buh bye 2009

This post is a little late, but as I looked forward I couldn't help but look back. This last decade has been huge.....

It all started with New Year's Eve 1999....the Y2K scare...I had just started a WGAL.
Craig and I celebrated an early 1999...I had to work early on January 1, 2000.

Bought my first house in December of 2000.

Got engaged to Craig in 2001

Got a promotion at work and became the weekend evening anchor.

Got married in 2002

Moved to the farm...and had thyroid surgery in 2003....and Ovidio left a lasting impression at our house during his visit.

Celebrated my mom's 60th with a surprise party at the farm in October

Welcomed our first son, three weeks early, in 2004. Oh my, Connor..you changed our lives!

Lost our brother-in-law Dan to a car accident in September...then little Jackson joined the crew in november 2005.

In 2006, Craig's company went bankrupt...he lost all his vacation and benefits...but kept his job.

Enjoyed a week in the Outer Banks with Craig's family.

Sawyer came along at nearly 10 pounds in 2007.

In 2008 we installed a geothermal system into our 1833 farm house.

2009 brought pay cuts, furloughs, and our sweet Mitchell.

I can only pray that the Lord will continue to bless us as much in the coming years as he did in the past 10!

2010

As I mentioned before, I love resolutions...setting goals...seeking to attain the very best. So with that in mind, here are my specific, intentional goals for the coming year.

1 - Take better care of myself...(I have a goal weight in mind, but I'm not sharing!)

• run on a regular basis.....I completed my first 5k in 2009, now I'd like to do it again. My goal is to spend 30 minutes on the treadmill 4 times a week.
• Limit my intake of soda...I'm working to switch from the high octane stuff (Cherry Coke) to diet...and at the same time drink more water. My goal is to drink one glass of milk each day, one soda each day, and fill the rest with water...at least 32 ounces a day
• Eat one piece of fruit a day
• Take a vitamin each day
• Get more sleep...we've been pretty good at getting to bed on time...i'd like to consistently be in bed by 10 each night!

2 - Date night with Craig at least once a month

3 - Family fun

• do something fun with the boys once a month
• limit their television time - goal...one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon
• be "fully present" when with the boys

4 - Community helper

• get involved in ways that can make a difference
• donate food to the church food pantry on a regular basis...have the boys been involved.

5 - Take at least one picture a day

• I want to document this little life of ours...too many great things happen, and I don't want to forget a one!

6 - Put my faith first

• Make time to read the Bible, do devotions, and pray intentionally....and this is the hardest one, take time to listen to the Lord's leading.

7 - Be a better friend/family member

• reach out to my friends...goal...make a call, drop and e-mail or a card to someone I care about once a week!

okay....so this is a start...and since its on paper, I've got to follow it...right?

2 Cute

So I had to share some pictures of my cutie patooties. Mitchell and Sawyer were wearing the outfits their Grandma E. got them for Christmas. It was a really cold day here...so I thought these were perfect.

They looked so cute and snuggly I couldn't resist pulling out the camera.

(sorry for the sidways shot of Mitchell..I didn't have a chance to turn it...you can get the idea though!)

2009

So...it's 2010. I love New Years. It's a great chance to start fresh, clean the slate, recharge. As a list making addict, I start making my resolutions...or as I prefer to call them goals...for the new year weeks ahead of time. I set goals for myself, my husband(like it or not honey), my family, my house, my time, my giving, my parenting, my career....

I may only reach half of them, but that's better than achieving nothing. I'm excited, imspired...and ready to make myself a better person in the year to come.

I'll share my complete list next time...but for now...the cliff notes version. My top priority, my faith...then my family...and rounding out the top 3...my fitness (physical, mental and spirtiual!)...next up, my friends. That pretty much sums it up.

More later

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

As expected, you had an awesome Christmas. Only one problem...I barely took any pictures...I guess I was having too much fun. Anyway, here are the few pictures I did take.

First a little play by play....

Let's start with Christmas Eve. Craig and I both had the day off...so we spent the day running errands and cleaning/getting ready for Christmas. The boys played...we worked. Craig's sister and brother-in-law, along with Craig's mom, came over for dinner. (I tried a new weight watchers recipe sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chicken and green chilli...they were my guinea pigs!) Then we headed into church for Christmas Eve service at 7pm. The boys sang. They did a great job...you'll have to trust me because we left the camera in the car. ooops. Mitchell sat with us for the whole service and he did great too. He sat on my lap and played with the program the whole time.

After church we came back to our house and ate dessert. Lynn made a yummy pie. It tasted like pumpkin...but was really squash (i think). The boys each ate piece..that's high praise for a pie made out of a vegetable!

