2010 Blog Recap Carnival

Another year has come to an end and that means it's time to do a little "bloggy year in review"!



January
Like lots of other people I sort of make resolutions.
I am NOT even going to read this post because I'm sure I have not followed through on last year's resolutions.
February
The snow started about 6pm on Friday and it snowed all night and part of Saturday.
A big snow for us!!We have already had a little snow this winter and I'm NOT hoping for much more.
And then there's this!
Post #2 where I catch Ellie crawling. Be still my heart my baby is all grown up now! When did she ever crawl? and boy did that cloth diaper make her butt look big!!


March
The weekend went by way too fast!
This just made me laugh! I used to think that the weekends went by too fast, but with our current situation (Big Daddy in Georgia and me and the girls in NC) the weekends really fly...unless Big Daddy's away!

April
We have spent so much time outside this week and we are really looking forward to being outside a lot this weekend!
Ha! Oh how I would like to spend just a little tome frolicking in the sunshine with Maggie & Ellie!! This was after a week of Easter Egg Hunts and nice walks in the Spring sun.

May
I just realized that this will be my first Mother's Day with Ellie outside of my belly.
My first Mother's Day as a mom of two!!! I think about all of the ways that my life has changed since having babies and I could add so many things to this list- one year later.
June
We had such a fun and busy weekend!
That was a fun weekend! I can't believe how much the girls have grown since then! I love looking back and reading about another ordinary weekend.
July
We have been a little busy this holiday weekend, but I thought I'd take just a minute out to write something.
This was right after the 4th of July, so I posted a few pictures and told about our "exciting" holiday weekend.
August
We had a BIG weekend!!
My recap of one of the best birthdays I think I've ever had and a few from the past! August 1st turned out to be my grandmother's last birthday before she went to heaven.

September
I left the house a little after 8:00 this
morning and just arrived home a little after lunch.
This is a little recap of our last outing together before Maggie went back to preschool...and the day that she said, "Mom, you rock". I LOVE days where I rock!!

October
I have so much in my head.
Story.Of.My.Life. I feel like I always have a thousand things going through my mind at any given time.
November
I was having a not very good day until my mom called to see if I wanted to bring Maggie & Ellie over while I ran errands.
Maggie decided to go with me, but if my mom can keep one child while I run errands and that one child is the most helpless one, my day gets a little easier.
December
The family Christmas card, courtesy of Shutterfly.
I love free stuff and I also love all of my past experiences with Shutterfly! Our Christmas cards were a big hit this year!!

Head on over to Musings of a Housewife to join in the fun!

And it was a Merry Christmas

Ellie's impersonation of Mary before she gave birth to the Saviour of the world.

Big Daddy, Maggie & Ellie on Christmas morning. Matching outfits from Auntie Lisa.

Maggie, Ellie and Ellie's stroller from Nana & Pawpaw.

Maggie & Cousin Callie.

Maggie's guitar from Nana & Pawpaw.

It started snowing after dark on Christmas Day and this was the scene on December26.

My little snow angel.

Twas the Day Before Christmas...Eve

Maggie & I have been busy baking (and eating) cookies today. We also went to the grocery store AGAIN. Third time this week. Seriously.

The meteorologists are saying that we will be having a white Christmas in our part of North Carolina this year! I decided to go to the store one more time for more fresh fruit and milk...the two things that we go through fast. Maggie and Ellie do not eat canned fruit, so I needed to stock up!

We are excited about Christmas and the arrival of a certain "big" guy tonight...Big Daddy! Big Daddy will also be home ALL of next week! His boss was nice enough to let him work from home the two days that he was supposed to be in the office.

So...
Merry Christmas!!

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ~Luke 2:9-12

Sometime 4 Is Hard and a question

I had to say this to Maggie the other day: "Putting out someone's light doesn't make yours shine any brighter".

She isn't overly confident, but she often hears from authority figures (teachers) that she's a good listener, follows directions well or cleans up every single time she's asked to (school only). She has started to realize that this is a good thing and that not all children do as they are told (at school again). This blows her mind! She wouldn't dream of NOT doing what Ms. Brownfield asks. Lately, I have realized that she brags on herself as we are eating lunch after preschool and takes pleasure in all the wrong that the other children do. Needless to say, I am working with her on this.

I have really felt like this year of preschool is so much like the big, bad world. We have had to deal with competition, and "no, she's my best friend" and "but I wanted to sit beside of her" and the worst one, "I don't even like your ____ or think it looks like a _____" or "I think your ___ is ugly". (The last two refer to creative arts.)

