Holiday HAVE-TOs

I don't know why it is, but every Christmas season, there is always ONE week that is jam packed with what I call, "Holiday Have-To's". They are the events that come around every year that MUST be attended. All of them are FUN and purposeful, but somehow they all end up in the same week, proving to be exhausting and crazy! I kind of thought this year might be a little less stressful since I am not working full time, but that theory was beaten down pretty quickly. I was still lost in a deep sea of Christmas chaos right up until the last Christmas carol was sung and the last present was wrapped and tucked under the tree. Here is a quick re-cap of SOME of the events (I didn't even take pictures of all of them this year):!

Conner's Piano Recital-

Conner started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the year soon after Lewis started them. It has been fun to watch him progress and develop in his skills. Piano doesn't come as easily to Conner as it does to Lewis, however; Conner is better at practicing than Lewis, so it has been interesting to watch. They each have different teachers with different techniques. It has been a good learning experience for our whole family.

At his recital, Conner played two pieces: "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus". He was the last player of the evening which was a good thing because Steve was busy overseeing one of Lewis' basketball practices and got to the recital just in the nick of time! Conner did great and we are so proud of him. We went out to dinner at Durangos to celebrate!

Ward Christmas Party-

Steve was recently appointed Ward Activities Chairman and this was his first opportunity to try out his party planning skills. It was actually super easy since the former chairman had already booked the entertainment and basically mapped the whole thing out! It was all a matter of advertising and delegating. Some of the highlights were:

1. Re-connecting with old friends and neighbors,
2. eating a warm meal that I didn't have to cook,
3. listening to good, live entertainment,
4. watching the boys run around with their friends and do karaoke,
5. taking advantage of a photo opp with Santa!

Nothing better than a good, old fashioned, ward Christmas Party!

Traditions Show and Tell-

Conner had an assignment to tell about one of his favorite holiday traditions at school. I was surprised when he chose this one that we do with our Christmas books. I started this tradition when the boys were really little to give them something fun to look forward to each day as we count down to Christmas. What I do is gather up as many Christmas books as there are days until Christmas and wrap them up. We start on the first day of December so I wrap 24 of them. I then number the "gifts" and put them in a basket next to our Christmas tree. Each night one of the boys unwraps a book and we read it. When they were little, Steve and I read the books to them, but now they are old enough to read them to us which is a nice change. I can see why this is a fun tradition for Conner (a man obsessed with presents). He gets to open a present every day and even though we have read all the books before, they somehow seem more special and new as they are opened and revealed.

I brought the basket into his class one day and he unwrapped book number 15 in front of his class and then had his teacher read it. It was the book, "Bear Stays Up For Christmas" which was just a perfect book for the occasion. Not too short (some of our books are little board books) but not too long (some of them are really lengthy). His teacher was interested to see what some of our other books were so Conner showed the ones we had already read to his class too. It ended up being a really cute little show and tell situation!

Preschool Polar Express Party-

One of the major stresses of the season for me is preparing for the Christmas festivities at preschool. From art projects, Christmas gifts, party preparations and on and on, it can take a lot of time. Luckily, I just have the one class this year so surprisingly, it was easy to pull it all off! We did the Polar Express party again (my favorite way to celebrate) where the kids wear their jammies to school and we have a yummy breakfast, read the story, drink hot chocolate and make fun Christmas crafts. You know it is a good party when the kids beg to stay longer! That is exactly what happened this year. No one wanted to leave! Ahhh. So sweet:)

Ugly Sweater Party-

Laura and Kurt hosted the Christmas party at their house again this year. It was the ugly sweater competition and I must say, we all could have won! It was a nice change to be able to wear something UGLY instead of having to try and pull something CUTE together in my limited, 'plus size' wardrobe (I still can't fit into most of my pants. . .arghhhh). Anyway, we did the annual white elephant exchange (which gets a little more R rated with every passing year hmmm???). No one will fess up to who is bringing the questionable stuff, but it sure makes for some good laughs!

Miscellaneous Have-To's-

For Young Womens this month we went to the Dickens Festival, had a White Elephant Party, went Christmas caroling and participated in the "Koins for Kids" charity drive at Walmart. I thoroughly enjoyed attending all of these events with my girls. They are so great and added so much to my holiday season. I only snapped pictures of the Dickens Festival and the caroling though.

