The Joy of Christmas Vacay....

Today is the first day of Christmas vacation for Ally!!!  It's crazy... I've been off since last Wednesday, so I feel like it's been a week for me... but her's has just begun!  The morning was off to a rough start... the kids like to begin with fighting... I know it's just trying to figure out what's what... and settle into their day, but that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to take really.  Ally ends up all pissed off and storming to her room once or twice... and Luke, has his feelings hurt at first and then, fights back..... we finally got through the rough start and are enjoying our morning snack:

You would never know by their smiles that they hated one another ten minutes before this.  ;-)

Yesterday... my fearless hubby set out to get some things done.  The only time he really has to take care of things is the time he takes off for vacation, so he actually enjoys the feeling of accomplishing things around here and on things, such as the car in this case, when he CAN do them.  So... off he goes in the morning to drop Ally at school... and get to some tire places to finally take care of the tire situation.

I took the car to Belle Tire last week and was given a nice $1000 estimate for four new tires.  Ugh.  He went to some other places, on recommendations... but the issue is simply the type of tires my car has (HUGE!) and the fact that it's all wheel drive and requires FOUR tires each time you replace them.  Nice huh?  

He was living in a world of denial that we had to purchase these tires.  The issue is this:  we lease our cars for this very reason.  We DON'T WANT to pay for stuff such as tires... we just want to use and abuse a car for three years, turn it in.. get a new one. That's just how we roll.  Problem this time around was that... we were HORRIDLY over miles on this car so, the wear and tear was starting to take its toll.  

So, off to Nissan he goes... to see what we can do.  Used tires maybe?  Something! The lease is up in May after all..... we aren't going to get $1000 use out of these tires!!!!  

Instead of used tires..... it turns out, we are just going to get a whole new car.  :-))))  HAHA!!!!  I love my hubby.  Turns out, we can just get bought out of our lease, cuz the car is worth what is owed and then some.... so we can get out of our lease for free... saves us oodles of money in tires and overage fees on the miles.... AND I get a new car months earlier!!!!  

This is a double bonus for me... because with Ally's activities and carting friends around, I have made the decision that I really want a third row SUV... so this gives me that extra space months earlier than I thought I would!!! Just in time for me to take five girls to a gymnastics meet in January!  And Ally's birthday.... it's just a win/win!!!!!

Scott went to every dealer in town. I love his diligence.  Everyone will give us a GREAT price for the car... but the best deal and car in town is a Honda Pilot and that's the dealer that is offering the least for the trade in..... so Scott is once again.... out and about wheeling and dealing and trying to get the best car for me.  I love him. :-)

After today, I will either have a brand new Pilot or an Acadia..... Merry Christmas to me!  :-)  Room for eight baby.... PARTY in my car!  :-)))))

Ally even got dragged around a bit yesterday after school... cuz Scott spent the entire day in town and still had places to go after she was done with school.  She was such a trooper... and is so excited to sit in the "way back" of our new car.  :-)))))  

Last night, when she got home.... Luke was so excited to see someone other than his Mommy... so they did some painting together...

As you can see... Luke is fairly addicted to his Sant (or HoHo as he calls him) jammies... we are pretty much wearing them all the time now.  At least we are getting my money's worth!!!  HAHA!!

So..... today I am trying to get things around and prepare for Dave, Mary and Maggie's arrival tomorrow!  Scott is off accomplishing greatness without kids... so he gets to do the grocery store!  Later this afternoon we are heading to Nana and Papa's to make Christmas cookies with our cousins... and the "big kids" are gonna enjoy some tequila drinks and tacos....  :-) The party before the party.  I love the holidays and opportunities to get together all the time.  

Happy, happy holidays!!!!!!

Luke is THREE!!!

What a weekend.... what a birthday!!! Whew!  Yesterday, my little man turned three years old! THREE!!! That means we're out of the terrible two's right?  :-)  It was a little rough in the beginning.... his birthday was off to a rocky start..... and here is why:

Sunday evening, my mother-in-law took Ally ice skating.  Ally's only been once or twice (maybe!) with Y Camp... so she's not exactly a great ice skater.  They went to the Optimist Ice Arena and for about an hour, Ally was doing really, really well! Then.... she took a tumble.... and smacked her head on the ice pretty badly.  She had a giant goose egg. Instant headache.  And was generally shaken by the whole thing.

