Merry Christmas

I hope Santa brought everyone all they wanted. Christmas with my family was wonderful this year! I got a fabulous new camera so I should have some fantastic pics to add very soon. The kids got a Wii, and I have to tell you if you have never played before it is exhausting. What a great video game...it gets you up and moving (like we couldn't all use a little more of that.)

My hubby is Great!!

I wish I had a picture of before and after to share with everyone. Yesterday when I left home my bedroom was a shambles. There is wayyyyy tooooo much furniture in a wayyyy toooo small of a space. I have hated our bedroom since we moved in almost 2 years ago. When I got home from work yesterday ( a very long day...it is finals week and I have a teacher out that I am having to completly cover for and do my job) I found that my bedroom had been transformed. No more was there total chaos and clutter everywhere. Gone were the piles of clothes and book and junk. Not a speck of dust could be found on the ceiling fan, baseboards or Tory's desk. It was just like being on HGTV....no really it was that great. My husband cleaned and arranged and removed so much that it looked like a new room. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that he cared enough to do this.

My giant boys

I know it is kind of hard to see the faces, but you can see just how big Michael is standing next to me. OH MY GOODNESS!!! Do we grow big kids in Texas or what. Sorry the picture isn't bigger. Still working on the tech side of this blogging thing.

Some warm memories on a chilly night

Yep...ladies he's all mine.

This was the last night in Cancun that he wasn't in the bathroom sick as a dog. I am sooooooo lucky. (next time I tell him something tastes funny...I bet he believes me)

Soo Handsome!!!

Since starting this entire blogging adventure I have been looking for photos to use. I ran across this great photo of Anthony and I. There was another person in this picture and I would hate to say anything not-so-nice about her (she is freakin crazy) so I will show some self control. Anyway I was trying to crop her out and then couldn't get the photo centered, but thought hey....its a good picture anyway so I thought I would share it minus the totally mental person.

My BFF's

I really count myself one of the luckiest people I know. I have two of the sweetest BFF's in the world. When I turned 40 this year one of them was right there on hand with a very mushy poem that mad me cry! This year was not only the year I turned 40, it was also the year that we marked our 25 year friendship. How many people can say they have kept their friends for 25 years. I don't mean the kind of friend you have the occasional dinner with or the friend that you mail a Christmas card to. I am talking about a friend that knows all the joys, sorrow, pain, and happiness you have been through. The kind of friend that will say..."honey you need to re-think that outfit" , and you know that she is probably right. I am talking about a friend that you can call at the last minute and say "hey, I need help" and she says "I am on my way". That's what I have. Rosemary gave me a card this year for my b-day that set the tears flowing. She thanked me for having a part and for letting her be a part of my life for 25 years. She had a picture that I tried to scan but it was too dark; of us pregnant with "The Littles" at the lake. (Wow now that is some serious birthcontrol ladies...let me know if you want a copy to put on your fridge for all your teenage girls to see....you can lable it "THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU") call me crazy, but I actually cherish this picture. So to wrap this long post up...I just want to say...I wish for all my friends and family a wonderful best friend or two that you can love and be loved by for 25 years or more.............................................(lots more!)

P.S. Since we have had our kids in sets we labled them..."The bigs" The middles" and "The littles" don't know how we came up with it, but it stuck.

And a STAR is born!

I wonder if this is how Taylor Swift got her start? Sam singing "Our Song" at the school talent show. She totally rocked the house!!

You are going to wash your hands...RIGHT?

My beautiful budding scientist working hard during an outside science class.

The Love Dare....

Fireproof
What an awesome movie! For anyone that is married this movie is a must see!
I won’t ruin the movie for anyone by telling you what happens, so don’t worry.
I will recommend that you go see this with your spouse!
Then for those who would like to change a rocky marriage, or those that just want
to raise their marriage to another level then read on.

The movie is a journey filled with challenges. It is a “Love Dare”.
It is often difficult to do, but very fulfilling if you are
determined to commit to forty days of “dares”.

I will list each days “dare” and sometimes share my results along the way.
Yikes!! This could prove embarrassing!

Day 1. “Our words often reflect the condition of our heart”.
Resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all.
You must find a way to hold your tongue when you are tempted to say something negative.

Day 2. “Love is Kind” Be gentle, helpful, willing, and show initiative. Take the first step.
Adding on to day one…do at least one unexpected gesture or act of kindness today.

Day 3. “Love is not selfish” Usually our own misery comes from our own selfishness. We keep standards for ourselves at a level that is often so low, but for our spouse we raise the bar to extreme levels. Check your motives; prioritize the well being of your spouse.
Today: along with day 1. buy your spouse something today that says, “I was thinking of you today”.

Day 4. “Love is thoughtful” How many of us couldn’t wait to talk to our spouse each day when we were dating? We wondered what he/she was doing during the day. We would call just to say silly things like, “ I just wanted to hear your voice”, or “ I just wanted to say I love you”.
Today: along with day 1. contact your spouse sometime during the day, with nothing more to say than you were thinking about them, or you just want to know if there is anything you can do for them. Have no other agenda and keep it short and sweet.

Day 5. “Love is not rude” Think about how you treat your friends and/or co-workers. The tone of voice you use when talking to friends from church. Remember when we were taught to treat others, as we would like to be treated? Well…
Today: ask your spouse to tell you 3 things that you do that makes him uncomfortable or irritates him. I had mine write them down, so we would not get off track and end up in an argument. Remember the answers are his feelings, and he/she does not have to qualify them to you.

Day 6. “ Love is not irritable” I love how the “Love Dare” describes being irritable as someone who is “locked, loaded, and ready to overreact”. It tells us to ask ourselves “ Am I a calming breeze or a storm waiting to happen”? “Life is a marathon, not a sprint. This means you must balance, prioritize, and pace yourself”. Take time to love on your spouse each day.
Today: Make a list of areas that you need to add margin to your schedule. If you do not have time each day to be in God’s word and to show your spouse some attention then you need to adjust. Learn to say “no”.

Day 7. “Love believes the best” Do you remember all the things your spouse did, said, or was to you that made you fall in love with him/her? Well its time to clean out the moths, and dust off the warm fuzzies!
Today: get two sheets of paper and on the first list all the positive things you can think of about your spouse. List all the warm fuzzies you fell in love with. On the second sheet of paper write down all the nasty negatives about your spouse. There is a different purpose and plan for both. Now pick a positive attribute and at some point today thank him/her for having this characteristic.

OK…Now that is where I am in the challenge. I will post more as I go through the challenge with ya’ll. Let me know how ya’ll are doing.