Steve decided that it was MANDATORY to go COYOTE hunting with one of his Lunch lady's husbands days before Christmas this year, causing me a little extra stress. Hunting isn't exactly something you can do in a couple of hours and I was feeling pulled from all directions so to have to give up my hubby for the day was a bit tricky but I survived and Steve had fun, although-no coyotes!

Speaking of Steve, this year his school district had a party at his boss's house in Beaver Dam and I tagged along. The boys were in HEAVEN because they got to go play at their friend Jaiden's house for the evening while Steve and I partied, ate and exchanged white elephant gifts. The boys made plates of goodies with Jaiden's grandma, played video games and had a general blast that evening. We didn't get home until really late and it was a school night. Kind of inevitable during this crazy week of holiday have-to's!

Wake me up when September ends.

What a CRAZY month. There was a LOT of TRANSITION going on and I am just glad we survived.

Here are the highlights:

1. Preschool started back up. I am teaching a class of 14 students two days per week. It is just the right amount of work. Brayden has been AMAZING. I get him good and tired the morning of preschool and feed him right before it starts. He has been sleeping through the entire two-and-a-half-hour sessions. Sometimes he even sleeps for three hours! I am so grateful for this. The entire preschool dynamic fits so well with my life right now. I LOVE it!

2.  A new church calling for me. Young Women's AGAIN! This is my fifth time serving in this capacity. In the past I have either been the First Counselor over the Mia Maidss or the Second Counselor over the Beehives and once I was the Mia Maid Adviser. This time it is First Counselor so I get to hang with the 14-15 year-olds.I like this age group so much and they are a really GREAT group of girls. This whole thing has really caught me way off guard though. I thought I was enjoying my "cushy/easy" calling of being Steve's Cub Master assistant. I didn't realize how much I needed to be back in this type of calling (one that is physically and spiritually demanding). It has been a good thing thus far. Very busy, but the good kind of busy.

3.  Solid foods and a bigger boy! September has been a turning point for Brayden. He is getting physically stronger and better able to control all that excess fat and body weight he is sporting. He is trying to sit up like a big boy and just LOOKS so much bigger to me. He is past that sweet little newborn stage. He's old news now. When we go to the store, he doesn't get the oohs and ahhs that he used to. He is just your average, ordinary baby now (well in the rest of the world's eyes anyway). To us, he is still the miracle child, center of our world. Anything he does is cute and spectacular and we are LOVING him to pieces! He seemed to turn over a new leaf this month and has fallen into a GREAT routine. LOVE this kid!

4.  Miss Maria's baptism. What a great event! She is a special lady to our family and we had NO IDEA she was even investigating the church. She works for Steve at the school and was my aide in Kindergarten. She is the Grandma to Jayden, one of Lewis AND Conner's best friends. Talk about a good example of Christ-like love-this woman is the epitome. It makes sense that her heart would be softened to the gospel. I am so glad she was able to recognize the spirit and go forth with this important step. Her grandson was her inspiration. He was baptized a month or so ago and was so at peace with it and has been such a sweet example to her, she decided if he can do it, she can too. I loved what Jayden said in his prayer at the conclusion of the baptism. He said, "Please bless that grandma can STAY strong." Isn't that perfect? He is wise beyond his years, that boy. Staying strong is definitely the trick and it isn't easy, but it is worth it! We are so happy for this family and can't wait to see what is to come from this huge step in their lives.

5.  September has been an endless blur of homework, yard work, piano and football practices/games, project after project and the other day-to-day meals and household tasks. It has been fun trying to juggle it all, but it has definitely been a change from our laid back summer. I hope we can hold up 'til May!