She came home... and was pretty out of it.  She started to feel very nauseated.... and I couldn't get her to eat or dink anything at all. Then, she pretty much just fell asleep on the couch.  I made a call to a nurse friend of mine... who said to wake her up... keep an eye on her, but to take her in if she vomited for sure.  Of course, five seconds later, Ally woke up and vomited.

So, between the goose egg, headache, sleepiness and vomiting.... we decided we better have her checked out.  We got into the Express for Kids right away!!!  No waiting.... and she was seen immediately by none other than mine and Scott's doctor... so that felt good.  She passed her "concussion screening" and the doc saw no reason that she needed a scan or anything... she seemed quite fine.  She remembered what month it was... what was happening Saturday... she knew her parents' names.... she could add and subtract.... and she seemed just fine to him.  Us too, really... and I knew in my heart she was fine... but you never can be too safe.

She threw up two more times... in the car... hmm... still barfing?  Ugh.  It hit me that I was actually almost holding out hope this WAS a concussion cuz then it meant it WASN'T a stomach virus... and that there was no chance of anyone else getting it.  It was not looking good....

But, then, she got home... and we kept her in our room that night, checking her constantly.... and she didn't throw up again all night. No dry heaving. Nothing.  Hmmm.....

Monday morning rolls around..... It's Luke's Birthday!!!  Hooray!!!!  I get him up singing Happy Birthday all the while.  :-)  And Ally wakes up with us... saying she's feeling fine except for a slight headache.  She's hungry.  I make her toast.  She's thirsty.  I let her have a glass of water.

Luke is having birthday peanut butter toast cuz he wants to be like Ally and Scott and I are downing copious amounts of coffee because we got zero sleep the night before.  We decide to let Luke open his gifts from us:

We got him a birthday Thomas the Train car, book and Cranky the Crane (which he has been talking about for months!!!). He was pretty excited....

And... things were going so well, except for then, Ally started to feel bad again... ran to the bathroom and lost all her breakfast....  :-(

Back to bed she goes..... (our bed still)....  She's a miserable girl when she's sick.  She gets MAD at the world.... I guess I can't fault her that. It sucks to be sick!!!!!

She is so upset that she's going to miss Luke's birthday party and generally feels so terrible.  I assure her that we will not have a party without her and that we will figure something out......

In the meantime, Scott decided it's just for the best to go out and about with Luke... while I clean and deal with Ally.  I make a fabulous bleach concoction and go to work on every surface of the house... the entire house ends up smelling like an indoor pool... but I have killed whatever is in this house dammit!!  No evil bug is gonna get us down!

That was the last time Ally threw up. Thank god!!!  After that, she is able to eat some dry waffles... some goldfish crackers... and drink some Sprite.  She and I lay around and watch Elf together.  She's never seen it and is STILL laughing about the "World's Best Cup of Coffee" scene. :-)))))

Then, I take a shower and she takes a bath..... wash all the germs down the drain..... we get dressed... she chills some more..... I do some MORE cleaning....... and we think we can have Luke's little party after all.

In the meantime... Scott has run some errands with Luke... taken him out for birthday chicken nuggets... and taken him to the Toy House.... where he let's him pick out some more birthday gifts.  He chooses this animal preschool contraption... a soccer ball... and two Dora and one Diego book.  Life is good for the birthday boy!!

He comes home with all of this... and I am certain Ally is gonna blow a gasket... cuz that's what Ally usually does.  But, lately Ally has done some maturing... and she surprises me by, yes pointing out ALL that Luke got for his birthday, but not being nasty about it. Kudos Ally.  ;-)

We get ready for the birthday party... we are just having family over for pizza and cake and ice cream... and everyone arrives around 6:00 pm.  My mom and step-dad, Dave are even in town, cuz in the midst of all this chaos.... my step-sister, Crystal has had a baby girl!! Charlotte Loren.... born at 4:06 pm on Sunday, December 19th!  So Mom and Dave come in from Livonia (where they are staying - they actually LIVE in Columbia, Missouri).... Nana and Papa..... Jane, Adam and the girls.... all arrive...... we have wine... beer... lots of pizza.... and the little ones play and play.

Then, out of no where Luke comes upstairs and asks "Is it time for presents??" HAHA!!! How can you say no to that?

