"Life is Not About Avoiding the Storms, it is Learning to Dance in the Rain"

We finally made it to Disneyland (4 years in the making)!! We still talk about "DL" (our code word so Addi doesn't feel bad) daily!! We had such a wonderful trip, it was short and sweet, wet and rainy, and absolutely wonderful (did I mention wet and rainy?)! On the secnd day atop of Splash Mountain, all dripping from head to toe, I looked out and saw the rainclouds, the pouring rain, and realized this trip was such a metaphor of my life!! I instantly thought of the quote "Life is not about learning to avoid the storms, it is learning to dance in the rain." And we danced!!

Random Funnies Courtesy of Addi Mae

A:"Mom, will you paint my tails?"
Me:"Your what?"
A: "My fingertails!"

Addi has a cut right by her right eye, tonight Ryan got some small band aids at the store, and Addi insisted on putting a little round one on her owie. She looked in the mirror and in between giggles, replied

"Alright!, I look like a pirate!"

"Momma, will you put my hair in a tonypail?"

" Mom, can I have a banana, but not a naked one!"

I had the day off last Thurdsay which made me very:

I should have been doing a whole lotta this:

But instead I did a whole lotta this:


First I made some valentine balls to hang from my basket over my kitchen window. When I dreamed up the idea they were from a beautiful chandelier, but since mine is not centered above my table and my kiddos would likely swat them, I hung them over my sink! I ordered the vinyl (last year-oops)! I ordered the saying Love One Another and placed one word on each ornament with some pink and red polka dots, I did a few plain polka dot balls for accents. I just hung them up with some black and red ribbon I had on hand. They are a little splash of happy in my kithcen right now!



Earlier this month I found a great teacher gift idea on j-a-g.blogspot.com ! So I decorated some hand sanitizers for the kids' teahcers AND for my contest winners AND got a little carried away!!!





We worked on the kids valentines. I made these cute ipods with my YW girls that I found on Family Fun. We are going to make them for Parker's class party! The girls valentines are still top secret - so stay "tuned"!!!

HAppY VaLenTines!!!!

Go Team!

I feel a little sheepish posting in behalf of the Steeler's Victory when I haven't yet blogged :

our Halloween fun

my girls birthday's in November

Christmas

my oldest and only son's birthday

my New Year's Resolutions and 2009 Meme

our trip to Disneyland

my "baby's" birthday

(yep, I just said trip to Disneyland, 4 years in the making, {giddy}!!!!)

and a slew of fun projects

But here's to the Steelers and my Steeler lovin' man!!!

Winner, Winner, Winner!!!!

okay - so i have been having a secret contest that some of you participated in without even knowing it!! (If any of you are still checking back that is, with the random once a month posting)!!
Anywhoo - I decided a VERY long time ago that if I EVER got 10 comments on a post I would have a prize! And I finally got 10+ comments (even though one was technically a repeat comment :)! So the 10th commentor was.......my darling niece Angie Ward down in Texas!

Now for all those who commented on that post your name goes into a hat and one of my lovely assistants will pick one tomorrow!!! I will send you out some valentine lovelies soon!!

Dear Santa, Exactly how do you define "nice"?

Christmas Magic!

What a wonderful holiday season! We have had the opportunity to do some fun things as a family and have once again been blessed by the love and generosity of our sweet extended families!

I wanted to share one experience that happened right after Thanksgiving. Ryan's sweet sister-in-law called to check in and see how Ryan was doing and if there was anything they could do to help. At the time, he was not doing well at all. I replied that there wasn't anything they could do, to which she quickly asked how we were for Christmas. I replied that my kids were really easy and didn't ever ask for much. This year Addi asked Santa for a blue tootsie roll and Gracie asked Santa for a "toothpick" (She meant a guitar pick, but still???)! I then mentioned how I had found a note in Parker's room that had 2 columns for birthday and Christmas (his b-day is 5 days after Christmas). He had listed Madden 09 OR NBA 09 and then at the bottom of the page he had written"Early Christmas Present - My Dad to Feel Better". I get choked up even writing about it, it has been hard for the kids to not be able to play with Ryan like they use to. I mentioned that I had bought a lot of stuff earlier in the year (before Ry was laid off) for the girls and just needed to get some things for Parker. She quickly said consider it done. I tried to protest and then gratefully accepted, realizing what a blessing this would be right now. The VERY next day she called me and she and Ryan's brother had already bought presents (way more than necessary - they are ALWAYS so generous to everyone). They also had a special surprise! They found an electric blanket for Ryan and wrapped it up in beautiful paper with the following tag attached:

"Santa has heard of your wish for your Dad

So I'm stopping by early to make him feel glad

This blanket will help him feel better, I pray

And I'll be back with more presents on Christmas Day -

Love, Santa"

They rang the doorbell and left the gift for the kids to find. They wanted to help Parker believe in the magic of Santa a little longer. At first the kids were confused, they weren't sure why Santa would be bringing Dad something so early. Several minutes later, Parker exclaimed, "Hey, wait, I mad a wish for an early present for Dad to feel better, but I didn't mail it to Santa!" It was so fun to see their excitement! We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family. Our friends and families have all helped us out so much this past year, we are truly so grateful to them for their generosity, time, love, and support! It has truly made this season magical!

{the electric blanket has been helping him sleep better too - thanks for the tip Kaylee}!