She loves to cook, clean and be crafty!!

Seriously? How did we end up with this girl??

I ask myself that almost daily.

I've considered loaning her out cause everyone needs a little Autumn, but I'm selfish and I don't want to.

She's mine and you can't have her! :)

Here are a few pics from her birthday on Thursday...

Happy Birthday, Little A!

All ready go

My camera had seemingly saw it's last picture a few weeks back.

I sadly set it on the counter and mourned the loss of another camera as I started dreaming about my next one.

Then a few days ago, Autumn came upstairs with the camera and said she thought she fixed it.
I don't know how, but it works again.
It's old and doesn't take the greatest pictures, but I'm ok with that right now!

So, just to get back in the swing of putting pics on my blog, here's a few for you from this morning...

He was packing his bag for church.

Keys-Check

Wipes-Check

That's all the kid needs.

He had shoes on, which is apparently all you really need to go to church.
He said, "All ready go, Mom."

Bubby was left behind and not happy. He and I are hanging at home a little longer this morning. At least long enough for the kid to put some clothes on :)

Too much

Man, it just seems like there is too much going on for people right now.

Too much sickness, too much dying, too many questions, too many decisions.

My heart is just so heavy with all of it.

There seems to be an ebb and flow to friendships when times like this hit.

Sometimes there are circumstances that hit so close to you and you need help. There have been times that I've been emotionally and physically not able to get through the days.

Friends and family are quick to jump and help when you're maxed out. You rely on them to cover for you where you can't be or do those things you can't do.

When those times pass, you wait. You wait for that moment when you can help them. Not because you get something out of it, but because you know how it felt to have someone step in for you.

So when that pendulum swings and your life can hold more, you help.

Maybe not with anything excessive, but a few extra minutes to talk, a hand with some kids, a time for prayer, the energy to carry some of the burdens that are weighing people down.

I don't think these are coincidences. God knows these things and puts people where they should be, when they are needed. I've seen it countless times. Sometimes in hindsight, but it's always there. He covers because we are not able to cover ourselves.
That is one thing I know with certainty.