It has broken my heart. And at times, Maggie's too.

One of the things that really makes me feel sad is that it seems to be a problem mainly with the girls. I have felt like I knew exactly where the term "mean girls" came from this preschool year. They are critical of clothes, favorite colors, favorite friends and how they write or draw or color a picture. I've had to tell Maggie a thousand times that it doesn't really matter what other people think and that everyone doesn't like the same, colors, foods or friends.

I thought we had a couple of more years before this started.

My question is: When does this get easier???

The Best Day

Today, I took these two crazy girls to Sanford to visit our "old home".

(This is one of their favorite ways to play now!)

So...for the most part, I'm okay with being here and not there. Then we finally get to go see our friends in Sanford for a lunch date and all of the old feelings come right back up to the surface. I miss our Church, our town and my friends...SO much.

We had lunch with my mommy-friends and four of our five children. It was pure bliss! The children behaved themselves and I had SO MUCH FUN.(Ms. A and I tried to get pregnant at the same time, but our girls ended up being 5 months apart!)

(Maggie & Christopher. Erik was getting a haircut and his mom, Ms. K spent her birthday lunch with us!)

After our lunch, we went to see Gammy Gladys in her new house! Since her husband passed away last year, she decided to move into a maintenance-free community. Her old yard was too much work for her. Maggie didn't miss Paul quite as much as she has in our other visits since he passed. The house was beautiful and Maggie took no less than 35 pictures of it. This was my favorite one!

Ellie loved Gladys from the minute we walked in and I think she really enjoyed her 8th visit to Sanford! Big Daddy & I often wonder what Ellie & Gladys would think of each other. Today, it was definitely love at first sight!!

Crazy-Busy

Crazy-busy is sort of how I feel at any given moment, but especially this week.

Of course, my other half has been absent and there are always those special moments of single parenting I could write about, but overall things are going quite well in that department. Maggie has the occasional "but-I-just-miss-my-dad-so-much" moment and Ellie just stares at pictures of her daddy and says "Da-Da". It's all sad, sweet and pitiful rolled into one.

(Mommy-Daddy Christmas Card photo by Maggie)

Just today, I realized that I had "lost" over 400 pictures from my computer. Of course, they are not really lost, but I'm not sure where the bulk of them are. Between Picasa, Shutterfly and Facebook I have recovered nearly 300. This is one of the pictures that I thankfully recovered!

(Just today, Maggie was adding ornaments to the tree and the bottom string of lights stopped working.)

Wednesday was Family Craft Day at Maggie's preschool. My mom kept Ellie so that I could have one on one fun with Maggie. I got to hold this little sweetie! This is Olivia, twin sister of Will. Also known as Maggie's twin-friends Hanna & Abby's "babies". Will was sitting with his Grandma, but I assure you he doesn't look very much like Olivia.

(Maggie was delighted with Baby Olivia and wanted a picture of me holding her.)

So yes, that's 4 year old twins Hanna & Abby, 4 month old twins Will & Olivia and then 9 year old Matthew and 6 year old Emma. So...6 kids.

Here's our craft table kids- Abby, Hanna, Maggie & Katelyn. If I had to pick Maggie's favorite friends Hanna & Abby would be the ones. She plays with them every single day.

(Hanna & Abby seem really proud of me since I can tell them apart. Hanna looks more like her older sister Emma than she does Abby and they are also the same height! Abby is a little shorter, but they are all delightful.)

Maggie didn't want to sit with Santa, but she allowed me to take a quick picture. She picked out her outfit for the occasion.

"Our" work of art! Ellie started saying "snack" and doing the sign for more, so we had to put our gingerbread house away for a while!

We had a little snow/ice mixture on Wednesday night and Thursday morning so we missed our Library party. We managed to keep busy by making coffee filter angels and cleaning.

(I call this the "Naughty or Nice" picture.)

I was party parent for today's (Friday) preschool Christmas party. I talked with the other party parent and we decided to do more of a luncheon menu with of course, cupcakes and goodies as dessert. Cousin Callie was out of school for inclement weather so she was our fourth wheel. Maggie's preschool was delayed by two hours, so her day was extended by one hour. I took Callie & Ellie to lunch at ChickFilA and then we went to the preschool to serve our food.

We also picked up a new tree for Maggie's room. Yes. It is a hot pink tinsel tree. The lights on her other tree quit working and there were no small strings of lights in the stores. This tree was pre-lit and $8...and she loves it!

I'm hoping for a quiet weekend at home. We have lots going on next week and there's lots I'm praying about too.