Christmas Eve the boys got to bed late...then Craig and I got to work. We had some "santa-ing" to do! By midnight we were headed to bed...and by 6 a-m Sawyer was wide awake. Craig took him downstairs to the rec room and we waited until the others woke up. By 8...we were all up and ready for fun. I capture the morning on video....too bad I don't know how to upload it and we took no digital pics. Oh well. A few cute moments...they loved the easel and started playing with that right away...didn't even care about the other presents. Connor opened his CD and said 'I didn't ask for this!'...he later realized what it was and was thrilled. Sawyer wasn't quite sure what to make of it all....Jackson kept asking if this was Christmas...and Mitchell just sat and took it all in.

Fast forward to brunch when Craig's family came over. The boys were overwhelmed. Our families were so generous!

Here's Connor ripping into his first present. I'm not sure what it was or who it was from...I kind of lost track!

Sawyer LOVES this new BIG truck. It's a truck inside a truck with blocks inside...and it makes cool noises. I think if he just got that he'd be a happy camper!

Craig's family headed home in the late afternoon...then my mom and dad and Kelly came over.

Here they are with the crew!

We wrapped up the day with the most important part....

we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus! We ended up not getting a cake as planned...and instead we ate whoopie pies! Everyone got their own..and everyone got a candle. (the boys loved that!) They sang great...after all, they had been practicing for the big moment all day. (We reminded them throughout the day that the reason we were getting all these presents was because Jesus is so kind, he shares his birthday presents with us!)

I think these kids like there whoopie pies!

The best moment of the day came when my parents and Kelly were leaving...Jackson went to the door and said....have a good Jesus birthday! He was so sweet..and so proud of himself for remember the true reason of the season.

The next morning, Lisa, Steve, Lindsey and Seth came over for our gift exchange. The boys were thrilled to get more Thomas trains....so cool....

Sawyer and I opened the gift for he and Mitchell (in between chatting with Lisa). They got a Little People nativity...it is so cute. I should have taken a picture...but again, having too much fun to think about it.

All in all a wonderful, blessed, exhausting Christmas!

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, snow was predicted to fall all day Saturday in our neck of the woods...so we decided to get out on Friday night. We took the kids to the Choo Choo Barn in Strasburg. They had a special...bring in canned goods, get in for free. Well, we thought it was a great idea...so did about 1500 other people! We stood in line for 40 minutes....and that just got us in the front door! Yikes. It was another 40 minutes until we got inside. I'd like to say that the boys were all patient....but....
Really...Connor, jackson and Mitchell did awesome. Sawyer...well....let's just say everyone in the line knew that Sawyer wanted to keep moving. Anyway, we had a great time. There is so much to see!! We will definitely go back...when the line is shorter....

Then...as predicted....those News 8 meterologists are soooo good....it snowed!
Craig left the house early to take care of things at the Host...when he got home, he took the boys outside...then I headed to work.

Here's Sawyer braving the snow and wind.
Jackson was next out. (Connor is not pictured as he ran back inside after having a wardrobe malfunction!)

This is heading out the lane...looking at the houses across the street. I had to put it in four wheel drive and take off down the lane!

This is the intersection of Route 30 and Bowman Road. NO ONE was out shopping the outlet strip! That's a big deal since it was the last weekend before Christmas...
It took me about an hour or so to do a trip that usually takes about 20 minutes. Once I got to work, we went on the air a lot!! We ended up getting about a foot of snow..though some places near us had two feet! Holy Cow! Looks like we'll have a white Christmas!

My Visit to Kindergarten

I had a great time on Friday!!!! I visited Connor's Kindergarten class to help make gingerbread houses. Connor and I had been looking forward to this day for weeks! It was so exciting....

There were a lot of moms and dads and grandmas in Mrs. Jones' class. The kids made antler hats to wear while we made our gingerbread houses. So cute.

Before they got started, Mrs. Jones explained exactly what we were doing and how to do it. The kids adore her...its neat to see the impact she has on them.

Here's Connor listening in. I love his buddy on the other side of the table...he's so intent!

The blank canvas....hmmmm, what should we do??? Let's start with some frosting....

We shared a table with Annika, Aleigha and Jaden.

Hershey kisses...lots of hershey kisses....

It was so fun to see Connor create! Honestly, I did very little except squeeze the icing bag.

This is Jaden's finished product. Gorgeous.

Connor didn't want to put on his antlers at first...I finally convinced him to put them on and he insisted I take a picture. Too much.

All done!