I didn't get a lot of great pictures, but enough to tell the story of his birthday.  More importantly, I enjoyed watching my boy enjoy his special evening with some of his favorite people.  :) He was so happy.... he got a fire engine... a Woody and his horse (what's his horse's name?) toy... an "electric guitar" and a Follow Me Thomas!  

He slept with EVERYTHING.  :-)))))  And first thing this morning... he's playing with all of it.  He is such a happy little man this morning.  

Who needs Christmas?  :-)

'Tis the Season...

I am sitting in my living room. The tree is lit up.  Christmas music is softly playing.  A candle is burning. The dogs are laying with Ally, who is on the couch, drawing on the iPad and sending "gifts" to friends and family.  Scott and Luke are downstairs watching the Lions.  All is calm. All is bright.

I am enjoying every moment of it.

All my gifts are wrapped (except for the kids').  Ally did most of the wrapping for me.  She loves to wrap... so why not? Why must all the gifts be perfectly wrapped with no seams and perfect bows?  She got so much joy out of wrapping the gifts her way... and I was happy to have her help!!!

Most of my shopping is done. All I need to do is take inventory of what I have for the kids... and decide what little things we still might need to get for them.  I am still planning on picking up a Color Me playhouse that's on Ally's list... so I need to get to Michaels and do that this week.  Other than that, I think I am all set.  It feels good. But, I can't help but feel that I forgot something. Someone. Who knows.  :-)

This is the calm before the storm that begins tomorrow.  Not a bad storm... just a stream of visitors and events... that kick off with Luke's birthday!  We have invited Grace to spend the day with us tomorrow.  Ally still has school.  Scott, Grace, Luke and I will play the day away at home... bake a cake.... enjoy the time together.  Nana, Papa, Aunt Jane, Uncle Adam, Lyla, Jilli, Auntie Kristen, Uncle Mark and Rhen will join us in the evening for pizza and birthday joy.  It will be a nice day for the little man.  He will be very happy.  I need to get balloons. That's really all he requires.  His favorite people.  Cake. Ice Cream.  Balloons.

Ally's last day of school is Tuesday... and our first day all home together is Wednesday!  I am hoping to do some baking on Wednesday!  YUM!!!!!  Christmas cookies.  Maybe fudge?  All things sweet and wonderful.

Thursday, I will take some time for me... and go to Ann Arbor. Some insane last minute shopping (there is something I need to get there... but it's a surprise!) and a trip to the salon for a much needed hair cut and COLOR! Holy grey roots!!!!

Thursday evening, my brother, David, sister-in-law Mary and niece Maggie will arrive to stay with us through the holidays.  My mom was supposed to come in as well.... but she is driving in right now, as my step-sister is in labor as we "speak!"  She is having a baby girl today... and they are naming her Charlotte.  I cannot wait to meet my new niece!

A busy week.... full of joy, family and eating.... before the excitement of Christmas day!!  Hooray!

We had a wonderful party with friends and co-workers last night.... always a good time when we get together.  It's been a wonderful holiday season so far, full of many people I love to be with..... 

Much more to come.  :-)

Christmas Programs and Other Joys...

Yesterday, Ally had her Christmas Program at school, and I must say... I was more than impressed!!!!  The music program at Queens is amazing... and those kids really embrace the entire thing and perform their little hearts out!!!  From the great voices of the children's choir... to the silly antics... to the kindergarten santas... to the first and second grade dancing reindeer.... the entire thing was enjoyable from start to finish!

I took Luke to the afternoon performance, to see how he would do.... and he sat still almost the entire time, completely mesmerized!!!  He loved it!!! He loved it so much, that I invited Grace to come to the evening show.... and I think they both had a great time watching all those kids... and especially seeing Ally!

Ally did so well!! She was right there in the front row, on the end (she said it's cuz she's one of the shortest kids and was kinda bummed by that!)... so it was easy for us and the little ones to spot her!  During the afternoon show, Luke about came out of his seat when he finally spotted her.  It was adorable.  "MOMMY!!! I SEE ALLY!!!"

She just stood there like they practiced and sang her little heart out.... remembering all the words and all the hand motions.... I was so proud of her.  She said she was nervous... really nervous... and it sure didn't show at all!  She looked confident as can be up there!

