January Family Activity!

Addie was super excited when she opened the envelope to reveal this card. We made a fort about a year ago and Jeremy really went all out. So, Addion's excitement went through the roof when she learned that we were going to do it again - she LOVED it the first time. Needless to say she begged Jeremy each evening to make the fort and he agreed that on Friday, January 6th he would make it (if he didn't come home with a headache!) So - Friday came and as Jeremy walked through the door he was met with shouts of "build a fort daddy, build a fort!" He agreed being the wonderful daddy that he is and set to work.

He turns our family room into one large fort - overturned couches are a necessity!

And as he worked the kids had a blast climbing on the couch pillows!

The finished product! The entrance is on the other side and inside you would find our bedroom mattress complete with couch pillows and blankets. It is quite cozy, warm and comfortable! I wish I could have taken a picture but until we get a better camera it would be completely pointless due to the lack of light. We had a great time and kept the fort for a couple days.

2011 flew by - 2012 here we go!

Bahahahahahahahahaha!!! I'm laughing at myself because I just read the post from last January with all of my grandious plans - Pshshshhshshshsh! Bahahahahahahahaha! Yeah - go figure - most of it didn't happen! I always set out with good intentions and then come mid February it all goes to pot! I did accomplish a few of those goals however - new books were read, family activities were done more than usual, new recipes were made and new things were purchased for the house.

So - As I look back on 2011 and push forward into 2012 I'm going to go over my plans from the beginning of last year and update them for 2012.

Last January I begin my blog with my insane desire to move to the country - yeah - didn't happen! Jeremy and I are talking about it more and more though and we both are seriously considering a change of housing location in the next few years. Somewhere out of town! Oh - how I'm praying in advance for a perfect location - I can always change the house to meet my expectations but the location we are stuck with. As my feat for a healthier lifestyle is consumed with the all american dollar (everything is so darn expensive! - especially if you want to eat healthy), I yearn for home grown beef and fresh eggs.

Budget - my goal last year was to keep a budget by getting out cash for certain things! However, it wasn't until last week that Jeremy went to the bank and got out cash for this month for us in the form of groceries, entertainment, eating out, etc . . . . I think it will help! I feel like we are starting out this year the way we wanted to last year - and I'm glad!

Book reading - reading will always be a passion of mine. I don't have specific goals like I did last year - because many of the months I failed. I'm not going to set myself up for failure again so I just want to read and read and read. I always want to be in the midst of a good story. - no pressure! :) Big sigh!

Recipes - I am still going to try new recipes - in fact I already have this week! No goals though - just am going to try something new from time to time. And I may post about it if it's worth the time. Another big sigh!

Family Activities - already planned out! I made 12 small blank envelopes with a different family acvitity in it that as a small family of four we can enjoy each month. They are inexpensive, sometimes silly things that we can do when we choose to that month. A few days ago I laid them out on the table and Addison chose what our family activity would be for January. It is "Build a big fort, watch a movie and sleep in it together." We did this last year and we all LOVED it! The fact that they are already planned and each month I just have to lay them on the table for the kids to chose one is a huge relief for me. Sometimes last year I would sit for awhile and try to decide what our fun family activity would be. Sigh!

Handwritten note to my friends - Didn't - write - a - single - one! whoops! Don't think this is something that I have a lot of time for these days -especially going back to work again full-time. I wish I did have the time - I just don't! So - facebook encouragements, phone calls, texts and spoken comments are what my friends can count on this year from me. Another sigh!

Crafts - I love doing crafts - some times I'm in the mood for them and sometimes not. I usually create a mess when working on them and I hate cleaning it up. So last  year (2011) didn't lend itself to much craft making - due to the busyness of life. But I LOVE making things! I will probably do some crafts this year - I'm sure I will! But I'm not making any big promises or anything. I'll just go with the flow - if I feel like it I will! Big sigh!

HCG diet - I lasted about a week and a half. I was having some strange things start to happen to my body and it freaked me out. I know that yo-yo diets are not healthy and on the HCG my body was right back to starving again. I've had an epiphany about diets - I'm not any good at them - I always end up gaining more weight than I lost - and I HATE them! I really do! I have never liked feeling restricted by anything. When I'm on diets food takes over my every thought - I feel consumed by food - especially the food I can't eat! So - no more diets! I'm done and I think my body will thank me for it. I am however going to begin making better choices. I think I may be a little gluten intolerant so I'm stearing clear of gluten for awhile to see if I see any difference in how I feel. I'm going to be eating a lot more fruits and veggies and not as much sugar. I actually want to start working out and am going to go to Anytime Fitness tomorrow to ask about their prices. I just want to be healthy - and feel healthy - and enjoy life - EVEN - if that means having a brownie or cookie now and then! If I'm healthy then I won't feel guilty about my little indulgences. I'm not making any promises - we all know how well that went! But I NEED to get healthy - this past year I've felt old in more ways than one, physically and emotionally. And I'm NOT OLD! I'm only 32 - I need to start acting like it! Cheers to my journey - it may take me a whole year to lose the 18 pounds that have been haunting me since, well, like 8 years ago. I'm keeping tabs by putting 18 marbles in a jar and when I lose a pound I will take one out. If I gain one I will put one back in and so forth. I'm hoping by next January that jar will be empty! If you know me and want to keep me accountable - please just come up and ask how many marbles are in my jar! I promise I'll be honest as I know you will be encouraging. If any of you want to do the marble thing with me we could come up with a prize for the first one to lose all their marbles - hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! HUGE sigh!

