1-3-11: Thankful Post Day 3...

I am SO thankful for a man that "gets it"...

I had decided what my Thankful post was going to be about & had kind of "written it in my head" & thought I was all set until... I was chatting with a friend of mine tonight & mentioned it to her & she (oh wise friend that she is) made a comment that made me literally STOP & think.

So, what WAS my post going to be? It was to be (well, it still is, I just have another perspective on it now) how THANKFUL I am for a spouse that is a co-parent, a teammate, a partner. A Dad that loves & adores his kids & is willing to go above & beyond for them. Prince Charming is as involved in the day to day runnings with the kids as I am. Luckily he has a pretty flexible work schedule (for the most part) & he helps taxi the kids to & fro.

Ever since we moved out to the middle of nowhere, it's become VERY clear that 1 person can NOT do all the running into town taking the kids everywhere they need to be. PC realizes this (no, I did NOT have to point it out to him, he's just good that way LOL) & does what he can to take the load off of me.

I was going to post about how I take him/his help for granted, that there is no way I could be a single Mom & keep up with the schedules. My sweet & wise friend said something like 'I don't think you necessarily take it for granted, you work TOGETHER, you do what you need to do because you're a family. You do what you can to help each other, you decided early on that you would both be involved & do whatever needed to be done.' You know, she's right (big surprise there). He's ALWAYS helped out with the kids, ALWAYS! I honestly can't think of 1 negative thing when it comes to him being a Dad. He loves our kiddos & he loves me, personally, I think we're all pretty darn lucky!

Anyway, today, I am thankful for an incredible Hubby that helps lighten my load & is always willing to help keep our crazy, hectic schedule running smoothly!

Here are a couple of pics of him with the boys, doing what they love...
Enjoying time with the dogs...

Coaching one of their sports teams...

1-2-11: Today I am thankful for...day 2

Today I am thankful for lunch dates with Prince Charming & the Little Princess! Little Miss & I were headed out for a couple hours of shopping before picking up the boys from school. After our first stop, PC called & invited us to lunch. We needed to stop by the bank first & by the time we finished up there, I was just about out of time, so we did a quick drive through, eat in the car deal, BUT, it was still time spent together & I LOVED it!

With the way our schedules are lately (& things haven't even started getting crazy yet), we're finding it hard to spend real time together. I love that I'm able to be a "stay at home Mom" with a pretty flexible schedule (at least during school hours) so that when Prince Charming calls & wants to take me out to lunch, I can go! Thanks Honey, for a fun "date", even if it's not exactly what we had in mind (really hoping for a real, honest to goodness "sit down" meal at a REAL restaurant, but hey, Mc D's will work ;) ) the conversation was fun & I couldn't have asked for better company!

I am Thankful for... 1-1-11

Just some fun things we do to have fun TOGETHER...

Bend Elks Baseball Game:
The Princess & Mommy at the beach:
Spending long hot summer days in the pool:
Playing with the dogs:


Yes, I realize it's been over 1 year since I've blogged, sorry. I figure this is the PERFECT time to get back into it so... I'm going to do a Thankful post each day for the month of November. Hopefully by the end of the month, this will have become habit & I can be back here for good.


I have so much to be thankful for, but today I am going to concentrate on the fact that my kids get to grow up in a "stable" home. I have always taken that for granted, but spending so much time at the schools lately, I am becoming more aware of how rare this really is. We don't by any means, have the "perfect" home, or the "perfect" family, NONE of us are "perfect", heck, FAR from it but you know something, we're happy & we love each other. We support each other, through the good & the bad. We have fun together, yes, the kids argue, no, wait, I take that back, they don't argue, they downright FIGHT! BUT, we also stand up for each other & will ALWAYS be here for one another. Prince Charming & I have a great relationship that we work hard at & on every single day. We not only love each other, but are IN love with each other. We LOVE & adore each of our kiddos. Every single one of us brings something unique & special to our family relationships. Is it easy? ABSOLUTELY not! Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!! I love that my kids know without a shadow of a doubt they can come to us, that we will listen to them, that we have THEIR best interest at heart. Now, that doesn't mean we don't make mistakes, or that they get everything they want, Heaven knows THAT isn't the case (just ask them ;) ). We push them beyond what THEY think we should, we have very high expectations for them, but we're also here when they "fall". We support each other during the highs & the lows. We're ALL in this journey for the long haul. You know something, I wouldn't want it any other way!!! I LOVE my imperfect little family, flaws & all! I know that no matter what life throws at us, we are a STRONG & STABLE family & that even though "We may not have it all together, that together, we have it all!".