I wasn't really able to take any pictures.... between Luke sitting on my lap and the darkness of the gym.... I just couldn't get anything decent.... but snapped this one during the afternoon performance of the entire school singing the final song.... "Thank You"

It was pretty impressive to hear those 300 plus voices all singing together.... I was brought to tears at least a couple times the first time around.  They were just so adorable!!!  It was the feel good show of the season for certain!!!

Ally has an out of uniform day at school today, and an all school Christmas movie and party today... it's supposed to be a fun day.... I think very little work will get done. She was pretty pumped to go to school today and, of course, overly excited to wear her skinny jeans and tall black boots.  She is so my daughter.  :-)))))

We have been busy around here, preparing for Christmas and house guests next week!  I have the majority of the shopping done... but still picking up a few things here and there for the kids every day it seems.  I still need to do the stocking stuffers.... and then, I think I'm done.  Kind of.  ;-) Wrapping has not even begun... but, I am done with work!!!!  I do not work again until January 4th, when Ally goes back to school..... so 19 days off in a row.... a nice, nice break!!!

Scott's Christmas party with his department is tonight at Knights... and we have another with work friends of mine tomorrow night. Then, all the friend and work parties are done and the celebrations with family begin!!!!  My brother, sister-in-law and niece arrive Thursday evening!!!  They will be here with us through next Monday!  My Dad, Step-Mom and sibs will all come to visit us Christmas Eve morning and we will celebrate with them!!! Christmas Eve evening, we will celebrate with Scott's family. Christmas morning at home with my brother and family.... and then, to my Grandma's for celebrations with my Mom's side!!!  Many aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandma!!!  I am looking forward to seeing many, many family members I haven't seen in far too long!!!!

It should be a crazy, but wonderful couple of days.....  :-)

In the meantime.... poor Luke's birthday is Monday, the 20th!!!! We are just having immediate family and friends that are family, over Monday evening for pizza and cake and presents!  I hated to take up anyone's "Sunday before Christmas" for a birthday party... but will have to do things a bit bigger when he's older.  Right now, he is just as happy as can be to have Ally and "Fracie" there.  My simple boy, I love you to pieces.  

Three years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :-)  Wow.

So very much to look forward to.... I hope you are all enjoying the joys of the season!

I Miss My Daily Thanks....

I was telling Scott last night, that after 30 days of posting what I am thankful for... I swear to you, it has become my way of life.  It's the first thing I think about each day now.  Especially in those moments when I am really SO NOT thankful.  I am constantly searching for something, anything... in the midst of crap, to really be thankful for.

I feel like, when you do something for 30 days straight... it becomes a habit. A part of you.  Routine in it's own way.  I feel like I almost snapped my brain into looking for the good in everyting.  Corny? Cheesey?  Probably.... but true... and most definitely a damn good thing!

I've always been a glass is half full, optimistic girl... but I hadn't quite examined what really made me so... or what was so great in my every day life that I should really be thankful for. And, then, I did it for 30 days straight.... and now I miss posting about it each day.  It was such a bright spot to my day.....

So, when I came across a blog post about An Experiment of Joy.... I knew this could be for me!!! We are halfway through December, I know, I know... but I want to start now... with my own version of this Joy Project....... I am going to post for the rest of the month on something that truly brings joy to my world... my heart and my life...

JOY!  I have always loved the word.  I remember choosing readings and songs and printed items based on Joy for  our wedding.  My invitation wording was "You are invited to share in the joy of...."  I like it a lot.  Life should be filled with more joy!!!!

So, you are all going to have to humor me and put up with my joy for the rest of the month!  :-)

And, if you so choose... you can join me.  I promise it won't hurt!

Green & White...

Yesterday, I was brave and took three little second graders to the Green and White gymnastics meet up at MSU!  Ally and her friends, Delaney and Kennedy, all take gymnastics together and just love it.... so I thought they would enjoy watching a college meet!  So, I picked the three of them up from school and off we went!!!!

The decided they should probably nap on the way up...

Little fakers.... there was no napping... there was only talking and whispering and giggling... but they looked angelic there for a minute. Do not be fooled.  :-)

We went to the Spartan place to eat... I can't think of the name... something Cafe?  Spartan Cafe?  I don't know... I was all MSU... the girls loved looking at all the pictures and the memorabilia they had everywhere.  The girls had chicken fingers and I had some nachos and a mojito.  YUM!!!!