Movies - I love watching new movies so I'm sure we will do it often. I'm not promising to do it every month though - I don't want whether or not we watched a new movie during the month to get me down. Silly, silly me! I will keep you updated on the good ones that we do see though!

Beth Moore Bible Studies - I'm still going to do them! They are like food to my soul (cheezy!!!) but I LOVE them. We are going to begin studying James next week and I'm excited about it. I'm looking forward to how God is going to work in my life and teach me some new things.

House purchases - already begun by buying a new TV for our bedroom. Our house needs some new touch-ups. I'll let you know when and if we purchase anything - not that you care, so maybe I won't!

I did make my own laundry detergent and my own dish soap. I LOVED the dish soap and plan on making more of it. The laundry detergent just didn't quite make our clothes as soft or clean as I would have hoped so I quit. I also did change my hair color for the first time since Jeremy and I were first married. A strawberry blonde color! It was fun! I liked it and will probably do it again sometime this year.

So - since this year I plan on being a bit more low-key with my goals as well as more spontaneous and joyful I look forward to what this year has in store for us. I do want to have people over more often to play games or watch movies, I do want to spend more play time with my kids and go on more dates with my hubby. But, I'm going to take it one month at a time. I will continue to post monthly about the books I've read, the recipes I've tried and so forth. However, I am also going to try to do more frequent posts about some of our activities, milestones, thoughts, etc . . .

I'm looking forward to all that this year has in store!! Cheer to new beginnings!

Rhett's favorites 2012

This was the first year that Rhett could actually tell us and comprehend what his favorites were! So - it was really fun to ask him these things and to see what he came up with.

Favorite Phrase: "Life is Hard"

Favorite Food: Mac n cheese, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes

Favorite snack: apples/oranges/pickles/pirates booty

Favorite movie: Amazing Alphabet Amuzement Park

Favorite TV Show: Clifford

Favorite book: puppy books

Favorite game: temple run (on ipod)

Favorite toy: Toothless and Hiccup/his sword and shield

Daily Activity: Preschool at Mrs. Cox's daycare. He enjoys going to daycare and playing with his friends. When he's not at daycare he is with my mom or my sister. His favorite thing to do at Mimi's is do puzzles and his favorite thing to do with TeeTee is go get slushies and tater tots from Sonic. At home he usually does what his sister does. He LOVES to play on the ipod!

Mommy and Daddy Love it when you: clean up after yourself, say funny things, pray, dance, sing, color us pictures, give us kisses and snuggles, are kind to your sister and Solomon

Favorite thing to do with Mom: read books

Favorite thing to do with Dad: play legos

Favorite thing to do with Addie: play family

Chores: take Solomon outside, clear the table, help mommy load and unload the washer and dryer, help mommy unload the dishwasher, pick up your room

Friends: Sawyer, Owen, Elliot, Michael

Nicknames: Mister, Mister, Rhettster, Mr. Man, Rhett Rhett, Rhetter

Birthday: This year he had a Winnie the Pooh birthday. We celebrated with an outside barbeque at the church with friends and family. He wanted a pinata and we gave out fish for party favors (much to the dismay of many friends :)

Favorite color: red and blue

Favorite place: The cabin, Disneyland, the zoo, and the aquarium (he's never been there)

Favorite thing to do outside: play in the playhouse

Favorite restaraunt: Mimi and Bapa's

Other moments:

* His vocabulary continues to be extensive and we enjoy listening to his interpretation of the world and his surroundings.
*He willingly picks up after himself, sometimes without being asked (who is this kid?)
* He in consistently moving, he never walks from place to place, it is either at a dead sprint or a slow jog. Even when he is watching movies he is jumping off the couch or rolling around.
*He loves his sister and does whatever she is doing.
*His cousin Sawyer thinks he's pretty cool and likes to do whatever he is doing.
* He knows most of his letters and is practicing writing his name.
* He began a daycare/preschool this year. Mrs. Cox from our church runs the daycare and it is a fun, safe environment for him to spend each day. He seems to enjoy it!
* He has begun to test his boundaries a bit by trying out lieing, being sneaky, saying words that he shouldn't say so Jeremy and I have to be kept on our toes with him right now.
*He is such a blessing to us and makes us laugh daily! We look forward to the fun things he will say and do this coming year.

