Happy New Years Eve!

What a year 2011 has been!  I feel like I'm finally getting into a groove with my kids and keeping up with household chores.  For such a long time it felt like such a daunting task, but now I feel refreshed and renewed.

Many of you know I started teaching again this year, but after careful consideration, heart ache, and prayer. We made the decision for me to stay home again and I haven't regretted it for one second!!! I love being home with my kids. I love being the person they bond with during the day.  And I love making memories with them and watching them grow. I know I'll never get this time back with them, so I'm eating it up now. Sure I miss the kids A LOT at school and I've been back to see them a few times.  It was extremely hard for me to say goodbye to them and I know it was rough for them as well.  But you know what, if I hadn't gone back to see if that's where I belonged I would have always wondered.  Lesson learned: my place is at home with my kids, supporting my husband, and taking care of our home.

These are some of the photos taken for our Christmas Card.  We ended up using the last one.

 

I'm ending my post today with a few New Years Resolutions that I'm totally capable of:

1) Use all of my jars this year canning as much as I can for our family and give some away as well!!

2) Study God's word more!! I'm currently reading and journaling the book "What's it Like to be Married to Me".  Ladies if you haven't read this book, it's a must and it has been helping me change my heart towards Drew.

3) Transform my body back to the way it used to be (as much as possible since I've had to kids and it's impossible to stop my boobs from sagging). I want to eat better and exercise often.  I've already started, I'm not waiting till tomorrow!!!

Happy New Year everyone, I'll see you in 2012!

October Phone Dump

So at the end of September, Drew and I headed to Chicago for the weekend to celebrate being debt-free.  Our good friends Jud and Tyler graciously handed over the keys to their condo and headed to Michigan to stay at their other place down the street from us. We had a blast and like almost all trips we take I forgot to take pictures.  However, I did take a few.  We enjoyed breakfast at this Ann Sather - twice! The food was amazing!



This is Wrigley Field - we were headed downtown on the "L" to do some shopping. Then there's the John Hancock taken on Lakeshore Drive on our way home.  Like I said I'm terrible at taking photos.  This is all I have.

October

During the fall I wasn't blogging at all but I was keeping up with everyone and most of you said fall is your favorite time of year. Mine too! I love it, everything about it: the smells, the colors, the crisp air - it's all glorious!

We took a trip to Jolly Orchard and then the Chocolate Garden. We splurged but we budgeted and it was worth it! Here we picked up a pumpkin or 3 (I can't remember), some doughnuts, cider, and we ate caramel apples! Yum!

Teague's hand on my leg. So sweet!  He was holding on while we were on the hayride.

Sister loves hay!

And her daddy!

One October night we went for a walk because when it's nice outside we like to walk - we stopped at the Choclate Cafe for coffee and headed to the bluff.  It was such a beautiful night. I love the carousel in the background and Lake Michigan!

We also went to a couple of weddings on back-to-back weekends, both at the Blue Dress Barn.  This one was Sharlee and Benjy's wedding.  It was perfect in everyway.  I even shed some happy tears when Benjy danced with his mom.

Sharlee and Benjy. Doesn't she look perfect?  And does anyone watch Once Upon A Time on ABC?  Sharlee looks just like Emma!

 Halloween: That's my pumpkin and my lion and my handsome husband.  Oh and the scary skeleton?  That's my baby brother Noah.  I was so proud of him too because he was so patient with Teague when they trick-or-treated.  I know he was just itching to run around and get more candy, but he didn't. He held Teague's hand and made sure he said "can-ies" (well he was supposed to say "trick-or-treat" or at least "thank you") for candy.  It was precious!

Whoa! Teague got a hold of my phone!

I love this picture! Teague and his "Bicah" asleep at grandma's house.

September Phone Dump

...Well most of September - more to come.  What September?!?!  I know in 3 days we're entering January and the start of a new year, but we finally got our computer back and it works!!! We lost EVERYTHING else.  We might seek out a recovery specialist in the future, but for now enjoy these photos I've stored on my phone the past few months!

So these 3 pics are in our backyard.

Sometime around Labor Day weekend Drew and I, Matt and Jennie, and Joel all drove to Detroit for a tigers game.  It was a blast and somehow it felt like the hottest day of the year.  If any of you know me I hate humidity - like more than anything else in this world.  I'll stay inside all summer just to be comfortable (or somewhere where there's water). But I tried my best to embrace it.  When we arrived I think it was over 100 degrees at 6 pm!  We ate at hockeytown and then headed to the game. As you can tell by the pictures I was sporting a nice balmy glow (if there is such a thing).  And by the time we left around 11pm the temperature had dropped to 88 degrees - still way too hot for me.  Overall, I had a blast but next time I'd choose to go as late in the season as possible. Perhaps a more chilly time of the year.

We went to my mom's house for my brother Noah's birthday.  Do you see Teague's ribbon tail?!?!

I must have been playing around with my phone before making some jam.  Canning is a new love of mine.  Two nights ago Drew and I stayed up late to make 56 jars of applesauce.  My Aunt Laura let us borrow her pressure cooker and some kitchen aid mixer attachments.  Although it took a while to can all those jars, Drew and I bonded and we had fun. I'll post those photos later...

This was the only photo I took of our camping trip in September.  I think Teague ate 3 of Mrs. T's brownie cupcakes.  I'm not gonna lie, I probably would have too except it goes strait to my belly and booty.