6. With the change of the season and the nip in the air, I have been spending extra time shopping for warmer clothes for the family. It has been tricky trying to go back to our "EXTREME BUDGETING" lifestyle after two years of being a two income family. Before I taught at Beaver Dam, worrying about money was just a way of life and something I was used to. During the time I was teaching at Beaver Dam, we had two blissful years of going to the store and buying whatever it was we needed without having to clip a coupon or bat an eyelash. We ate out, we traveled, we went out to the movies. It was heavenly! Perhaps the best blessing from me working though (and possibly the reason that whole experience happened for our family in the first place) was being able to pay for our baby. He was PRICEY! The daily meds I had to take ALONE would have been over a thousand dollars per month had I not had that teaching job and the insurance that came with it. Although we are STILL paying down the medical bills, they are not near as steep as they would have been, so hidden blessing there. But, now we are BACK! Back to reality. Trying to pinch every penny and make every penny count. I HATE it! Fortunately, I do have a few tricks. This picture represents my BEST money saving secret. I bought that whole pile of clothes for less than $5. I used my Old Navy bucks and got Brayden a whole mountain of warm weather clothes (plus a cute little dress for me). I use the Old Navy Visa like I would a debit card. I use it on EVERYTHING I buy and pay it all off when the statement comes. Each time I get the bill in the mail, it has ten to twenty dollars worth of Old Navy bucks (just as good as cash) in it. I save them up and then go on a little shopping spree when our family needs clothes. I have been able to do four or five pretty big shopping sprees with this method. It is awesome. So much better than sky miles or something I will never use. You can always use new clothes! Cha ching!

Well, that is it. Septmember in all its CRAZY glory! I am so glad it is over. I am looking forward to a much calmer October, now that some of the bumps in the road are out of the way and all these TRANSITIONS have been tackled!

Our FAVE FIVE this WEEK!

Lewis starts Basketball- Lewis is stoked to be playing basketball and I gotta say, I am too. Basketball is my favorite sport, so I am excited to get out there on the pavement with him and teach him some of the basics. He had such a great first practice. I have a confession though, we as parents totally spaced his first game this Saturday. Well, we didn't space it, we just got mixed up on the time. He ended up only getting to play for a few minutes. When we first told him we had goofed, he got so sad- total tears and all. Steve and I felt HORRIBLE! But, he perked up after the game and I explained to him that when I was a little girl, I didn't even get the opportunity to play ANY kind of sports. This seemed to help put things in perspective for him. Even though his parents biffed this one game, he is still a pretty lucky boy to be able to have all of the opportunities that he has. This is a pretty short season with only six more games to play, but he is absolutely on fire about it and it will be short, but I know it will be super sweet! (Maybe I'll remember to take some pictures this week too!)

Fixing the Playground- So when we built our house five years ago, the goal was for me to be able to do a preschool in our basement so I could be home with our boys and still make a little money and do what I love-TEACH! That first year was crazy. We moved in on the same day that I did my first preschool open house and we didn't even have grass! I still can't believe people actually signed their kids up to come! Anyway, by that first summer, we had our grass and Steve went to the ends of the earth to get this play set for our yard (I don't have a picture and my camera is M.I.A. right now, so just imagine a "wannabe" Costco play set with smaller scale everything but which includes swings, a slide and a little loft area). It was from Walmart and it was only like $300 which was about all we could afford. The only problem was, it was always sold out at all of the Walmarts we would go to. Steve finally found one when he was doing practicum work in Vegas and he snatched it up (if I recall correctly, he had come down with the stomach flu too and was on his death bed trying to figure out a way to get the dang thing home). Anyway, this play set started off fufilling our needs just great, but over the years, it has been worn down and has gotten so rickety that I almost am afraid to let the kids even get on it! Anyway, my friend Marci who has been running my school for me while I've been doing Kindergarten this past two years finally came up with a solution. Apparently her father-in-law is a genius with wood and he found a way to correctly reinforce this little play set and now it works better than ever! I am just sooo grateful to have this figured out and to not have to worry about it anymore or try to figure out how to come up with the funds to replace it. I am so glad there are handy people in this world (since Steve and I are not) and that they are willing to help out such a cause. Amazing, amazing! I am so grateful!