A Busy Week

Taken a couple of weeks ago when he left for the first time.

I had thought that I would post about an exciting "Reunited And It Feels So Good" weekend, but I'm not feeling it. We were reunited and it did feel so good, but I'm just feeling really lazy. I seem to have phase 2 of some sort of respiratory bug that didn't complete it's full realm of making me feel bad last week and Big Daddy has left again.

We were able to spend all of Saturday and Sunday as a family. This morning we had a few things to take care of and then we had an early lunch out and then watched Big Daddy get in his car to drive away. I know the sound that a little girl's heart makes when it breaks and it ain't a good sound...at all. Maggie did the ugly cry and then I started crying too. Big Daddy stopped the car and gave Maggie another hug and then we drove away and said a prayer for all of us. I drove straight to get gas and Maggie had made a full recovery as I stood outside of her window and we read each other's lips. We went to Nana's house and made rice crispy treats and then came home for rest time. Both girls are sleeping and I'm about to drink a nice, hot cup of coffee.

And try to return to what is our normal for the time being.

And pray for Big Daddy to arrive to his destination safely.

And count the days until we are together as a family of four again.

And wait for emails, phone calls and text messages from my sweet.

And pray for all of this to end the way that it's supposed to...soon, please.

It's Friday!!

I now feel comfortable saying that Maggie is over her sickness! I would describe her current condition as mostly lethargic, but with a side of hyper. She has absolutely no appetite and little energy. She has been able to go to preschool and we went to Awana with no trouble, but she was very tired after the activity and has been taking a daily nap. Cousin Callie had the same bug last week and it has taken her quite a while to get back to normal too. As for the hyper part, Maggie has periods of extreme energy! I'll be thankful when she is back to her normal self.

Ellie is having trouble with teething and a little cold. Teething + Cold = Fussy and Snotty Ellie. Ellie has quite a surprise for her Daddy! Not only did she turn 18 months old (on December 6) while he was gone, but her vocabulary has grown quite a bit. It has been hard to tell Big Daddy about the new things that she's saying and doing. They really do change so much at this age.

Both girls (or is that all of us girls?) are missing Big Daddy...a lot. He should be home very early Saturday morning. I'd appreciate your prayers for his safe travel. He hasn't been in Georgia this week, so he'll be on the road a really long time Friday and into Saturday. The 12 days away from him have gone much better than I could have anticipated. Both girls have handled things well. Maggie had a hard time after that first Skype, but other than that she's only said, "but I just miss my Daddy so much" a few times a day. She has also said "Georgia is just too far away" and "I just think I need to go to Georgia" quite a bit. Since she was away from her Daddy for 13 days when he was in Italy, I have reminded her that she's been away from him longer than 12 days before. Because she has. Why yes, Georgia is on our minds!

And on the oh-it's-so-hard-to-be-away-from-each-other side of things. Please pray that we won't have to do this for too long. Please. Pretty please.

What a week!!

I keep forgetting that it's only Tuesday. We have had a crazy and busy week, so far.

I've mentioned before that we usually have "Family dates" on Saturdays and this past Saturday was no exception, even without Big Daddy.
Hmmm...I should start on Friday night. Maggie invited my mom over for our "Girl's Night" (my sister & Cousin Callie had plans) and we watched "Enchanted". I loved this movie. After the movie, Ellie wanted my mom to leave immediately (really) and then she went to bed. Maggie and I stayed up a little while and then we went to bed together in my room. Little Maggie snored all.night.long. Ellie woke up and I put her in bed with us and she went back to sleep. For about 15 minutes I was in pure bliss! Having Maggie and Ellie all tangled up together sleeping was too cute. Once they were awake, we ate breakfast, got dressed and ready and straightened the house so that it would be ready for it's first showing. We went shopping and
then had lunch at Panera. It was our first time eating there without Daddy and he was very missed.

As we were on our way home, we saw the tiniest snowflakes beginning to fall. We stopped by to visit Nana and Pawpaw and watched the snow get heavier and then stop. Maggie and I came home, put Ellie down for a nap and cuddled on the couch and watched as the snow started falling again.

Of course, we went outside and took a few pictures to send to Daddy! It was just enough snow to look really pretty.

Maggie woke me up a couple of times during the night complaining of a stomach ache and I put her in my bed around 6:00. And then she threw up all over my bed. Ellie had also been up a couple of times during the night with a bad cough.
We spent our Sunday like this:

Maggie obviously felt bad, but her sister wanted to love on her anyway! Ellie's nose ran all day and she whined and cried quite a bit. I stayed in my pajamas all day, and let Maggie watch "Enchanted" again. Maggie missed her friend's birthday party and was devastated until she threw up for the third time.

