Hi all!
    Christmas is my very favorite holiday/time of year/decor, etc...  In fact, I'm listening to the Christmas music station on Pandora as I write this. lol. Anyhoo, me and the boys made Christmas countdown rings this year.  I was prepared to do the standard construction paper style but I stumbled across some felt and puffy paint that was hiding in a cupboard so we took it to the next level. 







I think they came out great!  Also, the boys had a great time creating. :)

Dylan hard at work

Jack, so proud

Final product

Pretty proud of mine also ;)

Hello all,
  
        I haven't posted in over a month so I thought I'd write a little note...  

With the exception of Daniel's Aunt Carol's funeral Saturday morning (which was sad albiet a good chance to catch up with the family), Daniel, the boys and I had a great weekend, just the 4 of us.  I'm happy to say we didn't have a "date night" (which saved us the small fortune we usually blow on Saturday nights...) but instead we watched Cars 2 with the boys on Friday night and snuggled in front of the fire.  Saturday night we had a couple friends over with their boys and hung out in our garage (which is more like a bar) and watched the LSU v Alabama game.

 I'm also happy to report that we think we found our new church!  It's right by my work which is about 5 minutes from our house.  In the past few months we've tried 4 other churches in the area and a couple of them were ok.... but we never ended up going back.  We're all looking forward to going back this Sunday and to get envolved with some of the events they have coming up. 

I've been really happy lately with the way we've been focusing on our little family and on enjoying our boys childhoods while we can.  I've been experimenting in the kitchen which I never thought I'd care for, and actually made mashed potatoes from scratch yesterday which were De-licious!

Also.... I've been badgering Daniel for weeks now about having another baby.  He's not entirely on board (aka, he said "Hell no") but I'm fighting the good fight! lol  I can't shake this feeling that there's another little person inside me that is demanding to be introduced (hopefully the little girl of my dreams).  Well, anyhoo, just wanted to share some thoughts.  I hope everyone has an amazing week!

~Holly

Me, Daniel and our roommate Val took the boys up the Ortega mountains on Saturday to go hiking.  We all had a blast, it was $5 for the "adventure pass" and it's 15 mins from our house!  Great way to spend a Saturday aaaaaand a great workout too. Can't wait to do it again. :)

I printed off the free template that Alicia over at "A Magical Childhood" had posted and cut out on sticky paper these disguises for the boys.  They had a blast!  We were listening (randomly) to "You've Got to Pick A Pocket" from the Oliver! soundtrack.  They LOVE that song! lol  Got some great picks, great memories. :)

Well, night one of my new mission to bring joy to my children and vice-versa didn't go so well.  Jack has what I like to refer to as a "listening problem".  At any rate, I'm going to keep trying... Did you wish me luck yet? I feel like I could use it.... :)

So, my friend Katie posted this entry from "A Magical Childhood", which is a blog that gives fun/creative tips and activities to do with your children.  It was a total wake up call for me.  It reminded me that my children need to be my priority and more importantly, my JOY!  I find myself far too often becoming irritated with the boys and their goofy ways.  Of course there are valid irritations, like the fact that they pick on eachother like cats and dogs...  But the thing I never considered before is that I may really be able to help bring them more joy (which may help with the fighting...).  I was really humbled and a little saddened by this realization, but the good news IS that I can change my lazy, short-tempered ways and create an environment of discovery, creativity, love and pure joy for my babies. 

I'm excited to start a new adventure and give me and my boys memories that will last a lifetime!  Wish me luck!!!

So I posted the other day on Facebook that I was so excited, I'm losing weight, yada yada yada...

Well now, my general feeling is frustration.  9 times out of 10 I walk to Subway for lunch.  And not just Subway, I walk to Target first, walk around in there, then head to Subway and back to work.  It's probably a good mile when said and done.  My legs, calves and butt hurt when I do said walk.  I've been jogging on our new treadmill pretty steady since we got it a few weeks ago.  I've been trying to eat less and better than I used to and I'm proud of the progress I've made.

But, damn it, I haven't lost any LBS!!!  I mean I generally fluctuate 3 lbs more or less, and this has not changed.  I'm so tired of feeling like I'm doing a good job just to get no results. :(  It's super frustrating. 

I'm going to keep it up but I swear I better see some reward here people!!

So I got to go shopping yesterday for my Brother-in-laws wife's baby shower that's tomorrow.  They're having their second girl... Of course it's no secret that I originally wanted a girl after Jack (not that I'd trade Dylan for anything in the world).  It was fun getting to shop for girly things again...

My husband, Daniel, was talking to his mom on the phone last night while I wrapped the baby gift and the big sister gift I got for Shaye.  I asked his mom, via Daniel what the new baby's name was going to be.  "Ella", she replied.  I started crying my eyes out. :'(  I'm sure I'm just PMS-ing or something but I love that name so much and it was one of the names we kicked around for Dylan when we thought he was a girl. 

I don't know what it is, because I truely don't want another baby... I guess I kind of feel like the little girl in my head has died. The curiousity over the beautiful little girl that never was eats away at me a bit.  I'm tearing up writing this (must be PMS lol) btw.  Anyhoo, I guess I just wanted to get this off my chest....

The kids aren't the only crazy ones! Daniel and Louie decided to get rid of the beehive at Louie's house...alcohol was involved. lol

Got his chin glued back together after hitting it on his window sill...climbing again.

Broke his collarbone falling off the kitchen counter we told him not to climb on...

So I'm gonna start this blog with a walk down memory lane, complete with pictures of some of the adventures we've already gone through with our boys.  Things like this happen to us alllll the time....

So I got the wacky idea to start a blog (thanks Katie Hornberger). Not sure what I'm going to write about but I'm sure it'll be funny! I have daily adventures in parenting so I'm sure it won't be hard to fill some space with my family's antics. Here goes nothing...