New Computer Armoire-

Another thing we had been putting up with for the past five years was a rickety old computer armoire that BARELY functioned. The doors BARELY opened and closed and the filing cabinets had to be duct taped shut because they no longer worked. We don't have an actual office in our home, so we needed a place to house our computer that could be closed up and out of sight when not in use. Well, earlier this fall one other piece of this old armoire broke and I had HAD it. I began looking on line, just to browse and get an idea of price range for a new one. Our old armoire was one of those fake wood Sauder brands and it just did not hold up over time, so I knew I needed to step up a bit. Well, I found this particular armoire at several different sites but it was a particularly GREAT deal at one site. Well, to make a long story short, the reason it was such a good deal, was I only bought the BOTTOM! I felt like such a dork when it came and I realized I had only purchased one part of it (of COURSE it was too good to be true)! So, after awhile, we decided the only solution was to order the top as well (this time we ordered from a local retailer who could guarantee mess ups) and it FINALLY came last weekend! Steve was totally mad at me at first when this whole incident went down, but now that we have a fully functioning armoire, he is glad we have it. I was soooo thrilled to get rid of the old one-this is just so nice. It's like REAL furniture a grown up would buy! It is really beautiful. Anyway, I obviously have not gotten a chance to organize all of our junk yet, and it appears I need to dust a couple of areas (funny what pictures show that you normally can't see) but I cannot WAIT to get on that! Here's to being organized and free of duct taped filing cabinets!!!!

Getting Our First Christmas Card-

So, one of my FAVORITE things about Christmas is getting greetings from long lost family and friends, through the old fashioned mail box! I love opening the mail and seeing those envelopes ready to be ripped into and read. I love hearing about what people are up to and seeing how people have grown and changed over the years. I totally keep my Christmas cards (all of them) filed in a special box that I intend to go through when I am old and gray. I am really not a "keeper" of much, so this shows how much I adore Christmas cards. I also really enjoy the whole process of making cards and sending them out. I am not a great cook or a seamstress or anything like that, but I do like to keep track of our family memories through scrapbooking and I totally LOVE the process of card making and the feeling of ending the year with a really great memento of our family. Even if I only do that ONE project and plop it in our scrapbook, it is a really good reminder of our year (I always type up a few paragraphs about our year to go alongside our card in the scrapbook) and our family's life. It has been hard for me to find time to do handmade cards this past couple of years, but this year, I have decided I will make the time. I am sure it will be simple, but it will definitely get done.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Our first Christmas card arrived this week and I was so excited! This year, the first card came from our good friends in Pennsylvania, the Stathams. They got the coveted first spot on our door and now I get to look at their beautiful grins for the next month or so. She too is a lover of the handmade cards and I totally appreciate them! Take a look at how cute that family is! On the inside it says: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14 Merry Christmas! Love, The Statham Family

Thanks so much Jen- I am now officially inspired to take on my Christmas Card tradition!

Feeling the Holiday Spirit- I am grateful to have been able to taste a little of the holiday spirit this week in so many different ways. If you look around, there are lots of ways to get distracted from the true spirit of the season. But, if you look even further, there are plenty of opportunities to feel the great joy too. Through GIVING and sharing, I have definitely been lifted up and I can't wait for the Christmas season to unravel even more. Soon, our boys will help us execute a "Twelve Days of Christmas" to some needy families and I look forward to seeing their little faces light up as they feel the spirit of giving too. It really is the most wonderful time of the year! Hope you can feel the spirit in your neck of the woods too:)

Picture Tag!

I love a good tag. This one was pretty fun and easy and I was happy to do it so I could get a quick, new post up. Make sure you scroll down to see if you're "IT" for picture tag next! (P.S. NO party poopers allowed)!

The only rule with this tag is you have to take the pictures of everything AS-IS. Luckily, I found out about this tag just after some company left our house, so my house wasn't a total sty and whatever debri is out and about, I can blame it on the company-right? Okay, here goes. . .

Picture #1- Self Portrait

This is what I am looking like this very second after the days' makeup has worn off and the tiredness is setting in.This is also proof that I did not do my hair AGAIN today. I really hate doing my hair:(

Picture #2- Kitchen Sink

I just loaded the dishwasher and these were the leftovers that did not fit. This is proof that I did actually cook a meal today. We had chicken, salad, watermelon, corn on the cob, fresh veggies, rolls and squash. Plenty of food, just not enough room in the dishwasher, exhibit A.