Addison's Favorites 2011

This is one of my favorite posts to write each new year. It's fun to look back and see what they were into and what they said and did each year. Here are Addison's favorites:

Favorite Phrase: "I'm Hungry", "Rhett did it!", "What in the . . ."

Favorite Food: broccoli cheese soup/ sloppy joes

Favorite snack: apples/mandarin oranges/chocolate yogurt

Favorite candy: resess peanut butter cups/anything chocolate

Favorite movie: Barbie a Perfect Christmas

Favorite TV Show: Brady Bunch

Favorite book: Junie B. Jones

Favorite game: Barbie Stylin 6's

Favorite toy: Barbies/Lalaloopsy

Daily Activity: 1st grade in Mrs. Westrand's class. When she isn't at school she enjoys doing crafts, coloring, playing (bossing) family with Rhett, watching Brady Bunch, playing on PBS kids or Disney Website

Mommy and Daddy love it when you: Do something the first time we ask, are kind to your brother, pray and talk about God, read

Favorite Restaraunt: Chuck E. Cheese

Favorite activity with mom: arts and crafts

Favorite activity with dad: games and puzzles

Favorite activity with Rhett: playing family

Chores: taking Solomon outside, cleaning her room and making her bed, picking up her clothes, folding towels, putting her dishes in the dishwasher

Friends: Kenna, Chade, Brenna, Katelynn, Emma, Gabrielle, Ramee, TeeTee, Landon

Nicknames: Addie Gracie, Addie Grace Face, Punkin Pants, Drama Queen

Birthday: We did a Dr. Seuss birthday theme this year and she wanted to have 4 girlfriends have a sleepover. So Kenna, Brenna, Katelynn and her cousin Emma came over and had a sleepover. They opened gifts, decorated cupcakes, played dress up (complete with makeup) and all slept on the couch watching a movie. She also had her family party a few days later and we enjoyed eating Dr. Suess cake that grandma Nancy made and opening gifts!

Favorite Place: Disneyland, the zoo

Favorite thing to do outside: play in the snow and swing

Favorite color: hot pink

Other moments:
* was a cheerleader for UpWards this year. She liked it at first but towards the end she was very ready to be done. And so was I (cuz I was the coach) :)
* She played soccer for the first time and didn't really seem to enjoy that either. She did enjoy making 2 goals the very last game and earning $5 for each goal - a bribe from her dad to make a goal.
* She had swimming lessons for the second time but we chose a different place and I LOVED it. She was extremely apprehensive at first but towards the end of the lessons she actually jumped off the diving board by herself. At the end of the summer she was jumping off all the time.
* We traveled to Disneyland with the Franklins and she had so much fun playing with her cousins and going on rides with them.
* She developed a phobia of the cabin due to her being scared at night when she's sleeping. I don't really know where she picked up this phobia but I hope it passes this year because we would like to spend a lot of weekends at the cabin.
* She started 1st grade with Mrs. Westrand and at first she really wasn't too sure about it. She said, "My teacher yells a lot". Well, she doesn't really yell - but she talks very loudly. It is just what Addison needed and now she is fairly well-behaved in class. She is learning quickly and I am amazed by how well she reads. I'm so proud of her for her love of reading. Now we just need to work on friend choices :)
* She was Minnie Mouse for Halloween and loved trick-or-treating this year.
* She had a difficult time when Daddy went to Guatemala for 16 days. She cried often and has always been very sensitive when our family dynamic is a bit different. She survived though and LOVES having daddy back.
* This year Addie has been a bit difficult for Jeremy and I to parent. She is defiant, sneaky, manipulative, easily jealous of her brother, selfish, messy, high maintenance and has developed a little attitude. - I thought we were supposed to get all of these things when she turned 16 - not 7! However, I would LOVE to get this stage overwith so that we don't have to deal with it later! I pray that this year Jeremy and I can find wisdom in how to parent her. She is difficult and sometimes just stare at each other in absolute amazement at her behavior. We pray that we will be able to guide her into a girl who loves God wholeheartedly, wants to do what's best for others and herself, is trustworthy and honest. I pray that God will guide Jeremy and I as we parent Addison to make her be who she was meant to be. My goal is to deepen her "strengths" so that she has a solid self-confidence. She is such a joy to our lives and we laugh at her perception of the world, her naivety, her intense love for her family and friends and cousins, her creative artsiness, her patience with her brother and her simple faith and love in Jesus - we can't imagine life without her! We look forward to all that God has in store for her little life in 2012!