They are little cheesers I tell ya!  After the meal... we made our way to Meijer, where the girls picked out a gift for the family that the gymnastics team had adopted for the Christmas season!  They were so cute trying to pick out an appropriate gift for a 10 and 12 year old girl. They decided on a game for the two of them to play and Kennedy piped in with her suggestion, her favorite, Apples to Apples... so that is what we got!

We headed to campus... and as we drove by Sparty, we saw many graduates in caps and gowns posing for pictures! I just couldn't resist... so I pulled over a snapped a couple of the girls.... 

I had to wait until I was a senior in college to have a picture with Sparty. These girls are definitely MSU bound!!!  They look awesome in Spartan Green.  :-) They thought this was a pretty cool thing to do... and I think they enjoyed the kids in caps and gowns too.  It was a gorgeous night to be out and about...

We headed across the street to Jenison and the girls were so excited to get to the meet, that they ran out of the car without me... and just busted into Jenison. They were a sight to see...

As soon as we got in, they saw the girls, and all the equipment... they could not contain themselves... their shoes were off... the were doing cartwheels and round-offs and dancing all around.

Ally, Delaney, and Kennedy... in order... beam masters!!!! They could not have had more fun running all over this gym.... tumbling... jumping on the tramp... balancing on the beam... playing on bars... and pretending to vault... really just running and stopping.  :-)

After the fun, we got to meet the gymnasts and have snacks with them! This was definitely a highlight.  All the girls were so kind.. and they really knew that those little girls were totally in awe and completely worshipped them.  The gymnasts asked the girls about their gymnastics and acted like they were genuinely interested in them. So sweet....

A great, great night all around.... when I was putting Ally to bed at 11 PM when we got home... she was teary when she said, "it was so much fun... but it just went so fast..."  It always does my girl... the best of times always go far too fast...

Where are the Pictures?

In my month of Thankfulness, I grew very accustomed to not posting a lot of pictures.... because the purpose of my blogging, while still very much about what was going on day to day around here... changed focus.  And, now I see that I have posted very few pictures at all in the last month or more!!!  I know a lot of people don't even post anything without posting pictures... but I think I, personally, like the writing part more than the picture posting part.  So, I apologize to those of you who want to see lots of pictures... but now I have a valid reason for not uploading anything....

I cannot find my camera.... anywhere!!!!

Now, it's quite possible it's in my car.  Which my hubby has today.  It's entirely possible.  Let's hope so!  But, it's no where to be found in this house.  I blame Luke. He takes it all the time and the last time I remember seeing it... he had it.  So, it could be anywhere. He sticks stuff in random places all the time! All the time.

So, the last time I uploaded any pictures off the real camera was Halloween. Yes.  Halloween!  Ugh!  I used to take so many pictures!!!!  I do, however have some cute pics I took off my iPhone when the kids were playing outside.  I primarily wanted to capture Luke's outfit that day because we had to put together quite the ensemble for him to be able to play in the snow!!!!

I hadn't gotten him any snow boots yet, so we had to scrounge up some of Ally's old boots in his size. It just so happened that they were bright pink Hello Kitty boots. He didn't mind. He thought they were great! Then, we lost one of his only gloves, so he found some MSU (one white and one green) mittens he wanted to wear... along with his red, orange and navy blue coat.... and brown hat. Yes, he was a sight!!!

They loved playing in the snow (for a while anyway!!!).... Ally really got into it.... needing her snow pants and their Bilibo's... and the enjoyed the whole experience!  She had just done a science experiment in school where they looked at snowflakes under the microscope, so I think that played a part in her excitement....

They were pretty cute... and soon after, came in for some hot tea to thaw out from the cold....  Mommy stayed indoors and watched them from the warmth of my kitchen.  :-)  I am so not a winter person.  At. All.

We have had another busy, full week around here!  I worked four days this week!  Really only three and a half... but who's counting?  I just had to go in to give a presentation at work yesterday, which I really enjoy so the day was a lot of fun. I volunteered in Ally's art class again in the morning.... and presented on Environmental Training needs to a bunch of old men in the afternoon. I full, well-rounded day.  It was hilarious when I was in the office for a moment, cuz one of the girls I worked with completely freaked out, thinking it was only Wednesday... cuz I'm never in Thursday or Friday.  She says "don't do that to me!  I need it to be Thursday!"  It was funny.... 