Picture #3- Favorite Room

My favorite room is probably my preschool room since it is one of the few rooms in the house that is actually fully decorated and organized to my liking and has had the most thought put into it. My friend Wendy helped me paint the clouds on the light blue ceiling (which I am just now realizing I forgot to snap a picture of). We also pasted little wooden stars around on the ceiling and it is pretty cute I must say! Sarah sewed up the curtains for me and Megan made the cute star pegs that kids hang sweaters and backpacks on. A lot of the furniture was donated by my awesome mother-in-law who used to own her own Montessori preschool. I am lucky to have all that I have in this room. I love how every thing has a place and it is easy to keep clean. It took me a few years to get it this way, lots of trial and error, but it is now fully functional and just a fun room to be in. It has been such a magical little place, the backdrop for lots of fun with my kids and many of my friends' kids too. I look forward to spending more time in it next year with more sweet little preschoolers!

There's even a cute little bathroom for those little tike's and I love the green color of the walls in there. It's called "Rosemary."

Picture #4- The Laundry Room

Not much to say about this tiny little closet of a room. When we built this house, we were only envisioning about five years tops. If we'd have known the housing market would have been so crummy and we would be here a few years longer, this would have been one of the first rooms we would have added square footage to. It is very hard to keep up on the laundry in such a tiny space, but-at least it is something. It could be worse. One of those closet door situations like our last house. I guess this is a bit of a step up.

Picture #5- The Fridge

I really am OCD about the fridge. It has been hard to train my husband to keep things in the proper lo-cal of the fridge. The main rule is there has to be a "beverage only" shelf. I don't want to see any bottles of ketchup or pickles stacked up next to the milk or juice or other items that are in and out of the fridge so often throughout the day. I also like things to be stacked neatly and the shelves have to be clean. I clean out my fridge EVERY time I go grocery shopping. I like to know everything that is in there, no mystery left overs please.

Picture #6- Master Bath

We do not have a luxurious master bedroom/bathroom situation. It is functional, but not very beautiful. In fact, Steve and I were laughing the other day about the ceiling in the toilet room. It still has painters tape around the ceiling edge from FIVE years ago when we first painted this house! How completely pathetic is THAT? We have never really finished our master bath. I am getting the bug to do it though. I really want to tile half way up the wall and repaint the whole thing. Sure wish money grew on trees!

Picture #7- Closet

These are some very sad pictures for me. I love an organized, clutter free closet. Seeings how this was the first week back at school, it is not possible for my closet to look any better than this. Most of the laundry is on my bed ready to be folded and put away and therefore, most of my hangers are empty. This also shows signs of a manic mornings looking for something to wear, tossing things to and fro. It's chaos. Our closet is small too. I am not a huge clothes horse so it really makes no difference to me. Steve actually has more clothes than I do. Too bad he could care less about how his closet looks. No matter how hard I try, I can't keep his stuff contained. While my side usually is more put together than this, I must say, Steve's side pretty much always looks like this:(

Picture #8-Favorite Shoes

Okay. This is another sign that I am really not much of a girly girl. Aside from the fact that I hate to fuss with hair and makeup, I also don't have the huge shoe fetish that many of my girlfriends suffer from. In fact, I actually keep my shoes out in the garage! I know-Laura would never treat her shoes in this way! I don't even stack them neatly on a shelf (I tried), I just toss them in a laundry basket before I walk in the house. I'd rather have a clean floor than an organized shoe rack-I know, it's wrong on so many levels. Anyway, seeings how I really don't have a favorite pair of shoes, I will snap a picture of the ones I wore today. I like these ones. I'm not sure if wedges are really in style anymore? but these fit my criteria for a good Sunday shoe. They are quick and easy, painless, closed toe so I don't have to fuss with a pedicure and they have a bit of a heel so my legs look a little bit leaner. I also like the denim and brown color combo. I think they're cute?!?!

Picture #9-Favorite part of my house.

Hands down my favorite thing are the plantation shutters. Our house is not big and elaborate and these shutters just add so much to make it cozy and complete. My favorite thing about them though is how easy they are to clean. I can wipe them down as often as I dust my coffee table rather than two or three times a year (that's about all I could tolerate with blinds). I'll never be able to go back to just any old window treatment after having the shutters. I love, love, LOVE them! (I like my light fixtures too).