A Give-Away...

I have a good friend that just happens to be one of the most talented & creative people I've ever known. Lindsay is doing a give away on her blog right now & as much as I would like to keep her all to myself, that really isn't fair to her. Well, & you know, since we are friends & friends are supposed to be supportive of each other, I figured it would be NICE if I gave her a BIG OL SHOUT OUT! So... head on over to her blog & you can see for yourself just how creative & talented she is. You can also check out her Etsy store that has some absolutely darling hand crafted items.

GIveaway on another blog...

A friend of mine is doing a giveaway that sounds really fun... go check out her blog!

I'll be back later to add lots of pics & fill you all in on everything that has been keeping us busy! Stay tuned!

Bubby's Big Day!

In our religion (LDS, aka: Mormon) we are baptized at the age of 8. So Bubs turned 8 back in December, & well, since our stake follows the rules (grrr) & does Stake Baptisms, his should have been in January. Well, my sweet little boy asked me (before his b day) if he could wait to be baptized until the weather was nicer & the roads were clear so that Gammy & Papa (& the rest of my fam) could be here for him. Of course, we were all over that, so.... we ended up having to wait until this last weekend.

I'm not going to get into all of the "negatives" with how the baptism went, I'm going to focus on the positive... we had a WONDERFUL weekend with our family & had a great time with friends also. One of Bubs's BFF's got to be baptized at the same time, that was SO much fun for these 2 special little boys.

Anyway, here are a few of the pics from his special day...

Practicing with Daddy...
Walking hand in hand to the chapel...
Just like Jesus...
3 cute cousins...
His new scriptures from Mommy & Daddy...
Our little family...
Friends...

Our "big" family (minus some that couldn't make it)


CONGRATULATIONS Bubby! We are so proud of you & the decision you made, what a big step this was for you. We love you sweetheart!

***Ok, I just have to share this because it's just so "Bubby"... right after he got out of the font, he was in the changing room with Daddy drying off & changing back into his "regular" clothes. Dad looked at Bubs & said "Do you know that right now, you are perfect?" Bubby thought about that for about 2 seconds, then with a little smirk on his face, proceeded to punch dad in the stomach. He looked up & then said "Not anymore". LOL We all laughed so hard when Daddy came out & told us this story, it was just PERFECTLY Bubby! (No fear, that just opened up the discussion on why we take the sacrament every Sunday ;) so it's all good! )

Family Fun Day...

Ok, so since this was the first wknd in a long time that we had NO plans, I had a bright idea & was bound & determined to see it out (even if the kids did complain). Friday night, we had family movie night & watched Avatar. (Ok, I honestly didn't care about that part, it was Saturday that I got to plan).

My "bright idea" was to go on a hike & have a picnic lunch at Tumalo Falls. Prince Charming & I went & bought "special" picnic food & we were SO excited (ok, *I* was excited). We got up on Sat & started getting ready. I would love to say that the boys were as excited as I was, & that they were ready to walk out the door long before me. Well, that would just be a HUGE lie! Instead... they "convinced" Prince Charming (while I was in the shower) that it would be WAY more fun to go bowling at the fun center. Yeah, whatever! We ended up compromising & this is what we came up with...

We ended up (after finding out that Tumalo Falls was still closed for the winter), having our lunch on the river at Shevlin Park. Let's just say that the boys must have paid Mother Nature to be on their side because it was COLD!!! We had a quick lunch & then the boys decided to have a "Pinecone war". Who would have ever thought that would be SO much fun?! LOL We all went "exploring" after that & got some great pics.


















We had SO much fun hanging out, but since it was so cold, (& C-Man fell in the river & was all wet & dirty lol) we decided to head into town. We headed for Sun Mountain Fun Center to go bowling. Once again, (I was in the bathroom with the Princess) the boys convinced Daddy that it would be OH SO MUCH FUN to ride the go carts instead of bowling. LOL Yep, that's what we did & ya know something, they were right, we had a BLAST!!! After the go carts, we got slurpees from 7-11 & came back home. It was an absolutely PERFECT day, in every way! (Ok, Prince Charming & I went shopping & he once again, spoiled me rotten, so of course, it was a perfect ending!).

I can't wait for our next family fun weekend, I love my family, they are so much fun!!!