Ally had Girl Scout events two days after school this week... on top of weekly gymnastics... so only one free evening!  Luckily, the teachers are easing up on homework as we near the Christmas break.  They are completely losing the kids to the season I am told... so they aren't even gonna try anything new or challenging until they are back in January!

I blew out a tire on my way home from picking Ally up Wednesday evening.  UGH!!!!!!  We were fine, and I was able to make it into a gas station, but we found out we need FOUR new tires on my car... to the tune of a cool grand....  :-(  The most expensive month of the year just got far worse.  It's just really bad timing.  All our birthdays and Christmas fall into these two months. We don't need things on the car or in the house breaking at a time like this!

But, isn't that always how it goes????

I have been busy playing santa and getting some things for the kids!  I love putting together their Christmas gifts!!! This year, I am trying hard to coordinate things so they each get a similar item.  Ally's getting a new scooter, and I got Luke the toddler three wheel one! That's something they can ride up and down the hall this winter, then, take them out in the spring.  They are each getting an art set of some kind... Ally the Color Wonder Light Up Paint thingy... and Luke, the Color Wonder Sound thingy (like how I know the actual names???).  Books for both, of course... Ally is just getting like 6 and Luke, one.  Ally recently got a new sleeping bag for a sleepover, so Santa is brining Luke one cuz he likes Ally's so much. They are each getting flashlights.  Ally is also getting a new DS game, Mario Kart and Luke a bath toy. They are both getting pillow pets. And some jammies.  

I think that's what I have so far..... Ally is desperately in love with Kit (an American Girl doll) and wants to get her.  She keeps saying she is saving her money for her.  A part of me wants to get her, another part of me doesn't want to spend $100 on another doll..... but the only thing that tells me it's okay, is that they are so something that can be passed on and loved by someone else.  Ally has two "hand me down" American Girls that she loves... and we've only purchased two.  She doesn't have a ton of accessories either.... so I don't feel it's too overwhelming yet.  But... I also feel like the time of playing with dolls is short.... I am conflicted.

Luke has informed me that Ho Ho (what he calls Santa) is bringing him a Red Choo Choo Train, some more Red track, and a Red House for his trains.  :-)))))  I can do the train and house... I'm pretty sure the Thomas Track doesn't come red.  Although we could paint a few pieces of track we already have and he's be none the wiser.  So, I am going to get the Roudhouse and James for Luke... and he will be pretty much done!

I am getting a Color Me playhouse for both the kids... and stocking stuffers and other little things... and that should be good.  I think. Once I get it all out, in never "looks" like enough. Which is a completely stupid way to feel... I know... but still!  :-)

I need to get working on our Christmas cards!  As in addressing them!  I had high hopes of writing a Christmas Letter this year... but I am not sure it's gonna happen.  I would have to take the time to sit down, type it, then have copies made... that doesn't sound like something I'm going to fit into the next few days.........

Tonight, I am taking Ally and some girls to the MSU gymnastics meet... her gymnastics friends!  It should be a lot of fun for them.  I just wish I could find my camera!!!!!!!!!  Ugh.

Winding Down...

We are winding down to the end of our year around here! I am winding down another year of work.  This year brought a new boss and a new schedule as I went part-time at the end of March. It's hard to believe it was just 9 months ago that I started working part-time! Feels like it's always been this way!  Crazy......

So, as I wind down this year, I am more than thankful for the opportunity to go part-time.  That is probably my greatest accomplishment of the year.  Adjust our lives to allow for that.  Living without my full-time income was small in comparison to all I gained.... being home with Ally (and Luke!) each day after school just allows for a more peaceful day all around.  I think I now have the perfect schedule!

And, next week - I will have a brand new boss and start in on a brand new project at work! I am really excited for the new position and challenge that will bring!! And the flexibility to do such an exciting project within my part-time hours!  Feeling very thankful job-wise right now... which is a great feeling cuz this year brought a lot of turmoil for me within my job.  I like that I am ending on an upswing!!!