Maggie woke up feeling "perfect" and was mad that I wouldn't let her go to preschool. She dressed herself and seemed to feel fine and we needed to get groceries, so I loaded up the girls and my tissues for Ellie's nose and went to the store. They both played well (Ellie wearing Maggie's shoes and feeling a little like Dorothy) and took a nice nap.Maggie woke up, then stayed on the couch or the floor and then unexpectedly threw up all over the couch...while Ellie had a really bad dirty diaper and it leaked all over her legs. Fun stuff!

I cleaned up the mess (while my mom kept me company for about thirty minutes after I called and said "I need your help") and enjoyed the scented pine cones that I hung on the staircase earlier in the day.

And that brings us to today...only Tuesday. Maggie has spent a lot of time on the couch or rolling around in the floor, Ellie's nose is still running and I'm pretty sure that I'm getting a cold.

First Flurries of the Season

This Week

I must say that I'm sort of happy that this week is over with. It's nice to be reminded that I can totally do this on my own. The best part happens to be that I'm one week closer to next week when Big Daddy will return home.

We had hoped to talk to each other every evening using Skype, but the hotel that Big Daddy is staying at has "slow speed" internet and it hasn't worked out. Big Daddy went to the Panera down the street last night and we were able to use Skype. Maggie and Ellie were thrilled to be able to see him and were showing him things (as if he hadn't seen everything in our house before) for the first couple of minutes. Then they lost interest and started doing their crazy, sisterly antics. I think Big Daddy got a glimpse into our normal, everyday life! Near the end of our conversation they both gave him kisses when he asked. Ellie kissed the computer screen and Maggie kissed the webcam. And then we cried...well Big Daddy and I cried. Ellie went on about her business and Maggie completely lost it. I think seeing him was just a little too much for her. It took a phone call to him, about 20 minutes and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to come on to get her calmed down. She's started a new countdown to next Saturday.

Tonight is "Girl's Night In"...as if that doesn't describe nearly every single night. We are watching "Enchanted" (from the Library) and then Maggie's going to have a sleepover in my bed.

I'm taking the girls shopping and out to lunch tomorrow. Heaven help me. We need to get a birthday gift for a preschool friend and look for teacher gifts for preschool and Church. Then on Sunday we'll have Church and the birthday party of Maggie's friend that afternoon. My sister is keeping Ellie so I'll be able to take Maggie to the party alone and have a little big girl time.

Thursday

Guess who picked out Maggie's outfit Of course, I let her wear it to the Library and grocery store. You wouldn't believe what she wore to school today. What will tomorrow bring?

Feel free to pray for all of us, our houses, the sick, homeless and lonely. And yes, those are the things that we pray for and about each day.

Happy Weekend!!

The Other Trees

So...we have a big Christmas tree in the living room. We do NOT have a themed tree because I'm really not crazy about the trees and ornaments that change from year to year. I always think of the memories that are attached to each of the ornaments on my tree, from Maggie & Ellie's hospital pacifiers to the bells that we used at our wedding. Every ornament is special in some way. Even the shatterproof red balls that we bought when I was pregnant with Ellie to replace the red glass balls that were breaking with each passing year are special.I bought a small tree for our bedroom (1/2 price at Hobby Lobby) and a little string of glitter-y beaded garland.
Ellie's tree is so sweet! It has silver glitter-y balls and little gingerbread cookie ornaments. She loves it!!

Maggie's tree is ALL Maggie. As if the zebra print and pink walls aren't overload enough she wanted to put all of the ornaments that she had made or picked out over the years (with the exception of that one ornament) on her tree again this year. I know, the tree is a little small for all of that stuff.

She also has our Noah's Gingerbread Ark in her room.

She loves it all!!!

And on a sad note, Big Daddy mistakenly thought that he had an exam on Monday and would be home this weekend. His dates were a week off and so now I'm going to have to break the news to Maggie that her Daddy will not be home on Saturday morning and that she'll have to wait another week. It's all she's talked about and she's been counting down days. She took the news much better than I expected, but we are all disappointed. While I can manage okay without Big Daddy for a couple of weeks, I feel really sad too. When I packed his bags on Sunday morning (right before he left, because he hadn't done it himself) I only packed enough for this week. Not only am I sad about him not being here this weekend, but I'm sad that he doesn't have more clothes. Sounds silly, but I feel like it's in my job description to make sure that everybody's taken care of.

So... what on earth will I do this Saturday??? I already have a few ideas!