Picture #10-Dream Vacation

Since I've never really been on my dream vaycay yet, I'll have to hop on over to the good ol' internet and find a picture of Fiji. A friend of mine went witha huge group of people a while back and she has just raved and raved about it. It is now tops on my list of places I want to go. Someday. . .again, if only money grew on trees!

OKAY! I am "Picture Tagging" Jen Statham (I've always wanted to see your Pennsylvania house), Jessica N., Sunnie and Sandi, Erika, Sunny R. (make sure you tag your mom and Allison) and anyone else who wants to participate! Have fun!

Still Going. . .

We just returned from road trip #999 tonight! Plus, the boys snuck in road trip #998 earlier in the week making this the most travelin' summer we have ever seen! Here's a little recap of yet another exciting week in the life of the Peterson Jr. Family.

Monday- Before we hit the road, Little Star Preschool re-opened its doors and is back in business (if only for 12 sweet days)! A friend of mine called me in the spring to ask if I was planning to do my little summer camp again this year. Really, I hadn't planned on it, but I felt like I SHOULD since there was a need. So, this friend of mine rounded up 7 of the sweetest kids you'll ever want to know (from her house and neighborhood, which is clear on the other side of town from me, darn it) and she brings them over to play and learn with me and my boys each day! I gotta say, after this first week, I am TRULY happy that I decided to do this summer camp. Each year I wonder if this will be my last (my kids are bound to out grow it at some point) but Lewis and Conner are loving it just as much this year, if not even MORE! They began asking me, a couple weeks ago, when camp was gonna start (I think they crave structure just as much as their mom). Some of the things I heard my boys say in those days leading up to camp were, "Mom, are we going to do camp libs again?" and, "Mom, let's go buy the crafts for summer camp, I think we should make boats and race them!" and "Mom, are we going to get flashlights and read in the tent again?" Yes! Those boys are stoked and so am I! Summer camp is waaay too much fun. I'm pretty sure this summer won't be our last!

Tuesday & Wednesday- Grandma and Grandpa Peterson whisked the kids away again on yet another fun adventure. They went to a carnival and barbecue in Cedar. The next day, they went to Yankee for some fishing and Steve joined them. He took some pictures of the catches of the day (Conner caught the biggest one) on his cell phone, but there's no way to load the pics onto the computer-bummer. We ate the fish for dinner tonight, Conner wanted his whole fish to himself, it wouldn't even fit on the plate. It looked so funny to see him trying to eat it all on his own. We finally talked him into saving some left overs for tomorrow.

Thursday- Just a normal day, after Summer Camp, we went shopping for groceries (something I hadn't done in SOOOO long!) We were out of everything! I felt so accomplished to get laundry detergent, bread and eggs! Life has been so GO,Go, GO, I really haven't been keeping up too well! That night, we packed up our things for The Peterson Family Reunion!

Friday- We got a bit of a late start. Am I the only one who feels like the house needs to be clean before a trip? Just in case our family gets in a car accident and OTHER people have to come into our house and go through our things, I want it CLEAN! I know, that sounds pretty morbid, but the thought crosses my mind every time we pack to leave. This time, I was a little too lax with packing. I let Steve and the boys pack their own, (note to self, this is not a good idea). My boys went to church today sporting Crocs instead of Sunday shoes and Conner had no jammies! Oh well, we still made it to Steve's sister Staci's house all in one piece and had a blast hanging' with everyone! The kids were having the time of their lives and none of us made it to bed before midnight. Steve's family is so gigantic, there is always something exciting to do or someone exciting to chat with. Hard to buckle down for some shut eye.

Saturday and Sunday- Steve has a large family (seven sisters actually) and this reunion consisted of just his immediate family members and their kids. Even still, there were LOTS of people! Some of the men and boys went golfing and the rest of us went on a hike. It was a little crazy trying to coordinate two major events and get everyone where they needed to be on time, but it all worked out in the end and fun was had by all. The trail was gorgeous and the boys kept me on my toes as they, of course, ran off ahead on the trail to where they could not be seen. Luckily, there were plenty of family members around to keep their eyes on them and keep them under control (as much as possible anyway)! After the hike, we sat around and talked for awhile at the parking lot and then headed to Stefenee's house.