This year also brought a new school for Ally.  Once again, another thing I am most proud of in our year!  Queens is the best choice for our daughter and our family and I am so pleased that we made the switch and had the courage to do so!  I am especially proud of Ally who faced the challenge head on and is rocking that school.  :-)  She is excelling int he classroom... has a wide and vast group of great friends... and I have been fortunatel enough to be really active in her school world, through being her room mom, chaperoning each field trip, volunteering for school events and art class, and just being more present in her school life.  It has it's set backs now and again... but is overall, the best thing for all of us.

Ally and I have grown closer this past year as we have spent a lot more time together and she can see that my focus has come away from the stresses and joys of work... and turned to the stresses and joys of her!  I can feel our relationship growing and that is something I truly treasure.

I also really enjoy my one on one days with Luke.... and I think he and I will have a strong relationship from the get-go because I worked so much less when he was so much younger.  I am trying very hard not to regret those early years I "stole" from Ally.  I know you can't change the past... so all I can do is my best in the future.

It's been a great year. A really, really great year.  I end this year truly feeling more peace in my own world than I have felt in as long as I can remember... and I feel like I'm finally, after all these years, starting to grow up and realize who I am and who I am supposed to be..... and that was all done by slowing down....  :-)

Where am I?

I post each and every day for 30 days straight... sometimes twice a day... and then, I just abandon you for a week!!!!!!  I'm a terrible blogger.  ;-)

Whew... last week was BUSY!  Insanely so really.  We had many evening committments... birthday fun... Ally's First Reconciliation.... I worked a school lock-in.... Somerset day with my MIL and SIL... just a GREAT week, all around... but BUSY!!!!

Yesterday, I spent the day picking up the house and getting some Christmas decor up!!!  What I failed to do was grocery shop or laundry.... so I am going to have to catch up on those things this week!  Add to that, I actually have to work FOUR DAYS this week. Ahhhhhh!!! Really, I just have to come in Thurday afternoon to give a presentation.... but I am volunteering in Ally's art class again too, so it's another day Luke has to go to my in-laws and it will feel like a working day! Not really a bad thing... just different!

The past week was really great.  I had many meals out with good friends to celebrate turning 35!  I probably gained five pounds last week.  The actual day of my birthday, I had the best day... relaxing... out with my hubby.  Some quality time with my kids.  Scott had my diamond reset for my birthday... in white gold.... and it's just gorgeous!!!!!!!!!  When we got engaged, we went together to choose the ring... so I like that, 13 years later, he chose the setting.  :-)

Thursday was Ally's First Reconciliation at the church.... and it's a pretty big deal. They've been preparing for weeks, months even.... and Ally was nervous for a while there, but when the actual day came... she was pretty calm!  I was so proud of her.  She went to the priest she was most comfortable with and went on and on about how nice he was and how much she enjoyed the experience.

Ally has been really good lately.  It's actually freaking Scott and I out a little bit... which is sad in a way....  ;-)  Ally is good and we wonder what's wrong....  :-))))))  She's just not been quick to lose it.... her temper has been under control.... and she's just more content lately it seems.  She will get upset about things, like any kid does... but she comes around quickly... and it just... different!  I can't put my finger on it!!!

I talked to her a bit about it yesterday and I asked if anything had happened lately... or if she could put into words how she's been feeling... and she shrugged and then said, "Well, it sure is nice to know that my sins are forgiven!"  Ha!  What a cute freakin' kid she is.  Isnt' that the truth sometimes though? Don't we all just want to know that even when we mess up big.... someone forgives us???

Whatever is going on with her... I will take it.  And she probably thinks I've lost my marbles cuz I don't stop PRAISING her lately for all the great things she IS doing! 

Then, there's Luke.....  ;-)  He's a boy.  He's three.  Enough said.  He can be so very sweet... then, so very awful.  :-))))))

Ah... it was a crazy week.  Scott had a three day meeting in Lansing last week too, so that added to some craziness... cuz he was there late, and then, he had to work this weekend to make up for time not in the office.  We have a busy week this week too!  Every Sunday night, he and I sit down and go over the week's events... so we are all on the same page.  Ally has something after school every day but Tuesday... not something really late, but something none-the-less!  Gymnastics, girl scouts, a Christmas movie event, and then, Friday I am taking her a few friends to a gymnastics meet at MSU! Saturday Scott and I have one of our zillion Christmas parties.... and a sitter for the night. Sunday, once again, should be calm.  :-))))

It should be a good week though....... and after this week... just three days of work next week.... and I'm off until January 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!