Okay. So something PRETTY buggy about this trip is, our camera decided to stop working about two minutes after we got to Stef's house. So, I didn't get actual footage of ANY of the cute happenings that occurred, but luckily some other family members took photos. Hopefully I'll get to see them at some point (hint-hint, no pressure)! I did get a tiny portion of Stef's HUGE backyard in one of my two shots. They have the most fantastic set up ever! They have a sport court, trampoline, fire pit, sand box and an endless supply of water from the sprinkler! It was so relaxing to let the kids play and play and PLAY! The adults even played some too, basketball, volleyball and endless ping-pong. Steve and I and the boys spent the night at their house last night and Lewis and Conner had a blast with Stef's youngest boy, Kevin. He is pretty much the cutest kid ever! He kept us laughing the entire time! The boys said they wanted to watch a movie and we thought that would be a great way to get them to wind down for bed. I couldn't believe my eyes when I went in to check on them and they were all still awake at around midnight. . .AGAIN! Luckily, today is Sunday and they could catch up on their Zzzzz's on the way home. It is going to be nice to sleep in our own beds for this entire week. But, no worries, we aren't done travelin' yet! We've still got one more trip before this summer's over! Good times!

The End of an Era

We are not car people at this house. I never have been and neither has Steve. When I say that, what I mean is, we have never paid much attention to cars or worried about what kind of car we drive. In fact, when I was in college and dating, I actually found myself more attracted to someone who drove a "lesser" of a car (case in point; Steve who drove a Daihatsu Rocky) or who didn't worry about things like rims and spoilers. I guess in my mind, it doesn't make sense that a person is defined by the kind of car they drive or that someone is "cooler" than someone else because their car is "cooler." Anyway, that is one of the reasons it has never bothered me to drive a min van. In fact, the opposite is true. I have LOVED the convenience a mini van affords a growing family. They are designed to make families more comfortable when they travel! I have LOVED that! Maybe that is why Thursday was so bitter sweet for me. It was the end of an era. With all the commuting we are doing (and it doesn't look like it will end anytime soon) Steve had been toying with the idea of downsizing to a sedan for better gas mileage. I know we only have two kids, but those two kids have friends and relatives that need to be toted around from time to time, not to mention all the preschool field trips where it was packed to the brim with happy, comfortable kids. Nope, I did not like the idea of selling the van. To me it was like putting the energy out in to the universe that, no. . .we won't be having any more kids and I will never stay home and run kids to soccer or teach preschool and go on field trips. Making the decision to sell the van was really like unraveling a huge knot of unknown twist and turns about my life. When we first decided to become a VAN family, back in 2002, a lot of people raised their eyebrows. We were still a young family and only had one child with one on the way. Why would we need to "stoop so low" as to buy a van? Well, Steve was in a carpool at the time and that was our main reason for doing it, but once we did, we've never looked back. It is soooo great to slide open those side doors and have your little kiddos right there, easy access, plenty of room to change a diaper, tote all the baby and kid paraphernalia and so on. Vans are great! But, it is the end of an era for us. We are now "sedan" people again. Steve found a GREAT deal on a FSBO Honda Accord that he couldn't pass up. And, to make things even more convenient, one of the teachers at our school was looking to upgrade to a mini van and fell in love with ours. So, it was simple really. A no brainer. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I didn't even know what the new car looked like until two days after Steve bought it (see, not concerned with cars)! But, we took our first family drive in it yesterday and I gotta say, it is pretty comfortable and really nice. Yes, there is still room to tote our two cute kids and some of their stuff. Still room enough for our new carpool which consists of only one extra adult. And, if we do become soooo blessed to have another baby, the car seat can sit snugly between my two sweet boys who can entertain him/her in our travels. Maybe it won't be so bad? We can always become van people again, someday.


One last photo in front of our Mazda MPV. My only regret is that I look like Frumposaurus Rex in this picture. And our new 2007 Honda Accord. It's the start of something new. . .